Bullet Moulds

What does it take to make my Ammunition? 

Many times questions arise as to what does it require to manufacture a specific caliber of ammunition. 

This can be separated into four categories: 

1. Standard calibers, e.g. 30-06, 350 Remington, 44 Auto Magnum. 

2. Reformed calibers, that is a caliber manufactured from another caliber's brass. 

3. Manufactured by machining solid stock brass rod into a specific caliber. 

4. Manufactured by forming cases from cups that are drawn out into a case through a series of steps. 

  

A: Standard calibers are calibers that have mass produced brass available and
are custom loaded to specific published specifications, or to specific customer
specification that do not exceed safe acceptable parameters. These calibers require
the following steps to produce one box of cartridges. 

1. Assume the brass is clean, new, unprimed to begin the process. 

2. Setup is determined by the quantity of ammunition to be manufactured, short runs, require the same steps, but are distributed over less volume than larger quantifies. 

3. The first step is to spend time to setup the procedure. That is accumulate all the components, Primers, Brass, Bullets,
Powder and look up the specifications for the caliber, that is, the correct charge, Over All Length of brass and cartridge case loaded. 

4. Next you have to setup the loading equipment to handle each step of the process, sizing, priming, charging, seating etc. 

5. The next step is to ensure that the brass is truly correct, and this is accomplished by full length sizing each piece. 

6. The overall length of each brass case has to be trimmed to meet the specifications for overall length of empty brass.
Exterior and interior edges are chamfered and then cleaned. 

7. Brass is then primed with the correct primer. 

8. The powder measure has to be setup and each throw of charge verified to match their correct cartridge specifications for the caliber being loaded. After this has been determined, each fifth charge that is dispensed into the brass is verified on a electronic scale to confirm accuracy. 

9. Now the seating has to be setup for this caliber. 

10. Then the brass that has been sized, primed, and charged can have the bullet seated to its proper depth. 

11. Each loaded cartridge has to have the overall length verified. 

12. Cartridge now has to be checked, packaged, and labeled. 

13. Consider how many times each piece of brass has to be handled for each step for just 20 cartridges to be manufactured. 

14. The above steps usually average 30 to 45 minutes to accomplish, can run into more time. 

B: Reformed calibers, require all the previously stated procedures to be completed,
but before any of those steps are completed the following steps have to be
completed as appropriate for each caliber. 

1. Some brass requires annealing, that is to heat the neck, shoulder area of each piece of brass before sizing, sizing may require anywhere from one to six or more steps to size another caliber brass down or up from its existing caliber into the new dimensions. Each of these steps require special tooling and setup for each step to be accomplished. 

2. After the sizing steps are completed, then depending on the caliber, the brass may require, machining to alter the base diameter, rim thickness, rim diameter or to have a new extractor groove machined into each piece of brass. This requires setup into a lathe for each piece. 

3. The overall case length then requires trimming to the proper dimensions for the new caliber. 

4. Now the reformed, trimmed, machined brass cases require cleaning, both chemical and dry to remove the filings, and oils used in all the previous processes. 

5. At this point the first steps listed for standard caliber can now be completed. 

6. Consider how many times each piece of brass has to be handled for each step and how much setup in a lathe is required for just 20 cartridges to be manufactured. 

7. The above steps usually average 60 to 120 minutes to accomplish, plus the time in procedure "A"can run into more time. 

C: Manufactured by machining solid stock brass rod into a specific caliber. 

1. Before all the previous two itemized procedures of A & B can be completed a solid piece of brass road has to be setup into a lathe for machining a solid chunk of brass into a basic hollow cylinder that has a rim, groove, primer pocket etc. machined into it for the quantity of one box of ammunition. 

2. The above requires, the skills of a machinist and a programmer to setup the machine, and write the steps for the machine to read so that each piece of brass is correctly machined. Some calibers are machined by hand not by programs which then take even more skill and talent and time to machine the quantity a customer requires. 

3. Now all the steps listed in B have to be completed, then the steps in A above have to be completed in order to produce the caliber desired in the quantity desired. 

4. The above steps usually average 60 to up? minutes to accomplish, plus the time in procedure "A" and "B", can run into more time. 

D. The above does not take into consideration the investment of special tooling, education, training and knowledge to complete the steps listed in the above text. Put this all together this is what it requires in simple form to manufacture the ammunition that you need for that standard, strange, old, unusual or other firearms that you have
purchased, own, or inherited from your relatives. Now you have to add to this a reasonable return on your investment so you can stay in business, pay wages, insurance and then you have to add to this the
never ending taxes that everyone imposes on your work for doing nothing except wanting a cut for adding more regulations onto everything that people do that they cannot. The net result is the ammunition you have searched for at a fair and reasonable price.