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DIY ammo - not reloading

realsquash

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 21, 2020
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Southern Wisconsin
I am just curious - if ammo is outlawed or made so expensive that we can't buy it any more what DIY alternative is there? I have a CNC lathe and VMC in my shop. I suppose the hardest component to make from scratch would be the powder? I have never reloaded but I understand how it works. I'm talking about starting from scratch. I actually tried to figure this out on my own, but the gun sites are so full of shit, it's almost like the internet is just full of BS.
 
Just thinking outside the box here - again I can't find much on the interwebs. I wonder how some alternatives to powder might work (or not!). Some fuels wouldn't burn as fast, but maybe with a large enough cartridge this can be overcome to effect. CNG/gasoline/O2 mix, etc. Maybe some kind of really high pressure CO2 could be effective? Just thinking out loud.
 
Just make sure this guy is on your team.

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I was thinking the primer would be the hardest and most difficult part from a chemistry and mechanical point of view.
 
Aloharover said:
I was thinking the primer would be the hardest and most difficult part from a chemistry and mechanical point of view.
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Maybe I'm going about it the wrong way - should make a new gun from scratch to use whatever kind of ammo I can actually make. Electrically fired would be useful (illegal IIRC). A small bit of gasoline and O2 in a cartridge with a steel bullet might make a decent enough bang? Maybe not. Might be time to consider a bow and arrow. lol
 
Start reloading and or get into black powder.

Black powder and lead aren't to difficult to work with, cast your own bullets with a mold, use canvas for patches. Primers are a big difficulty. If they outlaw amunition, then there is no way you are going to be able to get explosive compounds like mercury fulminate.

By the time they outlaw ammo your freedom is already gone and you should have acted a long time ago.

The only ammo that would be practical and remotely cost effective to manufacture by milling and turning processes would be 20mm or other large cartridges.
 
realsquash said:
Maybe I'm going about it the wrong way - should make a new gun from scratch to use whatever kind of ammo I can actually make. Electrically fired would be useful (illegal IIRC). A small bit of gasoline and O2 in a cartridge with a steel bullet might make a decent enough bang? Maybe not. Might be time to consider a bow and arrow. lol
Click to expand...

What? Somebody better call Remington and tell them they manufactured illegal firearms then. I still have a box of Etronx ammo from a rifle I got rid of.
 
Aloharover said:
I was thinking the primer would be the hardest and most difficult part from a chemistry and mechanical point of view.
Click to expand...

Berdan primers could be used and reused if you could come up with a compound for ignition.
 
realsquash said:
I IIRC'd wrong. I thought I saw that somewhere. Maybe it was an electric feed. I bet that's what it was.
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Electronic fired primers are ok. General atf option is no electronic fire semi autos however as conversion to full auto would be too easy. Just look at the paintball industry for examples.
​​​​​​
So bolt/lever/manual action is fine. But if you electronically convert your AR
 
Pony_Driver said:
Berdan primers could be used and reused if you could come up with a compound for ignition.
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How exactly? The primer still gets crushed, I dont see how you would remove the impact and put the smoke back into them :)
 
aron82 said:
Large rounds like that are expensive. Also the tooling to make them wouldn't have to be super tiny to turn things like cases on a lathe.
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Use the lathe to make dies to draw cases on a press. hell punch new primer cups if you want, but that's the easy part.
 
Aloharover said:
How exactly? The primer still gets crushed, I dont see how you would remove the impact and put the smoke back into them :)
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Berdan primers aren't much more than a musket cap so there's no anvil to worry about. You could pop them out using the right decapping tool, whack the dent out with a tool, put a couple drops of priming compound in it, let it dry, then use it. Corrosive priming compounds like potassium chlorate with lead thiocyanate aren't all that hard to make if you know basic chemistry and lab practices.
 
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Aloharover said:
How exactly? The primer still gets crushed, I dont see how you would remove the impact and put the smoke back into them :)
Click to expand...

Use a punch to push the dent back out. The anvil is part of the brass so you don't have to worry about putting them back in. It would be tedious but doable.

EDIT: Of I could have read to the end of the thread. :homer:
 
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