How .22LR Ammo is Made

hey everybody welcome to my backyard a while back we were invited to tour the rimfire portion of the federal ammunition plant in Anoka Minnesota federal is kind enough to allow us to view and film the process of 22 long-rifle being made from start to finish now I've actually been sitting on this footage for about a year and a half and I just haven't gotten around to editing it until now I thought this would be a good time to go ahead and roll it out because let's face it we could all use something a little more low-key so there are no action steps to take here there are no new skills to learn there is nothing controversial it's just really satisfying to watch ammo get made so grab yourself a refreshing beverage we're gonna play some chill how stuff gets made music and enjoy to make the bullets raw lead is melted and formed into cylindrical billets the billets are extruded and drawn into wire and wound into coils the wire is roughly the same diameter as the finished bullet [Music] another machine cuts the wire into bullet sized pieces those pieces are gradually swage into the final bullet shape [Music] some of the 22 bullets are also copper plated the bullets are lowered into a bath of metal salts with copper ingots through the process of electroplating atoms of copper are dissolved into the solution and adhere to the lead bullets in just a few minutes the bullets are completely plated and pulled out of the bath [Music] the cartridge case starts out with a roll of brass strip round pieces are stamped out of the strip and gradually drawn out into a brass Cup [Music] the cups are heat treated and then washed and dried [Music] the cup becomes a case when a rim is formed at the base with a uniform hollow cavity all the way around the inside then each case receives a head stamp [Music] [Music] the cases are again heat treated and washed [Music] the completed cases are dropped into plates each plate holds 300 cases the plates roll into the charging room to be primed the primer comes in the form of a wet green clay like substance the moisture helps prevent premature combustion static electricity is another hazard so electronic devices are not allowed in the charging room small pellets of the wet primer are dropped into the bottom of each case back on the main factory floor spinner bits are lowered into the cases and spin the primer so that it's evenly forced out all the way around the inside of the rim the cases are dried to remove all of the moisture from the priming compound next every case gets some propellant or gunpowder and then it's time to load the bullets [Music] the bullets are seated and then the mouth of the case is crimped to keep the bullet in place [Music] the fully assembled cartridges are taken to the packaging area just before being boxed up the bullets are lubricated with a thin coat of wax [Music] there are several quality checks along the way but the whole packaging process is completely automated [Music] you [Music] you

Channel: Lucky Gunner Ammo

Views: 438,030

Rating: 4.9360447 out of 5

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Id: 5MyYpM56Eo8

Length: 7min 35sec (455 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 16 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/OgieOgletorp]

I look at my manufacturing operation and realize how immature it is compared to this. Unbelievable. Wonder how many operators and engineers support this production line?

[u/Thom-Bombadil]

As someone who has shot thousands of .22 rounds over the years this was a great watch. Thanks.

[u/wow-cool]

Awesome.

[u/redpandaeater]

When he's talking about spinner bits for coating the primer, I'm guessing the bit just grabs onto the case from the inside and spins at say 4000 RPM or so for a split second so it spreads evenly. Originally hearing him talk made me think there'd be something actually dipped into the primer to spread it which wouldn't be very uniform and then you'd have these bits building up primer compound on them.

[u/JCookies17]

Pretty cool. I’ve never watched any ammo manufacturing videos, I was curious to see how they reliably measure and load the powder. I wish they hadn’t glossed over it, but maybe there wasn’t much to see for the process, or else it’s proprietary. I did find it cool that the primer is packed into the rim by centrifugal force, though.

[u/Fajaballz]

That is so cool! Makes you wonder how different the process is for heavier types of ammo, like center fire cartridges.

[u/TellingTheATF]

This process is so mesmerizing

[u/bullybullet]

Amazing! This is the exact industry niche I want to get into after graduating ChemE.

Would anyone know how difficult it is to get into this industry? Any idea on the startup costs of a plant of this quality? Would a new munitions company be feasible to start in a developing country?

[u/joesterne]

This was NOTHING like Lord of War /s But it was still dope regardless!