Indoor Fun

[Dan Chamberlain]

Hey guys, I've started doing something that I'll pass on.  I've been molding balls out of wax and firing them in the basement.  I use 10 grains of 777, an over powder wad and I fully seat the ball.  The rammer doesn't go deep enough so I have to seat with a dowel.  

Accuracy is generally very good out to 20 feet and it is a lot of fun snap and hip shooting.  My targets are full sized sillouett with a heavy (industrial) cardboard back and the balls seldom penetrate the backing.  those that do, flatten harmlessly on the concrete wall and fall to the floor.

A 5 gallon pail with a paper target on the open end will capture all the wax for remelting if you like a smaller target.  

2 liter plastic soda bottles with the tops removed will also make great targets if you like to see your targets dance and topple!  Any ball the hits the floor simply flattens out and ends up against the concrete wall.

A window fan behind your target area will exaust all the smoke quickly and 777 doesn't leave a bad smell.  

You can't cast wax like you do lead.  It will not run into the mold as easily.  I use a turkey baster to push it into the mold.  Even then, when the balls cool, they are actually hollowpoints.  I let the mold sit on a dish of ice to stay cold and the balls firm up in about 15 seconds.  If you don't do this, it takes forever for the wax to set up.

this is a lot of fun and can be used in the garage or barn as well.  I shot a piece of wallboard and the balls did dent it a little so you don't want to use a nice living room wall for your back stop.

Dan C

[1860]

You must be single, or soon to be so!!!!1 :-D  

1860

[WD45]

Did you say you were using a regular round ball mold ? The thing about the hollow point has me a little confused. Never saw a pointed round ball :?
Sounds like great fun !

[HWooldridge]

Might be faster to make if you could extrude the wax in the right diameter and then lop them off with a cheese cutter or something similar.  You'd have a full wadcutter design and could make them long enough to push in with the rammer.

I'll bet they still go BANG pretty loud in the basement.  Hope your neighbors are cool!

[Dan Chamberlain]

First the issue of hollow pointed balls.  No, they aren't pointed, nor are they fully hollow.  However, wax is no where as dense as lead, and when it cools it shrinks from the center out.  This causes the channel in the mold where the sprue would normally be, to pull back into the center causing a cratered effect.  In essence, you have a ball with a crater, resembling a hollowpoint.  I hope it is now easier to picture what I'm talking about.  

I would like to find a way to extrude the wax into cylinders, however, there is something to be said for using a ball mold in that it keeps the whole experience a little traditional, and one can stand at the kitchen stove and do it without fear of lead poisoning.  It is great fun and with a light load of 10 grains of replica powder like 777 or Clean Shot or Clear Shot, you don't get the sulphur smell and you get less smoke.  You do get plenty of flash and bang however.  This is as safe as "simunitions" used in law enforcement training.  If you have a concrete block or poured basement, you are safe.  Some municipalities have laws against the discharge of firearms in city limits except for self defense in the home.  So in certain areas there might be a technical violation of a law.  So, if you do it, I wouldn't tell anyone about it!  

Next, I'm going to try it with my .36 caliber long rifle.



Dan C

[WD45]

Yup that clears up the fuzzy picture in my mind.
Seems to me if you had the right ID copper tubing you could easily rig up something to extrude wad cutter style projectiles with.

Let us know how it turns out in yer long gun.  I am thinking to much heat may be created from running down the lenth of the longer barrel.
 But then I probably think to much :lol:

[bubba15301]

melt the wax onto a deep cookie sheet and cut the wax with a 45/70 case for 44 cal  . or u could use a 45 colt case

[The Shrink]

And for .36 you can use a 3/8 hollow punch, but be sure you have something separating the "bullets" or they are likely to stick together.