How to Make your own Caps and Primers in 2021

Gun Watch ^ | 25 March, 2021 | Dean Weingarten

[fireman15]

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.

[marktwain]

I have come to the conclusion that high powered air guns are superior to crossbows, because of the cost of ammunition, and the portabililty of it.

[fireman15]

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.