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Old 05-19-2009, 12:58 PM
AlkoTanko AlkoTanko is offline
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Default Question about blanks in movies

I know this might sound silly, but how do you tell a difference between a blank and live round? Apart from obvious reasons, when often pointed out in shell casings and ammo belts in screencaps, is there a specific details that tells them apart from live rounds?
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Old 05-19-2009, 02:17 PM
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MT2008 MT2008 is offline
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Yeah, the visual difference is that the end (where the bullet would normally be) is crimped. Wikipedia has pictures of blanks:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi.../7.9Blanks.jpg

The crimp on a blank means that many guns, particularly short-recoil semi-auto pistols, have to be modified to eject them properly. A lot of pistols need to have their ejection ports widened and/or lock-up removed in order to cycle blanks.
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Old 05-19-2009, 03:23 PM
AlkoTanko AlkoTanko is offline
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Thanks, buddy.
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Old 05-19-2009, 09:42 PM
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Gunmaster45 Gunmaster45 is offline
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Some revolver blanks on the other hand though have no crimping. They are like an empty shell casing with the power held in place with an adhesive of some sort. These may not be used anymore but I own a few. They have a lot more power behind them than usual blanks.
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Old 05-20-2009, 12:52 PM
AlkoTanko AlkoTanko is offline
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Oh yeah, there was another thing. How come some blanks have very different muzzle flashes, others look relatively normal, while others look like they shoot fireflies from barrels?
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Old 05-20-2009, 03:30 PM
Phoenixent Phoenixent is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AlkoTanko View Post
Oh yeah, there was another thing. How come some blanks have very different muzzle flashes, others look relatively normal, while others look like they shoot fireflies from barrels?
It's depends on the load used for the scene. The industry has at least four different loads per powder composition. There is Full Load, Half Load, Quarter Load and Eighth Load in either Flash or Black Powder. The full load blank is mainly used for exterior scenes and has a large flash enabling the camera to see it better in daylight conditions. The other three loads are used for interior scenes where the space is tight or in area were there is a noise restriction such as a night scene. Also the size of the flash will change depending on the type of weapon. A pistol firing a full load has a different size flash due to the restrictor than a revolver which has none. The same goes for shotguns as the Bennelli M1 Super 90 uses a special load so it can operate creating a very large flash. But we would not use the load in a Remington 870 as it does not need the excess pressure to operate.
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