@DickForgetsHeRunsServices @alan8325 @drgo There's probably a way to use existing brass bullets with the primer removed. Eg with a pin that projects into the bullet, and driven with high enough voltage to generate a spark.

With a tungsten electrode from a welder no reason why it wouldn't be able to do thousands of shots.

@DickForgetsHeRunsServices @alan8325 @drgo But yeah, no way to actually do that with any existing gun without pretty big changes.

@pete @alan8325 @drgo certainly possible; with significant modification.

Not saying it won't work; just that it's a lot of work.

@DickForgetsHeRunsServices @alan8325 @drgo The funny thing about this is "a lot of work" is relative: I'd much rather put that work into something I know - electronics - than something I don't - chemistry. :)

@DickForgetsHeRunsServices @alan8325 @drgo The interesting question will be at what point does the government start cracking down on electronics and machining/3d printing supplies?

@pete @alan8325 @drgo technically they already have been; for quite some time.

@DickForgetsHeRunsServices @alan8325 @drgo Got an example?

I used to have an ITAR clearance myself. But that was for a job working with _much_ more specialized equipment (IMU's with good enough specs to do ICBM guidance, and a gravity gradiometer).

@DickForgetsHeRunsServices @alan8325 @drgo Speaking of, those IMU's were a hilarious example of the failures of regulation: when ITAR was introduced, only "friendly" countries could make them.

But due to how ITAR works, if you can make do with a Russian IMU, you'd much rather buy a foreign one than comply with all the paperwork required to buy ones from "friendly" countries... Supposedly Iran businesses were even trying to get into the precision IMU business, with commercial sales as the goal!

@pete @DickForgetsHeRunsServices @drgo I would hope that once there are regulations placed on stepper motors and 3D printer filament at that point almost everyone would see the government as illegitimate. But I've been surprised at how much people like the taste of boot.

@alan8325 @DickForgetsHeRunsServices @drgo Note how it's much easier to stomach aggressive regulations on tech used to build things when you've off-shored all your industry...

@pete @DickForgetsHeRunsServices @drgo Especially when the majority of the voting population doesn't build things and vetting is politically popular. "Why shouldn't someone who wants to order stepper motors be required to show that they work at a legitimate manufacturing business that uses such equipment?"

@alan8325 @DickForgetsHeRunsServices @drgo Well, specifically, there's a lot more people on the right who are involved in building things than on the left. Even at the arts university - which had extensive fabrication shops and machine tools - the people who did more of that leaned right, relatively speaking.

@pete @alan8325 @drgo effort is better put into trying to do the following IMO:

3d printed primer anvil reverse casting
3d printed primer press
+ Learning how to cast brass
+ Basic machining equipment that can cut tool steel

Open access to a stable primer mixture would be good; there are a few old ones that'd be hard to do in-house now (Mercury based ones) but there are some other good ones.

What I'm saying is buy swaging equipment.

@DickForgetsHeRunsServices @alan8325 @drgo Swaging is one of those things which is really not all that hard in term of the minimum supply chain required. It just takes a lot of work to actually build the equipment and get it working right.

@pete @alan8325 @drgo yep.

It's actually pretty easy to do.

Then all you're doing is ordering brass or copper alloy sheets cut to width, or hammering down your own flats for it.

I re-use all my brass; even 22lr.

@pete @alan8325 @drgo I just wish you could reliably reload 22lr but those lips just crush too much when the striker touches them.

I might try down the road to make my own 22lr press. I've seen the reloading machines but not the manufacturing process that makes the cases themselves so I'm not entirely sure how they manufacture the cases.

@pete @alan8325 @drgo I guess they just insert a cutting bit on a mill after pressing the end of the cup down and forming the rim.

I guess the question is if it's worth it to make a little fixture.

Something not a completely automated machine but just with minimal repeated movements like a progressive press.

I wouldn't want to have to stick them on a microlathe one by one.

@DickForgetsHeRunsServices @alan8325 @drgo Wait, what do you think needs cutting exactly?

@pete @alan8325 @drgo inside of the rim where the primer goes.

@pete @alan8325 @drgo I guess if you had 100% material consistency you could just size it down when you're forming the rim.

@DickForgetsHeRunsServices @alan8325 @drgo Ah right.

Here's a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MyYpM56Eo8

They first form a cup with a series of progressive draw dies. I'm guess the machine at 3:49 puts the case into a die with a rod in the middle for support, with a cavity at the bottom for the rim. Then it'd be crushed lengthwise, forcing the metal to bend outwards into the shape of the rim cavity.

@DickForgetsHeRunsServices @alan8325 @drgo I've heard that the "secret sauce" in profitable, high quality, .22LR ammo production is consistently applying the primer to the inside of the rim after the case itself has been formed.

@DickForgetsHeRunsServices @alan8325 @drgo Another vid with more explanation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rCZHG_eEak

@DickForgetsHeRunsServices @alan8325 @drgo Lots of interesting youtube vids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-vQpwgiHbA

This one shows how to turn copper blanks into bullet cases with home made punch and draw dies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0JVm76Y37I

Totally doable in a home shop, with sufficient trial and error.