Guns converted to Blankfire
 

You know how guns are converted to be able to fire blanks for films.
Can these firearms still fire live rounds?

If the gun is a bolt action, pump action, revolver, or some other manually operated weapon, blank conversion isn't usually needed.

To convert a gun to fire blanks for a film, the barrel needs to be threaded for a Blank Firing Adapter (BFA). Some guns have external BFAs that screw on like Israeli blank adapters for AK-47s, but some guns need to have the inside of the barrel threaded and then plugged with an adapter. This blocks a certain amount of gasses so the weapon has enough pressure to fire blanks and cycle reliabley. Some guns need just this alone like the Walther P38 and the Beretta 92FS. But some guns like the M1911A1 need to the the top of the barrel milled around so the weapon will properly feed crimped blank cartridges.

And if the gun is adapted to fire blanks, it is ruined permanantly for using live rounds. If it was "modified" to fire blanks, it might just need a BFA added to the muzzle, but if it is "adapted" and permanantly changed, it is a blank gun only.

If I got anything wrong I'm sure the three armorers on this forum will correct me. :D

How about p99s? I heard those need serious work to cycle blanks.

That's horrible :(

The barrel is (usually) the only thing that's ruined permanently in the blank conversion process, I believe.

It depends on the weapon on how aggressive the conversion is. The Beretta 92F is just the barrel the 1911 is the complete top end. The Glock, SIG, Smiths and HK is also the complete top end. Rifles conversions are also across the board on setting up for blanks. Most semi-autos are just a BFA some require other mods to assist them on working with blanks. Being a gunsmith in the film industry you need to let go of wow that's a great weapon and just do the job.

:( sad it's like removing a man's manhood.

By the complete top end, do you mean the top of the barrel that's exposed? When I've looked at pictures of blank-converted Glocks and SIGs, that's the only external mod visible, and that affects the complete barrel assembly. So if you replace the entire barrel assembly, would those guns be set to fire live rounds again?

I do realize 1911s are a bit harder because the ejection port has to be widened, but does that also affect ability to chamber and fire live rounds if the barrel gets replaced?

The mods are internal on both the slide and the barrel. Once that is done even the slide would have to be replaced along with the barrel to convert the weapon back to live fire.

So i heard you cant really convert a standard walther p99, and need special blank only models? This true?