Welcome to the Ogtx prepper survival The show where we'll postulate the survival this movement and tear open the condition that is a prepper mindset. We'll talk about gear,guns, packs and kits and everything in between. Wecan uncork our favorite bottle of conspiracy theories and enjoy that Kool Aid together. So host up with me. I am your host candlekeep But first, we rock this is the yo GTX prepper survival show and I'm your host Campbell key. We want to welcome all of you for joining us tonight for questions and comments on show topics past or future contact us at sh t f at awkward tx.com we'd love to hear from you guys. Don't be shy. Reach out to us anytime sh t f at off grid tx.com please visit the off grid Texas website and let us help you find the right path to preparedness and as always the OD gx team thanks you for your support. visit the site by going to off grid tx.com that's off grid tx.com This is the GTX prepper survivalist show and I'm your host cammo Keith, I want to welcome all of you for joining us tonight. For questions and comments on show topics past and future or to be a guest on the show. Reach out to us on Facebook at off grid Texas or you can email us at sh t f at off grid tx.com. Please hit the subscribe and review buttons on your favorite podcast player especially if you're listening to us on iTunes share, like and comment and as often as you like. Soon we'll be announcing the list of subscribers who leave us a review on iTunes. At the end of every month we will randomly pick 10 listeners who receive an original Oh GTX t shirt and one listener who are receiving authentic Special Edition Oh GTX mystery survival box. If you're using an Android device like me, no worries, you can download iTunes for free on your PC and leave us a review that way. preppers survivalist off graders homesteaders and the like. Some of you listening right now may not be firearm enthusiasts, I would say that a high percentage of our American listeners that is American preppers are pro gun, you know, have some sort of firearm in their preps. If I had to put a number on it, my best guess would be 70 to 80% of American preppers own firearms. Now in other countries that number may be much lower, especially in countries and regions that have laws prohibiting ownership of firearms. But what surprised me was the lack of laws that regulate ammunition, specifically assembling your own ammo rather than buying it off the rack. After doing some digging into this practice, I found that preppers in large numbers are using home presses and equipment to assemble their own ammo. Is this a good practice for preppers? Is it worth our time and money to make our own ammo as a prepper item? What I found out may surprise you. Let's talk about that. But first as usual is on prepper news to keep you informed. First up in prepper news as London England goes into tier two lockdown Londoners are telling their government officials to well stick it up there ours. We are the 99% song was sung by 10s of 1000s of Londoners as English government officials shut down their cities led by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn his brother piers Corbin, demonstrators chanted stick your poison vaccine up your own Take off your masks and we are the 99%. As they walked down Oxford Street last week, some carried placards blaming the virus on the new 5g network, while others claimed the virus itself was a hoax. The protest comes on the day London was placed in tier two lockdown measures meeting Londoners are now banned from meeting people from outside their household indoors and a maximum of six people together outdoors. Demonstrators took a detour at Rathbone square to stand outside Facebook's London headquarters to protest the social media giant which many have blamed for spreading pandemic misinformation. Many of those gathered carried signs reading my body my choice and lockdown equals Nazi vacation. One of the organizers told a breakaway group outside Downing Street, man flu has closed our country and crushed our economy, piers Corbin, who has previously been fine the maximum 10,000 pounds for his anti lockdown protests also took part in a demonstration in Soho on Friday night. He said we're here to drink against the curfew to oppose lockdowns to oppose job losses caused by lockdowns and do a post all of it. The whole lot should be lifted. Now. Scotland Yard said that there had been just one arrest during Saturday's protest. But that was a blatant lie. Police arrested many protesters who were in groups larger than two peaceful protesters were pepper sprayed, tackled and put in handcuffs all day long. The last number I read was above 60 people that had been arrested, proving once again that if you believe in freedom and peaceful protest, you will be shut down. But if you're a member of Black Lives Matter or an Tifa and you protest in the form of rioting, violence, murder and burning buildings, you're given a pass no chains, no arrests. My UK brothers and sisters, I'm right there with you keep up the good fight. These politicians