Blank cartridges ammunition

Cartridge, Blank. An item consisting of a ctge case, primer and smokeless proplnt or BkPdr, but no projectile. It is used in training in signaling, and in saluting(See also under BULLETS and under CARTRIDGE AMMUNITION)... 

Primers are not used exclusively for firearm ammunition, but have other uses which include blank cartridges, flares, flare trip wires, mortars, pyrotechnic cartridges, hand grenades, rocket-propelled grenades, ejector seat mechanisms, jettison devices, and other larger ammunition components. 

Apart from firearms ammunition other propellant-activated devices have numerous uses, for example, to drive turbines, to move pistons, to eject pilots from jet planes, to shear bolts and wires, to operate vanes in rockets, to act as sources of heat in special operations, to operate pumps in missiles, to clear blocked drill bits underground, to start aircraft engines, to jettison stores from aircraft, and generally for systems that require well-controlled sources of high force applied over relatively short periods of time. Propellants are also used in some blank cartridges. 

Blank cartridges can produce fatal wounds when fired at, or near, contact, and they work very well in power heads. As with firearm ammunition, blanks can also damage the eardrums when discharged. 

Note Comparison of Figure 19.1 with Table 19.1 and Table 19.2 reveals that blank cartridges are similar in composition to live ammunition and may be expected to produce discharge particles with similar composition to those originating from firearm discharge. 

Blank Ammunition consists of a cartridge contg a small amt of an explosive, such as BkPdr to produce a loud report for saluting or training purposes. It has no projectile (Ref 40b, p 4)... 

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