Converting Blank Firing Guns to Fire Live Ammunition

It’s no secret to anyone that knows me. I like guns. As a matter of fact, you could say I love guns. I love the mechanics of firearms. I love the challenge of putting that little piece of copper-jacketed lead onto a small target so far away that I couldn’t even see it without a scope.

I love taking an old, beat-up, rusty gun and breathing new life into it by refinishing and repairing it. I love the smell of the powder when I shoot guns.

I love the noise. I love the flash of the powder as it leaves the muzzle (it’s especially cool at night as you can see in the picture below of me firing my Draco AK47 pistol).

nightshooting the draco

Unfortunately, though, many people never get to know the joy and thrill of firing a loud, powerful, firearm.

From the biggest, baddest, handgun, to the most elegant and beautifully engraved hunting rifle or even just a boring ol’ “black rifle” (AKA the AR15), firearms come in all shapes and sizes (and calibers).

Almost Real

P.A.K blank firing guns have the look, weight, feel, and sound of a real gun, but without the projectile (unless you want them to, i.e. live fire conversion).

Just in case you don’t know, “P.A.K” stands for “pistole automatik knall”, which is German for “automatic blank pistol”. There are also revolver versions for those of you that are into revolvers. But for me, I prefer the semi and full-auto versions.

There are about 18 different manufacturers of blank firing guns, 20 models of which are convertible. Some of these blank gun manufacturers also manufacture real firearms as well.

Makers like Taurus, who makes a model LOM-13, 9mm P.A.K caliber revolver based on their model 905 revolver. The blank firing gun is made from steel, just like a real gun. This blank gun is VERY easily converted to fire live ammunition.

In my state, in my country, converting the SEMI AUTOMATIC blank gun to fire live ammunition would be perfectly legal.

However, converting the fully automatic blank firing gun to live fire would be illegal for the average citizen.

There are certain licenses you can get to become a gun maker that can make NFA weapons, but they can only be sold to military and law enforcement.

Big money, big headache

Private Citizens in the United States CAN buy and privately own fully automatic weapons. The catch is that we can’t buy any NEW ones. We can only buy those manufactured before 1986(?).

I’m 99.999% sure that year is correct. Because of that law, although it IS legal to own full autos here, it is still very difficult to get them.

The reasons are that first off, there just aren’t very many of them. Maybe somewhere around 100,000 and someone already owns them.

On the occasion that someone does put one up for sell they are exorbitantly expensive. For example, a full auto AK47 or M16 runs around $25,000-30,000 dollars!

There are “cheaper” alternatives, like an Uzi with all the fixins’ for around $15,000. Or you can get a really “cheap”, Mac 10 or 11 for around “only” $8,000.

You can also buy certain parts that will make your AK or AR etc. become fully automatic, like a drop in auto sear for example. That part is considered the “machine gun”, and that is what is registered.

Those parts are still very expensive. But the upside is that you can buy a cheap AK or AR and shoot it until its dead, then buy another one and put the part in it, taa daa, new machine gun, perfectly legal.

On the other hand, if you buy a complete machine gun the receiver is what is registered. If something happens to it, if it breaks, no more machine gun.

That’s all just such a ridiculous hassle. Those prices have almost doubled in the last 7 or 8 years. I will never be able to afford one. But I can legally simulate full auto with a slide fire stock, and I have several of those.

But you can see why it might be tempting for some people to buy the blank firing gun because it’s a cheap alternative to play with and have all the sights and sounds of a real machine gun, just no bullets come out.

Unless, of course, you convert the blank firing gun to fire live ammunition.

Cartridge Dimensions

The blank cartridge is 9×22 mm, which is shorter OVERALL than an actual 9mm Luger/9mm Parabellum cartridge. The 9mm Luger has a case dimension of 9x19mm, but then the projectile extends beyond the case.

This is why you are able to fire the .380 or .32 ACP from the blank gun. (On a side note, I find it interesting that Parabellum means “prepare for war” in Latin.)