are destroying our economy and our lives for political gain and power. And I'm done with that shit. That's gonna be it for prepper news by prepper brothers and sisters is making our own ammunition at home a viable solution for preppers ammo is a great prepper item to have no doubt whether for our own use or for bartering. So how should we approach this prepper item whether or not we're shooters or stockpilers. Tonight, we discuss loading our own ammo as a prepper. This prepper item could make or break your prepper plans. This should be a good one guys. Let's get into it. This is the GTX prepper survivalist show and I'm your host cam O'Keefe please remember to subscribe and review and leave comments on your favorite podcast player and by leaving a review on iTunes you have a chance to receive your very own Ogt gear. Reach out to us anytime on Facebook at off grid Texas or email us at sh t f at off grid tx.com. My prepper brothers and sisters I hope everyone is happy, healthy and prepped, we just returned from the Rocky Mountains where we stayed in an off grid cabin at almost 7000 feet elevation. It was truly amazing up there. You know we did the show from there the last show. So you might have heard the air was crisp, it was clean, there was these snow covered mountain peaks rising up into the heavens was absolutely breathtaking. Just awesome. And of course the off grid cabin that we stayed in was the bomb. And we always try and stay in off grid cabins and places when we're on holiday, we're not really into the whole resort thing. You know, the hotels and all that just you know lots of folks are that's cool, but you know if you really want to experience being off grid, this is the best way to go. And you can learn almost everything you need to know about living off grid by staying in one of these off grid cabins and they're everywhere. They're easy to find they're really not expensive at all. You've got your solar panels, battery banks, inverters delivering the energy most of these places are on water catchment or well systems. So you'll have to consider your portable versus non potable water needs that we usually pick up about a half a dozen or so gallons of drinking water from the store on your way on our way up to the cabin or up to a cabin that we're staying in. This is the portable water that we use to drink and cook with. So you know we that's how we do it. The well water is perfectly safe for showers with no worries. When we're making coffee and tea we just you know boil tap water comes out it comes out of the water catchment system and we let it sit for a few minutes and then reason why we do that is because there can be some sediment We let that settle to the bottom. And it's great for coffee for tea, this particular location, we did have self service. So we were able to connect to the internet, which was awesome, because we were able to do the show from, you know, from the cabin. Some people would say that that's not actually being off grid. And I would say to them, you know, what are we caveman, I'm on vacation, shut your piehole. Okay, I'm trying to unwind from work and enjoy myself. I work really hard throughout the year. And when I do get a chance to take a few days off, I want to diffuse my brain, you know, and regroup. Going off grid doesn't have to mean hiding from the world. I'd rather think of it as controlling the world, wouldn't you? You know, instead of the world controlling me, so yeah, having an internet connection is a must for me, wherever I go. But anyway, look, it was fun while it lasted. And now we're back to real life, you know, 50 to 60 Hour Workweek with my day job and another 50 plus for off grid, Texas in the podcast, so, but this is the holiday season, and we're not gonna let anything get us down all is good. So we are a week behind with the show because of the preparation for the trip to the mountains and the extra workload at work. You know, that had to do for battening down the hatches and getting everything running smoothly, you know, for my week off, so so we apologize for that. I'm gonna try and squeeze in an extra show in sometime soon. It isn't an easy thing to do. So we'll see how that goes. I mean, I guess if I just came into the studio, turn on the mics and start rambling, you know, on a bunch of bullshit. It would be easy to do several shows each week. Hell, I could probably pump out like four or five shows a week if I was just doing that. But I mean, that's not what we do you guys know that. We try to bring y'all content worth listening to. I mean, that's our goal, actual usable content for y'all. Not just a bunch of rambling gibberish, which brings us to today's show. We're talking about reloading ammunition. Now, for those of you who don't know what reloading is, reloading is essentially making your own ammo at home using specialized manual equipment. Okay, to be clear, people like to say that they make their own ammo. That's that's not exactly correct. You cannot make ammo. I mean, I guess you could, if you melted down the lead to make the bullets