I am Robert Raskin of Las Vegas, and today I want to talk to you about making your own ammunition. As any prepper or homesteader knows that ammo is an absolute essential, because you never know when an intruder or a wild animal may appear. Chances are you have plenty of ammunition in case of an emergency, but if you are in the wilderness or in hiding for a long time, you may eventually run out, and that is when it will be crucial that you know how to make more. Our forefathers cast their own bullets, and you can too, provided you have the necessary materials on-hand.
What You’ll Need
Unfortunately, you cannot channel your inner MacGyver on this one. You are going to have to invest in a few specific supplies, unless you have a lot of scrap metal lying around. For this task you will need:
- Bullet molds
- Lead
- Tin
- A heat source
- A cast-iron pot or aluminum pan
- Wax – simple beeswax will do
- A well-lit and well-ventilated workspace – preferably outdoors!
Make sure you have the right molds for your weapons. You can find these on ebay or in specialty shops, if you want better quality. You will need to mix tin in with your lead to make your bullets strong enough, and the correct ratio of lead-to-tin is 20:1. You can find metal at scrap yards, auto shops, tire stores, and plumbing supply shops—just stay away from car battery lead. For your heat source, you may want to use a hot plate, but you can also use good old-fashioned fire if you don’t have any power.
The Process
The details will differ for different processes, and I encourage you to look into this in more detail, including reviewing videos, before you decide which is the right one for your situation. As a very general overview though, after you melt your metals, you’ll want to skim off the stuff that floats to the surface. Then you will be ready to begin the casting process. You will need to coat the mold with wax and then pour the metal into your pre-heated mold. After letting the metal cool, turn the mold over and use a wooden mallet to give it a whack to get the bullets out. Just be careful that you do not use a regular hammer for this, because it could crack your mold.
The Advantages of Doing It Yourself
Many people mistakenly believe that homemade ammo is inferior in quality, but the truth is by doing it yourself you can end up with a very high-quality product that excels in both performance and accuracy. You can save money this way, and there is also just something very satisfying about knowing that you have made your ammo with your own hands. You will feel confident knowing that in a doomsday scenario you would potentially never run out of bullets as long as you could continue finding sources of scrap metal. Once you have started making your own bullets, you may never want to go back to store-bought again!