Does anyone have a good recipe for 30-06 blanks? My dad's Legion guys use them in Springfields for funeral salutes, etc. I'm sure it can't be too hard to put something together. I'm thinking of a small powder charge with the case neck pushed into a piece of styrofoam or the like to seal it off, or something along that line. Rifles are pointed up into the air, so the powder should all be tipped back against the primer for good ignition. For the formal salute, each rifleman fires 3 rounds, so I will need to do something to make sure that these feed from the magazine properly. I'm sure this has to have been done already. I'll bet I can assemble some for quite a bit less than you can buy surplus blanks - when you can find them, that is. Thanks, maxman

Blank .30-06 ammunition is available for around $25 per 100.

No muss, no fuss...

Maxman:

I read your posts and got deja vue.

Then I really laughed when it said you were out of Minnesota.

I am a Minnesota transplant here in Oregon. However my fatther in laws VFW post in Pryor Lake had the same problem.

I did a lot of research on it, ( like over a years worth of it).

I loaded up a batch for them and have not heard back since my father in law is not part of the funeral group anymore.

Any light load with shot gun powder works great. What I did was load up a batch of Lake City brass they had, and used large pistol primers in them. Next, I used about 3 to 4 grains of 700 X shotgun powder. Since when they are doing a 21 gun salute the rifle is pointed up in the air, the powder is back against the primer. So ignition is not a problem, even in cold Minnesota weather.

For sealing the end of the case, I contacted a company in Ohio that is the only company in the world that makes the Crimp for the end of the cartridge. It is called a Rosette crimp die. They are special order, and you have to wait for eternity for it.

However as luck would have it, once I got it, they sent me a second right after I got the first. SO, I have an extra one.

Send me an email, or one off line and we can talk more if interested in this. Will be happy to do so to support a VFW post back in MN.

Cheers,
Seafire

Seafire: This is weird - I'm from central MN, but lived in Eugene for a couple years! I'm back in MN now for the last 5 years or so, but I do like the northwest. I miss the mountains and the ocean.

My dad is the post commander, so he is in charge of all the funeral stuff, and is looking for some more blanks. I have seen the factory blanks and supposed that they just used a special crimp die to fold in the neck. I can pick up free brass from the range and make blanks for a very small investment in materials - with a die like the one you have. Please send me a PM with details, etc. thanks, maxman

There is NO CANISTER-GRADE smokeless powder available to the handloader that is really suitable for such uses, but I found that GOEX Clearshot works real well in paper cartridges for use in civil war cap and ball revolvers, and it should be OK in a .30/'06 blank also. Hodgdon 777 and Clean Shot (American Pioneer) powder should work equally well. These are better than black, because cleanup is so much easier.



IF you manage to find some of the "E.C. Blank-fire" powder or equivalent that is used in military '06 and 7.62X51 NATO blanks, NEVER use it for shooting any kind of a projectile!! Paper wads only! It develops too much pressure too fast to be safe for anything but a blank!!

thanks for the tip, eldeguello. I will definitely keep stuff like that in mind! maxman