Greetings fellow travelers on Planet Earth!
Does anyone know the process where brass is turned into metallic cartridge brass for rifles and pistols?
I’ve looked all over the net, all over the Straight Dope and it seems this information just isn’t available- does anyone know?
Thank You- Trailltrader
Basically, a disk of brass is pressed into a cup shape, the cup shape is further pressed into a can using progressively narrower dies until the desired final shape is created. For “necked” carts like .30-.30, rollers gradually form the neck by pressing inwards while rotating around the top of the cartridge. Then, the cartridge is trimmed to the final length, and either a rim is crimped on or the base is machined for ACP rounds. Centerfire carts have a hole machined into the bottom for the primer cap, while rimfire carts have the primer inserted prior to the crimping the rim onto the casing.
The total number of steps in drawing a cartridge is more than one might think - if you search around long enough, you might find a diagram on the net which shows the cartridges in each step of their manufacture. I was recently at an exhibition by the Lake City ammunition plant and saw several different examples where they had the actual metal pieces tacked to a large board. My Engineering school also had one mounted on a wall. I’d love to be able to buy one some day.
Oh, and I’m not disagreeing with Q.E.D., FTR. I’m just saying that IIRC it was about 30 steps to make a 5.56mm cartridge, much more than I would have thought.
Actually with rim fires the case is completely formed and the priming compound is inserted into the bottom of the case as a wet paste. the cartridge is then spun to distribute the compound into the hollow rim.
A link to the DOJ website http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/training/firearms-training/module05/fir_m05_t07.htm
If you want to see the actual process, rent the recent Nicolas Cage opus “Lords of War”. The opening credits run over a montage of scenes of ammo manufacturing from raw materials to shipping to finished product to use.
No need to wait: it’s on YouTube. But I don’t think it’s as realistic or helpful as the OP might have wished.
** Thank You all for your replys. The reason why I asked is the following: 1)The “Lords of War” was edited for the music and the movie and they didn’t show the dies per se. 2)The way how brass has become so rare- THANKS DOJ FOR BEING CLUELESS- gotta give credit where credit is due and 3)Most places will not show detailed ways how they make brass. Like Lapua? They consider it to be a top secret process. Thank You, All of you**