and ideas?..i was going to use nail polish or rub the crimp on a block of wax to fill in that tiny hole at the tip of the blank round.

I'm not a reloader, but I understand a touch of varnish is usually used.

I usually try to keep seals from my blanks. Sea lions, too.

You don't want anything to seep inside the case and contaminate the powder (in the case of blanks, there may not be any powder - it depends). But the same things goes for the primers - they can get contaminated too. Then your blanks will have a new name. "Duds". I would just store them in a sealer waterproof container (Pelican box or something) if you have need for reliably operating blanks in a wet environment.

haertig..i plan to have the first two rounds in my pistol as blanks.the company i got them from said expect a major muzzle blast.the next four will be bear loads.
i have never had a problem bear in all my years canoe tripping but rather than bang pots and pans together,a normal anti bear method,i thought a good loud BANG would do the job.
i should mention i would never shoot a black bear unless it had me by the foot dragging me out of the tent or something.
the use of blanks came to me after meeting a bear guide on the last canoe trip.he said a shot bear will run from the sound of the gun and drop dead,he hopes,in a hundred yards.a bear darted with a arrow won't run but will stand around the area until it drops.
also a lady who was the last person to live in the canoe park years ago kept a lever action 30 30 handy and said a shot in the air would chase it away from her supply shed.her take on the subject was that bears live in the quiet of the woods and a blast from a gun is too much for them.

I hope your handgun is something like a .454 Casull, .460 S&W or .500 S&W. Bears don't go down easily, even the little black ones. Noise may not work either.

Here's a report of a bear near where I live, and what it took to stop it. Mind you, this was a 120lb bear. My dog weighs 145lbs (and looks kind of like a bear too!)

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_12927288

The synopsis:


With the shotgun:


With the handgun:


And finally, the rifle:


Tough little bugger. Didn't seem to be terribly afraid of the gunfire noise either. I think your blanks are a good idea to try. You may get lucky and be able to frighten a bear off. But I don't think I'd want to actually shoot a bear, any bear, and risk irritating it ... with anything less than a .45-70 rifle.

I really think you should rethink the idea of carrying two blanks! A blank won't do anything a live round won't do but the reverse is not true! If you want to try noise you can fire live ammo into the ground or (carefully) the air.

My concern is that you could end up needing to employ your firearm on very short notice and at very short range. In that event you'll love precious time and waste your already-limited capacity. You don't mention what sidearm you're carrying but most of them hold six. Some hold seven and a rare few hold eight.

If you ever need the gun it will be hard to remember how many rounds of what you have in the gun! I realize you're not talking about a "gunfight" but stress is stress. In many police shootings officers have no recollection of how many rounds they fired, and sometimes don't even know if they fired their firearm or not!

One last comment- I am assuming you're talking about a revolver. If you're carrying an auto then I definitely wouldn't advice blanks! They won't reliably cycle your firearm.

If you're married to having less-than-lethal loads under the hammer, consider shot shells. They're still not advisable but will have more effect than blanks if you accidentally use them thinking you have regular ammunition.

BTW, what caliber are you carrying?

I´d use hot glue for this purpose. It is easy to apply and the melting point is high enough to avoid melting and contaminating your load. It will also not flow far enough into the shell to have impact on the load.
Whether the blanks are fit for the intended purpose is beyond my knowledge.

If I were going to attempt sealing primers and case mouths like this, I'd use something designed for the purpose. Not wax or hot glue or fingernail polish.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/954332/markron-custom-bullet-and-primer-sealer-1-2-oz-liquid

I am not entirely sure if the front end of a blank even can be sealed. I have seen few blanks in my life, but I seem to remember that the case mouth is (or can be) folded back and crimped/squashed over itself (like the front end of a standard shotgun shell). I don't know how well you could seat that, with all the bends and folds in the metal. The crimped front of the case mouth might be a place where a wax glob could be used.

As someone else already mentioned, we're talking about revolvers here. Blanks don't get along with semi-autos, especially blanks covered with wax or other goop.

For sealing the seats of bullets or primers I´m with you.
From the description the blanks should look like that: blank ammo.
Those have a tiny hole where the folded metal meets. That can be sealed. I would not use wax as it may melt and affect the powder.
Six rounds sound much like a revolver anyway.

this is turning into the same bag of worms as my PLB carry post!
which is fine because i get a lot of good feedback that i have no other way of getting,when your in the "retirement bubble" you don't get around much.
so anyway yes its a revolver,357 four inch Taurus that i bought in the 80's just for solo canoe tripping. i'm x-Army and handled a lot of weapons so after running half a box of ammo thru it i said "got it" and put it way until the next solo trip.with a buddy to watch your back i don't fret as much about camp bears.i carry a pepper spray on some of the portages but have never seen a bear that did not run when it saw me.
i don't like to be slinging lead around.a camp that a bear might come into looking for food would be in one of the well used bays.
i feel safer back in the bush whack lakes where most campers don't want to take the hassle to get back into.
i'll go with what i call "local knowledge",that is the bears where i'll be sharing the woods with will run away from a loud sharp BANG the same as they will stay away from a family banging on pots and pans.

i'll go with this..

