Barrel Blok is a firearms safety device, designed to allow the use of standard firearms in close quarter training situations such as grappling and arrest procedures. It is inserted into the chamber and out through the barrel and completely blocks the chamber. Additionally, there is a cap for the magazine so that no rounds can be inserted.
Although the Barrel Blok comes in a long length, the plastic, flexible rod construction is intended to extend 1/2″ past the end of the barrel once fully seated in the chamber. The user clips the end of the Barrel Blok based on the firearm it is used with. This length allows it to be used with most any holster. The high visibility orange color also makes it easy to verify by instructors as well as other trainees that the barrel is blocked.
Additionally, the device has other features that facilitate realistic training. It is designed to engage the pistol’s extractor so the slide must be sufficiently racked and the material works as a firing pin strike face.
They’ve also just launched a version for rifles.
The design is the same, it’s longer to accommodate the increased barrel length, although, it’s important to mention that Barrel Bloks are not one-size-fits-all. Rather, they are offered in different calibers do that you get a sealed chamber. In the image below, the Barrel Blok is not seated completely.
Tags: Barrel Blok
It seems to be a solution looking for a problem. Why would you NOT use a blue gun for this type of training? It’s not like they are unaffordable. When you have an option to use a completely safe device like a blue gun, I see no reason to introduce a real firearm into a non-range training environment. If it can go wrong, it will.
Well, for one thing, lots of places want trainees using their issue sidearm. For example, the US military can’t afford to purchase the number of blue guns it would need. So instead, service members use empty weapons. Same goes for courses with tactical trainers. Few students own blue guns, let alone take them on the road.
In fact, a advice like this is less expensive than a blue gun and does things a blue gun won’t.
Yes, it sure will. It will introduce an actual firearm to a non-range, training environment, thus increasing the possibility that someone can get hurt or dead. In 25 years of LE, I have found that using a completely inert training weapon (blue gun, or, in mil, rubber duck), is the only way to completely remove the risk of accidentally introducing a weapon and live ammo into the scenario/class. There are countless documented incidents where this has happened, and people have been wounded or killed. Cost is no excuse. An actual blue gun brand, higher end, training handgun is available for less than $50. Other brands for as little as $12. A blue gun brand M4 is available for as little as $168. In my opinion, if you are a serious student, and you are travelling for training, it is wise to have a blue gun for the weapons you will be training with. Cost is a lame excuse.
Don’t like being challanged I see. You missed SSD’s point while getting on your high horse. Current fiscal situation in the military is fasty approaching atrocious. You stared “as little as $168” ha thats rich. I can’t even get MTOED equipment and manning at 80% is considered good. This is better then having a BFA at the end on my weapon while conducting combatives training I assure you. I haven’t seen a rubber duck in a decade. If you’re not SOF you’re going without, but still going down-range.
I didn’t miss any point. I am pointing out the stated purpose of the item, and the problems with that. Fiscal problems of the military are not my problem. Seeing that another person has been killed or wounded in an avoidable training incident is everyone’s problem. I’m a professional, and I expect my training environment to be free of cheesy gimmicks when there is a viable alternative available.
And, can we keep the personal attacks out of this?
The IDF has used something like this for force on force training for years. Not every organization has the funds for things like blanks or blue guns, so this is a viable alternative.
http://www.galls.com/blackhawk-orange-demo-gun-glock-17?PMSRCE=GA15&gclid=CjwKEAjwsYW6BRCTzvu5y8DPhi0SJABnGLlH1cFU2NnwG3tpLz_fJfssstCdGu4xmkfYzJzPPw1FhxoCUg_w_wcB
25 bucks
I said something like it. The price they are asking here seems a bit ridiculous as far as I am concerned.
I would have loved these when I was working in small gun shops. I had a few jack-holes put missed mags from their pockets in guns… You can’t fix stupid but there are measures to take to block it.
As far as training goes, the use gets to use their issued weapon(or personal weapon) with functioning parts, optics, actual weight and being able to use their slings, holsters, etc. to gain real repetitions as opposed to a dummy gun with different grip, optics(or iron sights), holster, etc.
I will buy some for storing guns at home with little ones around. It will be a visual indicator telling me it’s empty when getting into the safe.
Alternative uses, such as storage or gun shop use are fine. But the article specified training, and, specifically, “designed to allow the use of standard firearms in close quarter training situations such as grappling and arrest procedures.” Not manipulation drills, or other drills. It said “grappling and arrest procedures”. These do not require functioning the weapon, they are focused on, well, grappling and arrest procedures… just saying, the point of the article was to justify this device for those purposes. A functioning weapon is not needed for that. Just be safe, remove the functioning firearm from the scenario. Who wants to be the recipient of a gunshot wound in the event of a failed safety check? Not me. Who wants to be the guy who accidentally shot someone? Not me.
We get it. You think it’s a dumb idea. You have effectively stated that 4 times.
That said, I’m almost 100% sure that any departments or agencies contemplating the use of this system will conduct their own risk assessments to determine its viability and practicality prior to introducing it into any training program.
