page_title: Blank (cartridge)
section_title: Applications
hierarchical_section_title: Blank (cartridge) / Applications
caption_attribution_description: English: 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges. From left to right: Blank with frangible wooden bullet, ball, tracer and incendiary mounted on a non-disintegrating belt. Svenska: Patroner i kaliber 7.62x51mm NATO. Från vänster till höger: Lös, normalprojektil, spårljus och brand monterade på ett patronband.
context_page_description: A blank is a type of firearm cartridge that contains propellant but no projectile, and instead uses paper or plastic wadding to seal the propellant into the casing. When fired, the blank makes a flash and an explosive sound, and the firearm's action cycles from the recoil, but the wadding propelled from the barrel quickly loses kinetic energy and is incapable of inflicting any damage beyond an immediate distance. Blanks are often used for shooting simulations that demand light and sound, combat training, for signaling, and cowboy mounted shooting. Blank cartridges differ from the inert dummy cartridges, which contain no primer or gunpowder and are used for "cold" training or function-testing firearm actions.
  Specialized blank cartridges are also used for their propellant force in fields as varied as construction, shooting sports, and fishing and general recreation.
context_section_description: 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 manoeuvrers or funeral honours, in movies that require gun fights, in starter pistols to signal the beginning of races and in the equestrian sport of cowboy mounted shooting.
  For military applications, blanks are typically used with a special blank-firing adaptor 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. In the case of non-crimped blanks, it also serves to pulverise the plug to prevent it leaving as a projectile.
  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. 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 tear-gas 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 tools), where the power is tapped to force a heavy piston into the nail, with enough force to bury its full length in steel 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 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 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 may also be issued to a randomly selected shooter in an execution by firing squad, 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 would be loaded without a ball.
  Blank 12-gauge shotgun cartridges are also used in "alarm mines", devices that use a tripwire to produce an extremely loud report in order to alert people in the vicinity.
caption: Swedish 7.62x51mm cartridge with blank on the left (followed by full metal jacket, tracer and armour-piercing); the wooden plug is clearly visible
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