Henry Rifle Forums

Do any of you have experience loading blanks? I tried a few using mid powder loads. I cut a cardboard 'wad' and pushed it into the case. It seemed OK. Loading 357 cases. I tried firing a couple primer only rounds. They seemed to foul the pistol quickly. Using my Ruger SP101. Just experiments.

Have you tried a heavy roll crimp? Also you might want to consider some black powder but you will have to clean the weapon very thoroughly afterward. Try looking on the Cast Bullet Forum for information.

Hey Travlin. No bullet to crimp to. Using open mouth cases.

You need a really heavy crimp or else set the outer wad in deep and glue it in place. Regular cardboard alone is too thin without glue. There needs to be some resistance so the powder doesn’t just spew out the muzzle. I loaded shotshells this way, for a .480 Ruger revolver. That worked great. Do you need blanks for reason?

John Davies
Spokane WA

Just wanting to learn more. Make some noise safely

Thank you John , That is exactly what I meant. I had a machinist friend make me a die that will roll crimp anything from .32 S&W Long to 45-70. The inside of it is an inverted cone and I use when making shotshell loads but it would work for blanks.

I forgot to mention, adding glue or epoxy on top of the top wad not only provides extra resistance, it also waterproofs the cartridge.

John Davies
Spokane WA