How accurate are .22 Pellets shot with Nail Gun Blanks?

Badger Arms · December 30, 2014, 08:40 PM

I've been doing experiments with pellets fired from nail gun blanks. Full disclosure: I was sure that it would flop, sure that they would fly apart and lead the heck out of the barrel and not hit anything. Please vote on what you think will happen before you watch the video. I was surprised:

http://youtu.be/NU-GPmeEIV8

**Aguila Blanca** · December 30, 2014, 08:58 PM

There was another video on Youtube showing a similar experiment -- different person doing it.

Out of curiosity, does anyone recognize the rifle he's using? Looks like pretty much a classic, but I've never seen one like it and I have no idea what it is.

Badger Arms · December 31, 2014, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Out of curiosity, does anyone recognize the rifle he's using? Looks like pretty much a classic, but I've never seen one like it and I have no idea what it is.

Just a cheap Rossi single-shot.

**Aguila Blanca** · December 31, 2014, 07:01 PM

Found the other video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU-G...WhN2c6&index=3

KEYBEAR · December 31, 2014, 10:57 PM

What color Blank are you using . I used a bunch of Blanks in my business .
I think they are RED GREEN and YELLOW High to Low power

Drm50 · December 31, 2014, 11:32 PM

Some kids that hang out here were telling me of utub pellet out of 22 / nail gun
ammo. So we watched it. I had a Daisy BA 22 beater, so we gave her a try.
Marked rod to seat depth. Loaded with Rem. Yellow load. Touched her off. Blam!
Pellet went some where, I think. Cartridge ruptured, blowing the rotor magazine
clear out of gun. The Daisy was junk when new,now it is junked. I advise not to
do this stupid trick. A better gun probly would take it, but who is going to pull
this with thier good gun. Boys in video were using Rem semi-auto.

Badger Arms · January 1, 2015, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KEYBEAR

What color Blank are you using. I think they are RED GREEN and YELLOW High to Low power

I used #2, #3, and #4 blanks. They were Brown, Green, and Yellow respectively. I was unable to find any Red #5 blanks.

mattL46 · January 1, 2015, 11:40 PM

Very interesting and entertaining. I chose "some accurate and some inaccurate" hmm...may have to go buy a cheap Rossi and stock up on pellets and nail gun charges. What shortage!!!???

Badger Arms · January 2, 2015, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattL46

Very interesting and entertaining. I chose "some accurate and some inaccurate" hmm...may have to go buy a cheap Rossi and stock up on pellets and nail gun charges. What shortage!!!???

If this is something you want to do, just ensure that you test different loads and pellets to find something that is accurate in your firearm.

**Aguila Blanca** · January 2, 2015, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattL46

hmm...may have to go buy a cheap Rossi and stock up on pellets and nail gun charges.

I was thinking much the same thing. A bolt action would do, I suppose, but that break action is much easier.

I'd like to try it with these:

Who knew someone sells real, genuine lead .22 bullets?

http://northamericanarms.com/catalog...llets&x=13&y=8

Snyper · January 3, 2015, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Who knew someone sells real, genuine lead .22 bullets?

I suspect these would work quite well also:

http://www.pyramydair.com/s/p/JSB_Ma...omed_200ct/722

jmorris · January 3, 2015, 11:36 AM

Figured this would have been locked by now, like the thread I started last year.

http://thefiringline.com/forums/show...ighlight=blank

**Aguila Blanca** · January 3, 2015, 04:52 PM

From the other thread, linked by jmorris above:

Quote:

So I'm curious about the pressures at work in these blank cartridges...
or maybe I should say, where these are designed to operate. For whatever it is they do when they are discharged, a large part of the equation is whatever is resisting the blast. In the case of their actual design, it's going to be some sort of industrial nail or brad. In the case of these guys and their testing, it's a lead pellet of known weight.

When you take these little blank rounds and you put an obstruction in front of them that is -NOT- what they were designed to do, you are altering the max chamber pressure of their design... which I can't say we even know from the get-go. Off hand, I can't even guess if a 14 grain pellet is lighter or heavier than whatever the nail or brad is that's meant to be used in the industrial application for which they were intended.

What the author of this wrote suggests to me that this is a person who has never used a Hilti or Ramset powder-actuated fastening device. Yes, the projectile is a nail. However ... the muzzle is held TIGHT against the first surface to be penetrated by the projectile, and the shank of the projectile starts penetrating into or through the first layer of material long before the head has left the barrel. I've used them for fastening 2x4s into hardened concrete, and on construction sites they are used to fasten into A36 structural steel. I think they build up a whole lotta pressure doing what they are designed to do.

Armed_Chicagoan · January 3, 2015, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Badger Arms

I used #2, #3, and #4 blanks. They were Brown, Green, and Yellow respectively. I was unable to find any Red #5 blanks.

Great, now you started a run on .22 nail gun blanks!

Clark · January 3, 2015, 07:57 PM

I did this with 22 rimfire crimped blanks and 22 pellets in a 22 single shot in 1963 when I was 12.

Sorry, I did not test for accuracy. We jumped right to robin hunting.

Badger Arms · January 4, 2015, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clark

I did this with 22 rimfire crimped blanks and 22 pellets in a 22 single shot in 1963 when I was 12.

Sorry, I did not test for accuracy. We jumped right to robin hunting.

