Quote Originally Posted by harry mac View Post
On the home made ammo thing, I think I remember reading somewhere that they used to use celuloid camera film to produce a home made nitro celulose powder. Am I remembering correctly, or do I have a crossed wire somewhere?
Thats probably true, and just one of the ways they make propellent for small arms ammo. I haven't been to the actual NW frontier workshops for many years, but I do remember seeing them fill .303 and 7.92 with a variety of things including arty propellant strands, various types of warhead filler, and locally-made black powder. A lot of the stuff was being cooked up - literally - in big pots. They used to test the end product in the back yards of the workshops; I guess that they evolved a few "loads" through trial and (spectacular) error! You can imagine what the ballistic properties of this ammunition must be like; I seriously expect they reduce the potential of a Lee Enfield or Mauser down to the equivalent of a musket. Hence the enduring popularity of Russianicon ammo types, which at least remains plentiful so long as Iran, Syria, China and other countries keep pouring it into the region.