Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

We sorted through the 9mm casings again while we put the checked ones on the other tumbling apparatus after checking its quality beforehand. Aside from the 5.56, we have the 9mms, .45 ACPs, .308s, .22 LRs, 22 SRs, and shotgun shells that we would go through this afternoon.

"Those shotgun shells, are they all the same kind?" Rin asked.

"Yeah, all that are here are called 12 gauges. There are different kinds but this is what Oscar usually uses. I'm gonna make a few for him too so he won't nag me if he found out I only made what I usually use." I said.

"Hmm, you two are really close. Like father and son." Rin said.

"..." I just smiled.

Rin looked at me and was slightly taken aback from me staying silent.

"I-I'm sorry for saying that... I never thought about it before saying it aloud." she has a worried expression.

"Hah! Don't worry, don't worry. Honestly, Oscar has been my father figure ever since... well you know about that already. It's just that no one could replace my real father even if we didn't have the perfect relationship. Maybe we'll just call him my noisy uncle." I replied with a smile.

"Hmm, if I could ask, what was your father like? I can barely remember mine now." Rin said.

"He's the best, the best asshole. To say it honestly." I said while smirking.

"Hmm, the be- the best what?!" she was surprised by my answer.

"The best A-hole the world has ever seen. We fought a lot but we also had a lot of good times. All in all, it's a well-balanced relationship I guess." I said while turning another tumbler on.

She just gave a smile mixed with confusion from my explanation.

The rumbling of the tumblers is starting to make a bit of noise since they are all overlapping against each other, so I made Rin wear an ear-piece with the mufflers that we use when shooting guns so we could still talk with each other. The mufflers could work fine but the distortion to the voice it makes is something I dislike.

We've been working for a while and the 5.56 casings on the tumbler that I turned on first is ready. It has been on for an hour and I deemed them ready since most of them has just been fired for the first time. I proceeded to run them through the press that has the dies for the 5.56 already configured in for resizing first. While I slowly work on it, I called Rin over.

"Rin, check the length of the casings for each and separate the ones that are still perfect from the ones that have exceeded the length in that book. I'll trim them for a bit so it's all uniform later." I explained.

She grabbed the calipers to measure each one and she separated each casing after double-checking each one I hand her. I also gave her a tray that could hold them in place to put the imperfect ones and the perfect ones separately.

When resizing them, I would place the shell loader first on the press and then I would pick a casing first and lubricate it and place it in. I would grab the handle and pull down so it would get resized according to the reference book when it reached the loading die at the top of the press. I worked on it mechanically and I finished after a while. Rin was slowly catching up so I went to my other tools to start on trimming the ones that are imperfect.

I went to where my case trimmer is placed and it's a simple device. It also has a shell loader that would grab on the rim of the base of the casing and on the other side is where the bushings are that has different size cutters to fit each type. There's also a stopper on the other end to adjust on how much length you would leave out of the case that you placed in the loader.

I picked a perfect casing from the tray and Rin stopped me.

"B-boss, those are the perfect ones." she said.

"I know. I will just use this for the stopper here. If I get the measurement for this, what would happen to the imperfect ones that would follow?" I asked.

"Oh! They would conform to the earlier casing so that the cutter there could trim it!" she said.

"Bingo! You're slowly getting it, good job." I said as I configure it for the correct length.

I placed the perfect casing back to where I picked it up and I worked my way to the trays that Rin has already checked. I would double-check them again just to be sure but everything was checked perfectly.

"The best assistant ever. I hope she learns everything about reloading so she could do this solo in the future." I thought to myself.

"Okay, after this we clean the primer pockets here again just to be sure. It could be cleaned by the media we used in the tumblers but I just really want to make sure. See those little holes here in the bottom? Those are what I'm referring to." I explained.

I then pulled out a box with small circular metals that almost looks like batteries.

"The primer pockets is where these things go. They are called primers and this thing ignites the gunpowder that we would later place inside the casings. That in turn would make the projectile we would also place here later fly out when we pull the trigger." I explained.

"Hmmm, okay, okay. I think I finally get how a bullet works." Rin nodded pensively.

She watched my every move and she kept on jotting down all of the important points that I would talk about. I then grabbed a handheld priming tool and showed her how to use it. It's a handy tool that could also do the job aside from the press that I'm using currently. You don't have to configure it like the press that I have.

I then used the press for setting the primers in since there is a small elbow beneath it that could be used to place the primers in the casings. I cleaned it first since the remaining oils or lube could affect the primers causing it to malfunction. I even cleaned my hands to be extra careful. We worked on it mechanically and time slowly passes.

"What's next then?" she asked.

"We add the gunpowder charges. We use this scale here and we make sure that it's to the correct measurements first. I have a charge dispenser here but we do it the old way first until we reach the progressive press later so we could move much faster." I explained as she nodded.

She started on rifling on the charts and I started on placing a few on a small cup and weighing it on the scale. When it's on the right measurement, I place it carefully on the casing and we slowly moved to the dispenser and so on.

"Boss, what does this grain here mean? Is that how many grains of gunpowder we place in?" she asked with furrowed brows.

"Uh, no. It's the weight of the projectile. The projectile is what people in the know call the 'bullet' though most people call the whole thing the 'bullet' even though this thing here is what it actually is." I said as I picked up a bullet from one of the containers.

I made Rin help me with this process as well and she also perfectly performed. A smile was plastered on my face as we are working together and it's only been a couple of hours since we two started.

"It's really different working with people that are the same as you. If me and Oscar reload our ammo it would take us a lot of time. It would involve a lot of correcting his mistakes and arguing back and forth." I thought to myself.

I placed the last 5.56 casing on the tray that we filled with the charges and we're on to placing the projectiles on it. I replaced the die to be used and I configured it. I would place the casing in the shell loader once again, set the bullet, crimp it and finally double-check. I placed it on a separate tray and Rin checked it.

"This is the last step, right?" Rin asked.

"Yeah. How's the lesson?" I asked.

"It's a bit too much honestly, but we got a lot more coming up so I think I'll learn it all eventually." she replied.

"That's good. Turn off the tumbler for the 9mms and start on sorting them. I'll finish this last step by myself." I said as I started on getting on the zone.

I repeated the same movements more than a hundred times and then I snapped back to reality when I feel Kaley waving me down.

"Hey! You're in that zone again! We just came back. This is a lot of 5.56!" she exclaimed.

"Hey, didn't see you there. We really made a lot here. How's the run?" I asked as I continued on moving my hands.

"It's good. We brought the other truck too and we are going for a second trip after they finished on unloading the trucks. I used a couple of bullets though because you're not there." Kaley said, smiling.

"Heh. Miss me already? Grab a few here and replace the ones you used then. Place the casings that you've used on that container over there. Wait, where's Rin?" I said.

"I'm here! I'm still picking up some of the 9mms here in the tumbler!" Rin shouted from the tumblers section.

"Oh, I thought you were missing or something." I said as I continued to work on the press.

"Kid. I thought you were gonna cast bullets as well?" Oscar asked as he approached us as well.