# Do You Feel Lucky, Punk? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 18, 2000, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-lucky-punk/7522 "2000-02-18T21:09:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2000, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-lucky-punk/7522/1 "2000-02-18T21:09:00Z")
The scene: “I know what you’re thinking. Did he fire five bullets or six? Well, in all the excitement I just plumb forgot! So, you have to ask yourself, do you feel like, punk?” (approximate quote from Dirty Harry, (C. Eastwood) I guess I should know by now, but in Hollywood, when they fire bullets: What exactly are “blanks” and how are they fired off without: a) sounding like a kid’s capgun b) firing some projectile (I assume) ## If I’m the only one in the dark, well, I’m sorry, I guess I missed that lecture! “They’re coming to take me away ha-ha, ho-ho, hee-hee, to the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time… :)” - Napoleon IV ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2000, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-lucky-punk/7522/2 "2000-02-18T21:12:00Z")
I think they do fire a projectile, but the projectile is cardboard or paper and quickly disperses in the air. ---
**Author:** ![jaydabee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c89c15/32.png) [@jaydabee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaydabee)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2000, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-lucky-punk/7522/3 "2000-02-18T21:14:00Z")
They could dub in real gunfire, but that’s probably not what you after is it? Didn’t an actor get killed a couple of years ago by putting a blank pistol to his head and pulling the trigger? There was enough of a regular load in there that either the air pressure killed him or a the paper wad in the end of blank was ejected with enough force to penatrate his skull. ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Incognito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guy_incognito/32/3920_2.png) [@Guy\_Incognito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Incognito)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2000, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-lucky-punk/7522/4 "2000-02-18T21:24:00Z")
There were a couple of actors that were killed by debris thrown by blank rounds. Brandon Lee was killed while filming “The Crow” and Jon Eric Hexum (forget what TV shows he was in) accidentally killed himself when he pressed the barrel of a blank-filled gun against his temple and pulled the trigger. If I remember right the material that gets ejected when a blank is fired is wadding material and a fair amount of burnt gunpowder. ## As far as the gunfire sound in movies, I’m pretty sure it’s all dubbed in. Blanks, while they are loud, don’t sound like the real thing. “It’s only common sense, There are no accidents 'round here.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2000, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-lucky-punk/7522/5 "2000-02-18T21:25:00Z")
When we shot _Cut Up_ (soon to be available at a Blockbuster near you… I hope) we used blanks from one of the best-known armorers in L.A. – Stembridge Gun Rentals. The blanks were made of black plastic and about half the length of a .38 Spl. cartridge. When fired, the pre-scored nose would open to allow the gas to escape, but the “petals” would remain attached to the case for safety. When you see bullets in a revolver, they are dummies. That is, they have bullets in them, but the primer has been fired and there is no powder. I believe this may be what killed Brandon Lee. I think that a .44 slug was put into a “dummy” round, but the primer was still live. When the gun was fired the primer had enough power to push the bullet into the barrel. When the gun was to be used for another shot the armoroer called for a “full charge” (max flash). This charge was sufficient to propel the lodged projectile down the barrel with a force similar to it having been shot from a live round. But I digress… For our purposes, we used the plastic blanks. On _The Crow_, the blanks were custom-made on the set (apparently) and might have been brass cartridges with a small cardboard disc to keep the powder in. Machine-gun blanks used to have wooded bullets that would disintegrate as soon as they were out of the barrel, but I used to have 7.62mm blanks and they were different. They had an elongated neck (to simulate a bullet so the cartridge would load properly) with the small cardboard disk in the front. I’ve also seen 8mm Mauser blanks and .22 blanks that were simply crimped on the end (watch out for flying metal!). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2000, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-lucky-punk/7522/6 "2000-02-18T21:30:00Z")
Guy, Actually blanks _do_ sound like the real thing. The .38 blanks mentioned above and some 9mm (crimp-nosed) blanks I’ve fired sound like the real thing. The trouble is that gunfire doesn’t sound like gunfire when it’s recorded. (I’ve often felt that gunfire doesn’t sound like movie gunfire.) Gunfire in movies is added by the “Foley” artist and is “sweetened” to give a result that is satifactory to the director. OTOH, I have some surplus 5.56mm blanks that don’t sound like live ammo when they’re fired. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2000, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-lucky-punk/7522/7 "2000-02-18T22:40:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by jaydabee: > **They could dub in real gunfire, but that’s probably not what you after is it? > Didn’t an actor get killed a couple of years ago by putting a blank pistol to his head and pulling the trigger? There was enough of a regular load in there that either the air pressure killed him or a the paper wad in the end of blank was ejected with enough force to penatrate his skull.** Freddy Prinze, several years ago, was fooling around with a gun loaded with just blanks on a set, put it to his head, and fired. He died. -Melin * * * Siamese attack puppet – California Still neglecting and overprotecting my children ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2000, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-lucky-punk/7522/8 "2000-02-18T22:48:00Z")
I thought that Freddie Prinz was an intentional suicide? I know that one of the guys from the 70’s TV show _Alias Smith and Jones_ accidentally killed himself by shooting a blank at his own brain-pan. ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2000, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-lucky-punk/7522/9 "2000-02-19T00:11:00Z")
A similar accidental suicide also happened in 1984 to Jon-Erik Hexum, star of the TV series _Voyagers_. He used a prop gun loaded with blanks from the set. * * * **Gypsy** : Tom, I don’t get you. **Tom Servo** : Nobody does. I’m the wind, baby. ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2000, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-lucky-punk/7522/10 "2000-02-19T00:14:00Z")
And FTR, Freddie Prinze did commit suicide intentionally, AFAIK. Pete Duel from _Alias Smith and Jones_ also committed suicide but IMdB doesn’t give details. * * * **Gypsy** : Tom, I don’t get you. **Tom Servo** : Nobody does. I’m the wind, baby. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2000, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-lucky-punk/7522/11 "2000-02-19T05:31:00Z")
Freddie Prinze died of lead poisoning. It was a real bullet, not a blank. * * * _I for one welcome our new insect overlords…_ - K. Brockman ---
**Author:** ![falcon2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dbc845/32.png) [@falcon2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/falcon2)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2000, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-lucky-punk/7522/12 "2000-02-19T06:05:00Z")
I read in the official “The Crow” book that a plastic bullet thats used to make revolvers look like they are loaded, was accidentily left in a revolver that was subsiquently loaded with blanks, and then lead to the end of Brendon Lee. One thing I have noticed about hollywood gunplay, the spectacular,granular blank flash is not edited out.