How do you make .38 spl blanks...?

[therealsteamer]

I have been asked to make a few boxes of .38 special blanks for a friend of mine to use as a training aid for "his" dog. I offered up some already primed brass, but he asked could I give him something more substantial...

Any ideas....? I have a jar of Unique that I would like to donate to the cause if that is an acceptable powder...

Thanks,

Steamer

 

[The Bushmaster]

The primed only brass should be enough to start a dog. And then move up to something louder. He needs to try the primed only brass as it is quite sharp in loudness. That's how we start horses (wives too) .

 

[therealsteamer]

The dog(s) in question belongs to our city PD.

Some of the blanks will also be used by our Sheriffs Dept as part a demonstration for teachers and school staff. Needless to say these K-9s are accustomed to gunfire. This is to add some aspect of realism to a few training sessions and a demonstration/seminar on what the local schools can expect in the event of a lock down/shooter incident.

I was thinking of sending a box of primer only loads and at least two boxes of powder charged blanks.

Basically I was wondering what would be "safe" to use as a wad.

Thanks,

Steamer

 

[The Bushmaster]

I would still be concerned about flying wads hitting someone. Even primers only can hurt someone at close range of 10 feet or so. You need someone else with more experience than I... So I will step aside and learn too.

 

[DouglasW]

Please be careful, even with blanks. I still remember this story from more than 20 years ago...Actor on a television set puts a revolver loaded with blanks to his head and pulls the trigger Actor dead.

 

[Jim Watson]

Friend or not, I would let the cops buy their own blanks for popping around school teachers. Too much opportunity for dangerous or embarrasing screwups, especially as you are asking on the internet how to do it in the first place.

The only home-brew blanks I know of are made with black powder for SASS-Mounted. I don't know of a commercial smokeless powder that will work for pistol blanks. Once upon a time, DuPont had data for shotgun blanks with 700X and a LOT of wads, but that would not translate to .38s.

 

[therealsteamer]

I brought up the issue of most blanks still having at the very least gasses and powder exiting the barrel. I was told that for the dog training this would be outside and the seminar would be indoors. The outdoor firing of the blanks would not be an issue as long as all weapons are pointed away from people or the K-9. For the inside seminar most all of the blanks would be fired into an acceptable receptacle such as a large trashcan or the like. Even the weapons that will be utilizing crimped blanks and BFAs will be at a minimum fired in a direction 180 degrees from those attending.

 

[griz]

Usually when you fire a primed case in a revolver the primer pushes back and makes it difficult to open the cylinder or shoot again. That could be a problem if your trainer didn't exspect it.

Inspired by the mounted cowboy shooters who use black powder blanks on ballons, I have made up "blanks" with smokeless topped with dry grits and capped by a well crimped thin cardboard wad. We used them to shoot ballons at close range without having to worry about cleaning the gun every day. They are not truely blanks in that the grits are expelled fast enough to penetrate paper. We were curious about how much power they had and tried one on a row of ballons. Five ballons were aligned in a row inside a distance of about 8 or 9 feet, and it popped them all. But I know from testing that a ballon is safe at about 18-20 feet, so there isn't much danger. If you want less mass coming out of the barrel you could probably push a wad against the powder and just fire that, but it might be a bit dirty since the pressure would be low. And the obligatory disclaimer, this information is what worked for me, I make no claims about how well it will work in your guns.

If you try it, consider that the blank rounds will be handled by lots of people, some of whom may not take great care since they are "only blanks". So I would make sure they were reliable and fairly robust.

PM me if you want any details.

 

[BEARMAN]

Are you licensed to manufacture ammunition , if not, pass. Just think , the officer fires a blank in a class room full of teachers with no ear protection , someone suffers some hearing loss and you made the blank . Who is the one to be sued for making the blank too loud. tell them you don't have the special dies to make the special crimp which is sold by www.ch4d.com . The police and anyone can get .38 special blanks from REMINGTON or WINCHESTER. Or goto www.outdoorsuperstore.com search ".38 special blanks" . I am sure www.cabelas.com or www.midwayusa.com will have them also.

 

[highlander 5]

the actor who shot himself with blanks was Jon Erik Hexum I believe he was using 5 in1 blanks in a 44 mag. there were several articles on how dangerous blank can be,one showed a very large hole blown thru a Los Angeles phone book . the blank recipe given is a good one but I would use some glue around the cardboard wad at the case mouth for a better seal

 

[Steve C]

Fiocci makes .38 spl blank ammo. It sells for around $15 a box of 50. Search the web for suppliers. You'd be better off just giving them the $30 to go out and buy them and be free of any liability. Unless your buddys going to fix a ticket for you it isn't worth the time, risk and effort to load blanks.