Lake City M200 5.56mm blank ammunition-box of 20

A blank is a type of cartridge for a firearm that contains gunpowder but no bullet or shot. Blanks use paper or plastic wadding to seal gunpowder into the cartridge. When fired, the blank makes a flash and an explosive sound (report), the wadding is propelled from the barrel of the gun, and the firearm’s action cycles. You’ll notice that the blank round does not have a bullet protruding from the top of the cartridge. Blanks are commonly used when the sound and flash of gunfire is needed, but a projectile would not be safe, such as in military training maneuvers or funeral honors, in movies that require gun fights, in starter pistols to signal the beginning of races and in the equestrian sport of cowboy mounted shooting.