Training with Blanks. Worth while? Safe?

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Advoc

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Hi guys.

I'm itching to get some trigger time in and improve my form, drills, and ergos.
I've seen a few retailers sell crates of blank ammunition at about half the price of real ammunition.
Understanding that I'm not filming a movie or planning on blasting in my back yard just to make noise... Is it advisable to use blanks for training?
I would only be using them at the range, mainly for practicing my follow-up and resets, as well as mag changes, and malfunction drills.
If I can get 2200 trigger pulls with an appropriate BANG for only $250 in my 9mm, I would consider that a worthwhile investment.
Will anything adverse happen to my pistol with it not being a prop gun?
Again. I'm not looking for blanks with the expectation that I'm using a real gun to shoot blanks to film a movie. That's how Brandon Lee died. I just want them for range use.

Also wondering if taking a case trimmer to a spent blank will make it suitable for reloads with real ammunition?

If this question seems outrageous. Bear with me. I'm a newb.
 
They have no recoil and they won't cycle your action. The only advantage they provide over dummy rounds is noise, and that's not useful unless you're training with a group. Spend the money on half the amount of live ammo instead.

As for adverse effects, none except they're really dirty.
 
Advoc said:
Good to know, thanks for the info. Non-cycling action makes the whole idea worthless.

WTF do they use in the movies then? Do they only cycle prop guns?
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Special muzzle breaks i think, its why revolvers are so popular in movies.
 
You can get blank firing attachments or modify the inside of the barrel for gas-operated guns, but I don't know what they do for recoil-operated ones.
 
Pop said:
You can get blank firing attachments or modify the inside of the barrel for gas-operated guns, but I don't know what they do for recoil-operated ones.
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Slug the barrel with a smaller hole to allow gas out. But seems like a dumb thing to do if your doing it at range only where mix and match may happen.



To the OP, You can do all what you need to do with dummy rounds in your own home. Muscle memory is muscle memory, doesnt matter if it goes bang or not. Its the repetitive going thru the motion.
 
blank ammo is meant for movies and dry training in the military (reason for most if not all the blank being IVI). The stuff is useless as a trg aid for marksmanship and handling, it has little to no recoil on any caliber used. Also if using blank ammo with no BFA (blank firing attachment), than the weapon will not cycle. Most weapons don't even offer a BFA because almost no one uses them outside of the military. Military ones tighten onto the flash suppressor.
 
Blanks are a huge waste of time and teach bad drills. It's a sound theory but trust me man don't waste even a dollar on 1000 blanks. Some military units are even banning their use because it's such a poor training aid and waste of money.
 
GuiltySpark said:
Blanks are a huge waste of time and teach bad drills. It's a sound theory but trust me man don't waste even a dollar on 1000 blanks. Some military units are even banning their use because it's such a poor training aid and waste of money.
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I swear I shot him 50 times, he kept coming!!!! Only military pers would understand. Gotta love the god gun.
 
Advoc said:
Good to know, thanks for the info. Non-cycling action makes the whole idea worthless.

WTF do they use in the movies then? Do they only cycle prop guns?
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Combination of things. For converting a real gun to fire blanks you typically use a lighter recoil spring, and you sort of restrict the barrel. What you'd do is tap the inside of the barrel, and screw-in an insert not unlike a shotgun choke, but it narrows the muzzle. This allows less gas to escape the barrel at once, which can help cycle the action. There are also specialty Blank Firing guns for movies. Some are replicas of the real thing, others are specialty products with their own design, like Zoraki "guns". These tend to be seen in movies with lower production value, or filmed in countries where acquiring firearms is difficult. For example The Raid was filmed largely using Airsoft guns and everything else was added in post-production.

Here's a photo album that details the process of converting a live fire Desert Eagle to use blanks: http://imgur.com/a/nf6Te It's really interesting!
 
I think training with blanks is a really bad idea; some bright bulb will inevitably get the idea that its okay to point his pistol (rifle, shotgun, etc) at someone, because its loaded with blanks, and he knows what he's doing, and that makes it alright. What it is, is a disaster waiting to happen, and that's not alright. The only civilian application I can think of outside of the movies where the use of blank ammunition is appropriate, is to signal the start of a race, for line firing charges in rescue work, and where blank pistol cartridges launch cracker shells from starter pistols or pen launchers, in wildlife control situations, oh and one shouldn't forget blank cartridges for Hilti and Ramset tools.

The curve associated with marksmanship training can be shortened through dry firing. Where the sights point when the hammer falls is where the bullet would have gone, and there is no blast or recoil to interfere with that truth. Being able to see the mistakes you make for yourself is the fastest way to correct them, and masking them with pretend live fire has no benefit.
 
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Let's not forget how much of a pain it is to clean them because you're trapping all that gas to cycle the action. Anybody in the military will tell you how much we hate cleaning our weapons after using blanks.
 
Thanks for the pointers.

There is one sentiment given here a couple of times I'll have to disagree with. I'm sure a lot of you guys have read some of TDC's posts, and while he might come off like a bit of a jerk I think he gave some good advice.

Dryfiring is essential, yes. I do a LOT of it. I'm shooting a Girsan Regard 16, and it has a very stout DA pull on the first round. I practice constantly in my basement when I have the time. And I'm rock solid on the trigger.

Last time I went to the range I had a friend of mine load some snapcaps into a mag when i wasn't looking, and sure as hell. I have a flinch. Muscle memory helps a lot, but I think dryfiring only gives you half of what you need to really control things. That's why I was asking about the blanks.

Dry firing helps a lot, but I think compared to live fire. It only gets me half way there. Just trying to improve.
 
A blank fired at close range can be almost as deadly as regular ammo, the gas column will still be moving forward at sonic speed, fully capable of creating a large wound channel by itself. If dry firing doesn't do it for you, a few thousand rounds of .22lr will fulfil all your needs.
 
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