Editing Cartridge (firearms) (section)

==Blank ammunition==
{{Main|Blank (cartridge)}}
[[File:Platzpatronen762 9.jpg|thumb|Blank cartridges:{{unordered list
 | [[7.62×51mm NATO]] (left)
 | [[9×19mm Parabellum]] (right).}}]]
A blank is a charged cartridge that does not contain a projectile or alternatively uses a non-metallic (for instance, wooden) projectile that pulverizes when hitting a blank firing adapter. To contain the propellant, the opening where the projectile would normally be located is crimped shut, and/or it is sealed with some material that disperses rapidly upon leaving the barrel.

This sealing material can still potentially cause harm at extremely close range. Actor [[Jon-Erik Hexum#Death|Jon-Erik Hexum]] died when he shot himself in the head with a blank, and actor [[Brandon Lee]] was famously killed during the filming of ''[[The Crow (1994 film)|The Crow]]'' when a blank fired behind a bullet that was stuck in the bore drove that bullet through his abdomen and into his spine. The gun had not been properly deactivated and a primed case with a bullet instead of a dummy had been used previously. Someone pulled the trigger and the primer drove the bullet silently into the bore.

Blanks are used in training, but do not always cause a gun to behave the same as live ammunition does; recoil is always far weaker, and some automatic guns only cycle correctly when the gun is fitted with a [[blank-firing adaptor]] to confine gas pressure within the barrel to operate the gas system.

Blanks can also be used to launch a [[rifle grenade]], although later systems used a "bullet trap" design that captures a bullet from a conventional round, speeding deployment. This also negates the risk of mistakenly firing a live bullet into the rifle grenade, causing it to instantly explode instead of propelling it forward.

Blanks are also used as dedicated launchers for propelling a [[grappling hook]], rope line or flare, or for a training lure for training [[gun dog]]s.

The power loads used in a variety of [[nail gun]]s are essentially rimfire blanks.{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}}