The .380 ACP case dimension is 9x17mm, and with flat nose jacketed projectile, or a wide throated hollow point ammunition, like a Hydra-Shok, the cartridge will fit the magazine and feed. A 9×19 Luger cartridge won’t even fit in the magazine.

38 spcl 1

There is a 9x21mm cartridge, I wonder if that (or maybe even the 9x19mm for that matter) could be loaded like a wad cutter and fired from the blank gun. Probably not, because it probably wouldn’t feed.

(A wad cutter, seen on the left in the pictures to the left, is a cartridge that the bullet is seated flush with the casing, for those who didn’t know). Second from left are a semi-wad cutter, a semi-jacketed hollow point, and then a flat-nosed full metal jacket. All are .38 Special.

38 spcl 2

The same goes for the .32 ACP. It has a case length of 17.3 mm, but even it, with a round nose FMJ (full metal jacket) bullet might still be too long for the magazine.

But by using a flat nosed FMJ, or a wide throated hollow point projectile, like the Hydra-Shok (which the .32 ACP measures 23mm overall), it then would fit the magazine.

32 acp 1

Pictured above are 3 .32 ACP cartridges. A Czech FMJ on the left, a Federal Hydra-Shok in the middle, and a Magtec hollow point on the right.

You can see the length differences in the picture below. You can also see the difference in the throat of the two hollow point projectiles.

32 acp 2

Below are pictured several variations of the 9mm Luger cartridge, just to give you some perspective on the many configurations available of the same caliber.

32 acp 3

From left to right are a subsonic lead round nose, a common round nose full metal jacket, a flat nose full metal jacket, a Starfire jacketed hollow point, a black talon jacketed hollow point, and then last on the right is a Winchester brand hollow point.

The next picture below shows a side view of the 9mm cartridges to see that the same caliber can come in many different total lengths.

9 mm 2

This is something to consider when making a conversion to live fire, because some cartridges of your conversion caliber will work, while others will not.

9 mm 1

What Is a P.A.K Blank Firing Pistol?

It occurred to me that many of you may not even know what a P.A.K blank firing pistol is. Well, there are a few brands (18 or so), but the one that caught my attention was the EKOL Jackal because it looks similar to my favorite handgun, and has select fire.

Maybe it’s just me, but there’s something about fully automatic gunfire that just gets me going. I love it.

There is another EKOL blank gun, the ASI model that looks more like a sub-machine gun. But in reality it’s just a plastic cover around this pistol.

These two particular blank firing guns have a select fire switch to select semi-automatic or full automatic fire. They shoot fast too! If you have never fired a full auto weapon it’s not really that much different than firing a semi auto except that you have to maintain control of the firearm longer.

That part takes a little practice, but within just a few magazines of ammo most people can get it under control.

If you already know how to fire a weapon then you are a step ahead of the game, but to be safe I always suggest that the first time you fire a fully automatic firearm you only put five or six rounds in the magazine. That way the gun can’t really get away from you too bad.

One time a friend of mine shot one of my AK47’s on “fast fire” mode and he stepped back a few steps and the muzzle rose up to an “unsafe angle” by the time he got to round 6. Fortunately, round 6 was the last round, so no harm was done.

I can’t help but wonder if the magazine had been full, would he have had the mindset to release the trigger?

If the magazine had been full (30 rounds), and he didn’t release the trigger, then he would have fired over the berm and off into the distance. No telling what, or who, he may have hit.

He was a fairly small-framed guy. Weighed only about 140 pounds (about 65 kilograms), but he was strong for his size. He was an arborist, so he worked hard, lifted heavy chinks of wood, and swung a chainsaw all day.

But that AK, it almost ran away from him. We all got a good laugh and teased him about it.

Here is a video of the blank pistol in a configuration called the EKOL Asi:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=\u002d\u002dHP7B4J7dU

Wound potential of the .380 and .32 ACP cartridges

The 9mm P.A.K blank firing guns fire a blank cartridge that has an overall length very similar to a live .380 ACP or .32 ACP rounds.

