Purpose of blank shotgun shells?

[Guest TankerHC]

What exactly is the primary purpose of blank Shotgun Shells? I was in SW today and right under the .22 short blanks they have 12 gauge blank shotgun shells. I personally have never seen 12 gauge blanks so I was wondering if anyone uses them and what do you use them for?

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[TripleDigitRide]

I can see using them for reenactments, and possibly training yourself and hunting dogs. Other than that, not sure.

[Garufa]

Do they make golf ball launchers for a 12 gauge?

[Spots]

They make perimter alarms that use them

Tapatalk ate my spelling

[surfabilly]

i do some racing on sailboats from time to time. two of the regattas that i have been to (usually in Texas) used shotgun blanks for the starter horns and first place finishing.

i also think there are scale model cannons that use shotgun blanks.

[NashvilleStage]

i also think there are scale model cannons that use shotgun blanks.

 

The last time I was at Disneyland (California) several years ago, the cannons on the pirate ship that sails around Tom Sawyer's Island used 12ga blanks.

I'm guessing they custom-loaded theirs, though, since they were using blackpowder.

[RED333]

VPs safe "scare round"

[Dave Shooter]

Retriever Trials - my son's Scout troop helped as fund raiser; kids manned duck launchers and adults fired blanks.   90 degree day and a basket of dead ducks, got a little rank.

I think they were someone's home brew "popper" loads and not commercial blanks.

[Guest TankerHC]

Wow, so there are actually a LOT of uses for 12 gauge shotgun shells. Woulda never guessed. 

[Raoul]

Isn't what what they use to scare flocks of birds away from residential property?

[Links2k]

In The MP Corp we UseD Them In The Cannons When We Raised And Lowered The Flag In The Morning And Evening.

They Can Also Be Used To Scare Off Black Birds

[Garufa]

Aren't some old-timey engines also started using blank shotgun shells?  I recall this from Flight of the Pheonix.

[LI0NSFAN]

Isn't what what they use to scare flocks of birds away from residential property?

we used them on the farm to scare off a lot of things mainly geese.

[bersaguy]

I thought they were used to scare off large flocks of birds like pigeons and black birds but it appears there are a number of uses for them....... :up: :up:

[No_0ne]

Aren't some old-timey engines also started using blank shotgun shells?  I recall this from Flight of the Pheonix.

 

I think you are referring to the Coffman starting system, which used blank cartridges which looked a lot like shotgun shells to drive a piston which then turned a helical gear connected to the crankshaft.  Aircraft and military radial engines used this system for several decades, and some early jet engines could be started this way as well.  In some applications, the Coffman starter provided a backup way to crank the engine, in case of some type of failure in the electrical starting system.  A more modern approach uses compressed air, there are aerobatic airplanes that are started this way today.  In the days when electrical starting systems were large and heavy, or when vehicles were likely to be used in places where servicing a battery or starter motor might prove impossible, or perhaps just utilizing this system as a weight saving option, these "shotgun starters" were widely used.

[Cherokee Slim]

I've used them for helping a shooter see that they are flinching when they shoot.  Same thing with empty chambers in a revolver of blanks in an auto.

Cherokee Slim

[Tempest455]

4th of July!  :)