Several people have said this. The first time I saw a Ramset blank, I instantly started to ponder firearm-related uses.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Armed_Chicagoan

Great, now you started a run on .22 nail gun blanks!

I have heard that before. I'm sure they'll make more!

aherrera773 · January 4, 2015, 09:15 PM

I would hope for more regular 22 ammo available. But if people are focused on using blanks instead of regular ammo. It would help me more to see shelves full bulk packs again.

**JohnKSa** · January 4, 2015, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Figured this would have been locked by now, like the thread I started last year.

So here's the dilemma...

http://training.nra.org/nra-gun-safety-rules.aspx

The OP is clearly violating one of the gun safety rules from the link. i.e.

Use only the correct ammunition for your gun.
Only BBs, pellets, cartridges or shells designed for a particular gun can be fired safely in that gun. Most guns have the ammunition type stamped on the barrel. Ammunition can be identified by information printed on the box and sometimes stamped on the cartridge. Do not shoot the gun unless you know you have the proper ammunition.

So is this significantly different from posting about violating one of the other safety rules from the link? (e.g. "Know your target and what is beyond" or "Never use alcohol or over-the-counter, prescription or other drugs before or while shooting.") Not as far as I can tell.

Well then, is it harmless? No. We know that there's the potential for property damage and possibly even injury from post 6 of this thread and post 11 of the previous thread.

So let's view this in the light of TFL's purpose statement. "TFL is dedicated to the discussion and advancement of responsible firearms ownership".

This clearly doesn't qualify.

View Poll Results: How accurate will pellets be fired with Nail Gun Blanks?
About as accurate as bulk pack.	1	5.88%
Some charges accurate, some inaccurate.	2	11.76%
Not accurate at all.	2	11.76%
That's dangerous. Don't do that!	4	23.53%
I don't get it. Why would you want to do this?	6	35.29%
I know that range!	2	11.76%
Voters: 17. You may not vote on this poll

December 30, 2014, 08:40 PM	#1
Badger Arms Senior Member Join Date: July 2, 2000 Location: Harnett County, NC Posts: 1,700	How accurate are .22 Pellets shot with Nail Gun Blanks? I've been doing experiments with pellets fired from nail gun blanks. Full disclosure: I was sure that it would flop, sure that they would fly apart and lead the heck out of the barrel and not hit anything. Please vote on what you think will happen before you watch the video. I was surprised: http://youtu.be/NU-GPmeEIV8 __________________ We may or may not worship God, but John Moses Browning made sure we can choose.

December 31, 2014, 11:32 PM	#6
Drm50 Senior Member Join Date: November 10, 2014 Posts: 1,382	Stupid is as Stupid does! Some kids that hang out here were telling me of utub pellet out of 22 / nail gun ammo. So we watched it. I had a Daisy BA 22 beater, so we gave her a try. Marked rod to seat depth. Loaded with Rem. Yellow load. Touched her off. Blam! Pellet went some where, I think. Cartridge ruptured, blowing the rotor magazine clear out of gun. The Daisy was junk when new,now it is junked. I advise not to do this stupid trick. A better gun probly would take it, but who is going to pull this with thier good gun. Boys in video were using Rem semi-auto.

January 3, 2015, 07:57 PM	#15
Clark Senior Member Join Date: December 4, 1999 Location: WA, the ever blue state Posts: 4,678	I did this with 22 rimfire crimped blanks and 22 pellets in a 22 single shot in 1963 when I was 12. Sorry, I did not test for accuracy. We jumped right to robin hunting. __________________ The word 'forum" does not mean "not criticizing books." "Ad hominem fallacy" is not the same as point by point criticism of books. If you bought the book, and believe it all, it may FEEL like an ad hominem attack, but you might strive to accept other points of view may exist. Are we a nation of competing ideas, or a nation of forced conformity of thought?

December 30, 2014, 08:58 PM	#2
Aguila Blanca Staff Join Date: September 25, 2008 Location: CONUS Posts: 18,468	There was another video on Youtube showing a similar experiment -- different person doing it. Out of curiosity, does anyone recognize the rifle he's using? Looks like pretty much a classic, but I've never seen one like it and I have no idea what it is.

December 31, 2014, 07:01 PM	#4
Aguila Blanca Staff Join Date: September 25, 2008 Location: CONUS Posts: 18,468	Found the other video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU-G...WhN2c6&index=3

December 31, 2014, 10:57 PM	#5
KEYBEAR Senior Member Join Date: January 11, 2012 Location: Indiana Posts: 1,059	What color Blank are you using . I used a bunch of Blanks in my business . I think they are RED GREEN and YELLOW High to Low power

January 1, 2015, 11:40 PM	#8
mattL46 Senior Member Join Date: February 9, 2013 Posts: 656	Very interesting and entertaining. I chose "some accurate and some inaccurate" hmm...may have to go buy a cheap Rossi and stock up on pellets and nail gun charges. What shortage!!!???

January 3, 2015, 11:36 AM	#12
jmorris Senior Member Join Date: November 22, 2006 Posts: 3,077	Figured this would have been locked by now, like the thread I started last year. http://thefiringline.com/forums/show...ighlight=blank

January 4, 2015, 09:15 PM	#17
aherrera773 Member Join Date: November 27, 2014 Posts: 51	I would hope for more regular 22 ammo available. But if people are focused on using blanks instead of regular ammo. It would help me more to see shelves full bulk packs again.