Movie/film suggestions.

"I believe when they shoot blanks out of something in semi or full auto, they have to use special devices fitted to the muzzle which directs the muzzle gases backwards to work the action of the firearm.  (I think that’s how it works, anyway.) "

Actually, a blank is a fully functioning cartridge without the bullet.

What most people refer to as ’bullets’-aren’t. That is just the little projectile that comes out of the gun. What goes into a gun is called a cartridge. It consists of 4 parts- the casing, the primer, the powder, and the projectile (bullet). A blank consists of 3 out of the four so it sounds and acts identically to a full cartridge without discharging a projectile. That whole Rust debacle was just pure stupidity and negligence.

@thecarpathian oh boy why do you know sooo much about guns? 

and yes it was HUGE negligence

@immatthewj Elephant may bowl you over; it’s gripping. Snowpiercer is a rollercoaster ride, a genre in which I think Bong Joon Ho excels. Get out the popcorn and hold on. I haven’t seen American dreamer, but I’m a big fan of Matt Dillon. And, I, too, am a current Peacock subscriber. I’ll throw it into negotiations with my wife.

@gano ​​​​​​,  because I believe in safe and responsible gun ownership. That begins with knowing everything you can about them and the responsibility that comes with it. Want to know another reason to not like Florida? Know what’s the only paperwork required to buy a pistol from a private individual down there? Money. That’s it. No background check, no government paperwork, no registering it, nothing. If you’ve got the cash, you get the gun. Even crazier? They just did away with requiring a concealed/carry permit. That’s right! No safety class to pass, just strap that loaded thing on and go! So, any yahoo with absolutely no idea about firearms can legally carry around a loaded gun. They passed that right before they started banning books. That state is a hot, steaming mess.

Actually, a blank is a fully functioning cartridge without the bullet.

But you see, @thecarpathian , what the action of a semi or a full auto requires to function is the gases from the combustion within the cartridge portion of the round routed back into the bolt.  On a direct impinged AR15, for example, the path of the exhaust gas is through an orifice in the barrel that runs directly above the rifled portion of the barrel.  Versus, for another example, the AK47, which routes the gas into a cylinder directly above the barrel where it drives a piston that operates the action.  (A M1A also has a smaller cylinder with a piston that is located below the barrel.)  And then, of course, you have the blowback principle where the force exerted on the cartridge portion of the round pushes it (the cartridge) back, and that is what racks the action and leaves it ready for another shot.  This is common with handguns.

So what this means, is if the bullet is not traveling down the barrel IN FRONT OF THE GAS (as in a blank), the gas has no reason to route back and recock the action after firing the first shot as the gas is simply expelled out the muzzle (and obviously NOT back into the action).  That doesn’t mean a semi auto cannot fire blanks, but as opposed to operating in the semi auto mode, but it needs to be manually recocked after each shot.  Hence, a modification (some type of obstruction) needs to be made to the muzzle so the gas will be routed back where it needs to go.  BUT, if a live round happened to be introduced to that scenario, I would think that the result would be a catastrophic barrel failure.

I will point out that although I own several semi autos, I do not and never have fired blanks out of my semis or my firearms that are not semiautos, nor do I have any desire to fire blanks, so what I know about this is from what I have read on gun forums.  However, if you understand how a semi-automatic functions, and you think about it, that does make sense.  If that explanation up above does not make sense, I’ll try again, just let me know.  No sarcasm intended.

@gano , have you seen American Dreamer (2022)?  Matt Dillon has a major supporting role, and he kills it.  Excellent.