I am developing an airsoft LARP event and became interested in a technology made by b.l. Tech called the B.O.S.S. - Ballistic Ordinance Sound System.



It is an attachment for an AEG and uses ignited propane and air mixed in the chamber to create a realistic gunshot sound. The second to the last on the left chamber slides to release the pressure. This company has gone dark and isn’t responding to messages. This was a really promising product and now it looks like we won’t be recieving it anytime soon. I’d love to pair up with someone to help out achieving this type of design, obviously not exactly the same, for the airsoft production I’m developing currently.

Here is some more information about it:

• Estimated retail price is $600 per BOSS.That's not fixed, but it's the anticipated price point.
• The BOSS is compatible with all AEGs, and appears to have a Burst-Wizard-like system that is inserted between the gun's battery and the gun's own harness to determine when the gun is being fired.
• The BOSS is ready for mass production, but isn't yet inmass production. They still don't have a release date, but the US will get the BOSS before Europe. It looks to me like we should expect this in Q4 2016 at the earliest, and more likely 2017.
• The M203 version of the BOSS is the only one scheduled for release at present - the 'PEQ box' version is not currently in development and its potential release is wholly dependent on the success or lack thereof of the M203 version.
• It appears that only a QD RIS-attached version of the BOSS is scheduled for release, not a replica of the more common fixed M203.
• The BOSS is powered by the gun's own battery but is not anticipated to cause significant extra load.
• The BOSS is filled with propane much like a GBB magazine, and should get multiple thousands of shots (I think they're quoting 5,000-8,000) per fill.
• The BOSS will be fully programmable via smartphone App or button press combinations to adjust it for the rate of fire you wish to simulate (e.g. 15RPS for an M4, 13RPS for an M249, 40rps for an M134), regardless of what your AEG actually shoots. They don't elaborate on how many modes there'll be.
• The BOSS has a thermal protection sensor that will shut it off if it exceeds a preset temperature. Obviously the combustion of propane is exothermic and generates a considerable amount of heat.
• The BOSS is fitted with an RFID system that you will have to use to enable it every time you turn it on. This is apparently to discourage theft.

Here are some helpful specs that I’ve found about how the inside works.

Here is a demo of how it works: skip to 2:40 for the up close sound test

Here are some helpful photos for how people think it works inside:




Any engineers out there that think they are up for the task or would know who to contact about such a project?

 

Here is another link for a technology that they developed:
https://rdxtech.net/x4

 

God, that sounds so fake which I guess is a good thing.

 

Looking at the drawings I can see where something like this could work but question the feasibility. The above drawings show the chamber as open, I question that. I would expect to see some form of pressure relief valve or poppet valve. The idea being you fill the chamber with an explosive gas mixture be it oxygen and propane, oxygen acetylene or other mixture. Then ignite it which will cause a rapid, very rapid, increase in chamber pressure. Once the pressure achieves the relief pressure it escapes with a bang. All of this takes place in a small fraction of a second.

Just as an example a typical rifle shot, I use "typical" so as not to get into cartridge or chamber specifics, takes place in about 2 mSec (0.002 Second). That means from ignition (primer ignites powder charge) to when the bullet exits an average barrel including bullet travel down the barrel. So we can safely say pretty darn quick. Now to get things in perspective a typical M16 or M4 has a cyclic rate of fire of about 800 rounds per min or about 13.3 bangs per second. The mechanics (gas system) of the rifle seem to do just fine at that speed. The cartridge develops about 50,000 (a little less) PSI of chamber pressure. This using US methods and procedures to measure the chamber pressure. Incidentally as mentioned, that is a cyclic rate of fire not a sustained rate. Things get hot real quick so at some point things need a pause for the cause, in this case heat.

I am developing an airsoft LARP event and became interested in a technology made by b.l. Tech called the B.O.S.S. - Ballistic Ordinance Sound System.

