Low-tech ammunition factory

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Speculated to be in the Khyber Pass region (specifically, Peshawar), this is a good illustration of how a labour intensive process can make up for the lack of big production facilities.
Still needs electricity in this example but not anywhere near the amount required by even a small modern factory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=149&v=2YUoOlOYXUI

[Olefin]

A good example of a low tech factory or weapons facility would be the gunsmiths in Yemen who are famous for being able to recreate any firearm from old muskets to modern AK's by hand - its a slow process but what they make is every bit as functional as ones that come out of modern factories

As for ammo - ever read about the Filipinos who were making ammo by hand in WWII using anything they could get that was the right size to be fired from the guns they had? It wasnt the best and they were using hand made powder as well so there were multiple cases of misfires and guns being damaged by such ammo but it was better than nothing.

[ArmySGT.]

Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic

Speculated to be in the Khyber Pass region (specifically, Peshawar), this is a good illustration of how a labour intensive process can make up for the lack of big production facilities.
Still needs electricity in this example but not anywhere near the amount required by even a small modern factory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=149&v=2YUoOlOYXUI

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darra_Adam_Khel

http://cklettermayer.com/gallery/darra-adam-khel/

[stormlion1]

Look at the Vietcong, they used scraps of US Bombs and the fuel canisters from US Aircraft to produce mines and bombs of there own.

[jester]

It looks on par with a home reloading. Heck, I think I have that capability in my garage, set up some single stage presses, the right dies and go to town.

[cavtroop]

Originally Posted by jester

It looks on par with a home reloading. Heck, I think I have that capability in my garage, set up some single stage presses, the right dies and go to town.

I've always wondered what people would do about primers in the T2k universe, is this something that could be manufactured with hand tools and a lack of electricity?

edit: 10 minutes of research and I found this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6tOjtJJOD8 So it looks very easy and low tech. Who knew?!

[Olefin]

Remember that there are localized ways to generate electricity that could give operations like ammo production what they need for limited production - mass production of electricity outside of a few areas is a thing of the past in much of the world but localized production is still working

and while the world has regressed it hasnt quite gone back as far as many people think - remember they were making bullets with primer in them without electricity quite well in the mid to late 1800's

[swaghauler]

Originally Posted by cavtroop

I've always wondered what people would do about primers in the T2k universe, is this something that could be manufactured with hand tools and a lack of electricity?

edit: 10 minutes of research and I found this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6tOjtJJOD8 So it looks very easy and low tech. Who knew?!

All you need is a college level chemistry set, aluminum foil or thin tin sheets for packaging, and a willingness to work with Fulminated Mercury. Percussion Caps and Primers can be made WITHOUT electricity. For those who would question this; where was said electricity in the 1830's? The FM is poisonous though. That means that a catastrophic failure is truly catastrophic.

All in all, I'll stick with my Dillion 550 RL and my 60's vintage (inherited from my father) Lyman Shotshell Pro, Turret Press reloader. One more note for 2013 players. In the rules they say plastic shotshell hulls cannot be reloaded. This is NOT true. I reload them all the time. They are only good for about 5 reloads though.

[Olefin]

You are very right on the plastic shells as to reloading - my grandfather did that as well - and considering the need for ammo I can see people taking risks they never would have thought of doing pre-war

its amazing what people used to work with in the 1800's that if you tried to do today you would have the EPA all over you

[unkated]

Click here for the full story.

But the gist is:

A kibbutz (a cooperative settlement) set up a bullet factory running 1945-48, before the 1948 War. It used belt-powered machines; it had the added problem of operating clandestinely, literally underground, next to a British Military camp.

To camouflage the high-pitched screeching sound of the bullet machines below, the laundry had to run practically around the clock. To produce enough whites and darks to justify such a demand, the kibbutz opened a branch of its laundry in downtown Rehovot and began handling the washing for most of the region. They even won a bid to handle the laundry for a nearby hospital, and – their reputation for low prices and excellent service having reached the nearby British camp – became the go-to starch and suds provider for many of the soldiers who were being so fantastically duped. A convenient pick-up and delivery service kept the British from ever having to step foot in the laundry.

Down in the bullet factory, in a production line based around World War I-era machines smuggled in via Beirut, some 45 pioneers crafted more than 2.5 million copper bullets by hand. The copper, the Haganah told British customs officials, was needed to create lipstick containers, a storyline they backed up with gifts of lipstick to British officers’ wives.

There were also smaller weapons and ammo shops in other settlements; but a handful of machines operating constantly can produce quite a decent output.

The pictures show belt-driven, mechanical machines. I live in New England, where water-powered factories were extremely numerous in the 19th Century; every town library has a few books of local history that describe these; a small dam and a waterwheel can provide almost any town with a water source some power. And, of course, that same waterwheel can also supply a small amount of electricity...

Uncle Ted