Muzzle Blasts & Empty Shell Casings: Chasing the Elusive Shot

By Ben Philippi

Daylight will often conceal muzzle blasts, but a gun with a high rate of fire, like this select-fire M16, will eject a lot of brass making for very cool photos. A little bit of flash was used to fill in the gun and shooter. (Photo: Ben Philippi/Guns.com)
Photographers attempt to capture magic moments. For portraits, it’s the subject’s eyes. For sports, it may be the winning goal. Nature – the perfect sunset. For guns, it’s got to be the moment a gun erupts into fire with a huge muzzle blast, spitting smoking hot shell casings from the chamber. When a photographer can capture this moment in all it’s glory, it’s extremely rewarding. It’s the money shot.
Dusk, or night, is the best time to capture truly spectacular muzzle blasts, as seen erupting from this select-fire SCAR-L. It still requires, however, a lot of luck. No flash was used for this photo, hence it’s quite dark. (Photo: Ben Philippi/Guns.com)
SKILL, PATIENCE AND A LOT OF LUCK
As a photographer, I’ve been chasing this elusive moment for years. It’s an addictive pursuit. I’m still trying to one-up my last best image.
Fortunately, as a photographer and filmmaker for Guns.com, I’ve had the pleasure of attending many machine gun shoots

Source: Guns.com