Not reloading in the traditional sense...

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mactroneng

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I've heard of people making dummy rounds from spent brass and bullets, though the issue with those was always "how do you make sure nobody mixes them up with live ammo" and usually the answers are paint, marker, etc.

Has anyone tried 3D printing dummy rounds? If so, how well did the fit and what did you use in place of the primer to avoid damaging your firing pins?
 
I don't know if I'd trust a 3d print to extract or survive feeding or the magazine. Worth a try though!

I take my dremel and just cut a big ass slice through the wall of the cartridge, it's *very* obvious.
 
In the 90s when I was teaching hunter safety, I had two types of dummy rounds. Some were beautiful dark mud coloured Federal factory drill rounds. I had a few of several cartridges. The others I made from fired cases, stubby dowels, screws, epoxy and pulled bullets. The way to differentiate these was to drill a transverse hole through the body.

Sometimes military pattern drill rounds will be found at gun shows and sales. However, they are limited choices - 9mm, .303, 7.62x51, 30-06. I have yet to see 5.56 or 45ACP drill rounds, but I'm sure they exist.

3D printing tends to leave a deeply textured surface which may or may not interfere with functioning. A .22LR needs that brass rim for cycling, and I doubt the plastic will survive more than a few uses. I did get some .22 drill rounds, but they were also the first ones stolen by the students!
 
Currently used by the CAF.

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.22LR, 9mm, 5.56 NATO

Die cast using some very tough plastic.

Seen them used as drill rounds and as snap caps.

And.... if you ever need a snap cap for a .22 rim fire, the small yellow plugs for fastening screws into drywall fit perfect and extract!

I have seen ammunition made for display by simply adding a bullet to a fired case, primer struck but left in place.
Ya, it looks good and is easy if you are lazy, but what if a live round that was a light primer strike round ever got into the mix? No visible difference, Eeek!!! I find that often, a second hit in another rifle will fire that light struck round. So a potential for disaster now or in many years to come.
So I guess what I am saying is, always pull the primer, please..
 

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My friend made some by drilling a hole through the case and having no primer. It’s pretty obvious it’s a dummy round when we do handgun safety courses.

When I start loading 9mm for IPSC I plan on making a bunch of dummy rounds from some Syntech (red lipstick) rounds I was given by putting the bullets into nickel cases, that way it’ll be a very obvious visual indicator that they’re not live rounds since I’ll be using plated bullets and regular brass cases.
 
One problem I found with homemade drill rounds was the bullets did tend to move in the neck, in and out. After a few uses, they weren't serviceable. I solved that by turning a drywall screw up from the primer pocket into the exposed base of the bullet. Then trim off the exposed length of screw and dress the primer area. Trying to dribble epoxy inside or inverting a case so a puddle of epoxy would seat around the bullet and neck didn't seem to work as well in practise.
 
maple_leaf_eh said:
One problem I found with homemade drill rounds was the bullets did tend to move in the neck, in and out. After a few uses, they weren't serviceable. I solved that by turning a drywall screw up from the primer pocket into the exposed base of the bullet. Then trim off the exposed length of screw and dress the primer area. Trying to dribble epoxy inside or inverting a case so a puddle of epoxy would seat around the bullet and neck didn't seem to work as well in practise.
Click to expand...

I just crimp mine in a Lee FCD
 
supernova said:
I just deprime the brass. No need for a primer in a dummy round and it's pretty blatantly obvious that it's inert.
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^^ this... I do the same and one would have to be blind to be ineffective hunting or shooting to miss that it's a dummy round. Alternatively, if 3d printed cartridges are not usable, what about just printing a brightly coloured bullet to seat in un-primed brass?
 
Laugo Alien came with a 3D printed dummy round... Interesting design. It didn't have the rim so you can cycle the slide but dummy would not come out, great for dry fire practice. It has an o-ring holding it in place.
 
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