Can blanks be converted to live rnds?

From the pics, I would say they may be blanks, but I've never seen blanks with an over powder wad/card so deeply set. Perhaps the previous owner was in the midst of some "experiment". I would disassemble a few, and see if they could be resized, de-crimped. If not just put 'em on the shelf and chalk it up to experience...
 
g.willikers said:
It's easy enough to get rid of the crimp.

But are you choosing to ignore the multiple warnings about not using the original powder?

If not, how are you going to decide what to use instead?

And what about the need for a wad?

And on and on.

Reloading is not something to be taken lightly.

But if you're going to forge ahead anyway, someone here will no doubt offer to hold your beer.
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Lol.. Yea guess I was ignoring the warnings. And yea I need someone to hold my beer too. My reasoning was if there wasn't a bullet stuck in the end, the pressure would have lower resistance to spray the shot out. More than likely I'll take another one apart that had the paper plug further to the end to see what's in those. I'll test fire a cpl as blanks then sell the rest of them.
I've got some 45acp and 22 mag shot shells I can use if needed.
 
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Salmoneye said:
I wouldn't fire one of those on a dare...
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What's the worse that could happen with a primer, small amount of powder and a paper plug? The cases and primers look good. I don't know what type of powder is in them, but I could take it out and weigh it. I do have a small digital scale that weighs grains.
 
It's a bit of an unknown. The powder charge was clearly intended to operate with the extra empty space in the case that exists when the wad is forward just under the roll crimp at the case mouth. So firing with the wad way down at the bottom will raise the pressure. The unknown is how much and whether or not it is significant. I suspect the odds are good that it won't be enough pressure to be a problem, but those are only odds, not a guarantee, so I certainly won't recommend it.

I've seen photos of blanks converted to fire lead balls overseas where handguns are illegal. Usually the pistol is a converted pot metal starter pistol and has a smooth bore that the ball is loose in, so that reduces pressures a lot. I don't know what the life expectancy of such guns are. I've also seen photos of guns made using match heads as the powder. But these kinds of things are emergency methods best set aside for survival in an end-of-days scenario. No reason to risk damaging a good gun with them when proper loading supplies are available and it's not an emergency.

Also note that some (not all) blanks are made using reject cases that can be bought surplus at a discount, and used safely in a blank because the normal blank pressure is much lower than normal cartridge pressure is. That's with the wad where it is supposed to be, of course.
 
I was thinking of just adding shot and some kind of plug to keep shot from falling out?
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Not a good idea. Without knowing what powder and how much is in each case, you are asking for trouble.

A. Those appear to be standard Remington - Peters 38 spl cases, that's good.

B. It would appear that someone put a drop of wax into each case to seal it, that you will have to check out for yourself.

c. They do have a roll crimp on each case, not sure why, unless it is to insure that the wax will not fowl the forcing cone on the revolver.

I would guess that someone made up a batch of practice ammo for indoor target practice in their basement with enough wax to mark the target and just enough powder to push the wax (or plug) out the barrel.

Can you use them as is, that is a BIG, NO, unless used for the purpose they were made for.

There will not be enough powder in them to push anything other than what is there now. They will stick bullets in the barrel (squib) and tear up your gun. And shot will not work much better than hitting the floor right in front of the barrel.

These are all guess and without taking one apart there is no way to tell what you should do. Me, I would take them all apart and use the case and primer to do my own loads.

Get them to an experienced reloader to find out what the story is with them.

Good luck and stay safe.
Jim
 
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Why would you want to when brass is cheap?
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Not that cheap anymore, and you do not find 38 spl cases lying on the floor anymore most people are keeping their brass.

Besides, reloaders are REALLY, REALLY cheapskates or we wouldn't be reloading. (LOLOL)

Stay safe.
Jim
 
Let's assume that nobody has brought this up already. I'm sure that you have already been told that it isn't a good idea. Going through with an idea like that could kill you. Proceed if you value a few bucks worth of junk that you picked up off a table enough to die for it.
 
No, not worth injury or worse. The plug appears to be a cardboard like plug specifically used in reloading. About 1/8" thick. I really wouldn't be afraid to use them as is. Adding shot may be a different story though.
When I was a kid we used to make match head powered guns out of bicycle spokes. Crammed in gravel was the projectile. After one peeled back like a banana, even then seemed like a bad idea and stopped.
Barrels were also bored out to the approx diameter of the blank shells rim. The velocity was amazing. It would go through several Sunday papers.
Ahh those were the days. Young, foolish 10 ft tall & bulletproof.
No more!!
 
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Depends on the cartridge and whether talking about using the cases after firing or adding a bullet to the existing blank with the same powder charge. It's well established not to do the latter. But '06 blank cases after firing were excellent for '06 loadings and necking down to .270s as would probably be expected. I obtained and used a number of those back when new or used factory brass at the time was hardly affordable.
 
All of them look perfectly uniform as far as the load and how the wad/ plug is seated into the case. The exception is maybe as many as 10 that the wad is out near the tip. I haven't pulled one of those out to see if it's full of powder or not.
 
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I've done a lot of work with blanks & black powder cartridges loaded with smokeless... I'd like to address 2 issues here ( at least to begin with )

one thing I can bet you, is the flash hole is larger on the blank, than on a normal cartridge ( the hole between the primer pocket, & the inside of the case ) this is done on blanks ( & wax & rubber bullets ) to keep the primer from popping out part way & locking up the cylinder ( on a normal load the firing of the cartridge pushed the case back into the recoil shield, when the bullet is forced out... this keeps the primer seated in the case )

another issue here with using the powder in the blank case, is this is more like fire crackler powder, not at all like normal rifle or pistol powder, it's burn charictoristics are totally different, & adding a projectile could be in essence be creating a small bomb, that could detonate & damage the firearm...

I make "special" cartridges out of blanks of all kinds, but I never use the factory primer, or powder, as they are unknown, & inspect the brass, & modify as needed for my purposes...
 
In a word....NO....

The powder in many cases is Bullseye or something even faster...the brass may be suspect (Frankfort Arsenal in days long gone by, used culls from the brass cartridge mill for blanks).

I'd take the whole lot to a recycler and get his current price for brass and let it go. ROD
 
Recycling won't take live rounds, but the dangerous waste facility here will take them.

Anyone who's sitting on a handful of bad ammo can call the local pd or rd.
 
I can see several reasons now why not to do it. Short of emptying out and starting over with primed case.
That being said what would be the estimated value of #200 /38 spl. blanks? I may keep the other #36 to make some noise with.
 
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