Because of this, the blank guns that fire the 9mm P.A.K blank can easily be converted to fire the .380 or .32 ACP cartridges.

Granted, the .380 or .32 ACP cartridges aren’t the most powerful handgun cartridges available, but they are capable of causing a lethal wound. Quality expanding hollow point ammunition is the answer to make up for the lower power of the cartridge.

A quality hollow point .380 or .32 ACP round can expand to diameters nearing one-half inch. They can also reach penetration depths in ballistic gel of ten to twelve inches, as you can see in these videos here.

Here’s a video of the .380 ACP being fired into ballistics gel:

Real World .380 ACP Penetration Testing - Ballistic Gel

It really can’t be argued when there is video evidence proving that a .380 or .32 ACP can cause a lethal wound. This wound potential is exacerbated when taking into consideration the fully automatic mode fired in short bursts.

Firing in short bursts allows the shooter to maintain control and accuracy, and will put four to six rounds in your target in about one-quarter of a second.

No one is going to survive that without rapid emergency medical attention, especially if they are hit in the vital organs like the lungs, liver, and heart (or brain).

Converting a P.A.K blank firing gun to live fire

This is all very interesting you say, but how can I fire .380 or .32 ACP ammunition from my 9mm P.A.K blank firing gun? Well, you can fire .380 or .32 ACP ammunition from your blank gun by converting your blank gun to live fire.

Issues to address when converting the blank gun to fire live ammunition include:

  • Cartridge dimensions
  • Weak points on the blank gun
  • Sourcing a barrel or making one
  • Ammo availability

If you have a pile of .380 ACP then you know you want to go with that caliber, the same could be said for the .32 ACP. If you can’t buy guns where you live then you probably can’t get ammo either.

Also keep in mind that while the .380 ACP is bigger, it is also hotter than the .32 ACP and so will put more stress on the gun. Just something else to consider.

Here is a video explaining some of the finer points to making a conversion, specifically, strengthening the slide:

9mm PAK slide converted to live firring

To convert the blank firing gun to fire real ammo the first thing you will need to do is replace the blank barrel with a steel barrel.

If you can get your hands on a genuine barrel of the correct caliber then you are halfway there. The exact steps will vary depending on which model of blank gun you have.

But the generalization is that, you drill the blank barrel out, and then you install a barrel liner of the proper caliber. You literally glue it in place with gun smiths epoxy barrel liner glue.

Online stores like Brownells have everything for the gunsmith. You can buy rifled barrel liners of the correct caliber, then a chamber ream to chamber the liner to the correct caliber chamber.

Once you do that, you basically have a real gun. There are some areas on the slide and frame that will need strengthening. You can do this with steel and epoxy as well.

If you are trying to convert the blank gun to live fire on the cheap then you can replace the blank barrel with a steel barrel.

You can buy a surplus barrel of the right caliber, remove the blank barrel, machine the real barrel to fit in its place and epoxy it in.

Parting Shot

Keep in mind that if you make this conversion YOU will be holding onto this gun when the trigger is pulled. So you better do it right. It can be done, that’s a fact.

There are videos all over the internet of people doing it. It goes back to what I always say. Your brain is your greatest tool and your most dangerous weapon.

Put it to good use. If you see a problem, solve it. If you need a gun, make one, or convert a blank gun to fire live ammunition.

Some of those online have smooth bores, those will work up close, but they won’t have any real accuracy at distances.

If you want a good gun, that is safe and accurate, then you need to do it right. But the blank firing gun, look at it, study it.

It is most likely modeled after a real gun, look up the diagram for the real gun and compare how it looks to how your blank gun looks. Try to emulate that, or get as close to it as possible and, most important of all, observe the laws in your area.

You could buy the blank firing gun now, and just put it up. Source the parts you will need to convert it and source the ammunition that you will need. Stash it away, hope you never need it, but know it’s there if you do. Just like that fire extinguisher.