I really do not see where any new technology is developed here. You ignite an explosive gas mixture in a chamber and get an explosion. The work is in the design. While I can explain the operation I haven't a clue what the real world numbers actually are and it will take some calculations and experiments to refine the process. I can tell you it will be a far from inexpensive project at a glance and only suggest how I might go about it. The initial setup would need some serious test, measurement and diagnostic equipment.

Ron

 

Looking at the drawings I can see where something like this could work but question the feasibility. The above drawings show the chamber as open, I question that. I would expect to see some form of pressure relief valve or poppet valve. The idea being you fill the chamber with an explosive gas mixture be it oxygen and propane, oxygen acetylene or other mixture. Then ignite it which will cause a rapid, very rapid, increase in chamber pressure. Once the pressure achieves the relief pressure it escapes with a bang. All of this takes place in a small fraction of a second.

Just as an example a typical rifle shot, I use "typical" so as not to get into cartridge or chamber specifics, takes place in about 2 mSec (0.002 Second). That means from ignition (primer ignites powder charge) to when the bullet exits an average barrel including bullet travel down the barrel. So we can safely say pretty darn quick. Now to get things in perspective a typical M16 or M4 has a cyclic rate of fire of about 800 rounds per min or about 13.3 bangs per second. The mechanics (gas system) of the rifle seem to do just fine at that speed. The cartridge develops about 50,000 (a little less) PSI of chamber pressure. This using US methods and procedures to measure the chamber pressure. Incidentally as mentioned, that is a cyclic rate of fire not a sustained rate. Things get hot real quick so at some point things need a pause for the cause, in this case heat.


I really do not see where any new technology is developed here. You ignite an explosive gas mixture in a chamber and get an explosion. The work is in the design. While I can explain the operation I haven't a clue what the real world numbers actually are and it will take some calculations and experiments to refine the process. I can tell you it will be a far from inexpensive project at a glance and only suggest how I might go about it. The initial setup would need some serious test, measurement and diagnostic equipment.

Ron

That is an amazing response! Do you happen to know a company or maybe types of companies that would be able to work with me on developing something like this? I don’t want to wait around for these guys to respond when they haven’t in a whole year.

 

God, that sounds so fake which I guess is a good thing.

Well it does sound similar to blanks. It really makes a difference when I’m airsoft/larp settings. It’s a real game changer. It’s also safer than a blank fire from what I’ve read

 

That is an amazing response! Do you happen to know a company or maybe types of companies that would be able to work with me on developing something like this? I don’t want to wait around for these guys to respond when they haven’t in a whole year.

I wish I could point you in a direction of a company. My response was based on my career in electronics combined with my love of the shooting sports and ballistics. I am not familiar with airsoft guns at all right down to duplicating any sounds they make. A long time ago, a real long time ago when I did fire automatic rifles and we used blanks we used a BFA (Blank Firing Adapter) to restrict the escaping gas from the barrel so the rifle's gas system could operate.

Anyway what you are looking to do would seem doable but as I mentioned there would be quite a bit of homework before the first pop. It's possible the people who started this project ran out of gas or better put funds. Things like actually synchronizing an ignition spark to the gas charge will take some thought and then getting the gas mixture right is a challenge, it's not all that simple.

Ron

 

I collect antique toys, mainly gun type but really anything. Back in the 1930's the Smith welding torch company made a acetylene powered machine gun toy well two different ones really. They used calcium carbide and water in a small can to make the acetylene, and a rubber tube to get it to the gun chamber. It in effect was a machine gun shaped acetylene cannon (Big Boom Cannon).

The drawing given in post #1shows both propane and oxygen used from tanks did the "Boss" use the oxygen tank? Pure oxygen and a fuel gas make a lot of pressure when ignited pretty dangerous. The toys I talked about earlier all use air not oxygen and a fuel gas, lots of noise but little pressure, so much safer.

I'm thinking that is how the Boss works, the plunger that moves in and out will supply fresh air into the chamber to power the next 'bang'. As the plunger moves in and out it would uncover a port that meters the fuel gas, and the slots in the plunger let out the compressed gases and the bang. The plunger would be spring loaded to draw it back in for the next shot. Think of this as a spring loaded 2 cycle motor, the spring taking the place of the crank and rod.

