Removing powder from active blank rounds

That to me? I'm not hacksawing brass to salvage primers. I cut down and reform 30/06 blank brass into 45acp Shotshell brass. It has the same profile as the aluminum CCI shotshells for handguns. What I do is an accepted practice and blank brass is recommended to be cut down with a hacksaw. Its soft yellow brass and cuts easily.

I only made the remark about re-using the rifle primers because thats what we're talking about only I don't have to disturb these primers to reuse them. Rifle primers seem to fit the blank brass pockets better than LP do.
 
OK,now I understand.The powder in the 30-06 blanks is the EC powder.

Please make sure there is no chance a bullet will ever be seated over it.It will blow up the gun.

If you are decapping live crimped in primers,please make really sure there is no residual EC powder in the case.A popped primer is one thing.EC powder detonating inside a reloading die could be bad.
 
I only made the remark about re-using the rifle primers because thats what we're talking about only I don't have to disturb these primers to reuse them. Rifle primers seem to fit the blank brass pockets better than LP do.
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And Yes there is a difference in Large Rifle Primers and Large Pistol Primers. Large Rifle Primers are taller and therefore Large Pistol Primers seated in a rifle case will seat to low. Large Rifle Primers seated in a pistol case will seat to high.

Small Pistol and Small Rifle Primers are the same height and I do at times use Small Rifle Primers in pistol cases, with reduced charges of course. Small Pistol Primers in rifle cases may result in pierced primers, creating problems.
 
Generally, and I mean GENERALLY, nothing definite about it, EC Flash Powder was left uncoated and had a pink hue to it, so it can be easier to identify.
 
I don't recall any pink hue to the powder, but it has been awhile!

Please make sure there is no chance a bullet will ever be seated over it.It will blow up the gun.
Click to expand...

If you've ever seen any of these blanks up close...there's no way you could seat a bullet in it, the brass tapers to a teeny hole. One would have to recover the powder and put it in a different case. Something I never do.
 
Some blanks in 30/06 supplied by a U.S. Arsenal to American Legion posts do not have the crimped end, they have a red paper/wax plug and look very similar to a round without a bullet.
 
"If you've ever seen any of these blanks up close...there's no way you could seat a bullet in it, the brass tapers to a teeny hole. One would have to recover the powder and put it in a different case. Something I never do."

More "modern" blanks have the star crimp simply because they use powders (like 700x in 5.56) that won't otherwise generate enough pressure to make a decent report.

With the EC flash powder loaded blanks, that wasn't an issue, you'd get a nice crack with just the red overwad.

Powder recovery has always been the biggest concern with the EC flash powder blanks. I've heard of several guns, including at least one rifle and several handguns, that were destroyed by doing so.


And, as I sort of alluded to, EC Flash Powder can be found both coated and uncoated. From what I understand the uncoated version was used primarly during World War II for handgun and rifle blanks. Leaving the powder uncoated was, I guess, to save an extra step and keep the graphite for batches of powder for live rounds.
 
We did have extraction problems with the red wax tipped blanks, I tried everything I knew to elevate the problems to no avail. Our last shipment is now the star crimped type and we now have no problems.

Maybe the brass crimp at the wax wad expanded into the bullet part of the chamber making the case stick.

We had one Honor Guard funeral detail where all rifles fired first round then only one was operating for the second and third.
 
Red-tip vs. crimp

Sorry for resurrecting a zombie thread, but...

The red-tip (and before that, the black-tip) blank rounds were designed for the 1903 and the 1917 which did not have a blank firing adapter and the manual of arms for firing volleys required operating the bolt.

Once they were replaced by the M1, the red & black tipped blanks should have been returned or tossed, as the red & black cardboard & paint couldn't fully go out the barrel of the M1 as the hole in the BFA blocked the path, and I'd be exceptionally surprised if some of the debris didn't go down into the gas piston area and clog that up as well.

tl;dr - never use red/black tip blanks in M1 Garands.
 
Any one notice the O.P. dropped out of the conversation on page 1?

Anyway thanks for the good read, I learned a little about blanks I guess.
 
Not really blank related, but....

Back when I was an Active Army supply sergeant, I came across lots of live ammo, both blank & live. Since I didn't smoke but lots of folks did, I had an ashtray on my desk for visitors...

I'm usually neat & tidy, but I never did get all the ash out of the ashtray, and somehow, every now & again, there'd be a round's worth of gunpowder in the ashtray. Someone (more fun if they're an LT) would flick their cigarette into my ashtray and there'd be a flash of fire as the gunpowder burnt... :D
 
Allow me to leave the county, guys, when you-all are attempting ANY of the above...hell make it the state! I'd feel safer juggling rattlesnakes than making fresh rounds from old blanks....Rod
 
I know,old post.
On blank brass: 30-06 brasswith a red wad and rollcrimp,that otherwise looks like regular 30-06 brass,is the training blank round.Known to be made from brass "seconds"
Star crimped 30-06 is grenade blank,for propelling rifle grenades.
The 7.62 Nato training blanks I used,M-14 and M-60,had a long skinny necked down portion where a bullet would be.It aided in feeding.
I'm not sure about 7.62 grenade blank,but I think it was star crimped.Maybe sealed with white paint?

5.56,as I recall,was just star crimped.I don't know about the grenade blank.

I think more modern grenade blanks are used with ball ammo.They have a "squeeze bore" hole through them.Modern is a relative term.40 mm grenades have been around a while
 
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