Firing blanks from a real gun

[mr_Goodbomb]

I intend to shoot a feature film soon, and I have recently been looking into purchasing guns for props. I was going to use airsoft guns and make all of the muzzle flashes digital, but I recently made the change to one gun-heavy segment on black-and-white super 8 film, so any digital alterations with be quite obvious. I also know that airsoft have very little resale value, as do blank firing guns, while both are initially expensive. I also wouldn't mind having the real firearms around for home protection after the production is over. So, I was considering real firearms and blanks (no live rounds on set, of course).

When using an unblocked barrel in a handgun, how dangerous are blanks, I know they have a bit of projectile and still shoot a pretty heavy bit of gas within the first foot or so. I've been around a .44 shooting blanks, and you could still feel the expulsion of gas several feet away, blank round or not. With smaller calibers, .22 to 32., how safe is it to place to camera in front of the barrel, say 4 feet away or so? I know, I know, "never point it at something you don't intend to kill," but as I mentioned, we will have absolutely no live rounds on set. I won't even shoot the weapons with live rounds before using them on set as to alleviate all possible issues.

So, how safe are they? Mainly for the camera, but also in the case of placing the camera over the shooter's shoulder and showing them shoot another character several feet away?