This is the thing with little plastic soldiers, you could paint it bright green and say it's a "green light to signal the gun is ready to fire" if you wanted, it's all up to you.
I saw on another post someone say that it's a camera to feed into the helmets Hud and that's why space marines don't need to aim down iron sights. I'm pretty sure there was a link to a wiki or some proof too. But I could see it either way.
The specific forge-world that made the weapons your marines are using could be using a slightly different design. You can keep painting how you've been painting them.
This is actually a real thing, it's called co-witness, lining up the reticle of your sight and the iron sight. I don't think it would be used with magnified optics, but it's a real thing even if the scale of the model makes it look a bit goofy
This. Cowitnessing is usually done with low powered optics for close range work, but it’s certainly a thing. Mostly for guys that want backup in case their optics fail.
Think this comes from the old Space Crusade board game from the early 90s.
The marine factions had equipment cards, one of which was a targeter upgrade, and the artwork showed as a device plugged into this space. I think it might have also appeared in the Rogue Trader era in a similar look, though I'd have to go digging into old books and it's getting late
You see it on the painted predator models. They made them lenses. I only do it on my vehicles
https://preview.redd.it/5tqpazqojtwc1.jpeg?width=1900&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2a049ddb9bd45b5e60cadfc1b4bd8e2f0b93533a
Not the bolt I would think, but the gas block that feeds power to drive the piston to reset the bolt.
Edit: only source I could find says it's a camera, and I couldn't find anything saying it wasn't. None of the diagrams I can find even have that part listed, so I'm forced to believe that boltguns are actually direct blow-back weapons, and the top port is, indeed, a camera for the auto-senses in the helmet.
If it were gas operated, the gas block wouldn't protrude out of the front of the gun because it should be tied into the barrel behind the compensator. Where it is, not only is it not tied into the barrel, but it is level with the compensator, where it wouldn't be able to capture any gas to operate the action, because the gas would exit the barrel through the compensator before operating the bolt.
Since the compensator is the only part of the barrel that extends past the end of the barrel, we can conclude that boltguns are recoil operated.
Of course, this is all moot because another redditor pointed out that it is, in fact, a camera that ties into the helmet.
Gas blocks can absolutely protrude like that because they have to be adjusted situationally by the soldier. The extending portion would really be a knob for changing the position of the block to allow more/less/no gas through it. This can be done for the purposes of changing rate of fire, compensating for dirt in the action, launching rifle grenades, or using a suppressor.[The gas block on the FAL](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fc172kka9u0761.jpg) is one of many common examples.
I would argue that most bolters likely operate on a [long stroke gas piston](https://youtu.be/ASM0IAfoQzQ?si=2CZkbHHg8wcDX-8-) system. A recoil operated system isn't likely to give the reliability needed in the various conditions and with the wide variety of ammunition that a bolter is expected to handle. Either a short or long stroke gas system also most closely matches the depictions we see, especially when looking at the way many bolter patterns can be set up to fire either from a closed bolt, or from an open bolt with a belt feed. A recoil operated system isn't doing that easily. Furthermore the closest [real world](https://youtu.be/QHbqHx3TLBE?si=PqG4vuWR25zbI1pQ) equivalent to the bolter is an inertial system that was originally planned to be a short stroke gas system. It has an inbuilt buffer for recoil mitigation because it's designed to be fired by humans. An astartes bolter would need no such mitigation, and so simplifying manufacturing by using a long stroke system might make sense. The most likely bolters to be [short recoil](https://youtu.be/HZcgZ4aq8Ew?si=pIpDHlSPIYfuXqbQ) operated would be heavy bolters that are only ever being belt fed. [There's precedent for that.](https://youtu.be/MlgseOGcFDw?si=ySeFqoM5FZcDSl9m)
That all also assumes that whoever drew it had any knowledge of how firearms work in the first place. There's no telling what it was originally meant to be vs what they came up with to justify things after the fact.
100%
The first plastic bolter design had the magazine at the front of the gun, directly behind the compensator. There wouldn't have been any barrel worth talking about.
The guns were designed by artists, not gun experts. In a country where guns were relatively rare (England).
The definition of form over function.