Here's a link to the Smith toys, I have a couple of both kinds, one of the single shot ones in an original box.
http://www.toycannons.ray-vin.com/carbide/smiths.htm The text kind of explains the working of them too.

 

Have to love carbide. Last I looked the stuff was expensive and years ago ordered some small tubes of it for my father-in-law's cannon.

Ron

 

I played with rockets when I was a kid and they had no relief valve but many of them blew up with a loud BANG.
Some of my DIY bombs went up fairly high in the sky.

 

Some time ago AAC had a request for 20 mm simulated fire so I thought maybe something along the lines of
a V1 buzz Bomb might work. Mechanical setup about the same as above but there is a check valve between mixing chamber & barrel . Spark plug on barrel side of check valve. Gas, O2 & propane, is pre mixed
& free flows thru a flash back preventer thru check valve & is ignited ; valve slams shut until pressures reverse , refill & fire again. All well for about 5 fast discharges then it went into continuous flame in " mixing chamber" . May take another look sometime.

 

There is a video on You Tube of a guy riding in a wagon powered with a buzz bomb engine setting a tree on fire.

 

I saw a design somewhere that charged a capacitor to hundreds of volts and discharged it into a speaker to make a supposedly realistic gunshot sound.

Too lazy to look it up.

Bob

 

Hello,

@BobTPH , Do you mean something like this:
https://hackaday.com/2015/06/08/subwoofer-vortex-cannon-300v-of-thwup/

Bertus

 

I collect antique toys, mainly gun type but really anything. Back in the 1930's the Smith welding torch company made a acetylene powered machine gun toy well two different ones really. They used calcium carbide and water in a small can to make the acetylene, and a rubber tube to get it to the gun chamber. It in effect was a machine gun shaped acetylene cannon (Big Boom Cannon).

The drawing given in post #1shows both propane and oxygen used from tanks did the "Boss" use the oxygen tank? Pure oxygen and a fuel gas make a lot of pressure when ignited pretty dangerous. The toys I talked about earlier all use air not oxygen and a fuel gas, lots of noise but little pressure, so much safer.

I'm thinking that is how the Boss works, the plunger that moves in and out will supply fresh air into the chamber to power the next 'bang'. As the plunger moves in and out it would uncover a port that meters the fuel gas, and the slots in the plunger let out the compressed gases and the bang. The plunger would be spring loaded to draw it back in for the next shot. Think of this as a spring loaded 2 cycle motor, the spring taking the place of the crank and rod.

Here's a link to the Smith toys, I have a couple of both kinds, one of the single shot ones in an original box.
http://www.toycannons.ray-vin.com/carbide/smiths.htm The text kind of explains the working of them too.

So it’s a mixture of oxygen and propane I believe. I’m not positive but that’s what people think.

 

So it’s a mixture of oxygen and propane I believe. I’m not positive but that’s what people think.

Like I think I said before adding straight oxegen to a fuel takes things to a whole different level of pressure. Potato guns carbide cannons and the like all work fine just using the air we breathe. As do gas furnaces, stoves car engines or propane torches. How ever you do this it has to just be open to fresh air after each shot, so the next one will work. Also where would you get small pressurized oxygen tanks?

 

Like I think I said before adding straight oxegen to a fuel takes things to a whole different level of pressure. Potato guns carbide cannons and the like all work fine just using the air we breathe. As do gas furnaces, stoves car engines or propane torches. How ever you do this it has to just be open to fresh air after each shot, so the next one will work. Also where would you get small pressurized oxygen tanks?

That reminds me I gave my welding tanks to my neighbor but I still have some small )2 tanks out there in the shed. The size you see hanging on wheel chairs.

Thanks
Ron

 

where would you get small pressurized oxygen tanks?

They are still common at medical supply stores but quickly being replaced by the machines that extract it directly from the air using molecular sieve technology for patients that require it.

 

Can you see the guys in a paint ball or air soft event carrying those around to make gun sounds? Isn't that what this thread about?

 

Fast forward to 45 seconds in this video.