Dont stand corrected, dunworking. Your father was dead right in...

Dont stand corrected, dunworking. Your father was dead right in that you could tell the difference in recoil between a .303 military round and a blank in the old Lee Enfields. I have used both. They then had the .303 ballistite round, which looked like a blank, but was used to propel grenades from the EY rifle, which was just an ordinary .303 with a "cup" attached to the end of the barrel to hold the grenade.
Those ballistite blanks would blow a hole right through a jam tin from about 6 feet away when fired as a blank. Much more powerful than the ordinary blank.
I was told they had been used in firing squads. Never having served on a firing squad I wouldnt be able to state that they were ALWAYS used.

GZ