The Real Bullet Necklace or Earring

Intro: The Real Bullet Necklace or Earring

NOTE: The author is not in any way responsible for any harm anyone could possibly cause upon themselves, anything, or anyone else by doing this process.

Taking a real bullet, removing flammable parts, and reassembling into jewlary peice that can be hung by necklace or attached to an earring

STEP 1: Taking the Bullet Out of the Casing

NOTE: The author is not in any way responsible for any harm anyone could possibly cause upon themselves, anything, or anyone else by doing this process.

Take any bullet, preferably center fire rifle cartridges are easier because they have a larger surface to grab onto. In this process i use(d) a 5C Collette to grab onto the bullet face. I then used a small channel lock wrench to twist and pull up on the casing. *be sure to not pull all the casing all the way off, or gunpowder will spill all over your work surface* I then placed the half dissembled bullet in a ziploc bag and finished pulling the bullet out of the casing by hand allowing the gunpowder to spill into the bag. *it is advisable that you dispose of the said gunpowder in a responsible manner*

STEP 2: Getting Rid of the Firing Cap

NOTE: The author is not in any way responsible for any harm anyone could possibly cause upon themselves, anything, or anyone else by doing this process.

The best way i figured to get rid of the firing cap is to place it on a concrete surface, *like my garage floor* AWAY FROM ANYTHING FLAMMABLE. Place it Cap side up, with the opening where the bullet was on the ground. I then took a metal punch and stuck it with a hammer while the punch was sitting on the cap making it fire off on to the concrete. I then took the metal punch and pounded out the remains of the firing cap out the back by placing the punch on the inside of the casing, leaving a hole in the back of the casing.

STEP 3: Attaching the Eye Bolt Rings

i bought the smallest eyebolt screws that i could find at the hardware store. placed them in the hole that was left after taking out the primer and soldered them in place.

STEP 4: Replacing the Bullet

once the casing cools down, i use(d) slip fit LocTite to glue the bullet in place to reduce the chance of it falling apart. (ive had some bullets fall into the inside of the casing) for this process i used a bench press, a bullet press would probibly work best, but i don't have one of those at this time :/

Well thanx for reading my instructable.

-Rose

Next steps are showing how i made one for myself, using my traditional birthstone. I personally plan on making more like it.

STEP 5: Stone Bullet

few weeks ago, my friends, amid conversation about making these bullet jewelry pieces, came up with the challenge of shaping a bullet out of a stone. The reason we came up with the idea was i wanted something more to add to the said bullet necklace, i wanted a birthstone, add 2 and 2 together and i have fun. Anyway tangent done.

I attempted to glue the rock to a pin that was .3 inches because 7.62 mm is roughly .3 inchs ... aka 30 caliber. anyway, if i was patient enough i bet it would have worked, it would have given a good guide to make sure i didn't cut to far into the stone. however, i just wore leather gloves and just slowly etched away the stone with a dremil in a boxy manner so that i could round it out later.

*not, wear glasses of some sort, the stone likes to fragment into small bits if you press to hard, hurts bad when you get some rock in your eye*

STEP 6: Getting the Size Right

i kept slowly etching away at the stone with the dremil to get it to the right size, one thing that i found best was the just get the rough size of the bottom of the bullet shape, and keep a lot of spare above, i was able to press the mostly shapen bullet into the casing and just shaved away at it more until it looked right.

STEP 7: Finished Product

after i got it to the right size, i just took it to a buffing wheel to remove the damaged and discolored stone. it makes for an interesting conversation piece.

-Rose

Comments

[ColleenS36]

I go to y friends land, shoot my 38 then use my spent casings

[Dacp283]

wow what a horrible instructable. dangerous and irresponsible. depending on the calibers some of those primers will take the end of your finger off. they make a tool made specifically for de-primering casings. or just go to a gun range and pick up some spent ones.

[bat159]

Many big box stores and larger sporting goods stores sell ammo brass for reloading. These are new cases without primers that are ready to be used. They also sell the bullets themselves. Both are usually available in relatively small lots of 20 to 50 depending on the calibers.

[Vodika]

Can I pull the bullet off the case, and then take a torch to set off the primer ? and yes that would be after I remove the powder, and secure it in a vise or enough to not let it fly across the room but not to disfigure the brass.

[ajensen27]

what about a mold of bullet using some epoxy stick(silly putty that hardens) then pouring something into mold like aluminum using a forge built using an instructible and then polish that into the casing?

[GASSYPOOTS]

take a shotgun shell. shoot it. do that with about 15 more. pop the pins out(metal circle with a depression on the other metal circle) and put them on string :D

[gunman94]

Can this be done with something as heavy as a 14.5x119mm R round? I bought it at the Salvation army, and I think it would make a cool necklace, if I can figure out how to string it.

[biffula]

you can spray some wd40 into the emptied out cartridge to 'neutralize' the primer if you dont want to damage it. Just let it sit for a good while.

[HmOnGbOi]

aye how did u take off the primer off

[lpdunwell]

aye read the instructable [insert insult here]

[gchagaman]

They sell a bullet puller at Cabelas.com for about 16 bucks. Might help.
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat602007-cat20728-cat20849&id=0018720214931a&navCount=2&podId=0018720&parentId=cat20849&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=XJ&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat601233&hasJS=true

[erehwon]

That's the best way to pull the bullet. As long as you're not working a load that requires a crimp (lots of straight wall cases for example) a kinetic puller like that works great. Plus it has the added benefit of doing no damage to the bullet itself, catches the powder and doesn't mar the case. Those pullers will work with a variety of case sizes as well.

[DieCastoms]

I made several necklace pendants when I was 14 for some friends.

Instead of "firing" the primer, I removed the bullet much the same way as you have done and then placed one or two empty shells at a time in an electric skillet.
Stand the primer-end right over where the burner is with the primer against the skillet.
I put an empty can over the shell because I was worried about it bouncing around like popcorn.
I turned the skillet on and after only a few seconds, the primer would "cook off."
This leaves the primer intact and nice looking with no dents from a firing pin.
Then I drilled a hole through the shell from side to side. This makes it obvious that it is not fireable.
I put a key-ring through the holes and mounted the slug back in with a tiny bit of superglue.
Covering the whole thing carefully in a coat of clear nail polish or other laquer finish will keep it from tarnishing or getting a petina and will also protect the wearer from let or other harsh elements in the metal.

[jacob5680]

I used to make these all the time, I simply use casings with primers that have already been fired, and I make my own bullets, but that may be out of the question here...
Great Instructable, tho this step may be iffy by some. as you pointed out. =P

[bpfh]

Except your own home made heads are molded lead and not copper FMJ... Not the most healthy thing to have rubbing against your skin...

[Frogzard101]

it costs $400,000 to wear these earrings...for twelve seconds!!!!!

[Kaiven]

Haha, I am Heavy Weapons Guy

[MrMystery96]

After making a few of these, would using the leftover powder in some small fireworks constitute disposing of said leftover powder in a responsible manner? I love sarcasm...

[DurkaDurka]

When you fired off the firing cap, did it make a loud noise? or even a noise at all?

[jacob5680]

a trick for this is to take a cotter pin ( split pin ), stick it through, and use a flat screwdriver to spread it inside the casing. =P