Disclaimer

The contents of this article is for information purposes only. Neither the author nor www.SurvivalSullivan.com shall be held liable for the misuse of the information contained herein or for any damage, injury, death, or any other negative consequence. We are not advocating that you replicate the steps and the advice offered in this article. Neither the author nor www.SurvivalSullivan.com shall be held liable for any product you create using this article.

66 thoughts on “Converting Blank Firing Guns to Fire Live Ammunition”

  1. Thanks for a really informative article!Unfortunately i live in a country where it is allmost impossible to get ammunition in calibers like .380 or 32acp,due to the fact that handguns chambered for such calibers are small in size,and such handguns are categorized here as “pocketguns” wich are only available for law enforcment officers.

    1. What about making a simple ball bearing shooter and converting the blank ammo to hold .22 cal ball bearings and use the blank guns chamber a smooth bore barrel fitted right in front of the blanks chamber on a ekol Tuna.

  2. if i bought the ekol jackal would a real beretta 92 barrel fit? if so then i could just slide 32 caliber barrel liner inside the beretta 92 barrel? would that work?

    1. If you are going to do a conversion of a blank gun make sure it is front venting/firing blank gun. You will need a vise and a electric drill you will also need a special bit for the drill it is a (diamond encrusted Hole drill bit) you can pick up a set on ebay for about 7 dollars free shipping takes usually 1-3 hours with these tools only because they are basic and they get hot. You drill/grind a little at a time and make sure to clear the dust as you grind/drill after the barrel is clear you take the 8mm pak or 9mm pak ammunition and punch a hole through the middle of the green star then insert metal pellets and vise it shut. Then repeat until all the park ammunition is converted to live rounds the reason for this is because live Factory ammunition maybe too much pressure for the gun so you convert the park ammunition which was made for it.

      1. There is another way to go..
        Buy or borrow a Lee loader set with a .380acp reloading kit,open up the 9mm pak cartridge,remove the gunpowder,remove the primer.
        Buy .380acp empty cases and bullets (No license needed,where i live)
        Reload the cases with the pak primer,and gunpowder (Use only 2/3 of the gunpowder),seat the bullet slightly deeper to fit in magazine..And voila!

    2. Personally I had trouble doing it but yes the baretta 92 barrel is the right size it was just to difficult to cut the slide to function and lock up proporly ,right now I bought the swiss arms 92 bb gun from 2015 model it has steal rails connected to the frame. You have to replicate the barettal 92 rails out of the swiss arms full straight rails which after attempting it on the ekol jackol this time i got it perfet as I could if you look at the swiss arms 92 frame pointed at you the running straight back th 92 model cuts on each side there is 3 groves to file then thy drop past the top rail to the rail grove thats where you stop thats where the barrel lock drops down and locks against the back make sure the barrel goes all the way back so it will meet the bolt I cut out the bolt section from my ekol jackel and installed it into the slide that came with the swiss arms at this point I have full actuon motion the only thing I have to do is find or make a magazine to fit the sqiss arms then fit bullets for it i will probobly cut some 9 mm bullets shell down and remeasure the gun powder for about 25 grain and cut the 9mm down shorter and load that up it will be some work but thats the price you pay when your acheiving something badass look for info on barger arms or szin napalm i have some you tube videos up and will post more to come on this subject

  3. I have ekol jackal dual compact cal. 9mm p.a.k but it has a plug in middle of it and two holes in barrel I was wondering if I thred a Allen key plug in each hole and drill out if that would work.

    1. John you have a great blank gun brand for convert to .380acp about that plug and hole in barrel. You need to take it off. Just cut blank barrel of with handsaw or whatever. See the ramp feed they are connect with barrel right? Cut that barrel off and drill through ramp feed to get rid off those plug. Now find .380acp barrel from any brand. Tried to insert them connect it with ramp feed. If it too big just mill it off a little big till you can insert them and glue them with epoxy and weld them a bit if you think it would be safe. Now you fun part. About magazine if you lucky you dont need to do anything about. But most brand you have to press down bullet tip a little bit with hammer or vise clamp just a bit. Now you have a fully functional gun. PS. It’s durable and safe to shoot but i suggest dont shoot it too much. About 2 box per hour would be safe and serve you more than year. Sorry for a long post and have 2 convert blank gun more than 2 year. And yes it’s illegal in my country. And no i wont buy a fucking 2 grand for a legal high point. My country law is fuck up.