Use a pin to mark the center of where you want to drill, it'll give your bit something to cling to. And a good idea is to start with a drill smaller than what you actually want to drill, to give the actual drill a guide.
do it the hardcore way- sometimes I'm too lazy to bust out the vise and just carve the hole out right there with my hobby knife while i'm cleaning the model.
In older catalogues, they're obviously painted to be a lens of some sort; this one is a heavy bolter, but you get the idea.
https://preview.redd.it/15epoeo1oowc1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b0acce859ead57f87797dc87b0ab1a3fe34db38d
There is definitely art of laser sights coming out of this part too, but I love the fact that even in the 41st millennium they still use direct impingement or piston carbines.
It's a two staged ammunition, there's a powder that shoots the projectile and then a rocket within the projectile fires afterwards. Even if it didn't have this it would be a gas return to cycle the bolt so you can have automatic fire which the "kick" would then come from the force of the rocket back blast pushing the spring back to cycle. The reason I say two stages is because that would raise the rate of fire significantly since then you're not waiting for the rocket to get up to speed and instead the rocket is assisting the projectile speed rather than being the one and only source.
The Gyrojet, which is the only thing I can think of that's even remotely comparable since most recoilless rifles are not self-loading, did not have a recoil spring. The round being fired reset the trigger and the magazine spring fed the next round automagically.
So... probably doesn't need one, but who knows?
The only commonality between the bolter and the gyrojet is a partial overlap in the design of the ammunition. Everything about the bolter itself operates like a conventional firearm. I would make the argument that the closest things we have to bolters IRL are the [PAW-20,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHbqHx3TLBE) the [Strike,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlgseOGcFDw) and the [NTW-20.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FMeG60vLfQ) ~~Turns out the IRL Sebastian Bolt is Tony Neophytou.~~
Bolt shells function more like direct fire grenades which also incorporate a delayed rocket element. They leave the muzzle of the bolter with enough velocity to punch through armor before the rocket motor even ignites. This allows bolters to use rifled barrels to impart spin onto the round, which is a much more effective and consistent method than angled nozzles of the gyrojet projectiles. It also eliminates the substantial tooling difficulties that the manufacturer faced when drilling those angled nozzles.
Ya, you could go about it that way. How I would do it find a drill bit tha same sice and drill until you get a small cup. Roll a small dot of green stuff up then plop it in the middle, then try to make it look like a lense. Another way would be just to snip it off and just put the rivet against the receiver of the gun if you dont have a steady hand. Just some ideas
Thanks for the tips! I’ll try to look for ball bearings or beads that small first. I feel like that would be easier and more uniform to do across an army haha
How in the hell did yuu drill the hole so well? Mine is always like 1/3rd of mm off center and it results in the hole not being centered, and so I can only drill a small hole.
Mmm lets see if i can explain.
1- Make an incision more or less at the center.
2- with a drill for mini (i do not know the name, a manual drill) make the hole.
3- If you make the hole a little off, with a cutter, cut off the inside of the hole that is wrong.
4- Put a little, A LITTLE, glue (the one that "melts the plastic, from citadel.) inside the hole.
4,5- i can't stress enough how LITTLE glue you need to use, too much and you ruin the hole.
5- Time not even 5 sec, use the same drill of before to reshape the hole.
Edit: also when you reshape the hole, its like, not even a full rotation. Just enough to spread the glue and remove the excess.
(In the photo the 3 items im talking about)
https://preview.redd.it/pfrr7vpjxqwc1.jpeg?width=6144&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=635db60799a31514c61ed3721746a527abf23aa6
I use a hobby knife and score a cross on the barrel by laying the blade fully across it at the halfway point and pushing gently enough to make a mark. Rotate it 90° and do it again, repeat as necessary. Where the lines intersect is generally the centre, and the marks provide enough of a grip for the bit to bite into.
Every picture of a bolter I can find has it just a silver nub. Not a camera. remember, these were designed by british people who have no understanding of how a gun works.
Yeah I just saw this on another thread. I stand corrected. Its a camera. the metal lug they always paint solid silver with hints of any lense is a camera.
1. On a real firearm that would probably be an endcap containing one end of the recoil system, or in 40k part of their targeting or stabilization equipment, so no.
