Rifleman Q&A: Bullets For Blanks

by
posted on April 1, 2022
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
dummy and blank bullets

Q: I have boxes of Lake City Ordnance blank brass, Caliber .30 M1909. Most of the cartridges are LC 57 and some RA 56. I took the red seal card out and removed the blank powder (spherical type). Can I use this brass for reloading if I remove the crimp, straighten the neck and run it through a full-length sizing die? Also, can the original primer be used?

A: What you are asking about has been done, albeit with inconsistent results. The question usually comes down to variability in the hardness of the case head and the brass thickness of the neck, since this process requires reaming, or turning, to achieve dimensional correctness.

I have personally never made the attempt to load blanks with bullets and would generally advise people not to make the effort. Quality checks for conventional ammunition and blanks differ greatly. The resulting product is always suspect and certainly takes away from the joy of shooting. Brass for the .30-’06 Sprg. is often easily obtainable without all the effort and questionability. Other uses can be made of the brass, however.

A number of people utilize it to make “snake loads” for .45 ACP-chambered guns. It can also serve as parent brass for a number of obsolete military and commercial cartridges that share the same case head. Use caution, however—such loads should always remain in the low-pressure arena.

Latest

Hearing Healthy
Hearing Healthy

Summer Suppressor Deals On Now

Whether it is a BOGO deal from SIG or free tax stamps from Guns.com and Silencer Central, there's plenty of hearing-safe savings to be had this summer.

Rifleman Report: Defending Freedom For 250 Years

"Anyone who claims not to understand the plain and simple intent of the Second Amendment—especially if that person happens to be a constitutional law professor, Supreme Court justice, congressman, senator or president—is likely hiding nefarious intent: to strip individual liberty from American citizens for the express purpose of making them susceptible to a tyrannical government."

Book Review: 2025 Traveler’s Guide To The Firearms Laws Of The Fifty States

Newly updated for 2025, the 29th edition of the Traveler’s Guide To The Firearm Laws Of The Fifty States is packed with all the need-to-know information for cross-country trekkers seeking to bring their arms along with them and remain legal in all localities.

Springfield Kuna: A PDW For The Masses

Small, yet fierce, the namesake of Springfield Armory’s latest large-format pistol is a revered forest dweller in the land of its Croatian manufacturing partner, HS Produkt. The new Kuna is poised to be just as welcome in America.

The Armed Citizen® June 30, 2025

Read today's "The Armed Citizen" entry for real stories of law-abiding citizens, past and present, who used their firearms to save lives.

Book Review: Clockwork Basilisk: The Early Revolvers Of Elisha Collier & Artemas Wheeler

The result of a decade of research, Clockwork Basilisk is a comprehensive, two-volume history of the rare revolvers that preceded the development of the well-known Colt guns of the 1830s.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.