A blank is a
firearm cartridge that, when fired, does not shoot a
projectile like a
bullet or
pellet, but generates a
muzzle flash and an explosive sound (
muzzle report) like a normal
gunshot would. Firearms may need to be modified to allow a blank to cycle the
action, and the shooter experiences less
recoil with a blank than with a live round. Blanks are often used in
prop guns for shooting simulations that have no need for ballistic results, but still demand
light
Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 t ...
and
sound effects, such as in
historical reenactments,
special effects for
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...
,
movie and
television productions, combat training, for signaling (see
starting pistol), and
cowboy mounted shooting. Specialised blank cartridges are also used for their propellant force in fields as varied as construction, shooting sports, and
fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from fish stocking, stocked bodies of water such as fish pond, ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. ...
and general recreation.
While blanks are less dangerous than live ammunition, they are dangerous and can still cause fatal injuries. Beside the explosive gases, any objects in the cartridge (like
wadding that may be keeping the
propellant in place, or objects lodged in the
barrel) will be propelled at high velocity and cause injury or death at close range.
Blank cartridges differ from the inert/fake
ammunitions such as
dummy cartridges and
snap caps, which contain no
primer
Primer may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Primer'' (film), a 2004 feature film written and directed by Shane Carruth
* ''Primer'' (video), a documentary about the funk band Living Colour
Literature
* Primer (textbook), a te ...
or
gunpowder to even produce flash and sound and are used for "cold" training or function-testing firearm actions. They are also different from the
percussion caps used in
cap guns, which also produce a sound of gunfire but only consist of the equivalent of the primer with no propellant to produce a sonic boom, so they sound much softer.
Applications
Blanks are commonly used when the sound and flash of gunfire is needed, but a projectile would not be safe, such as in
military training manoeuvres or
funeral honours, in
movies
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...
that require gun fights, in
starter pistols to signal the beginning of
races, and in the equestrian sport of
cowboy mounted shooting.
Standard firearms that are self-loading require modification to their mechanism, or else a blank firing adapter to allow the action to cycle. This is because in the absence of a projectile to oppose the force of the gases, the lower pressures and lower recoil generated by a blank cartridge are insufficient to cycle the gun’s mechanism in the same way that a standard live round would.
For military applications, blanks are typically used with a special
blank-firing adaptor in the firearm that constricts the barrel, keeping chamber pressures created by the blank high enough and for long enough to cycle the firearm's
gas-operated action. In the case of non-crimped blanks, it also serves to pulverise the plug to prevent it leaving as a projectile.
Specially designed blank-firing prop firearms are sometimes used for movies, thereby avoiding gun control legislation and increasing the margin of safety because they cannot be loaded with live ammunition.
5-in-1 blanks are specifically made for theatrical use and are commonly used in real firearms for dramatic effect. 5-in-1 blanks can function in a variety of different
calibres, hence the name.
Special blank cartridges are also used when the explosive power of a cartridge is needed, but a projectile is not. Blank cartridges were commonly used for launching a
messenger line,
tear-gas
Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ad ...
or
rifle grenades, though some types of grenades are capable of trapping the bullet of a live round. Larger blanks are also used for line launching guns, such as the line launching kit for the
Mossberg 500 shotgun.
Blank
rimfire cartridges, commonly called ''power loads'', are also used in some
nail guns (
powder-actuated tool
A powder-actuated tool (PAT, often generically called a Hilti gun or a Ramset gun after their manufacturing companies) is a type of nail gun used in construction and manufacturing to join materials to hard substrates such as steel and concret ...
s), where the power is tapped to force a heavy
piston into the nail, with enough force to bury its full length into
steel
Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistan ...
or
concrete.
Some forms of
fast draw competitions use special blanks that are loaded with a layer of slow burning
rifle powder on top of a thin layer of faster-burning
pistol powder. The pistol powder ignites the slower burning rifle powder, and fires it out of the barrel much like a
shotgun shell. The burning powder only travels a few yards before it completely combusts, but that is far enough to burst the
balloon
A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, and air. For special tasks, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), or lig ...
used as a target for those competitions.
Wax bullets are also commonly used for competitions and training where a non-lethal projectile is required.
A blank cartridge was sometimes also issued to a randomly selected shooter in an
execution by firing squad, on the theory that each of the shooters would 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 would be loaded without a ball.
Some abattoir
Captive bolt pistols are powered by blank cartridges.
Blank
12-gauge shotgun cartridges are also used in "alarm mines", devices that use a
tripwire
A tripwire is a passive triggering mechanism. Typically, a wire or cord is attached to a device for detecting or reacting to physical movement.
