Pyramyd Airsoft Blog

Hokkatsu Thunder B Airsoft Sound Grenades (Cores and Shells) Photo by Tom Harris for the Pyramyd Airsoft Blog

Today's Airsoft Question comes from Seamus O'Toole from Blarney, California.

Seamus writes,

"Top of the mornin' to ya, Mr. Harris.  Perhaps you might enlighten me on how to increase the consistency and reliability of getting my Hokkatsu Thunder B Sound Grenades to detonate after I toss 'em into a room I'd like to clear out.  Sometimes when I toss them, they don't explode for one reason or another."

This question could not have come at a more perfect time, considering that I'll be heading out to Operation: Route 66 - The Battle for California tomorrow, where I'll have many opportunities (hopefully) to throw these beautiful Airsoft grenades into dark rooms & corridors filled with lots of Tangos. 

For those of you just checking into Airsoft, Mr. O'Toole is referring to an Airsoft Close Quarter Battle (CQB) scenario where he knows there are some bad guys in a room or building and he'd like to toss his sound grenade into the room to either disorient the OPFOR or obtain a direct kill, depending on the rules of the game.

So anyway, back to those reasons these Thunder B grenades don't always go off.

#1: One common reason is that the striker pin did not sufficiently pierce the Crosman 12 gram CO2 powerlet cartridge inside the core unit.

#2: The other common reason Thunder B's don't go off is due to a poor air seal between the top of the core unit and the disposal shell.

I've personally experienced both of these issues and have witnessed others as well.

The good news is that I've decided to share the solutions with you, rather than leave you to your own devices to try and figure it out.  Turns out, it's not rocket surgery though.

Check out the Thunder B Sound Grenade fixes after the jump...



Problem #1: Strike Pin Fails to Pierce Crosman 12 gram CO2 Cartridge

Hokkatsu Thunder B Airsoft Sound Grenades (Cores and Shells) Photo by Tom Harris for the Pyramyd Airsoft Blog

Solution: A penny for your thoughts Thunder B core bottom cap.  BOOM!  Literally. 

Hokkatsu Thunder B Airsoft Sound Grenades (Cores and Shells) + Crosman 12 Gram CO2 Cartridge  + Abraham Lincoln Photo by Tom Harris for the Pyramyd Airsoft Blog

The penny will seat the cartridge higher up into the core, closer to the pin's at-rest position, so that when the hammer strikes the pin, the pin will travel farther into the CO2 cartridge, substantially increasing the chances that your Thunder B Airsoft Grenade will detonate, causing a massive boom and dead or disoriented OPFOR.

Problem #2: Poor air seal between the Thunder B Core's threading and the threading on the Thunder B disposable shells.

Solution: One word...Polytetrafluoroethylene

Hokkatsu Thunder B Airsoft Sound Grenades (Shells) Photo by Tom Harris for the Pyramyd Airsoft Blog

Good ol' PTFE.  Yea baby.  Teflon Tape FTW.  I probably over-do it with about 6-7 complete wraps around the Thunder B shell threads, but I don't believe in taking chances here, especially since an entire roll of Teflon Tape goes for about a buck at the hardware store.  So, yea, I'm pretty liberal with it.  But that's as far as my liberalness goes, so don't get too worried there, my gun-loving comrades. 

Once you're ready to screw in your Thunder B Core to the shell, make sure to do so good and tight to really ensure that thing is going to bring the Thunder! (pun intended).

I plan to let a crap-ton of these wonderful distraction devices go boom this weekend at John Lu's Operation: Route 66 at the Rock-a-Hoola Waterpark in Barstow, California, which, of course, is part of the famous Operation: Lion Claws Military Simulation Series of Airsoft events.  If you're reading this, and you're also attending the event, well, then perhaps you might get to meet my beard.  He'll be there in full force.

*whisper voice* Airsoft.