Magnum. The shell on the right is a 20 gauge. to length and do not chamfer the outside of straight-rimless pistol rounds. One final piece of equipment that will turn your operation into a real ammunition factory is a lead smelter coupled with some bullet molds. This permits transforming scrap lead from tire weights or other sources (but not lead batteries since the acid in these makes them dangerous to melt) into bullets. Although in a pinch you can melt lead in an iron pot suspended over a campfire, an electric lead pot makes the job a lot easier. Lee offers a near 110-volt Production Pot IV for around S55, as well as molds in most of the popular calibers for around $24 for a twocavity mold (producing two bullets at a time) . The handle for the mold runs another $15 or so (and one handle can be used with any number of molds since it is more like a pair of pliers than an actual handle) . And if you want to go into full-scale production, Lee Precision even offers sixcavity molds for $50, making it possible to really go to town. If you'll be reloading shotgun ammunition, the [5. jpg] A huge number of popular cartridges are available for handguns. If you are going to obtain the cartridges you need during a government crackdown, you'll most likely have to reload them yourself . required equipment is even less expensive. The Lee Load-All II comes with everything you need to load one gauge of shot shells and costs just about $50 for the complete kit of dies, powder scoop, primer seater, and so forth. The kits arc available for 12-, 16-, or 20-gauge ammunition. The Lee Load-Fast 12-Gauge Press puts out shells at twice the rate of the Load-All II (giving the LoadFast a top rate of around 200 shells per hour); it costs about $155, and the primer feed costs an additional $20 or so. All of Lee's kits come with complete instructions on how to reload, determine how much of which powders to use, etc. But for a more detailed look at reloading, see my Combat Ammo of the 21st Century (available from Paladin Press), as well as Robert S.L. Anderson's Reloading for Shot gunners. Dean A. Grennell's ABC's of Reloading, and Edward A. Matunas ' Metallic Cartridge Reloading. Ken Warner's Handloader's Digest, currently edited by Bob Bell, is also a good place to find what new equipment is available in the reloading marketplace. (All except Combat Ammo are available from DBI books or in gun stores offering reloading supplies.) Once you become familiar with reloading, you may wish to invest in a brass polisher, neck trimmer, and other specialized equipment. But don't buy this equipment until you get your feet wet. You may discover that there is a lot of stuff you can get by without. Chapter 1 Primer Directive As you probably already know, the primer is the part of a cartridge that is struck by the firing pin, generating a small blast of hot gases that ignite the main powder charge inside the round. The primer is pretty simple in operation, but its smallness makes it hard for the do-it-yourselfer to manufacture or recharge. Therefore, if you're still able to purchase these on the open market, you should consider stocking up now so that you'll have them if a ban of or excessive tax on reloading components ever gets through the legislature. Of course, the size of primers works in your favor if you purchase them. They're easily concealed and transported since you can hide a hundred of them in a tiny container. Primers are arguably a smuggler's dream come true. Like powder, primers are sensitive to heat, moisture, light, and lubricants. Therefore, you need to keep both your powder and primers dry. Also store primers in a dark, cool place and be sure not to expose them to any type of oil or other lubricant. There are basically two styles of primers: the most common one in the United States is the Boxer primer, while the Europeans, ironically enough, use the Berdan primer originally invented by an American (go figure) . The Berdan primer is tough to remove because it fires through twin holes rather than a larger central port (as the Boxer primer does) . Some American reloaders manage to remove the primer by filling the case with water and ramming a rod down the mouth of the cartridge; the hydraulic pressure pops the primer out. This is messy and time consuming. It should be noted that the Berdan primer is also used on cases that manufacturers know won't survive more than one shooting. Therefore, if you find an aluminum or steel cartridge with Berdan primers, don't try to reload it because the case will most likely