I don't like having different kinds of ammunition in your gun under most circumstances. Unless you're super calm, you're going to forget what you've loaded. Under a great deal of stress, all you know is point and shoot. You won't be able to count rounds. As the bear is charging in, you'll be wondering whether you're still shooting the blanks or live rounds.

The other thing, of course, is bear defense. We might as well open up all cans of worms: 9 vs .45, AK vs AR, Mac vs. PC, Lauren Bacall vs. Catherine Deneuve...

"SOUTH LAKE TAHOE — A Douglas County sheriff’s deputy accidentally shot a black bear with a live round rather than a rubber bullet during a recent incident that resulted in the death of a mother of two cubs."

http://www.mtdemocrat.com/news/deputy-kills-tahoe-bear-in-apparent-accidental-shooting/

I'm going to echo Phaedrus on this. Forget the blanks: if you want--and have the time--to fire warning shots, fire live rounds into the dirt. If you don't have the time to fire warning shots, you will have a ready defense, without having to crank through two blanks. Blanks are--maybe--just as effective as live ammo...when the barrel is pressed against the flesh of your target.

one more thing and i'll quit on this post.
good comments and all but what i want is a noise maker,a really loud one.i'm not going to be someplace where black bears are anything more than camp pests.the worst that could happen,and it does,is that campers loose their food bag and have paddle back to the landings where lunch in Ely is just a hour or so away.folks who are a few days back in the woods have been known to ask/beg/ folks they meet up with for something/anything to eat.
the subject of keeping your food safe is a major topic on canoe tripping boards.hang v.s.hide will bring out weeks of posts and counter posts.
the chance of a stalking or attack is so tiny that getting worked up about is a waste of time and mental energy.like i said in the other post the blanks are just my chase method like banging pots and pans.when you check in for you permit to the BWCAW you have to watch a "do and don't" video the highlight is a couple campers chasing a bear,a real one,out of their camp with shouts and stick tossing.this is not Alaska where fisherman have to have a guide standing by with a very big rifle or out west where hikers pitch tents inside a chain link fence camping area.
there are other scare methods like air horns and hand held flares but i'll go with this one.no lead slinging or ricochet off exposed bedrock,just a BOOM out the tent door at 5AM to get Mr Big away from my food.
and back to the original question which was sealing the crimp.
i'll go with the nail polish which seemed to fill in that little hole where the crimps came together.
when i get back in a few weeks i'll do a post on how they test fired.
keep your powder dry!!

Cool. I'm curious too. Never bought blanks before, I'm eager to see if the sealant works well for you. I agree- the odds of needing to shoot a bear are probably minimal.

Blank shotgun shells can be ordered through a gun dealer as well. I used those in 75mm Pack Howitzers for rendering salutes at official functions.

That was so loud, 1 person (a guest) had a heart attack on hearing the first round. I had the barrels pointed away from the ceremony and we were also 300 yards in distance.

Canoedogs, maybe you need to carry a 75mm pack howitzer with you in the woods.

bingley,when i was young and foolish i thought about getting one of those just legal by a bit sawed off shotguns and slipping down the side pouch of my Duluth pack.

Hmmm...I don't think that's foolish at all! A short-but-legal double barrel coach gun would be an awesome woods gun. Maybe not something you could get at quickly (eg surprise unexpected charge) but you could unpack it once you made camp.

FWIW my main woods gun is usually a full sized HK (either a USPf9, P30S or my new VP9). Occasionally I even carry two full sized guns! Where I live there's nothing around that a 9mm isn't big enough to deal with.

I understand your mind is made, but it's a bad idea.

No two encounters are the same and betting your life and those of your loved ones you may be with on anecdotal stories is a pretty big gamble. Animals are unpredictable; what they routinely do may not be what the one in front of you does (for varying reasons, including being sick). Just like in the self defense world, you prepare for worst case not the ideal case.

Noise makers are a great idea, don't get me wrong, but IMO keep your lethal options and less lethal options open, but functioning as intended.

Regardless of what you end up doing, I realize you'll probably never be in a situation where you'll have to put your theories to the test but if you do I hope it works for ya!

i won't ignore the good advice i get here while i'm off on my ten day solo. when i get back next month i'll let you all how it went.

Enjoy!