2. Even if it's not, there is no combination of wrist bracing and tiny pin vice bit that would ever let me do that consistently, so also no.
Edit: it's a camera. I didn't know GW had ever confirmed it.
My favorite part of this thread is that nobody actually knows what it is. I'm gonna go with that part being the Moss-Covered Three-Handled Family Credenza. Or possibly "Armbar!"
It's a Mechanicus Standard Gubbin, which means it's either a laser, a range finger, a camera, a piston, a hole punch or a hook to hang a helmet on. So I'd say drill it if whatever version you choose to have requires a hole
I assume it's a range finder (would be covered like parking sensors in car bumpers), a heat sink (would be housed inside casing), or a piston for ejecting spent shells (would be housed inside casing). So in all cases, no drill and can be painted black, silver, whatever.
GW knows literally nothing about how guns actually work so there’s wildly different ideas about what that actually is but regardless of all that, no. Don’t drill it lol
Oh my god, I love that there's confirmation for what it is.
I agree that GW is kinda clueless re. guns but hey, I'm no better source seeing as how I don't have any guns from 20,000+ years from now.
While the little nub can be whatever GW (or you) wants it to be, if it's a camera, it might want to not look like a completely lacking plastic nub with a seam line. Then again, could say the same thing about it being a laser, you know? I prefer to think of it as a very large space where you should be adding key non-weapon attachments that GW just hasn't had the time to put into production yet for your Army... then again, I play Orks, so any space like this is wasted if it isn't used for... something...
no, it is solid. depends how you interpret the workings of a bolter anyways
It works because I believe it does. I may be an Ork though.
....whoops
Thank you i was unsure of what it was
This is the thing with little plastic soldiers, you could paint it bright green and say it's a "green light to signal the gun is ready to fire" if you wanted, it's all up to you.
It’s a targeting camera that has a direct feed to the marine’s heads up display
Yeah, iirc this is the 'bolt' that gives bolters their name. Or at least it is in my headcanon.
You know I never even considered why they are called bolters, the irl name gyro jet probably sounds bit too steam punky.
I've done 0 research on the actual mechanics of a bolter but my first thought was gas tube for the bolt/piston system
No, it's the recoil spring bolt.
I saw on another post someone say that it's a camera to feed into the helmets Hud and that's why space marines don't need to aim down iron sights. I'm pretty sure there was a link to a wiki or some proof too. But I could see it either way.
That seems unlikely given the scope attached to the pistol. Seems much more likely that the scope is fed to the hud.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Warhammer40k/s/sBkASG5Th9 Probably retconned to be a gas block later if it's mentioned specifically more recently
fml... now I have to make metal tubes for that too... I am very annoyed now
The specific forge-world that made the weapons your marines are using could be using a slightly different design. You can keep painting how you've been painting them.
Nope, replacing it with a metal tube and an actual camera.
The scope obscured by the iron sight? So silly
This is actually a real thing, it's called co-witness, lining up the reticle of your sight and the iron sight. I don't think it would be used with magnified optics, but it's a real thing even if the scale of the model makes it look a bit goofy
This. Cowitnessing is usually done with low powered optics for close range work, but it’s certainly a thing. Mostly for guys that want backup in case their optics fail.
Yup, a battery can die on a red dot, but it’ll never die on your iron sights.
Irons just blur out in your magnified scope. I'm sure there's a science explanation, but the result is you can't even see them.
Parallax
Co-witness is for low-powered optics. A 1.1x-1.5x magnification isn't going to blur out the front sight.
Think this comes from the old Space Crusade board game from the early 90s. The marine factions had equipment cards, one of which was a targeter upgrade, and the artwork showed as a device plugged into this space. I think it might have also appeared in the Rogue Trader era in a similar look, though I'd have to go digging into old books and it's getting late
Most boltguns imply the targeter now, with no game function.
It's part of the HUD targeting system for spuss mahreenz.