and got your hands on some potassium nitrate, sulfur charcoal, and you perfectly measured it and processed them into gunpowder. Then you manufactured your own firing primers out of you know spent ones. Yeah, you could actually make your own ammunition. But why would anyone do that? Well, there are shooting enthusiasts who believe in the traditional methods of creating their own ammunition, so that they can create the perfect cartridge the perfect projectile, you know, that perfect shot. But these are extreme folks, you know, who are not doing this for prepping or saving money. They are essentially manufacturing and assembling this perfect cartridge to produce the most accurate shot possible. These are reloading artists, if you will, okay, they're they're, they're calculating precise measurements there considering dynamics that most shooters don't know about, or rarely think about, you know, things like trigger pool and firing pins, gas pressure ratios, bolt carrier groups, they're thinking about inner bore dimensions, twist rates, you know, even barrel flex. You know, for me, it's a lot different, much simpler, much less accurate, but simpler. All I need are shots play center mass, and stopping power. That's it. Can I place the perfect shot dead on Bullseye at 300 yards? Nope, probably not. But I can eat with the guns and ammo that I have. I can put down a threat and protect my castle with the guns and ammo that I have. Again, I'm a prepper survivalist. I'm not a competition shooter. I know the purpose of my firepower. I know exactly what my firepower needs to accomplish by stockpile of ammunition is that of a prepper survivalist so I ask, What are you needing from your ammo? Are you reloading as a prepper? Are you thinking about becoming a reloader as a prepper to save you money as you stock up on ammo? Maybe you're considering reloading as a profession during a survival situation. In other words, become a local tradesmen who supplies other survivors with remanufactured ammunition. These are all great things to consider looking in an sh tF teotwawki world, we will still need a job. No survivors with skills will be highly sought after people you know something to think about. Reloading your own ammo can save you money, but not at first. You'll need some expensive equipment and the components for your specific ammo round that you'll be shooting. It's also more time consuming to reload your own ammo rather than simply buying it off the shelf you know right now while it's still being factory made and available to free people. So let's talk about reloading ammo, not making ammo Rather assembling ammo, reloading spent cartridges with new components. Now I need to mention that I am no expert in reloading ammunition. Now there will be a lot of listeners who will disagree with me and feel the need to correct me. That's awesome. I love that leave comments or email us sh t f at off grid tx.com. I really don't want to go over the history of reloading but I do think it's important to mention a few points as it pertains to prepping. There's a fantastic article on load data.com was written by Brian Pierce, I highly recommend you read it if you're interested in reloading. I'll put a link at the in the show notes at the end. And he writes prior to the development of cartridge case, shooters usually kept a bag that contain black powder, often in a powder horn flash powder or caps, a bullet mold patches, lubricant and all necessary items to reload and maintain their guns. These items were usually readily available at any general store or remote frontier trading post. Some shooters made all these items themselves save money and enjoy being self sufficient. That all changed with the development of the metallic cartridge case in the mid 1800s. Early cases were mostly rimfire and were not reloadable and the cost per shot increased substantially as they had to be factory loaded. By the 1800s. The reloadable boxer primed centerfire case began appearing in the US in quantity. Examples include the 4570 government, the 44 Winchester and the 45 Colt self contained cartridges and their corresponding guns offered significant advantages over muzzle loaders, and they soon became wildly popular. However, the cost of ammunition was still comparatively high, which created a demand for handloading tools. While the primary purpose of handloading was to save money. handloading remain the best way to tailor loads to specific jobs. Examples included target shooters trying to maximize accuracy, and hunters desiring to improve terminal performance. frontiersman and cowboys needed to hand load ammunition for efficiency when travelling by horse wagon or walking. weight was always a concern, but components led powder and primers could be obtained along the way and cases reloaded as needed, all of which helped to keep weight down. The demand for handload became high and companies such as ideal manufacturing company now called Lyman began offering tools during the 1880s and Winchester Marlin, sharps and others also sold accessory tools specifically