Blank (cartridge)
Encyclopedia
Firearm
A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...
that contains gunpowder
Gunpowder
Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...
but no bullet
Bullet
A bullet is a projectile propelled by a firearm, sling, or air gun. Bullets do not normally contain explosives, but damage the intended target by impact and penetration...
or shot
Lead shot
Lead shot is a collective term for small balls of lead. These were the original projectiles for muskets and early rifles, but today lead shot is fired primarily from shotguns. It is also used for a variety of other purposes...
. When fired, the blank makes a flash and an explosive sound (report). Blanks are often used for simulation (such as in historical reenactment
Historical reenactment
Historical reenactment is an educational activity in which participants attempt torecreate some aspects of a historical event or period. This may be as narrow as a specific moment from a battle, such as the reenactment of Pickett's Charge at the Great Reunion of 1913, or as broad as an entire...
s, theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
and movie special effect
Special effect
The illusions used in the film, television, theatre, or entertainment industries to simulate the imagined events in a story are traditionally called special effects ....
s), training, and for signaling (see starting pistol
Starting pistol
A starting pistol or starter pistol is a handgun or electronic toy weapon that is fired to start track and field races, as well as competitive swimming races at some meets. The loud report of the gun going off is a signal to the athletes to begin the event. Usually a cloud of smoke can be seen...
). Blank cartridges differ from dummy cartridges, which are used for training or function testing firearms; these contain no primer or gunpowder, and are inert.
Specialized blank cartridges are also used for their propellant force in fields as varied as construction, shooting sports, and fishing
Speargun
A speargun is an underwater fishing implement designed to fire a spear at fish.The basic components of a speargun are:A spear, a stock/barrel, and a handle/grip containing a trigger mechanism...
.
Applications
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
training maneuvers, in movies
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
that require gun fights, and in starter pistols
Starting pistol
A starting pistol or starter pistol is a handgun or electronic toy weapon that is fired to start track and field races, as well as competitive swimming races at some meets. The loud report of the gun going off is a signal to the athletes to begin the event. Usually a cloud of smoke can be seen...
to signal the beginning of race
Racing
A sport race is a competition of speed, against an objective criterion, usually a clock or to a specific point. The competitors in a race try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time...
s.
Blanks used by the military are usually used with a special blank-firing adaptor
Blank-firing adaptor
A blank-firing adaptor or blank-firing attachment , sometimes called a blank adaptor or blank attachment, is a device used in conjunction with blank ammunition. Blank firing adapters are required for allowing blanks to cycle most automatic firearms.-Design:The design of the blank firing adapter...
in the firearm that constricts the barrel, keeping chamber pressures from the blank high enough and for long enough of a duration to cycle the firearm's action.
For movie use, specially designed blank-firing firearms are often used, which increases the margin of safety as they cannot be loaded with live ammunition. The 5-in-1 Blanks are specifically made for theatrical use and are commonly used in real firearms for dramatic effect. The 5-in-1 Blanks are designed to function in .38-40 and .44-40 rifles and .38-40, .44-40 and .45 Colt revolvers used in Western movies (also called 3-in-1 Blank for the three calibers).
Special blank cartridges are also used for applications where the explosive power of a cartridge is needed, but a projectile is not. Blank cartridges were commonly used for launching tear-gas or rifle grenades
Rifle grenade
A rifle grenade is a grenade that uses a rifle-based launcher to permit a longer effective range than would be possible if the grenade was thrown by hand...
, though some types of grenades are capable of trapping the bullet of a live round. Larger blanks are also used in line launching guns, such as the line launching kit for the Mossberg 500
Mossberg 500
Mossberg 500 is a series of shotguns manufactured by O.F. Mossberg & Sons. The 500 series comprises widely varying models of hammerless, pump action repeaters, all of which share the same basic receiver and action, but differ in bore size, barrel length, choke options, magazine capacity, and...
shotgun.
Blank rimfire cartridges, commonly called power loads, are also used in some nail gun
Nail gun
A nail gun, nailgun or nailer is a type of tool used to drive nails into wood or some other kind of material. It is usually driven by electromagnetism, compressed air , highly flammable gases such as butane or propane, or, for powder-actuated tools, a small explosive charge...
s (powder-actuated tools), where the power is tapped to force a heavy piston
Piston
A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tight by piston rings. In an engine, its purpose is to transfer force from...
into the nail, with enough force to bury its full length in steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
or concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
.
Some forms of fast draw
Fast Draw
Fast Draw is a sport based on the romanticized art of the gunslingers in the American Old West, using traditional single action revolvers. Unlike Cowboy action shooting, Fast Draw is shot with special blanks or wax bullets...
competitions use special blanks that are loaded with a layer of slow burning rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
powder
Smokeless powder
Smokeless powder is the name given to a number of propellants used in firearms and artillery which produce negligible smoke when fired, unlike the older gunpowder which they replaced...
on top of a thin layer of faster-burning pistol
Pistol
When distinguished as a subset of handguns, a pistol is a handgun with a chamber that is integral with the barrel, as opposed to a revolver, wherein the chamber is separate from the barrel as a revolving cylinder. Typically, pistols have an effective range of about 100 feet.-History:The pistol...
powder. The pistol powder ignites the slower burning rifle powder, and fires it out the barrel much like a shotgun shell
Shotgun shell
A shotgun shell is a self-contained cartridge loaded with lead shot or shotgun slug designed to be fired from a shotgun....