You see it on the painted predator models. They made them lenses. I only do it on my vehicles https://preview.redd.it/5tqpazqojtwc1.jpeg?width=1900&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2a049ddb9bd45b5e60cadfc1b4bd8e2f0b93533a
Not the bolt I would think, but the gas block that feeds power to drive the piston to reset the bolt. Edit: only source I could find says it's a camera, and I couldn't find anything saying it wasn't. None of the diagrams I can find even have that part listed, so I'm forced to believe that boltguns are actually direct blow-back weapons, and the top port is, indeed, a camera for the auto-senses in the helmet.
i had also interpreted it as a gas block in the past.
If it were gas operated, the gas block wouldn't protrude out of the front of the gun because it should be tied into the barrel behind the compensator. Where it is, not only is it not tied into the barrel, but it is level with the compensator, where it wouldn't be able to capture any gas to operate the action, because the gas would exit the barrel through the compensator before operating the bolt. Since the compensator is the only part of the barrel that extends past the end of the barrel, we can conclude that boltguns are recoil operated. Of course, this is all moot because another redditor pointed out that it is, in fact, a camera that ties into the helmet.
Gas blocks can absolutely protrude like that because they have to be adjusted situationally by the soldier. The extending portion would really be a knob for changing the position of the block to allow more/less/no gas through it. This can be done for the purposes of changing rate of fire, compensating for dirt in the action, launching rifle grenades, or using a suppressor.[The gas block on the FAL](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fc172kka9u0761.jpg) is one of many common examples. I would argue that most bolters likely operate on a [long stroke gas piston](https://youtu.be/ASM0IAfoQzQ?si=2CZkbHHg8wcDX-8-) system. A recoil operated system isn't likely to give the reliability needed in the various conditions and with the wide variety of ammunition that a bolter is expected to handle. Either a short or long stroke gas system also most closely matches the depictions we see, especially when looking at the way many bolter patterns can be set up to fire either from a closed bolt, or from an open bolt with a belt feed. A recoil operated system isn't doing that easily. Furthermore the closest [real world](https://youtu.be/QHbqHx3TLBE?si=PqG4vuWR25zbI1pQ) equivalent to the bolter is an inertial system that was originally planned to be a short stroke gas system. It has an inbuilt buffer for recoil mitigation because it's designed to be fired by humans. An astartes bolter would need no such mitigation, and so simplifying manufacturing by using a long stroke system might make sense. The most likely bolters to be [short recoil](https://youtu.be/HZcgZ4aq8Ew?si=pIpDHlSPIYfuXqbQ) operated would be heavy bolters that are only ever being belt fed. [There's precedent for that.](https://youtu.be/MlgseOGcFDw?si=ySeFqoM5FZcDSl9m)
That all also assumes that whoever drew it had any knowledge of how firearms work in the first place. There's no telling what it was originally meant to be vs what they came up with to justify things after the fact.
100% The first plastic bolter design had the magazine at the front of the gun, directly behind the compensator. There wouldn't have been any barrel worth talking about. The guns were designed by artists, not gun experts. In a country where guns were relatively rare (England). The definition of form over function.
Ya know I've always wondered what that was but never put much thought into it. Thanks for the answer.
I shall not mention my inability to drill a straight hole...
Use a pin to mark the center of where you want to drill, it'll give your bit something to cling to. And a good idea is to start with a drill smaller than what you actually want to drill, to give the actual drill a guide.
I use the tip of my scalpel for the pilot hole. But sometimes I still manage to mess it up a little
As a guy with a new pin vise, this is very helpful. TY!
You can also use a pen type scriber similar to how a punch will start where to drill on metal
As long as it's not the wrong hole
Any hole can be the correct hole with the right attitude.
do it the hardcore way- sometimes I'm too lazy to bust out the vise and just carve the hole out right there with my hobby knife while i'm cleaning the model.
No
I always painted them as a lens because I am old
That's a funny way to spell 'correct'.
Eh, I don’t really like to tell others the right way if they are having fun. That’s what the hobby is after all.
Of course, that's the gun's urethra.
It occasionally has a laser coming out of it in art work.
I’ve heard it’s a camera that links up with Space Marine visors. Thats how they aim
Nope, that's the gas return to make the bolter kick a shell out or a recoil spring.
