How to Make your own Caps and Primers in 2021

I once believed primers were the weak point in making and reloading your own ammunition. Cartridge cases last a long time, when used with moderate loads. There are tens or hundreds of billions of them in existence. Bullets can be cast from lead or swagged for those willing to do the work. Gunpowder can be made. Hobbyists make black powder fairly commonly. There are even a few substitutes for smokeless power, or which can be used to stretch smokeless powder.

But primers... many people consider them beyond the capability of the average person.

Dedicated hobbyists have done the work and the research necessary to allow the ordinary person, using the same sort of care used in reloading ammunition, to recharge/reload primers and to make percussion caps if desired.

All activities have a level of risk associated with them. This correspondent and AmmoLand have no control over what readers chose to do. The information in this article are for educational purposes only. No activities should be undertaken without using all necessary safety precautions.

There are several different methods used to recharge primers, varying from the simple to the complex. The simplest uses roll caps which can be purchased at the local dollar store. The most complex requires wet chemistry at a senior high school or freshman college level of expertise and care.

Marshall Thompson has become the guru of recharging caps and primers. He is a PHD chemist who has tested all the methods he documents. His work has been condensed into a 46 page manual which can be downloaded for free. The latest update was in June of 2019.

The roll cap (commonly used in cap guns) method is shown in this illustration from Marshall Thompson's course/manual. The illustration is of a cross section of a primer recharged with two caps and a thin layer of powder, with the anvil seated on top.

A 1/8" paper punch is used to cut the two roll caps to the proper diameter. Place one in the bottom of the primer cup. Place a small amount of fast pistol powder on top of the first roll cap. Place a second roll cap over the pistol powder. Seat the boxer primer anvil on top.

Expect 1 in 20 to detonate while the anvil is being seated. Use hearing and eye protection, and seat them one at a time away from any gunpowder.

Marshall describes two methods using match heads to make primers, from both strike anywhere matches, and strike on the box matches. They work, but take a bit more time than the roll cap method.

Excellent results can be had using purchased chemicals to make priming mix. The easiest is the same mix used by the US Army in World War I. It is called H48. The chemicals are available without special permission. Only small quantities are needed. One ounce, 30 grams, is enough to make more than a thousand primers. One pound of the more sensitive chemical is easily purchased.

If the chemicals cannot be found, they can be made at home with simple chemistry.

Marshall describes in detail the methods and chemistry to make more sophisticated, non-corrosive primers. Most of them require a bit of wet chemistry to make the precursor chemicals for the priming mix. In the latest update to Marshall's manual, he details 10 different methods and priming mixtures, ranging from moderately simple to moderately difficult.

All of the methods described by Marshall Thompson contain detailed instructions on how to complete each step. The history of primers included in the manual and the requirements for good priming compounds are worth reading in themselves.

Marshall notes home made primers only approach commercial products in efficacy and reliability.

The best method is to stock up on components when they are cheap and readily available.

When the ammunition bubble deflates again (it may be years in the future), remember to stock up.

While the above methods are perfectly usable, they take considerable time. One person using them can expect to produce 1-2 primers per minute.

How to make your own primers is worthwhile knowledge. Download the manual while it is still legal to do so.

I have sold a few at gun shows at $2 apiece, the cost of the copying. People seldom appreciate things which are given away.

A friend of mine is into large caliber air rifles. He bought a custom mold that has 6 cavities for his 45 cal and came over to our house so I could give him some pointers on casting. Even the first batch before the mold was heated up all the way turned out looking good. He put one of the giant “pellets” in his air rifle and asked me for a scrap piece of wood. I thought that he was going to go outside and put it in front of one of our trees, but instead he threw it on the shop floor and shot it. The “pellet” of course split the wood in half and went binging off the floor and embedded itself in the plywood floor of my storage area above us. I was very irritated with him.

I forget how much the projectiles from that mold weighed but they are more than the typical 45ACP bullet by a significant amount, and they exit the barrel at a higher velocity as well. The only problem is that the gun weighs alot and you load it one “pellet” at a time. You can pump them up with an expensive high pressure hand pump but it is much easier to recharge them with a scuba tank.

A few years ago there were black powder rifles on sale with electroninc ignition. I kind of wish that I would have bought one. I have molds for the appropriate sized balls and and several hundred pounds of lead. Black powder is fairly easy to make. The large caliber air rifles are tempting to me as well. But in reality I do not really need either because my stock of reloading supplies is still plentiful. It will most likely last through the current shortage. There are good reasons why common types of firearms are so much more popular than these alternatives.

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