for their guns and cartridges. These were unusually well made. The most popular was the handheld tongue tool which many variants containing a bullet mold at one end cases could be decamped primed, sized, neck expanded filled the black powder and the bullet seated and crimped with one tool. These tools were practical, they were lightweight, compact and could be carried in a saddlebag so as preppers we can see how having the know how and tools to reload can be an advantage in sh TF world. We're always concerned about the weight and the bulk of our preps always right. You know, especially if we need to bug out but as preppers is reloading your own ammo the right choice. What are the startup costs involved in reloading? Okay, well, prices for reloading materials and tools will vary depending upon where you shop, either in person or online. Typically, you can get the equipment you need to start reloading your ammo for around 500 bucks maybe 600 bucks. It's not bad. Now you will want an automatic progressive reloading press ok the press is the most important tool hornady company comes out of Nebraska they make a great beginners press. I don't know the pricing I didn't look it up but I do know they make a great beginners press. You will need to purchase different die sets. To make multiple ammunition calibers you'll need an electric auto case tumbler okay a vibrating case tumbler Okay, this cleans off the spent casings back to factory new condition. You'll need a reloading manual. This is a necessity for every reloader you've got to have the manual. It's very important the information that's in there. It tells you exactly how to make specific types of rounds and pressures and all that stuff. You need the manual you need a digital caliper for making precise measurements. You'll need a priming tool to see primers quickly and correctly. You'll need a powder scale to ensure the exact amount of powder is being used. Okay, you're going to need gunpowder and a gunpowder dispenser, a shell holder you know when that fits your specific brand of reloading press, you're going to need a case trimmer this is a this is to trim fire cases down to their proper length. And you're going to need a bullet puller to take complete bolts apart if an error occurs and they will and you'll need various small hands tools as well as a workshop away from your home dwelling. Working with explosive materials inside your home guys is never a good idea do not do it. Reloading bullets instead of buying commercial ammunition can be more cost effective. On the other hand, it is a time consuming and labor intensive task. The question is, where do you fall on the scale as reloading your own ammunition makes sense for you? You know as prepper survivalist? Let's find out preppers survivalists off graders homesteaders and all of them like minded folks listening tonight from every corner of the globe. Regardless of what you may call yourselves, we are all preppers you may be new to prepping or you may be a seasoned pro. But the one constant that ties us all together are these feelings of unrest we have about the world around us. wars between nations overpower religious beliefs, economics and ideologies, in fighting within our own governments, fractures developing between our own countrymen and an uncertain future for all mankind. prepping is not a new mindset. In fact, until recent modern times, prepping was the only mindset you either preps or you didn't survive the elite class along with the governments they control our preppers they have been and always will be prepped, are you the Oh GTX team believes in a world where all people are preppers all people live without fear without the shackles of government control a world where we separate ourselves from the herd and become self sustaining, self sufficient self controlling thinkers and doers and action years of our own destiny becoming a better more efficient preppers violence isn't easy. We sometimes turn left when we should have turned right. But that's okay. It's all part of the prepper journey. Oh GTX is here to help. Please visit our totally redesigned website and let us help you take your prepping to the next level. We've partnered up with some of the biggest names in our industry like legacy foods, bio light, ecoflo and light my fire and to top it all off our own line of fully loaded 72 hour survival kits. We've done all the hard work for you. You just pick the kit that fits your needs and you're done. You're at the ready for sh gf when it comes our own GTX 72 hours of barricades are filled to the brim with everything a survivalist needs to combat sh t f and help keep you alive and well for months on end. Visit us at off grid tx.com This is the GTX prepper survivalist show please remember to subscribe and review and leave comments on your favorite podcast player and by leaving a review on iTunes you have a chance to receive your very own Ogt x gear reach out to us anytime on Facebook at off grid Texas or email us at sh t f at off grid tx.com. Thank you for sticking with us through the