Shooting sport Fast draw and
trick shooters often use wax bullets for safety reasons, so that if they
accidentally shoot themselves in the foot or leg when drawing from their
holsters, they are not seriously injured. The
World Fast Draw Association uses wax bullets in many of their competitions, along with special "balloon popping" blanks that fire coarsely ground
gunpowder. Bullets used in WFDA and other similar competitions must be commercially manufactured, and there are a number of manufacturers who produce wax bullets for this purpose. During the early 20th century, there was some interest in mock
pistol dueling using wax bullets. The sport first gained popularity in France where in 1901 Dr Paul Devillers, who was also a keen ‘duellist’, designed a new innovative wax bullet for duelling practice. Heavy canvas clothing was worn to protect the body, a metal helmet with a thick glass plate protected the head and face and the pistols were often equipped with guards on the front of the trigger guard that extended outwards to protect the shooter's hand. For a brief time it was popular. It was featured as an associate (non-medal) event during the
1908 Summer Olympics in London.
Target practice There are a number of other low velocity, low mass projectiles available to shooters.
Rubber or plastic bullets designed for short range target shooting with primed cases can also be purchased; these are generally reusable if a proper
bullet trap is used, but are prone to ricochet. With wax bullets, a simple sheet of
plywood is sufficient to stop the bullet—upon impact the wax deforms and sticks to the wood, where it can later be scraped off and reused. The cost per round of wax bullets is low as primers can be purchased for under US$ 2.00 per 100 in case lots and as the wax itself can be reused. Reloading is very quick, and requires minimal equipment: a decapper tool to knock out the used primer and a priming tool. With these, loading 50 rounds of wax bullets will take under ten minutes. Wax bullets are normally used only in
revolvers and single shot
pistols for short range target practice. Magazine fed firearms can use wax bullets, but they may need to be fed individually.
Combat training use Simunitions during urban warfare training. The US military uses 5.56 mm non-lethal marking rounds in training. The bullet has two primers. The forward primer propels a wax-filled projectile that marks with colored wax upon contact. The wax washes out with normal laundry procedures. Simunitions (for "simulated munitions") are special cartridges that fire colored paint-filled plastic projectiles which are used to mark targets much like paintballs. Simunitions are designed to cycle the actions in specially modified
semi-automatic rifles and
pistols. The paint-filled plastic projectiles are more durable and accurate than paintballs, and it is safe to be shot by them when wearing protective clothing. Simunitions are used by police and military forces for realistic training. Unlike normal wax bullets, simunitions are not an inexpensive substitute for live ammunition—costs for simunitions cartridges are as much as three times the cost of live ammunition.
Capital punishment A member of firing squad might be issued a wax bullet to
prevent members from knowing who fired the lethal shots. ==Magic (illusion)==