. The burning powder only travels a few yards before it completely combusts, but that is far enough to burst the balloon
Balloon
A balloon is an inflatable flexible bag filled with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. Modern balloons can be made from materials such as rubber, latex, polychloroprene, or a nylon fabric, while some early balloons were made of dried animal bladders, such as the pig...
used as a target for those competitions. Wax bullets
Wax bullets
Wax bullets are made of paraffin wax, and are pressed into a primed cartridge case. Gun powder is not used; the primer provides all the power.- Inexpensive practice :...
are also commonly used for competitions and training where a non-lethal projectile is required.
A blank cartridge may also be issued to a randomly selected shooter in an execution by firing squad
Execution by firing squad
Execution by firing squad, sometimes called fusillading , is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war.Execution by shooting is a fairly old practice...
, on the theory that each of the shooters may take comfort in the fact that they may not have fired a live round. This tradition dates back to before cartridge arms, when a muzzle loading musket
Musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun, fired from the shoulder. Muskets were designed for use by infantry. A soldier armed with a musket had the designation musketman or musketeer....
would be loaded without a ball.
Safety
The appearance of a blank cartridge can give a false sense of safety. Although blank cartridges do not contain a bullet, precautions are still required because fatalitiesDeath
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
and severe injuries have resulted on occasions when blank cartridges have been fired at very close ranges.
Blank cartridges frequently contain a paper
Paper
Paper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
, wood or plastic
Plastic
A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...
plug called a wad which seals the powder in the case. This wad can cause severe penetrating wounds at close range and bruising at medium ranges. There is also the phenomenon of "muzzle blast" - the cloud of hot, expanding gas expelled at extremely high velocity from the muzzle
Muzzle (firearm)
The muzzle of a firearm is the end of the barrel from which the projectile will exit.Precise machining of the muzzle is crucial to accuracy, because it is the last point of contact between the barrel and the projectile...
of the firearm. These high velocity gases can inflict severe injuries (see powerhead
Powerhead
A powerhead, bang stick, or shark stick is a specialized firearm used underwater that is fired when in direct contact with the target. Powerheads are often used for spear fishing, and against sharks or alligators for sport, defense, or to kill nuisance animals...
for an example) at close ranges. Additionally, if there is any small debris lodged inside the barrel it will be expelled at a velocity similar to that of a bullet, with the ability to inflict a severe or lethal wound. Additionally, the extremely loud noise of blanks being fired can damage the hearing of people in the immediate area.
Note that cartridges loaded with wadcutter
Wadcutter
A wadcutter is a special-purpose bullet specially designed for shooting paper targets, usually at close range and at subsonic velocities typically under 800 ft/s . They are often used in handgun and airgun competitions...
target bullets and cartridges for the Nagant
7.62x38mmR
7.62×38mmR is a unique ammunition cartridge designed for use in the Russian Nagant M1895 revolver....
revolver can be mistaken for blanks because the bullet does not protrude past the mouth of the cartridge casing. Shotshell cartridges known as "snake shot" or "rat shot" used in rifles or handguns for pest control often have the shot charge sealed with cardboard or plastic wads or the ends may be crimped or folded in a manner similar to that of blank cartridges.
Fatal accidents
In general, deaths or injuries from blanks occur when blanks are fired by people who are unaware of their destructive capabilities. Actors in particular are at serious risk of injury from blank cartridges used on movie sets. Several famous actors have been killed in such mishaps:- Brandon LeeBrandon LeeBrandon Bruce Lee was an American actor and martial artist. He was the son of martial arts film star Bruce Lee...
was killed when a gun containing a squib loadSquib loadA squib load, also known as a squib round, pop and no kick, or just a squib, is a firearms malfunction in which a fired projectile does not have enough force behind it to exit the barrel, and thus becomes stuck...
(a bullet accidentally stuck in the barrel) was fired with a blank cartridge while filming a scene, which propelled the lodged bullet down the barrel. As reported in the investigation and court records, when blanks were loaded into the gun by someone other than the firearms expert, the bullet left in the barrel by the squib shot was propelled out of the barrel on the first shot. - Jon-Erik HexumJon-Erik HexumJon-Erik Hexum was an American model and actor. He died as a result of a firearms accident on the set of the CBS television series Cover Up in which he played the male lead.-Early life and career:...
was killed when he placed a blank-loaded .44 Magnum.44 MagnumThe .44 Remington Magnum, or simply .44 Magnum, is a large-bore cartridge originally designed for revolvers. After introduction, it was quickly adopted for carbines and rifles...
revolver to his head and pulled the trigger—the powerful shock-wave from the blank cartridge penetrated his skull, sending bone fragments deep into his brain. He died a few days after the accident.
External links
- World Fast Draw Association resource page, includes video instructions for loading blank cartridges for Fast Draw
- Definition of "movie" or "5-in-1" blank
- The ABCs of PATs, information on powder-actuated tools and power load blanks