Why YOU should get into reloading. Yes, YOU.

You Can Reload Primers!

I always thought that primers were the only component in reloading that couldn't be reused and couldn't be homemade. Turns out I was wrong. Doktor_Jeep pointed this out in the original post but I wanted to discuss it more and find out if anyone has experience with this method.

You use the white parts from the ends of "strike anywhere" matches, crushed carefully into powder, to refill your primers.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=113826
http://www.roguesci.org/theforum/showthread.php?t=3317
You can reuse a primer, here is how (as taught in the book Homemade Guns & Homemade Ammo) :

1. Push out/remove primer with a small nail.
2. Carefully remove the anvil from the primer cup (do not lose this 'the anvil' ! ).
3. With the flat head of a nail (using a hammer) re flatten the inside of the primer cup where (the dent) the firing pin hit.
4. Carefuly remove the white or blue part (at the tip) of a strike anywhere match, then powderize (if you are not carefull it can strike the match) it then pack it in the primer cup "tight" till it is half full and will not fall out if upside-down.
5. Replace the anvil into the primer cup.
6. Push back into the brass (the casing).
you are done (these work like a charm)
Click to expand...

You can also use the remainder of the match heads to make a gunpowder substitute by crushing them. Probably not as powerful, clean or "smokeless", but much better than nothing.

Can someone with a gun try this out and tell me how well it works compared to regular ammo? I'm really curious as to whether the recoil would knock the packed match heads out of the primers in the magazine? PLEASE:D:D:D
 I don't own any guns since I live in Ontario right now and refuse to bow down, get fingerprinted and register my weapon just to own a long gun (pistols are out of the question in Ontario).

This is really interesting to me (even though I have no guns) since it would remove most of the "control points" that the government could theoretically impose on the ammunition supply to civilians. As long as you had brass, dies and a press you could keep shooting until your brass wore out.
 
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I had a Kentucky percussion cap longrifle. It was very accurate.

You can store the percussion caps just as easily as you could store primers. I beleive the difference is in making your own black powder and bullets. The bullet is easy... all you need is to store a mold.

Question 1: Will the white match tip work in a percussion cap or can you make percussion caps?
Question 2: Has anyone used firework powder?

If things get this difficult (shtf), I don't think you will be shooting every day but saving your ammo for when needed. I recommend you just keep a few extra thousand rounds handy whether you reload or not. ;)
 
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rwbris18 said:
Question 1: Will the white match tip work in a percussion cap or can you make percussion caps?
Question 2: Has anyone used firework powder?
Click to expand...

Question 1: I'm 99% sure that it will, as long as there isn't way too much or way too little in the cap. Still, we need someone to test it for us.

Question 2: I've used firework powder from "roman candles" for small scale bb-firing cannons on an r/c model sailing ship I built once, and I can tell you this: it's MUCH less powerful than black powder, and makes MUCH more fire and smoke. I doubt you could really hurt anything with a projectile launched that way, which is why I used it instead of black powder for my ship's cannons, since I didn't want to injure anyone by accident.

New York For Paul said:
I just saw a reloading magazine at seven eleven.

Are there any other good books to recommend?
Click to expand...

I haven't read them, but you could take a look at these ones, they got good reviews on Amazon:

ABC's of Reloading

Precision Shooting Reloading Guide

Lee Precision Modern Reloading 2nd Edition

Hornady Reloading Handbook 7th Edition

Nice setup Cap! How much did that all cost you?
 
For anyone in the Seattle/Cascadia zone I will be doing a reloading class on November 2 in Monroe.

I have 7 years experience as a firearms instructor with Florida Fish and Wildlife so teaching is not alien to me.
 
Doktor_Jeep said:
For anyone in the Seattle/Cascadia zone I will be doing a reloading class on November 2 in Monroe.

I have 7 years experience as a firearms instructor with Florida Fish and Wildlife so teaching is not alien to me.
Click to expand...


I strongly recommend that if anyone has ever thought about getting into reloading, that they take the good Doktor up on this offer. This is a skill that can be very useful in the future. WARNING: It's highly addictive once you take that first step.
 
Lee factory crimp die. A very valuable piece of reloading equipment.

For anyone here who reloads. I recently bought a Lee factory crimp die for 233 and would highly recommend it for any bottle necked case. After actually using it, it isn't effected by case length nearly as much as standard crimps and while adding another step to the process it provides a much more uniform crimp and cartridge OAL.

I have to say it isn't just better, it make the old way seem like the wrong way. For about $10.
 
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BeFranklin said:
More like Hi ho Silver :D
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Well technically since the government does not consider silver to be real money...


But if you sell ammo without an FFL for fiat notes (what they call money) you will go straight to prison for years and years.


Therefore, if you traded ammo for silver coinage, those marked "trade unit" and not with actual dollar values stamped on them, would that be "selling ammo without a license" since it's the very government that says silver and gold are not real money to the point that they raided Liberty Dollar?

To convict a person for that, they would have to prove that silver coin is indeed real money then for a crime to have been committed, but that means we can use silver coin at the store.

And if everybody started using competing currency and dropped the play money, the Leviathan state would collapse in a year.

Yes you can do more damage with silver than you can do with lead. With silver you bring down the state, not lead.

The lead is for what the state will try to do to you if you use silver, or what you can do about that turn of events.
 
I want to reload the 7.5 swiss.
I see 2 die sets and 3 die sets out there.

Which set shoud I get?

thanks
 
xd9fan said:
I want to reload the 7.5 swiss.
I see 2 die sets and 3 die sets out there.

Which set shoud I get?

thanks
Click to expand...


Hmmmm

Chances are you will use that caliber for accuracy?

A single stage press might be the ticket. But please provide more details on those die sets.

As I recall, a 2 die rifle set is basically one for resize and deprime, and the other for seating and crimping. But a 3 die set might be to seperate the seating and crimping stages, and that is more workable with a progressive press. Most progressive or turret presses have 4 positions for dies, one for resize-deprime, the other is for powder (sometime to expand the case mouth slightly) one for seating and the last for crimping.

With a single stage, you will invite trouble if you have seated rounds that are not crimped shortly afterwards so I recommend the 2 die set if you want to go with a single stage. But 3 is OK for a progressive and you have the freedom to experiment with different crimp levels (that can affect accuracy) or use different crimping dies that better suit your needs (factory crimp, taper crimp, roll crimp....).
 
I want to get into this and I've got a buddy who'd want to get into it too so I was thinking for Christmas I'd get him some of the basic gear or something. I was considering either a loading press or a Die set (I usually go in the $30-40 dollar range but I'm flexible).

If anyone has an idea what would make a good reloading gift for the first time reloader I'd really appreciate it. We typically shoot 5.56 NATO rounds if that helps :)
 
Lee has very cheap single stage presses for starters. Perhaps they still have that deal where you get a manual with it too. I think it costs around 80-100 to get completely started but that depends on the going rate for powder, bullets, and primer. It will cost more.
 
Arizona...

Is there anyone who might be in Arizona around late February/March timeframe who would be willing to give me a quick reloading lesson? I plan on getting some books, but I learn much better from watching and doing than from reading.
 
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