Military applications
Such tripwires may be attached to one or more mines – especially fragme ...
to produce an extremely loud
report in order to alert people in the vicinity.
Blank rounds have been used to contain the propellant within an empty cartridge, or in some cases as a piston to unlock the bolt and operate the weapon. These types of rounds are rarely used and are mostly found on
Spotting rifles.
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 fatalities and severe injuries have resulted on occasions when blank cartridges have been fired at very close ranges.
Blank cartridges frequently contain a
paper
Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distribu ...
, wood or
plastic
Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adapta ...
plug called a
''wad'' that seals the powder in the case. This wad can cause severe penetrating wounds at close range and bruising at medium ranges. There is also "
muzzle blast" – a jet of hot, expanding gas expelled at extremely high velocity from the
muzzle of the firearm. This high velocity gas can inflict severe injury at close ranges. In addition, 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. Furthermore, the extremely loud noise of blanks being fired can damage the hearing of people in the immediate area.
Cartridges loaded with
wadcutter target bullets 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
Actors in particular are at serious risk of injury from blank cartridges used on movie sets. Several actors have been killed in such mishaps:
*
Brandon Lee
Brandon Bruce Lee (February 1, 1965 – March 31, 1993) was an American actor and martial artist. Establishing himself as a rising action star in the early 1990s, he landed his breakthrough role as Eric Draven in the dark fantasy film ''The ...
was killed while filming a scene for the 1994 film ''
The Crow'' by a
.44-caliber
S&W Model 629
The Smith & Wesson Model 29 is a six-shot, double-action revolver chambered for the .44 Magnum cartridge and manufactured by the United States company Smith & Wesson.
The Model 29 was offered with barrels as standard models. Other barrel leng ...
revolver used as a
prop
A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinc ...
that still contained a bullet from a
squib load
A squib load, also known as a squib round, pop and no kick, or just a squib, is a firearm malfunction in which a fired projectile does not have enough force behind it to exit the barrel, and thus becomes stuck. This type of malfunction can be ex ...
. A
dummy round used during an earlier shoot was
handloaded by someone other than a firearms expert, who removed the propellant powder, but unknowingly left a live
primer
Primer may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Primer'' (film), a 2004 feature film written and directed by Shane Carruth
* ''Primer'' (video), a documentary about the funk band Living Colour
Literature
* Primer (textbook), a te ...
in place, resulting in the bullet being separated from its casing with insufficient energy to exit the barrel. The gun was not properly checked for a retained bullet prior to the incident, and then subsequently fired with a blank cartridge. The blank charge propelled the lodged bullet out the barrel, fatally injuring Lee.
*
Jon-Erik Hexum accidentally killed himself on the set of the TV series ''
Cover Up,'' after he placed a blank-loaded
.44 Magnum revolver to his right
temple and pulled the trigger as a joke — the powerful
shockwave from the blank cartridge caused a
depression fracture to the skull, sending bone fragments deep into his brain and causing severe
intracranial hemorrhage
Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), also known as intracranial bleed, is bleeding within the skull. Subtypes are intracerebral bleeds (intraventricular bleeds and intraparenchymal bleeds), subarachnoid bleeds, epidural bleeds, and subdural blee ...
. He died a few days after the accident.
*Johann Ofner, a professional
stunt double, was killed by a shotgun
wad
Wad is an old mining term for any black manganese oxide or hydroxide mineral-rich rock in the oxidized zone of various ore deposits. Typically closely associated with various iron oxides. Specific mineral varieties include pyrolusite, lithiophorit ...
in 2017 while filming a scene for
Bliss n Eso music video "Dopamine" in the Brooklyn Standard bar in
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
when an actor fired directly at him.
*A 17-year old was playing with a gun used in a
St. George, Utah, high school theatre program to be used in a production of ''
Oklahoma!'' and accidentally killed himself, thinking that "blank" cartridges were harmless.
See also
*
Coffman engine starter
*
Primer (firearms)
*
Prop gun
References
External links
{{Commons category, Blanks, Blank (cartridge)
World Fast Draw Associationresource page, includes video instructions for loading blank cartridges for Fast Draw
Definitionof "movie" or "5-in-1" blank
information on
powder-actuated tool
A powder-actuated tool (PAT, often generically called a Hilti gun or a Ramset gun after their manufacturing companies) is a type of nail gun used in construction and manufacturing to join materials to hard substrates such as steel and concret ...
s and power load blanks
Front Firing Blank Gunsresource page, includes more information about blank weapons
Ammunition
Shotgun shells