A Different Kind of Crafting

While one of my girlfriend's favorite tools is a glue gun, my favorite tools are a little different.

I've been fascinated with shooting sports since I received my first Daisy Red Rider(TM) BB rifle for my 8th birthday.

It wasn't long before I moved up to a real .22 as an early teenager, and, as it has been said countless times, the rest is history.

I've been collecting and shooting firearms since.

Over the next 5 decades, I've bought, sold, and shot many different types of firearms in many different chamberings, and many of the types of ammunition I needed were not only scarce, but extremely expensive.

Some of the heavier cartridges hurt to shoot. A lot ! Yes, it's a physics thing, but this can be quite painful if you don't know what to expect from a new cartridge.

The one thing that I always wondered was how ammunition was actually manufactured.

Being curious natured, I started investigating just over 20 years ago, and much to my surprise, I discovered that this could be done in the privacy of your own home with the right equipment and components.

A few hundred dollars later, I had all my new "crafting" supplies; A press used for de-capping, sizing, bullet seating and crimping cases, a brass tumbler with ground corn cob media and polishing solution to make used brass shine like new, case prep tools which clean the primer pocket, trim the brass, and smooth the edges of the brass the where the new bullets will be seated, sets of cartridge specific dies, brass, primers, and powder, a powder scale for measuring out the correct amount of powder, a powder dispenser for repeated dispensing of the same powder charge, and a priming tool for seating the primers.

All that remained was to learn the process.

I read everything I could find on the subject, sought out experts and their advice, and made sure I had a thorough understanding of the process before I even set up my equipment.

After all, "crafting" with explosive powders requires an unusually high degree of knowledge and especially caution !

The first cartridge I ever loaded for was for my trusty hunting rifle in 30-06.

The process begins by putting all the collected brass in the tumbler with the corn-cob media and polishing solution. After about 3 hours, the brass is separated from the media and looks factory new.

The next step is de-capping and sizing where by using the press with the correct dies, one case at a time is inserted, the press handle is pushed down, and a pin removes the expended primer while simultaneously correcting any defects in case structure.

After clearing the primer pocket and trimming the brass if needed, using a primer tool, new primers are inserted into the primer pockets.

Once a powder weight is selected and set on the dispenser, one case at a time is charged with powder, and then using the bullet seating die, a bullet is seated and the case is simultaneously crimped.

Voila ! New cartridges are created by hand !

It brings me no greater joy to go to the range or hunting knowing that I am using what I have made myself.

This is definitely a labor of love as it is time consuming and monotonous, but it is a soothing process and I truly enjoy doing this and teaching others.

In other words, it IS crafting !