mid show break guys tonight we're diving into the subject of reloading our ammunition as a prepper. In other words, buying the individual components used in firearm ammunition and assembling them into an ammo cartridge for a specific firearm. Reloading bullets instead of buying commercial ammunition can be more cost effective. On the other hand, it's a time consuming labor intensive task, we need to ask ourselves the questions. Where do we fall on the scale? Does reloading our own ammunition makes sense for us as preppers survivalists the Colorado School of trade says that people who reload their own ammunition typically fall into one or two groups. The first is made up of people who shoot a lot. Members of gun clubs go through lots of ammo, so the savings involved in loading their own ammo is compelling. The second is made up of people who are determined to be the most accurate shooters possible. They believe loading their own cartridges is the only way to make the most of their firearms. If you meet the following criteria, you'll probably like reloading your own ammo. First. detail oriented, strong attention to detail is a must in reloading. mechanically inclined you enjoy tinkering with things and figuring out how these things work. patient. The work is in some ways, pretty painstaking. So you've got to be patient. You have spare time and this one speaks for itself. But folks, don't be fooled. Reloading ammo is time consuming and It's rough on your fingers in your hands. Even if you have the best equipment, it is very much manual labor and you will need to have plenty of spare time on your hands. And they also give their for top reasons to be reloading your own ammo, one to save money. Now this one is a little up in the air. Reloading some types of ammo can save you money. The typical 50 count box of commercially produced 44 Magnum bullets will set you back around 40 bucks or so. Reloading your own ammo costs around 13. So you stand to save a hefty chunk of change, but the savings aren't as significant on other types of ammo. In some cases, a may even cost more to load your own. If savings aren't your primary concern, this may not matter to you. Next, to improve accuracy. Commercial ammunition must adhere to specific safety standards, it must be able to perform properly in the majority of firearms, so it's not always loaded to the levels of velocity that are required for superior performance. Also, bullets must be seated far back enough into the brass to fit just about any magazine. Many believe accuracy is improved when the bullet is seated a little further out. More importantly, by reloading your own ammo, you can use components that work for your exact gun, and that perform properly for your desired application. Next, to have fun, many people reload their own ammo simply because they enjoy it. If you're curious about the mechanics behind shooting, you will probably enjoy the process of reloading your own ammunition. And lastly, to shoot more. Have you ever felt like doing a little shooting realized you were out of bullets and decided against it? That's a pretty big letdown. And you can avoid it by keeping the ammo reloading supplies you need handy. From that point forward. You won't have to run out to buy commercial bullets anymore. just assemble what you need and you'll be able to shoot more often. Okay, so I do in most ways agree with all of these points. They make perfect sense, you know, for the average shooter, they do. But does all of this makes sense for the average prepper survivalist I would have to say mostly No. I do believe that learning the skill and trade of a reloader is important. And I highly recommend that every prepper learn how to reload their own ammunition. It's important in an sh gf world. It's important in the same way like learning how to operate a ham radio or using a water catchment system or collecting and storing solar electricity, canning food growing medicinal herbs and plants raising animals homesteading. It's as important as all of those things. If you are a prepper survivalist interested in an off grid lifestyle or homesteading, it would be in your best interest to invest in some inexpensive reloading equipment for your specific ammo needs. And you learn the skill of reloading, should you become a reloader for the sole purpose of stockpiling your prepper armory. No, I would definitely have to say no In my opinion, that's probably not the answer that you were expecting from me. So let me explain. Number one cost these days you can pick up cheap ammo cheaper than the cost of reloading it yourself. You can buy ammo online in bulk and have it delivered directly to your front door in most cases with free shipping. No while I still can I will continue to stock my prepper armory with bulk online ammo zero labor low costs no hassle. Number two carry weight. Compare the carry weight of a box of nine millimeter rounds to that of the components of reloading nine millimeter rounds. You've got boxes of primers, jars of gunpowder and stripped down brass casings. Not to