i would not use anything cast to make a shell casing, too weak, too porous, it would rupture and injure you.. these things need to be drawn out for strength

i have found patents on making cartridge cases out of two pieces, one is a steel case head that lasts forever, and the other is a piece of brass tubing pressed and crimped over the steel case head that can be replaced as the brass wears out.. alternative ive seen them with steel sleeves pressed on and welded to the case head.. for making cases post SHTF, thats a better bet than tin

you may also want to consider some type of a muzzleloading firearm to reduce your usage of brass cased ammunition to preserve it for longer by not using it when its not absolutely necessary..

ive had the idea of designing a semi-automatic harmonica rifle that when the harmonica is loaded into the rifle it presses against a torsion spring so after firing you could pull the trigger again and the spring would auto-index to the next round for a 10-shot smokeless harmonica rifle with a semi automatic rate of fire... no cartridge cases

 

I think the bigger issue would be making primers in a shtf scenario.

You could probably cut down some other bigger caliber to fit in the gun you want to shoot. Some people already do this to reload older calibers that are no longer made.

 

300,000,000 guns in America, and probably 10000- fold the already manufactured ammo. You ain't gonna live long enough to see the depletion of all the ammo to the point of needing to make homemade ammo from soup cans.

That's not to mention the other difficulties of lead, primers, and gun powder.

Maybe worry instead about stuff that might actually happen...

 

I would reload the same brass 100 times before I'd try to cast my own. I've got a lot of brass that I couldn't tell you how many times it's been reloaded. I know some of mine is pushing at least 10 times, I've got some .30-06 brass that is probably 30 years old from my dad that he probably reloaded a dozen times.

 

Cans nowadays are either aluminum foil, (well, almost) or steel with a plastic coating. Neither is suitable for reworking into a cartridge case.

I agree that we'll run out of powder and primers long before we wear out all our brass.

 

Save yourself a lot of aggravation, buy now and put away a lifetime supply.

You will be busy doing other things post SHTF.

 

Buy manual action guns in common chamberings and save your brass. Go to public areas where a lot people shoot. Bring buckets. You will soon end up with a lot of nice once fired brass as most people don't reload. Get a good set of dies with neck sizer. If you are careful with your brass, once you full length size it, trim it and anneal it, you could probably use each one better than 30 times.

 

Buy it cheap, stack it deep.......that goes for components also.

 

Assuming you reload.
Store powder, BRASS, lead & primers instead.
Over 2 decades, I accumulated two 55G plastic drums full of scrounged range brass.

Not to mention a wee bit of powder.

Plus a little lead, tin & antimony.

 

It seems you've taken worry to a whole new level. I would suggest you focus more on plausible shtf scenarios before focusing on fantasy.

 

bunkerbuster, that is quite the collection, it would be even cooler if you manages to feed all your rifle and pistol needs with the same brass too so you could squeeze multiple calibers for multiple uses out of that same core group of reloading materials

 

Thanks for the kind words.
I could purchase that powder, because I held an ATFE license & have an inspected magazine.
True about calibers, brass & molds.
It's a PITA because there are so many.

Mainly do 223, 7.62, 40 caliber pistol & some 50 BMG.

 

“Tin” cans aren’t made out of tin and they likely never were. They are called tin cans because they were tinned (coated) with tin, so that they could be soldered closed. It is likely they were made from copper or brass themselves. Nowadays, however, tin cans are made from steel and plated with chrome on the outside and usually plastic on the inside.

 

First post and replying to a thread from 2016.
There is a section to introduce oneself, we can be rather friendly, generally.

 

You can make a tin casing but you can’t make a new hand to replace the one you blew off. Invest in a black powder firearm instead.

 

I suggest buying a flintlock rifle suited for lead bullets, or shot, using black powder.

Lyman Deerstalker Flintlock Muzzleloader .50 Caliber 24" Barrel, Wood Stock | The Gun Shop

SKU: 011516631466 UPC: BRAND: Lyman Manufacturer Number: 6033146 Caliber: 50 Black Powder Unit of Measure: Each

thegunshopne.com

Not a long range weapon, but very versatile, and you can replace flints and produce black powder.

 

I was thinking about how to cast bullet casings once most of the pre apocalypse brass has been reloaded so many times it is no longer any good.

Brass cartridge cases aren't cast, they are drawn.

Peterson Cartridge | Match-Grade Brass Rifle Casings

American-made brass rifle casings designed by, and for, long-distance shooters and reloaders.

www.petersoncartridge.com

 

I don't know if it is possible, but - in my mind, if you have a bolt gun, and the chamber really seals well, I don't see why one could not make cartrdiges out of paper, or any material really. don't they make shotgun shells out of paper?

but, like others have said I'd be focusing on reloading and storing components. primers are the thing everyone would run out of if people were using up components. single use only, but - some people do make them or figure out how to recharge them, but - that's too much for me, I just stock a small cache of them and other components.

I've also thought about some kind of muzzle loading rifle that doens't need modern components, but never figured out what that would be, and IMHO if I used up what I have stored I would not make it long enough to get to the muzzle loader. People seem to assume they'll be likely to survive after using hundreds or thousands or rounds, but if anyone is shooting back at you, you'd have to be the luckiest person who ever lived to have thousands or rounds shot at you and to survive.

Isn't there some story about a Japanese guy in WW2, who figured out how to make some cartrdiges out of despreation with limited components? Ingenuity goes a long way in a difficult situation.