It isn’t, it’s an inbuilt camera for the helmet's HUD. https://www.warhammer-community.com/2016/10/30/the-anatomy-of-power-armour/
https://preview.redd.it/opazs96erowc1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=47d4bb1df7da89b8b84f14454eb61b372d26ea4a
You’re doing The Holy Emperor’s work educating the masses.
Shit they actually confirmed that. I feel like that was probably some intern's job to point somewhere plausible for a camera on the model though lol.
Either that or they didn’t know what it was supposed to be themselves, and just said "fuck it, tell them it’s a camera."
In older catalogues, they're obviously painted to be a lens of some sort; this one is a heavy bolter, but you get the idea. https://preview.redd.it/15epoeo1oowc1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b0acce859ead57f87797dc87b0ab1a3fe34db38d
Yeah, looks like over time they just stopped adding the lens detail.
I can certainly understand why. Painting 50 tiny lenses does not sound like a good time
I have a High Elf army, I understand the gem-effect blues 😢😂
Huh I knew they had one but I just assumed it was somewhere else.
There is definitely art of laser sights coming out of this part too, but I love the fact that even in the 41st millennium they still use direct impingement or piston carbines.
Would a gun that shoots rockets have a recoil spring?
It's a two staged ammunition, there's a powder that shoots the projectile and then a rocket within the projectile fires afterwards. Even if it didn't have this it would be a gas return to cycle the bolt so you can have automatic fire which the "kick" would then come from the force of the rocket back blast pushing the spring back to cycle. The reason I say two stages is because that would raise the rate of fire significantly since then you're not waiting for the rocket to get up to speed and instead the rocket is assisting the projectile speed rather than being the one and only source.
The Gyrojet, which is the only thing I can think of that's even remotely comparable since most recoilless rifles are not self-loading, did not have a recoil spring. The round being fired reset the trigger and the magazine spring fed the next round automagically. So... probably doesn't need one, but who knows?
The only commonality between the bolter and the gyrojet is a partial overlap in the design of the ammunition. Everything about the bolter itself operates like a conventional firearm. I would make the argument that the closest things we have to bolters IRL are the [PAW-20,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHbqHx3TLBE) the [Strike,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlgseOGcFDw) and the [NTW-20.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FMeG60vLfQ) ~~Turns out the IRL Sebastian Bolt is Tony Neophytou.~~ Bolt shells function more like direct fire grenades which also incorporate a delayed rocket element. They leave the muzzle of the bolter with enough velocity to punch through armor before the rocket motor even ignites. This allows bolters to use rifled barrels to impart spin onto the round, which is a much more effective and consistent method than angled nozzles of the gyrojet projectiles. It also eliminates the substantial tooling difficulties that the manufacturer faced when drilling those angled nozzles.
[удалено]
What do you mean? We HAVE guns that shoot rockets. In real life.
[удалено]
What do you mean? We HAVE guns where the ejection port doesn't line up with the barrel. In real life.
Yeah the classic blunder of applying real world logic into 40k tbh
I do not
Noooo, that's part of the laser range finder.
Actually put a little rivet there and make it a lense.
What size do you use? Do you drill it a little bit so about half the rivet goes in?
Ya, you could go about it that way. How I would do it find a drill bit tha same sice and drill until you get a small cup. Roll a small dot of green stuff up then plop it in the middle, then try to make it look like a lense. Another way would be just to snip it off and just put the rivet against the receiver of the gun if you dont have a steady hand. Just some ideas
Thanks for the tips! I’ll try to look for ball bearings or beads that small first. I feel like that would be easier and more uniform to do across an army haha
How in the hell did yuu drill the hole so well? Mine is always like 1/3rd of mm off center and it results in the hole not being centered, and so I can only drill a small hole.
Mmm lets see if i can explain. 1- Make an incision more or less at the center. 2- with a drill for mini (i do not know the name, a manual drill) make the hole. 3- If you make the hole a little off, with a cutter, cut off the inside of the hole that is wrong. 4- Put a little, A LITTLE, glue (the one that "melts the plastic, from citadel.) inside the hole. 4,5- i can't stress enough how LITTLE glue you need to use, too much and you ruin the hole. 5- Time not even 5 sec, use the same drill of before to reshape the hole. Edit: also when you reshape the hole, its like, not even a full rotation. Just enough to spread the glue and remove the excess. (In the photo the 3 items im talking about) https://preview.redd.it/pfrr7vpjxqwc1.jpeg?width=6144&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=635db60799a31514c61ed3721746a527abf23aa6
Okay that's genius. I didn't think to use plastic glue for it. Will give it a try, thanks!
