Three Cases of Death Caused by Shots From Blank Cartridge

Abstract

The authors describe 3 cases of lethal injuries caused by 7.62 mm blank cartridge shots from military automatic rifle of domestic origin (AK 47, 7.62 mm). In 1 case, the cartridge was fired from a weapon that had been leaned on the head, with subsequent destruction of brain, and in other 2 cases, the weapon had been leaned on the chests, which led to destruction of heart parts. The injuries were caused by the action of striking wave of gunpowder explosion, the air blast type. The cases demonstrate that the gas pressure from the exploding propellant of blank cartridge is powerful enough to penetrate the thoracic wall and the skull.

Fatal injury by an unmodified blank pistol: A case report and review of the literature

“…Of these cases, six were fatal neck injuries similar to our case (cases 3, 5, 9, 10, 11 and 12 in Table 1). In addition to deaths by unmodified blank pistols that have been reported in the literature, Zdravkovic et al 15 recently reported three cases of lethal injuries caused by 7.62 mm blank cartridge shots from military automatic rifles of domestic origin.…”

Penetrating ocular trauma associated with blank cartridge

“…Blank cartridge consists of steel cartridge case, freely poured nitrocellulose gunpowder filling and the initial powder charge primer [1,7]. Blank cartridge injuries commonly occur in "mock wars" during Army training [1,2,7].…”

“…Blank cartridge injuries commonly occur in "mock wars" during Army training [1,2,7]. Previous published articles [7,8] reported that corneal foreign bodies were chemically inert and do not excite an inflammatory reaction.…”

“…Blank cartridge is special type of ammunition, and its purpose is mainly the sound imitation of shooting [1,2]. Blank cartridge is widely used for shooting practice, for start guns, or in theaters etc.…”

“…Blank cartridge is widely used for shooting practice, for start guns, or in theaters etc. [1,3]. Blank cartridge guns are generally regarded as being harmless and relative safe [3] and are not considered to be firearms in legal sense in most countries [4].…”