Brass Case production

[learn2shoot]

I was watching the hisory channel (again) and saw a story on a clandestine bullet factory which was running under a laundry in what is now Isreal. Basically Jewish resistance workers were making bullets, but from scratch.

Great story: http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0.../edition_id/605/format/html/displaystory.html

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/ayalon.html


It got me thinkning - does anybody here actually make their own brass cases? or know anybody who does or who can?

 

[Bad Flynch]

>does anybody here actually make their own brass cases? or know anybody who does or who can?<

People seldom make cartridge cases from scratch; it requires sophisticated metallurgy and very expensive forming tools. However, reforming cases from one caliber to another is a long-honored tradition.

 

[Afy]

Cool piece of history I didnt know.

 

[Cosmoline]

I suppose you could mill a simple cartridge from a chunk of brass using shop tools, but it would be very wasteful.

 

[snuffy]

Brass cartridge cases are extruded by a slow, multi-stage process. A button of brass, the right size and weight, is formed under tremendous pressure is special dies, into a tube. Then the final taper and mouth shape are formed along with the primer pocket. Then the flash hole is either punched or drilled. The extractor groove is turned in with a lathe.

Cases turned from a solid brass rod would be possible, but would be vastly inferior to extruded cases. It has to do with the grain structure of the metal. Cutting across the grain structure produces a weaker final shape. Extrusion creates a stronger, more uniform grain structure.

 

[learn2shoot]

Here is a youtube link to the History Channel show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQNw5MA3DII

 

[Spartacus451]

I've been in one of the hidden ammunition "factories" in Israel. I remember the guide holding up the pre-extrusion brass case. No idea how they got their hands on that type of equipment.

 

[brighamr]

the machinery costs to produce brass cases from scratch are currently 1.2 million (used machines mind you).

 

[qajaq59]

Desperate people can get pretty clever. And obviously brave as well. I can't even imagine what it was like to do that.