I would assume the taped off muzzle is to keep dirt and stuff out of the barrel until you need to fire the weapon.When you fire, the bullet would obviously go through the tape. They did it similar in 'nam.
WIP SOG kit:
Since I took teh photo yesterday, I turned the strobe pouch rightside up, added another M56 First Aid pouch to the suspenders, and put the M56 universal pouch in between the two canteen pouches.