Have you ever wondered what to do with all those used .50 caliber shells after a long day at the shooting range? Former Navy SEAL Eli Cain has one answer: Turn them into bottle openers.
Cain’s brother was a helicopter pilot in the Marine Corps, and after a 2009 tour in the Philippines, he brought back a bottle opener as a gift.
“A couple year’s later, I was like, this thing’s really cool, but I could make it a lot better,” Cain told Task & Purpose in an interview.
And so, the Bottle Breacher was born, adding a military twist to a classic tchotchke.
To make the Bottle Breacher, Cain uses .50-caliber shells bought at auction from Marine Corps live-fire training exercises. After that, his staff reloads the shells, cuts them into bottle openers, tumbles them to smooth any sharp edges, and adds a chrome finish or the preferred color of the buyer.
Check out how they’re made here.