survival reloading

V

Venado

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have any of you thought about how to reload under adverse circumstances, such as not the right powder for caliber, no primers, no bullets, etc. Also what to use for reloading tools? Want your experiences with such scenarios. I know some of you have pondered such things.
 
For just such a scenario, I keep lots of factory ammo in reserve. I'm not very adept at making primers or presses. ;) "Survival reloading" to me means reloading a magazine.
 
There has been idle pondering, but no experience on my part. Basically, with no supplies at all, metallic cartridge reloading as we know it is out. You are down to making your own black powder and using flintlock or matchlock ignition. You would be reloading a gun rather than a cartridge. The old Foxfire books detailed a good bit of it, like making saltpeter from fermented human waste and wood ash for black powder. But I haven't actually done it.

In poor parts of the world, folks have done some intermediate things, like reloading metallic cartridges using matchheads for both priming and propellant and casting bullets from lead salvaged from various sources. In the end, without modern powders, you can't safely use enough of the matches to get much gas volume, so you wind up shooting what we would consider very mild plinking loads in most places today. Mind you, getting to 22 rimfire or even BB Cap energy levels will still take small game, and sometimes deer-sized game if you can get close and very carefully place shots.
 
Venado said:
have any of you thought about how to reload under adverse circumstances, such as not the right powder for caliber, no primers, no bullets, etc. Also what to use for reloading tools? Want your experiences with such scenarios. I know some of you have pondered such things.
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Were that to happen to me and it was not caused by war, I'd learn how to shoot a bow much better than I do now. If on the other hand it was caused by war, I believe there are other answer's.
 
Forty years ago that may have been a consideration but at almost 70 I have to ask myself how long would I survive in a post apocalyptic world under the best of circumstances and whether I would even want to anyway.
 
Once there's no primers, I'm done.
Anything else I'm good to go as long as I'm at home.
If I have to bug out, I'm not going to make any attempt to make ammo.
I've got some premium handloads tucked away.
If you survive 90% of the gun fights you're in ;), a couple hundred rounds should do.
You won't be doing much plinking.
 
There are articles on the Internet and videos on YouTube about remanufacturing spent primers. Reportedly, you can do it using the same priming compound mix that 22Reloader.com sells for reloading rimfire ammunition. The mix is corrosive, but it works.
 
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Handy to have . . .

If the apocalypse really happened . . . . it's handy to have a muzzle loader, compound bow and cross bow on hand.

I really don't thing that will happen but . . ..

Lifeisgood.
Prof Young
 
I appreciate the input from all of you, and I commend you Unclenick for being a researcher. I too have reprimed primers with light anywhere matches, and used the rest of the match head for the powder. I think I will do it again and chronograph my load. For pistol ammunition, a person can use 12 gauge shotgun powder taken from factory loaded ammo. Aquila Blanca, keep on inputting, I liked that.
 
Forty years ago that may have been a consideration but at almost 70 I have to ask myself how long would I survive in a post apocalyptic world under the best of circumstances and whether I would even want to anyway.
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Yea my Finance guy is a former survivalist, until he pondered what it really meant.

So no, I don't think about it, YRMV.
 
Depriming is a very simple thing with primitive equipment, such as the correct size socket with appropriate hole at the bottom, and using a very small screwdriver or other object capable of punching the spent primer out with, and a mallet.
 
If there was but one thing that I'd be concerned about, and what I figured I thought I needed to use a firearm for subsistence, it would be how to manufacture black powder. Doable, but have never tried to do it, nor at this point even thought I needed to (I do have very good flintlock rifles, along with a 20 ga. smoothie flinter, with extra parts for each). The other means is archery, which I still do, both with compound and traditional recurve bows. I'm set up quite nicely with equipment for both styles. I feel I'm ok, at 70 years old, to have what I need for my wife and me, if the power went down for a very long, extended period of time.
 
A few years ago someone hypothesized that .22 LR ammo would be the common currency in a post apocalyptic future. I can see that happening. If I were in the mind for such a thing a good crossbow, a large supply of bolts and some spare parts would be high on my list gotta haves
 
If you are in most any 'populated' area, good look bugging out. It might be more like banding with some neighbors to secure a compound and share resources, in place. In fringe areas or rural and you have access to a secure bug out place, lots of luck getting there. Either way, sooner or later someone(s) will want to join you (or your group) or take you over (or take your stuff).

If you are bugging out and do not have prepositioned stuff, good luck on what you can take with you.

Water and food, medical supplies, shelter, fuel, proper clothing, bartering material, communication equipment, and a host of other things will compete with arms and ammo. You can only take so much stuff.

Different situations will dictate different solutions. Your best guesses will be usurped by a situation that you probably did not consider, but having some kind of plan and prep is better that none at all.
 
This is why we have been saying for many years now.
"Buy it cheap & stack it deep!"

I have enough stocked up that I may never run out of ammo.
 
A few years ago someone hypothesized that .22 LR ammo would be the common currency in a post apocalyptic future.
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That was the late, great Jeff Cooper. He called it "ballistic wampum". He suggested the .22 LR would be your most valuable weapon in an apocalyptic scenario. You can feed yourself with it. You can carry a large number of rounds, so you can have enough to barter with it. He even suggested that you can lay down covering fire with it in a firefight, so you don't expend your heavier and more valuable combat ammo until you have a good position and good shot to take.
 
Like the song says, "we can skin a buck and run a trot line", but like ol Hounddawg and RC, I'm at a point where I'm either gonna last out my supplies or not have to worry about it. I am however teaching my grandsons how to reload and shoot a bow, make their arrows and such. Also I think field craft and gardening are just as important as anything else.
 
I've considered survival loading, but it makes more sense to keep your brass loaded from the get-go.

Where it might come into play is in a post-apocalyptic world where you trade/find a box of .40 S&W, but the only pistol you have is a 9mm. How do you make that .40 usable in your pistol?

That might involve depriming the live primer and repriming a fired case. It might also involve some impromptu math to figure out load data with unknown powder. Plus melting down the bullets and casting them as 9mm.

You might also drill out a low pressure case like .38 special to take a 209 primer from a shotshell, using the shotshell powder while casting the shot into a useful bullet.

All of this has been done and is still being done in parts of the world where guns are banned or where reloading components are effectively illegal.
 
There was an article in one of the gun rags in the sixties that dealt with the issue. Given a fired straight-wall rifle case, punch out the fired primer using any suitable diameter tool, like a ground-down ice pick. Re-prime the case by placing a new primer on a flat surface, lowering the case over the primer, tapping the new primer home using a wooden dowel that matched the inside of the case. Charge the case with a scoop. seat the bullet to the crimp groove (remember the fire case has NOT been sized.) Roll the mouth of the brass case into the crimping groove using a very dull butter knife. It is notable that if the brass case extracted from the gun, it should go back in without resizing.

it is notable that I produced a couple of such loaded rounds (.444 Marlin I think), before my .444 Marlin dies arrived.
 
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