Yes, I have, and they have been in response to posts refuting what I posted. If you don’t want me to share my experience, well, too bad. The goal of critique and comment is to point out good and bad things. Good? It’s cheap. Bad? Getting dead when having a “safe” weapon in a grappling exercise “accidentally” gets loaded… It happens, with alarming frequency. But, knock yourself out.
Well, if you have one of these in your barrel, you aren’t going to shoot anyone.
Agreed, this device completely blocks both the barrel and the chamber so it would be impossible to chamber a round of any kind, live or otherwise. Furthermore, there’s a cap for the top of the magazine which means that you can’t even have a round in the magazine. Between these two features it makes your real weapon as safe as any blue weapon.
BarrelBlok is nothing new. This design has existed for years as “Ammo-Safe”, seen here: http://www.ammosafe.com/, and at MSRP is half the price.
Well damn, it’s got the NTOA seal of approval and everything. Hopefully, we can get the Barrel Blok guys to come tell us why their’s is better.
Good morning everyone! My name is Jason and I am the creator of the BarrelBlok™ safety and training system. First, I want to thank Mr. Eric Graves for coming to the BarrelBlok™ booth at the NRA Annual Meeting and taking the time to learn about BarrelBlok™ and posting it on SSD. I have taken a few days to allow comments to filter through before responding to the initial comments made by Gene about BarrelBlok™. As a LE Firearms Instructor and the developer of the national Law Enforcement D.R.A.W. School Firearms Training program, I have had the opportunity to use every kind of training tool imaginable in my training! With that said, I want to make a VERY important point- ALL training tools have merit and their place in effective firearms training. Do I own and use a blue gun in training? YES, it is very effective for DT training! Do I own and use a SIRT pistol in training? YES, it is very effective for training students to shoot at distance! Do I own and use dummy rounds in training? YES, they are very effective for training during live-fire exercises! The point is that all training tools have their place in effective firearms training. However, the truth of the matter is that there is no better training tool than YOUR firearm…period! You should ALWAYS train with YOUR firearm on a daily basis because that is the actual tool that will save YOUR life. So think about these questions when it comes to various aspects of training on a daily basis. Will a blue gun or a SIRT pistol allow you to practice realistic trigger pulls just like the trigger on YOUR firearm? No. Will a blue gun or a SIRT pistol allow you to practice realistic magazine changes just like with YOUR firearm? No. Will a blue gun, Ammo-Safe or a SIRT pistol allow you to realistically practice every malfunction clearances the way they would happen with YOUR firearm? No. Will a blue gun, Ammo-Safe or a SIRT pistol allow you to fully function your slide with an empty magazine inserted? No. Will a blue gun or SIRT pistol allow you to realistically acquire your sights on each draw sequence just like with YOUR firearm? No. Will a blue gun or a SIRT pistol simulate the actual weight and configuration of YOUR firearm? No. Will a blue gun, Ammo-Safe or a SIRT pistol allow you to achieve the proper draw height from your holster, especially if drawing from a Level II or III holster? No. That is why my team and I created BarrelBlok™. It allows you to safely train with YOUR firearm, accurately and realistically duplicating EVERY function AND malfunction just like it would happen in a real world situation with ZERO TRAINING SCARS. Emergency reloads? Check! Out-of-Battery malfunctions? Check! Sight acquisition? Check! Actual trigger pull weight and feel? Check! Tactical reloads? Check! Double-feed malfunctions? Check! Firing pin strike face? Check! Proper holster clearance height? Check! Failure to fire malfunctions? Check! Mag changes? Check! The list goes on and on, but you get the picture. BarrelBlok™ was engineered to be the safest, most realistic training tool available for YOUR firearm when training AND to make sure you can train with ZERO training scars. If any aspect of your training adds a single additional step or function to the process of operating your firearm that isn’t the same as how your firearm works in the real world, you are inadvertantly introducing training scars that could get you hurt or killed. Will I still use my blue gun when needed? Yep! Will I still use my SIRT pistol when needed? You bet! Will I still use my dummy round? Absolutely! The key to EFFECTIVE and REALISTIC instruction and training is knowing what tool to use and when to use it to assist YOURSELF and/or the STUDENT to become a better shooter! BarrelBlok™ is another tool that takes training to whole new level to help you train safely, realistically with zero training scars. My friends, BE SAFE, TRAIN HARD, TRAIN SAFE! -Jason
Hi Jason,
The stated purpose of this in the article was for DT type training. Not manipulation, reload, etc drills.
