Firing blanks in our rifles

[Garandiose]

This is for Wardog61, I've never fired blanks in a weapon I've personally owned. It is my understanding that firing blanks allows the unrestricted flow of extremely fast jetting gases that virtually act like an acetylene torch to attack your barrel throat and bore. This phenomenon is known as barrel erosion. The relatively slower process of pushing a projectile down the bore reduces this effect significantly. But, a rule of thumb is the faster the round the shorter the barrel life. In my military career I fired huge amounts of blanks in various training exercises. I had no heartburn shooting them through barrels that our government bought by the truckload. I replaced many. With my limited budget I only want to shoot "business" rounds in my meager but high quality collection. Blanks are fun, but may affect the ability of your rifle to shoot effectively over the long haul. I really like well placed rounds.

Information

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[browningautorifle]

You say you've replaced many govt barrels. From blanks? Can't see it. I too shot thousands of blanks through F.N. rifles and the Canadian C7(M16) and NEVER saw damage from blank ammo. The death came from ball ammo. The rifle team used only ball and they replaced regularly, but not so the standard rifles. This also applies to ALL the rest of the weapons that we used,rifle,automatic rifle,LMG,SMG,HMG. Just make sure you have the barrel completely cleaned before firing to avoid loss of accuracy from carbon build up in the bbl.

[Garandiose]

When the rifles came in for barrel changes they didn't gage out within specs. The incoming tags just said "shot out".There was no intention in making a blanket statement as to the specific reason for the changes being caused by blanks. I just believe that is just one of many factors in barrel replacement considerations, and may contribute to barrel erosion at a greater rate than not firing blanks.
I just want the best for my M1 and am throwing out another idea to prolong good servicibility.

I enjoy comments that lead to clarity in thought and seek a more thorough understanding of issues raised for discussion. Thank-You browningautorifle for clarifying what would have been bad assumption based on the first part of this thread. Good maintenance is also essential as you mentioned for wear prevention. I once knew a person who never cleaned his weapons, claiming that the crud that remained behind reduced (tightened) the gun's tolerances. His term for this was "accuracy dirt". I don't recommend anyone to follow this practice for many obvious reasons, and some not so obvious. Regards, Skip

[browningautorifle]

I too knew one who owned most of the patterns of Winchester including a Kennedy repeating rifle. He told me he never cleaned them because it was just needless wear on the gun!!?? He did however shoot them regularly.

[Bill Ricca]

Rifles must be cleaned very thoroughly after shooting blanks. From PS magazine:

[Wardog61]

Thanks guys,
I was a U.S. Marine for 14 years so every weapon I own gets cleaned like it is going to be inspected after every use. One round or one hundred, ball or blank makes no difference.
Up until recently, the rifles I used for reenactments were used for nothing but that purpose and their barrels were pretty much smootbores. The 30.06 blanks I've been using in my Garands were original USGI, '43 dated and are dirty as hell. But they go bang every time.
I'm almost out of those and will be using modern equivalents as well as current issue 7.62 NATO blanks. I'm delinking a bunch that I have on hand to use in my M1919 and M60E3. I've also bought up a few thousand rounds of the plastic German blanks. My 1919 loves them, but I'm waiting for warmer weather before I can find out if they work in a .308 Garand.

[Sarge]

Prolonged use of blanks in any semi/full auto weapon WILL cause bore erosion and you'll eventualy have a smooth bore. NO amount of cleaning will prevent this!
This is caused by the blank adapter holding the gases in the bbl. There is no way to avoid it unless you want a single shot. The more rapid/FA fire the quicker the wear.
I have an MG 42 bbl that the bore looks like a shotgun bbl. Needless to say it is the Only bbl that gets used with blanks. My MP 43 is beginning to look the same way - after 25 yrs. I have a Thompson showing signs of the same wear.
A few blanks occasionaly will Not hurt your rifle, it takes 1000s to do noticeable harm.
Sarge

[browningautorifle]

Where does your info come from Sarge?

[Sarge]

Probably not reliable, But - I've been a WW 2 & Viet Nam reenactor for 30 yrs.
For 28+ of those years I have rented rifles and MGs to reenactors. Thus I guess you could say from close first hand experience.
sarge