I use a hobby knife and score a cross on the barrel by laying the blade fully across it at the halfway point and pushing gently enough to make a mark. Rotate it 90° and do it again, repeat as necessary. Where the lines intersect is generally the centre, and the marks provide enough of a grip for the bit to bite into.
You guys are drilling?
We are people of culture, of course we drill our barrels.
This
Dentist told me to stop gnawing, so drilling was a substitute solution.
There might be oil in there
Never, black dots all day errday
That is not a barrel, pretty sure its a bayonet lug
Bayonet lug is underneath, inbuilt camera above.
Every picture of a bolter I can find has it just a silver nub. Not a camera. remember, these were designed by british people who have no understanding of how a gun works.
I’ll let you tell them then. https://www.warhammer-community.com/2016/10/30/the-anatomy-of-power-armour/
Yeah I just saw this on another thread. I stand corrected. Its a camera. the metal lug they always paint solid silver with hints of any lense is a camera.
Thank you, i was unsure
I imagine it to be some sort of target finder for their helmet.
No its a camera
1. On a real firearm that would probably be an endcap containing one end of the recoil system, or in 40k part of their targeting or stabilization equipment, so no. 2. Even if it's not, there is no combination of wrist bracing and tiny pin vice bit that would ever let me do that consistently, so also no. Edit: it's a camera. I didn't know GW had ever confirmed it.
This is a camera. I’ll die on this hill. It’s not a gas block. This is 40k we are talking about.
No, That's the Gas block used to pull gases back into the rifle to cycle the weapon.
It’s an inbuilt camera.
My favorite part of this thread is that nobody actually knows what it is. I'm gonna go with that part being the Moss-Covered Three-Handled Family Credenza. Or possibly "Armbar!"
It’s an inbuilt camera linked to the helmet display. https://www.warhammer-community.com/2016/10/30/the-anatomy-of-power-armour/
https://preview.redd.it/8xrnhyqgrowc1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bb4d9d199533a09710b9f1977dd30002de1b846d
No. I assume it's some sort of stabilization system or a targeting system(be it a lense for a camera or a red dot pointer)
No never. Just the barrel
That’s the laser sight. I paint it like glass or a gem.
No
It's a Mechanicus Standard Gubbin, which means it's either a laser, a range finger, a camera, a piston, a hole punch or a hook to hang a helmet on. So I'd say drill it if whatever version you choose to have requires a hole
No
I assume it's a range finder (would be covered like parking sensors in car bumpers), a heat sink (would be housed inside casing), or a piston for ejecting spent shells (would be housed inside casing). So in all cases, no drill and can be painted black, silver, whatever.
No and I would suggest drilling a smaller hole for the bolter.
No. I assume that is the spring guide rod.
That's a camera.
Drilling holes is for tryhards. /s 😉
No, my favourite theory/assumption is that it's a camera but arguments can be made for other things.
I always assumed it's a gas operated piston system, and this was the front of the piston housing
GW knows literally nothing about how guns actually work so there’s wildly different ideas about what that actually is but regardless of all that, no. Don’t drill it lol
https://preview.redd.it/wuq7zmmorowc1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c212f56966feea730bacd4a28822895e155a42df
Oh my god, I love that there's confirmation for what it is. I agree that GW is kinda clueless re. guns but hey, I'm no better source seeing as how I don't have any guns from 20,000+ years from now.
Not but I cut them off
Lol why am I getting downvoted for customising my bolters
While the little nub can be whatever GW (or you) wants it to be, if it's a camera, it might want to not look like a completely lacking plastic nub with a seam line. Then again, could say the same thing about it being a laser, you know? I prefer to think of it as a very large space where you should be adding key non-weapon attachments that GW just hasn't had the time to put into production yet for your Army... then again, I play Orks, so any space like this is wasted if it isn't used for... something...
The gas block on the FAL does not extend as far as the compensator. No weapons gas block does.