Opening An Ammo Spam Can w/o Opener?

[HGM22]

I've been considering purchasing some surplus ammo recently, but don't have enough money at the moment to get both cases and the free spam can opener. Anyone have any tricks for getting one open, or better yet, know where to buy the can opener? I've heard the chisel and tin snips method is probably best, but thought I'd ask.
Oh, and if anyone has any recommendations regarding surplus 7.62x54R, 8mm Mauser (excluding 50's Yugo, heard there were some case head separation issues with it), and 7.62x39, let me know. Was thinking Russian, Bulgarian, Yugo, or Polish light ball for x54R, Romanian 8mm, and Yugo x39, but I'm open to suggestions.
Thanks. Just wanted to say I've been a long time lurker and this forum is great.

 

[fireman 9731]

Well, don't get too excited about the thing they send with a case of ammo to open the cans. It has been useless in my experiences. I have had my best luck with a dremel tool and a cut-off wheel. That metal is pretty tough though, you will probably go through a few wheels. The chisel and tin snips work pretty well too, a sharp chisel goes a long way.

I feel sorry for the poor Russian fool that would have had to open all those cans when WWIII started.

 

[Wildyams]

hammer and screwdriver

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC9pNViQplg

 

[Grantman]

tin snips, crowbar, pliers perseverance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btGRU4TqXJM

 

[LoneCoon]

Angle grinder is better than a Dremel tool for things that don't require much detail. Get one and it will soon become your favorite tool. Until you get a band saw, at least.

 

[nathan]

A kabar knife if you have one. Use a hammer to drive it through. Chisel and hammer is fine but dont pierce too deep.

 

[PTK]

I always found the opener to work great, don't know why some people rag on them... you can usually find them for $2 at gunshows, for what it's worth.

 

[Quiet]

I just used my multi-tool to hack it open.

 

[Ohio Gun Guy]

It's all about the motivation. - Put in your favorite WW2 movie, hit play & Crank the sound).

The screwdriver method looks fairly straight forward as shown above^

 

[BruM]

Swiss army knives have the old style can openers.
If it has the strip around thbe sides use needle nose pliers.

 

[Dain Bramage]

Hammer and sickle.

 

[Tom488]

I drill a hole in the corner (use a stop on the bit so it only penetrates about 1/16" or so), then zip the top off with a pneumatic sheet metal nibbler. Takes about 30 seconds.

 

[nathan]

Once the top lid is removed, the empty can be handy to soak your smaller gun parts, boltheads , bolts and springs from all the gunk after each range session .

 

[19-3Ben]

I'll second the Kabar recommendation.

 

[Schofield3]

A grizzly bear

 

[Lincoln7]

Medium to large size metal snips. Worked pretty good, and safe. The included can opener broke after the first cut

 

[cauberallies]

I have always had good luck with a hammer and chisel. If you line the chisel up so that about 2/3 of the leading edge of the blade is on the metal, with the following end hanging off over the cut, it takes two or three raps with a hammer to break through, and then you repeat until the lid is off. It took me about 10 minutes, and the lid still looked enough to hang on the wall in my recording studio with my other gun-related memorabilia.

 

[grilledcheese]

Give it to my three-year-old nephew. That little disaster will have ammo all over the room in fifteen minutes, and by some method unknown to science will have mamaged to do it without injuring himself even the slightest. He'll likely have a few of the bullets pulled and be sprinkling gunpowder on the cats.

And entirely without tools. Kid ain't normal, I tell ya.
(He ain't allowed in my house no more, either---supervised or otherwise)



Jeffrey

 

[bobelk99]

I endorse hammer and chisel.

I use angle grinder, farmer that I am , but grinder and wheel will set you back maybe 30$, and you can use that $ to buy more ammo.

 

[Tommygunn]

Phaser .......

 

[Hatterasguy]

Its all about motivation! If you had some BFVS's rolling up the pass you would have those cans open in about .30 seconds.

The screw driver and hammer method looks like the one to use.

 

[HGM22]

Alright, thanks for all the responses! I think I'll go with the screwdriver or chisel and hammer, and then use some tin snips.

 

[makarov9]

Hammer, wide chisel, pliers, patience and be sure to wear gloves, those edges are sharp. I've opened many spam that way.

 

[rodregier]

Tanto? {grin}

 

[jobu07]

There are two authorized ways to do this under Soviet doctrine. One, the entire squad just jabs at it with Mosins and bayonets afixed until you end up with loose ammo. The other is the smash it with a rock... err tool until it's open