Ammunition

Ammunition is any material fired, scattered, dropped, or otherwise projected from weapons to fulfill their function. The term also encompasses explosives like grenades or mines.

Overview
Barring low-tech melee weapons or the rare self-powered ranged implement, ammunition is an essential part of survival in the wasteland and one in constant demand. As stocks of easily accessible pre-War ammunition depleted, this demand led to the emergence of cottage industries focused on supplying wasteland warriors with munitions, together with the necessary supply chains. For example, Adytum in New California relied on ammunition as one of its primary exports in 2161; Miles, the local chemist, would turn chemicals obtained from imports or fungal farms into gunpowder and primer, while Smitty, the blacksmith, would manufacture brass, bullets, and produce the final product. Similarly, the Gun Runners made a living using their machining skills for producing weapons and ammunition for a living, as did the Brotherhood of Steel.

These industries only grew, with the Gun Runners becoming one of the most prominent ammunition suppliers in New California. New centers of manufacture emerged across the North American continent, including The Pitt and Diamond City on the eastern seaboard, alongside amateur reloaders focusing on small-scale production for domestic production. Particularly talented machinists and scientists even figured out ways to recharge spent cells to provide a consistent supply of ammunition for energy weapons.

Special and no ammunition required
A few weapons in the Fallout games do not use ammunition in the traditional sense at all. These are:
 * Solar Scorcher (Fallout 2)
 * Meat cannon (Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel)
 * Red Ryder BB gun (Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel)
 * Rock-It Launcher (Fallout 3)
 * Junk Jet (Fallout 4)