Ammo Press

The Ammo Press is a machine that can be used to create ammunition after completion of the quest Free Labor in the Fallout 3 DLC The Pitt. Access is given by either Werhner or Ashur.

Located overlooking The Hole, the Ammo Press consists of a terminal used to operate the machine and a materials box at the bottom of the stairs where ammunition or scrap metal is placed. The amount of ammo you receive depends on how much ammo/scrap metal is inserted into the machine. There is a helpful table below that gives several examples.

Any variety of conventional ammunition can be placed in the materials box, from 5mm Round ammunition to .44 Magnum. Once placed in the materials box, the ammunition inside can be melted down and re-shaped by the ammo press into any other variety of conventional ammunition by the terminal.

The ammo press makes outdated ammunition from the early game (10mm or .32 caliber, for example) into more useful ammunition used later in the game. It also makes ammunition not commonly used (for example, 5mm rounds not used by a Small Guns character) somewhat more useful than simply selling it. Unfortunately, the press is unable to create any energy weapon ammunition, only conventional ammunition.

In order to make ammunition, unused ammo or scrap metal must be loaded into the materials bin. The bin is a rectangular green box located at the front of press that is closest to the Ammo Mill Terminal. Once loaded, return to the computer to select the desired ammunition. After making your selection, return to the bin and retrieve your new ammo.

The Ammo Press, combined with The Outcast Collection Agent quest, means player can build up a considerable amount of any type of conventional ammunition by simply farming Enclave outposts for weapons and Power Armor, and trading the hardware in for 5.56mm ammunition. The 5.56mm ammunition can then be recalibered in the Ammo Press into new ammunition.

Ammo Mill Instructions
The following is the note you receive upon completing the quest Free Labor.

Value Table
To calculate how much ammo of a given type the Press will produce, use the table below. For every kind of ammo or scrap metal in the hopper, multiply its quantity by its value in the table, and add the resulting values up to get the total value of metal in the hopper. Then divide by the value of the type of ammo you are pressing, rounding down; this is the number of bullets the Press will make.

Formula: (Number of units in hopper) x (Unit Value) If using more than one type, repeat and add. (Total) / (Value of unit being made) = Number that can be made

Example: Pressing scrap metal into 5.56mm rounds. If you have 10 units of scrap metal in the hopper, its value is 10 &times; 20 = 200 units. Pressing this into 5.56mm rounds gives 200 / 3 = 66.7 bullets, which rounds down to 66. So pressing 10 scrap metal into 5.56mm rounds will make 66 bullets. If you wanted to make .44 rounds instead, you could turn the same 10 scrap metal into 13 .44 rounds (200 / 15 = 13.33, which rounds to 13). meaning 15 5mm rounds can be transformed into 1 .44 round and vis versa, however 14 5mm rounds will get you 0 .44 rounds resulting in a complete loss of your 14 bullets. If transforming Scrapmetal into ammo it is best to first press it into Shotgun or 5mm ammo because it results in whole number products maximizing output.

Of note is the fact that due to the values below it is possible to buy almost any type of ammunition (depending on your barter skill & excluding 5mm) and then profit from it by turning it into valuable 5mm ammo, giving you a nice source of caps as a reward for finding & securing the cure.