I did a very small bit of digging on you, and, I found very little as to your actual credentials. In a video, on your website, you state that you are a “24 year veteran of Public Safety Services”. What, exactly, does this mean? Were you a commissioned Police Officer? If so, how long? Where? In my humble experience, as a COMMISSIONED POLICE OFFICER for over 24 years, I have found that those that…manipulate…phraseology regarding their experience are, more often than not, being deceptive or less than truthfull. Not always, but, frequently. Your biography raises some alarms. Especially when you come onto a site that many of us use as a resource for many things, most importantly our safety, and make such a statement pimping your product. I apologize ahead of time if I am mistaken, but, I have seen far too many charlatans in the LE equipment business, attempting to sell their newest, miraculous product, for cheap, while ignoring safety issues that are tried and true. If you are advocating your product for manipulation drills, bravo. BUT, the point of this orifinal article was for DT type drills, where a functioning firearm is not needed. In my NOT so humble opinion, NO OFFICER’S life or training safety is worth a monetary savings for a gimmick. I hold my colleagues, no matter where they are, dear. If you want to market your product for manipulation, storage, etc, fine. But how dare you allow it to be presented as a viable alternative to an inert aid for DT type training.
Gene,
As with all forms of media, I have no control over the editorial content written about our product. When Mr. Graves visited our booth, I provided him with the same information that I provide everyone else that asked for interviews. For instance, this is an example of the interview that I did for the well known site Active Self Protection:
https://www.facebook.com/ActiveSelfProtection/videos/982158031891977/
As you can see from the above video, as well as a visit to our website, we do not “pimp” our products as a DT training tool. They were not specifically designed for that, though there are areas where it (along with other products) can be used for specific aspects of DT and weapons retention training (I will touch on that in a moment). Also, if you refer to my original comments, I too use a blue gun for most DT training exercises. Why Mr. Graves decided to focus his article on BarrelBlok as a DT tool is only known by him. Perhaps you should direct your questions toward the writer in that regard and not point the finger back at BarrelBlok. Again, we didn’t write the content of the article nor did we have control over what was written.
Just one point that I am going to “agree to disagree” with you on in terms of DT. You said that during DT, “a functioning firearm is not needed.” The reason I disagree with you is because in DT and weapons retention training, we conduct certain exercises where we use the BarrelBlok (trimmed flush to the muzzle for safety) in a duty weapon to demonstrate that a firearm out of battery is a “dead firearm.” For instance, if a pistol is grabbed during a struggle and the slide is pushed to the rear and out of battery, that weapon is dead. Or, if someone is laying on top of an officer and their pistol and their body weight is pushing the slide backwards and slightly out of battery, their pistol is dead if they don’t know how to immediately correct that situation. Officers need to realistically and regularly train for this occurrence and experience what this is like. Nothing is worse than needing hear a “pow” and all they hear is “click.” Officer’s have to know how to immediately fix it and what the limitations of their firearm is when this occurs. This is something that cannot be realistically or functionally be taught with a blue gun or other inert, “non-functioning” training tool. Having a totally safe, functional firearm to perform these types of real-life training scenarios is vitally important. So, whether a BarrelBlok is used, a Saf-T-Plug is used, a Train-Safe barrel or Ammo-Safe barrel blocker is used for this type of exercise, the bottom line is that it is LIFESAVING training that EVERY officer should experience. All of these fine training aids and tools mentioned above are not only viable training tools for certain aspects of DT and weapons retention training, but they also do an outstanding job of duplicating this very real scenarios that officers out in the field can and do face. Any they all do this by make the training environment both SAFE and REALISTIC for total benefit of the officers trained.
The bottom line is that BarrelBlok is simply a tool. If an instructor finds a way to utilize BarrelBlok, or any other tool for that matter, to increase the effectiveness and safety of their firearms training for his or her officers, who are you or I to question them? Can we scoff at them and dismiss what they are doing because it doesn’t meet the criteria of what has traditionally been “tried and true” in LE training? Of course not! Rather, we should, as progressive instructors, be carefully listening and taking notes as to how they are using various products (BarrelBlok or others) and have a progressive mindset to learn, adapt and grow in our ability to train to the highest, most realistic standard. It was through this careful listening process during the development of the national Law Enforcement D.R.A.W. School Firearms Training program that we learned many of the frustrations LE instructors had and how training scars were affecting their officer’s performance. And because we have a very progressive mindset, we took that data and over the course of a year we engineered BarrelBlok to eliminate all those frustrations we learned about. That process can be summed up in one word- innovation. We were never in product-based businesses before BarrelBlok, but through our forward-thinking ability and willingness to meet the demands of our colleagues from around the country, we developed a product that is changing the way officers train everyday. The feedback we get from departments around the country is overwhelming. Many departments are buying BarrelBlok and issuing them to EVERY officer because of the value, safety, and lifesaving benefit the realism of training with BarrelBlok provides them.
And by the way, your “apology ahead of time if mistaken” is accepted. I certainly understand and agree with your stated concerns above. I can assure you that neither I, my team, nor our companies would be in the highly-respected, often published, and highly-demanded positions we are if we were not doing things right and had the experience and knowledge to back it up. Just as an added note, I will not respond further to the any more comments on this matter on this message board. I simply don’t have the time and from what I can see from the other posts here on SSD, the majority of respondents have a firm grasp on what BarrelBlok (and similar products) can be used for. However, I warmly invite you to contact me directly if you would like to further the discussion over the phone. If you visit BlokSafety.com you will find the office phone number and my extension is 801.
As always, BE SAFE, TRAIN HARD, TRAIN SAFE. -Jason
So, no actual LE experience? Meh.