Came across this video the other night about reloading shotgun shells without a press. I've also been trying to find this homemade reloader I saw in backwoods magazine a few years ago. This is pretty much the same thing.
Probably the cheapest shotgun reloading tools ever.
I agree. You can buy used ones for $20 - $30. I've got three, they work great. Thousands of rounds loaded, still tight, no wear showing. Why bother trying to reload with a nail, a rock, some baling wire and a stick?
I have no intention of hauling reloading equipment in a bug out situation. I'll carry ammo. I already have more ammo than I can carry.
Even if I could carry it, I'd have to keep my powder and primers perfectly dry. Loaded ammo can take some moisture.
I also wouldn't be taking a shotgun. I'd first want a .22lr rifle and pistol. The 22lr is way underrated and has killed many a poor deer. I can also carry 2,000 rounds easily.
Next if I could carry more I'd want my AR-15 for longer range or 30 round social work. Then I'd need to carry ammo for that. 500 rounds is heavy. 1,000 rounds is ridiculous - what - 30 pounds? I don't know, but a box of 1,000 is heavy.
If I couldn't settle for the AR-15 I might try carrying an AR-10 but it's heavier and I could at most carry 200 rounds for it.
The 22lr would be good if you can shoot it accurately. But I wouldn't bet on a scope in a SHTF situation. I would say you also need to be accurate with iron sites if the scope breaks.
That's not to say that you don't have to aim the shotgun, because you do. ll I am saying is that scopes are nice, but you also need to be able to shoot with iron sites.
No crimp is needed. On a fired hull, just cut the crimp part off with a pocket knife, use an over shot card wad, seal wad with melted wax or Elmers glue.
As mentioned above, The Backwoodsman Magazine has done several articles about this over the years.
Backwoodsman Magazine (not to be confused with any other having the word "backwoods" in the title) is a must read for serious preppers, enthusiasts of primitive living, mountain man history, etc.
I have been a subscriber for 20 years.:thumb:
The nail, socket, and hammer method works well. The only issue I have is I cannot start a crimp on new hulls. I am going to have to get myself an arbor press and a crimp tool so I can crimp 2"-3" loads.
While I do agree this is awesome, and I would like to try it. I am a little nervous about the primer being hit on that little metal piece. I would be leery that it would set it off. Does anyone else feel the same way as I do?
It may cause you to soil your boxers but otherwise as long as you have your eye protection (which should always be worn when reloading) it is practically harmless.
It's not a huge explosion when a primer goes off. It sounds a lot lot an old school cap from a cap gun. Actually a little less. If the primer pops. Which if held flat wont. It will be a little pop none the less.
A primer has to be directly hit and deformed to go off. so lay'n it flat and hitting it with a hammer wont do much. I found this out when I was a kid and found a box of pistol primers. Hit them with a hammer and only got a few to pop. (I was a dumb kid)
So reloading this way is safe and has been done for a lot longer than most of us have been alive.
Primers are more likely to go off when loaded with a ram in a press than this way. A ram has a comparatively small area that exercises pressure on the cap, and the primer can turn sideways / be out of alignment etc and get squashed.
On the metal plate, you can align it and start it with your fingers, then just slap it in, with no ability to really deform the primer unless you hold everything at an angle.
All in all, this is actually one of the safest ways to do it. As counter intuitive as that might sound.
I have my grandfathers old reloading kit someplace around here, it has has everything but the mandrel and it has a punch for cutting cardboard wadding. there are also 4-5 old brass shells, and a partial pack of foil looking primers in a wooden block. It's pretty cool he had it in a half gallon pipe tobacco jar.
here's a photo of some old shotshell reloading tools.
I also have a few lee loaders, a press and a big 12 guage die that fits in a standard reloading press with the big nut removed. I see the homemade tools as a option that I want to know how to make and use especially if I'm separated from my other reloading options.
One problem that has not been mentioned yet is the sensitivity of primers to skin oil. One touch and you end up with a hang-fire or dud. Learned that very early on in the reloading lessons.
While I can appreciate the utter necessity of doing things in the hardest possible ways at times, I also appreciate the fact that for a few bucks, one can turn out dozens of perfect shooting and loading shells at will.
here's photo of what I use to seal the overshot card.
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