Going out with a bang: The service that will turn your loved one into live ammunition

A bizarre new service that allows you to lock and load your loved one’s ashes is blowing up on the internet.



Holy Smoke, based in Stockton, Alabama, boasts a 'tribute to your outdoorsman or woman like no other,' according to their website.



The company offers a means to 'continue to protect your home and family even after you are gone,' by turning ashes into fully-functioning bullets.



Guns n' ashes: Holy Smoke says it offers its customers the opportunity for the deceased to continue to protect his or her home after they're gone

So how does it work?



Once the deceased’s family decides the calibre and gauge of the ammunition, they send one pound of their dead relative's ashes.



From ashes to gunpowder: Holy Smoke offers the ability to go on one last hunting trip with your dead loved one

From there, the staff place a portion of the cremated remains into each shotshell or cartridge, depending on the ammo selected.



In return, Holy Smoke sends the family a case of up to 250 bullets for display in the home or to take on a hunting trip.

Officers Thad Holmes and Clem Parnell who launched Holy Smoke LLC, said it's the perfect life celebration for someone who loves the outdoors or shooting sports.



'This isn't a joke. It's a job that we take very seriously,' Mr Parnell said. 'This is a reverent business. We take the utmost care in what we do and show the greatest respect for the remains.'



The company claims its methods add up to a fraction of the cost of most burial services cost.



Prices begin at $1,250 for the 250 rounds for shot guns and pistols, and 100 rounds for rifles.



The type of service, which is offered through their website MyHolySmoke.com, is unconventional, but certainly not unheard of.



In 2005, the ashes of author Hunter S. Thompson were famously shot out of a cannon, six months after the Gonzo journalist killed himself.



The celebration was funded mostly by Pirates of the Caribbean actor and Thompson’s close friend Johnny Depp.

The ashes of the late author Hunter S. Thompson were loaded into a cannon he designed and fired in 2005 as part of a spectacular light show