      1. Can i convert 9mm pak ekol beretta look like to a 25acp just building a new barrel out of steel or i need to change any other things

      2. I have a Retay PT24/7
        Turkish made 9mm P.A.K. semi auto that I am in love with. How it’s looking like the frame build quality is up to par for “live” fire…How complicated would it be to completely remove the stock barrel and replace with one of taurus 380 or . 32acp barrel and slide mechanism? I have attempted to drill out the barrel on one older model I had but failed miserably putting a hole threw the side of the barrel. I’ve also noticed that older models of this manufacturer have a different alloy used in the barrels as opposed to newer models. Older models seem to be that of quality solid steel construction, the newer models seem to be some sort of cheap alloy as opposed to steel… Any tips, pointer, and or advice from anyone would highly be appreciated and possibly even rewarded depending on the quality of information received! Message me .
        (d a l e n e s s d a l e @ g m a I l . C o m) be blessed my fellow patriots….

        1. Dale,
          you have meanwhile more experience and tips?
          please share,here on or my email.

          does anyone knoiw the exact model in the video on this site?
          and which diameter barrel is used?
          I see for example in real ones,that the outer diameter is like 18,with an inner of 9.

          b e n m,usicben18 62@ gm ai l .c om
          Thanks

    1. Hello
      Can you send me a shematic illustration of assembly of the nipple ans break line please

      Nipple must be in steel too?

    2. Hi i know this is no referral but i bought an zoreki 914 through aceros de halispania i wantedd to fire it at a brick wall but noticed there were two pins inside the barrell making it impossible to fire any suggestions

      1. wouldnt a blank gun revolver be much easier to convert than a semi auto, because all youd have to do is replace the barrel and any ammo could fit in the chamber?

      2. Hi i​ would​ like​ to​ know​ can​ i​ converted​ tanaka​ m60​ and​ please​ tell me​ how​ to​ do

      3. i want to know what kind of drill and drill bit do i use to drill out my 9mm blank gun. i used a battery drill with a high end drill bit that can drill through hardened steel and it still didnt work, i dont know why i cant drill it,

      4. I have just recently removed my front venting kuszey a100 blank guns barrel and replaceing it with a steel barrel, are there any other modifications or strengthing that would need to ne done befores a custom mag to take live 9mm?

        1. Did u manage to change barrel successfully. An what other alterations did you do. Am also new to the blank gun..

    1. hi i just bought a 9mm blank gun. make is cesco cal 9mm glock style gun slides back. I want to remove the blocking pin . I see the barrel has to be drilled. or changed. is there any video that shows how it done. names gregory am.from south africa. phoenix

  4. Hello,
    Can you tell me which white pistol is the best that is close to the real thing to change into a real ball at the moment? And what is the method to modify?

    thank you

    1. There is no “easy” way,if you want a reliable gun..Maybe one of the easiest is Zoraki 917.
      But you have to make a barrel of steel,wich means you have to have acsess to a lathe..
      I prefer smoothbore,due to the main use of my conversions (Self defence),you hit easily a human size target at 10-15m with a smoothbore barrel..

      1. Hiya, great blog! Anyway, I’ve got a few old barrels that I would like to modify into some (PAK) pistol. One barrel came out of an old Browning 9mm HP, have a .45 ACP barrel that came out a 1911 (1944 dated!) and some short Spanish Eibar barrel in 25 auto. .45 ACP ammo is hard to find here, and the .25 auto barrel is very short, so I was thinking to do something with the 9mm Br. m35 HP barrel. Have a box of ammo for that aswell somewhere, so Im half there!. What would be smart; find a deactivated pistol and rebuild that, even if that means I will have to rebuild the grinded reciever, or slam the barrel in lets say a Zokari 917 (about 180 dollars here)? Will the breech – reciever be strong enough to stand the pressure of 9mm para? Will the PAK magazine take the rounds without knocking the bullets down, and does that mean I have to grind down the lugs – combs on the Browning barrel to fit it into whats left over from the PAK barrel? Cheers for ny help, and keep up the good work!

