Full Military power Flamethrower - Great or Terrible?

[Boats]

That thing is a gateway drug to a M4A3R3.

 

[Tully Mars]

That thing is a gateway drug to a M4A3R3.

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Yeah, I hope so!!

 

[Brster3]

Yessss. Or the M132:

Whaaaa??

That thing is a gateway drug to a M4A3R3.

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[Certaindeaf]

Hahahaha, sounds like some of my relatives...
The whole exploding when getting shot thing is actually pure Hollywood. Ours is filled with CO2 which puts OUT flames, and the M2 and M9 were pressurized with nitrogen, which doesn't support flame. Plus if you've seen the Mythbusters Jaws episodes, if you shoot a pressure tank you just get a hole that sprays the compressed gas in a jet. So no explosion. Unless maybe you hit it with a rocket launcher... But then I think you have a bigger worry

So a solid stream of incendiary rounds is Hollywood? I think a lot a dead guys would argue with you about that. but I'm not a rocketer so

 

[Certaindeaf]

That would be an amazing crowd control device.

Hearts and minds, baby!

 

[CountryGent]

Well, I suppose I could light up a Cuban with it.

Indeed. I can see the slogan now: "Great Way to Light a Smoke Since 1939!"

 

[Certaindeaf]

Indeed. I can see the slogan now: "Great Way to Light a Smoke Since 1939!"

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The thing about flamethrowers is we sucked donkey dong for some time. Really odd but go figure.
The gentleman has about six hours on flaming death..

 

[Brster3]

An incendiary round would at worst lead to a second small flamethrower coming out of a ~6.5-8mm hole in the side, facing away from the user most likely, and then only if it hit below the liquid level (if it hits the gas, just gas leaking). Though 4 hits = 4 extra side flamethrowers and that's pretty bad... But so is getting shot 4 times...

So a solid stream of incendiary rounds is Hollywood? I think a lot a dead guys would argue with you about that. but I'm not a rocketer so

 

[best defense]

Hey guys! I've been reading this forum for a couple years, just haven't signed up before. We spent a lot of time, about $10,000 and a grand total of about 12 solid months of researching, building, testing, and redesigning to create the only full military power flamethrower that anyone is producing right now. The guys behind the X15 flamethrower actually bought a previous prototype of ours a few years ago and then copied a lot of the design and have sold $3 million dollars worth... Though theirs has the power of a toy basically, and ours matches and even exceeds the power of the M2 and M9 from the US military. We were pretty surprised to find out we triggered an industry, or that there was anyone else who would want a flamethrower hahaha.

My question is this – right now we only have one after selling the second on Gunbroker. Would anyone want one? (This is a question for feedback, we don't have any to sell!) We created a couple videos and made up a name (Apache Fluidics M2 M9 flamethrower) and web page that's not actually 'live', but we're not a company, we're just engineers and guys that think what we made is cool. The web page right now is just copied over from our current business, etc. We've only made two of these, plus several previous prototypes in all kinds of variations. We'd love for more people to get to try out the real deal if anyone would want us to make them - but I don't want to go broke if no one cares/everyone thinks it's stupid. It's a serious item, they don't make valves that handle over 200 psi and also flow over 15 gallons per minute. Nor do they make fittings for high pressure tanks with large orifices. Plus rotary unions are expensive, etc. So we spend about $3000 in parts and machining to make one- there's no joke in getting 45 gallons per minute at up to 750 psi. I'm an aerospace engineer, and this shares a ton in common with the liquid rocket engines we make (the flow rates and pressures are fully in that realm). That's why you won't see any else like this on YouTube unless they're a ($12,000) refurbished genuine M2 or M9 (which also have questionably corroded steel tanks). I think DeGroat or someone like that made a couple years back? I think I heard he sold them for like $8000? Anyway, here's one video we made on it:

(Obviously it's like sky diving, it will never be totally 'safe', so put that part aside. It's not for everyone, and you need a good, safe place to shoot it and safety gear. We've done everything to use very safe tanks, valves, pressure systems, etc. Which does make it heavy). Here's a pic:

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So whatdya guys think? We could see them used for reenactments (painted, maybe with sparklers for ignition to take off the torch), for machine gun shoots and rentals, for fun, for attractions at cool events (like auto racing etc), for movies/props. Gun store owners could sell them in their shops and I'm sure people would come in just to stare at it. We came up with a less expensive one tank version too. Anyone who would actually buy one if we made them? We could make more, make some really cool videos (flamethrower skeet shooting and all kinds of interesting and entertaining stuff), but I don't want to go to the trouble and expense if no one would be interested. Is it too powerful and people just want a toy, more like the X15? Something that's more backyard friendly? It's alright if you hate it too, just please say why!

Just looking for opinions, we don't have any to sell (the website is just us jacking around)- don't want to try offering them if people think it's useless/ridiculous


(And again, first time poster, I get it – but just respectfully asking for feedback from a couple forums we trust and appreciate on a cool thing we made, NOT selling anything. Thanks for any opinions!)

While I am sure there are many people in the world who would purchase a flame thrower, it is my opinion that they are pretty dangerous to the operator, and I was under the impression that they fell under the category of "any other weapon" in the NFA book of rules, so it seems the buyer would need to register it with the BATFE. Is that correct?

 

[Certaindeaf]

My flamethrower is a nasty 14 shot hunk that I don't have to fight to. Thank you very much.
anyway

 

[Brster3]

No, not regulated by the BATF. Smaller flamethrowers are common in brush burning and the parts function in the same way, so they are not regulated due to those uses. Also, they would make really poor weapons generally speaking because they're heavy and last only ~10 seconds

 

[1BigGuy]

Interesting. Do you think a flame thrower would take care of my gopher problem?

 

[Caveman Jim]

That would be an amazing crowd control device.

Especially at Antifa protests and Bernie rallies.... lol

 

[3MTA3]

I'll take one as soon as I can find a 25' diameter marshmallow.

 

[Tully Mars]

Interesting. Do you think a flame thrower would take care of my gopher problem?

I don't see why not. Use it like a garden hose. Just stuff it down a hole and watch for flames to come shooting out the others..

 

[aljames]

I wish I would of had this in Alaska a few years ago. I was working on a road construction project. Some times when the asphalt mix was a little off or allowed to cool too much in the box it would stick....creating an absolute disaster. The first thought I had for your invention was me standing on the ground about 15 feet behind the truck in pure comfort melting a few yards worth out onto the ground. Random I know but it sure would outclass a weed burner.

 

[Brster3]

Haha, that would probably work...
Gophers, dunno. Not sure there's enough oxygen in the hole. Oxy-propane is another way... (don't do oxy-acetylene, there's a video on YouTube of someone almost making that their last mistake)
I think there's also a video on YouTube with a giant marshmallow and a smaller flamethrower lol

Sounds like maybe we should build a smaller one so people could actually have a place to use it

 

[jbett98]

I'll stick with Molotov Cocktails.

 

[Flopsweat]

Interesting. Do you think a flame thrower would take care of my gopher problem?

Oxy-acetylene or oxy-propane will work better.

 

[IronMonster]

So what besides the rotary union are you producing? It looks like its mostly off the shelf fittings and valves? After doing your R&D do you think there is a way to reduce the complexity of those parts? Could they be produced utilizing CNC processes to reduce cost in small batches?

I think if you could get the price down in the $1500-$2000 range you could sell enough to justify producing them. at $8000 I just dont think there is a large enough market to make it work.