.50-120 Federal FireStick

The Federal FireStick is a proprietary polymer-hulled blank cartridge, introduced in 2020 for the Traditions NitroFire rifle. Containing 100 to 120 grains of Hodgdon 888 black-powder substitute and neither a primer nor a bullet, the round and the rifle designed for it were devised as a way of creating a gun that functions as closely to a modern rifle as possible whilst still being legal in muzzleloader hunting season.[3][4]

Federal FireStick
Type	Blank cartridge
Place of origin	United States
Production history
Designer	Federal Ammunition
Designed	2019
Manufacturer	Federal Ammunition
Produced	2020–present
Variants	.50-100, .50-120
Specifications
Case type	Rimmed
Bullet diameter	.50 conical (recommended)
Primer type	209 Shotgun
Ballistic performance
Bullet mass/type Velocity Energy 270 gr (17 g) Federal Trophy Copper PTHP 1,766 feet per second (538 m/s) (extrapolated) 1,870 foot-pounds force (2,540 J) (extrapolated)
Test barrel length: 25 inches (64 cm) Source(s): [1] [2]

Being supplied with neither a primer nor a projectile, the Federal FireStick blank round can be used as a live-fire cartridge by first inserting a primer manually into the rimmed base, then placing it into the breech of the Traditions NitroFire, much like a traditional shotshell in a break-action shotgun. Finally, a .50 calibre bullet is pushed down the barrel from the front using a ramrod, coming to rest at a narrowed neck that separates the slug from the charge and prevents the user from attempting to fire incompatible ammunition.[1][3]