      1. with the echo Jackal dual it seems like it’s made from the original it just has plugs if you drill out those plugs fine tune the barrel itself without replacing it will that still be sufficient it seems like hard steel anyway

    1. Ah I’ve been looking at one of them too, as they seem very simple to modify. Just one screw and the whole barrel comes off, so I was thinking of rebuilding the comlete piece with an original .22 barrel from an old long rifle. Cut two pieces and weld them together, making sure the distance is correct hart – hart of course. The locking lug at the bottom would be easy the file out, difficult part is grinding, filing, fabricating the top eye for the bolt. Reckon you could even replace the sliding ejector plate on the side aswell with some adjustments. Reckon the derringers in .22 are the easiest PAK’s to convert, but for safety I would rebuild the barrels from scratch instead of cutting them down and leaving a weak point. Just my 2 cents, good luck.

  5. Hello,
    Was wondering what it will take to covert the Bruni GAP Glock 17, I was pretty dumb thinking I could buy a Advantage Arms 22lr conversion kit, any help would be appreciated,Thanks.

  6. I converted a Ekol Sava magnum to 380 acp. Riffled barrel very nice gun . You need alot of tools just letting everyone know ..

    1. hey man any chance u could of would want to tell me what those tools are u used to convert that ekol sava 9mm mag ? I have the same front firing blank and I wanna convert mine too. possibly give me a few pointers on what u did and what u reinforced? it would be greatly appreciated bif so please feel free to email me anytime.

  7. Thank you really informative, I have several 8mm blank pistols and a couple of AK 47s that have had their barrels plugged really cheap so was thinking could make a bit of money here.

  8. A splendid and informative thread with some Very enlightened people on here! guys i wanted to know if a rohm rg88 pistol and zoraki r1 revolver can be converted to. 32?

  9. Awesome thread , got a retay 84 fs 9mm pak.. drilled through easily in 10 mins ..
    Drilled through the pin from the top but not budging.. expand the hole or needle file? Want a bearing capable toy.. do I need to get 9mm b bearings for pak 9mm or 8mm? Any advice much appreciated.

  10. I bought a zoraki 914 but discovered there were two pins in the barrell to stop it firing can tgese be Bib drilled out

    1. I bought a umarex pp90
      Bought a section of 9 mm rifle barrel .. Cut the blank barrel off tried to weld my Metal barrel to the umarex receiver but ended up melting it even with the biometal plate. So ended up copying the whole receiver out of hardened steel actually was not that hard, got it totally perfect but I did away with the trigger catch and put it at the base . The blank had a barrel spring which was obviously no good considering I now put a 16 mm radius 9 mm internal barrel on and so I I am wondering whether to do a Spring and guide that will only just fit and will protrude from the slide a little at the front to work or I could try and get a much finer compression spring and try and fit it over the barrel and hope it doesn’t cancel with the slide. Ammunition I just have done as someone above put cut down on 9 mm PAK live round , bought a heap of 9 mm projectiles I cut about 30% of the seat off them and about 25% at least of the cartridge drill the cartridge to keep the plastic out about 8 mm down and then chamfer the round and then press them together in the vice that works perfect. At the moment I just put on a Thick elastic strap well about 5 mm thick connected to the slide and to a pin I put through where the magazine catch used to be and it will cycle the magazine

  11. Which are the 20 or so blank guns which are capable of being converted to fire live ammo referenced in your article?

  12. Hey so this thread is 2 years old jus wondering about a m918 conversion which barrel and what parts need to be swapped or needs strengthening

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