mention your entire shops worth of tools and equipment to assemble the rounds. carry weight is important, especially if you're going to bug out number three, finding the ingredients in sh TF. Now if you plan to be a reloader as a profession or to barter with in sh TF, you will need to stockpile bullets, casings, primers, gunpowder for every different caliber round you intend to supply to other survivors the same as you would factory box and purchase assembled rounds. I would rather stock up on the most popular rounds fully assembled, neatly boxed up and ready to barter with To me it just makes more sense. A single box of rounds on a shelf or four separate boxes on a shelf containing loose components that still need to be assembled by me by hand. It's a no brainer. If I'm going to stockpile all of that material and all of that equipment in a shop as a prep. Then I'm going to be doing it for me and only me and only begin to use it when and if my factory stock runs out. In an sh T of world you will not be able to just go out and find ammunition components If you think I'm wrong, prove it. Go out this weekend without GPS or the Internet, and hunt down gunpowder primers, bullets and casings for your specific caliber round. Good luck with that, and come back and tell me how it went. Because I'll be chilling at the house waiting for my online order of 1000 rounds to be delivered. That's Robbie. Yes, you can find spent casings at the range. But you can't find bullets there. Can't find primers there or gunpowder. Can you reload primers? You're sure can. Yeah, you can, but it is extremely difficult. It's extremely labor intensive and produces low quality primers. That may not work when you need them, too. Can you make gunpowder? Sure you can? Do you know how to make gunpowder? Have you ever seen or learned the process, you'll need potassium nitrate, you'll need sulfur you'll need charcoal. Now all are fairly easy to find at your local home improvement store. I won't explain ratios and how to create the mixture because I'm honestly I'm just not interested in having a visit from the ATF anytime soon. Needless to say it's very dangerous and I wouldn't advise anyone to try and make gunpowder. Leave that to the chemists. Again, it's a labor intensive and time consuming process. And it's far easier to just go to local sporting goods store and buy it off the shelf. And still again, far easier to just buy stock ammo online in bulk. Now I've heard the argument that finding ammo is so hard these days because of the demand. So instead, you're just gonna have to make your own ammo. That's crazy talk. If the ammo manufacturers are having a hard time finding and making the components for their ammo, what makes you think that you're going to be able to find it? If they can't find or make the bullets? How are you going to find to make the bullets? If they're having a hard time keeping up the demand of gunpowder. How are you going to find it? Okay? And stockpiling the components doesn't make sense because it takes up more space and weight than store bought ammo. In an sh TF world. If you are a reloader and you run out of the components that make up your ammunition, you're done. You're done. That's it. When a farmer runs out of crops in an sh TF situation, they can harvest the seeds and grow more crops. You can't do that. a blacksmith in an sh gf can forge scrap metal into nails and tools and knives. No problem. You can't do that. For reloader not so easy. In fact, it'd be very hard for an ammo reloader to scavenge for ammunition components. For me stockpiling off the shelf ammo as a prepper item is the only way to go. Okay, that's my way of going. I'm not saying it should be your way of going that's how I do it. That's how I'm gonna do it. My prepper brothers sisters learning the skill of reloading for survival and sh t f is a fantastic idea all preppers should consider it all preppers who are shooters should know and understand how to reload ammo. Having the basic reloading equipment and supplies on hand in your shelter at your bug out location on your homestead prepped and ready for teotwawki is definitely next level preparedness. It could be a game changer in survival. But for me investing in the reloading endeavor okay to produce my own ammo or bartering ammo for surviving sh t f is unrealistic and inefficient at best and downright dangerous at worst. Now of course this is only my two cents on the topic. I hope in some small way I've been able to help you decide the best path for you. Stay prepped, stay happy thanks for listening and good night. The LG chicks team like thank all of you for being here with us tonight. send your questions comments show ideas and thoughts to sh t f at off grid tx.com we'd love to hear from you guys good bad or indifferent sh t f at off grid TX calm visit our site at off grid tx.com that's off grid tx.com I am Campbell Keith. This is the GTX prepper survivalist show and we are off grid Texas. prepping, surviving, living, thriving. You can skate such a sin you can stick your cooperation take care