Modern Blank Firing Semi Auto
Modern Semi Automatic Blank Firing Pistols are commonly used when the sound and flash of gunfire is needed, but a projectile would not be safe, such as in military training manoeuvres or funeral honors, in movies or live theater that require gunfights, in starter pistols to signal the beginning of races, and in the equestrian sport of cowboy mounted shooting.
Standard firearms that are self-loading require modification to their mechanism, or else a blank firing adapter to allow the action to cycle. This is because in the absence of a projectile to oppose the force of the gases, the lower pressures and lower recoil generated by a blank cartridge are insufficient to cycle the gun’s mechanism in the same way that a standard live round would.