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Author Topic: Need someone to cast silver bullets....  (Read 1656 times)

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Offline masek77

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Need someone to cast silver bullets....
« on: November 25, 2006, 11:43:09 AM »
I know its crazy. No Im not looking to shoot some werewolves.

I just have quite a bit of silver scrap metal and thought this might be cool.

I used to work in a machine shop. We got an order for some parts for the US Government specifying they were made out of pure silver. My job was setups and tear downs. So when the end of the run came I cleaned the machines up and swept the floor of all the shavings. Nobody was interested in the silver turnings and shavings so I kept it. This was back when silver was less than 3 dollars an ounce. I ended up with about 115 ounces of silver.

The silver was hard to keep track of as small pieces so I decided to melt it all down into ingots. My project worked well until I forgot to put some flux in the furnace. When I tried to pour off an ounce of silver, I got a 3 pound (or so, it sure looked like 3 pounds lol) chunk of molten silver. The chunk I have is too wide to fit in my Kerr Electromelt so Im stuck with it. So now I have about 20 nice little ingots and some really large chunks of silver that weight several pounds each.

Ive tried to sell the silver several times but nobody wants to buy a chunk of metal like it is right now. With the price going up like it is I may have to hang onto it anyway.

I dont care about the caliber. I assume the larger caliber would be easier.

So, is anybody up to the challenge of making a couple dozen or maybe a few hundred silver bullets? 
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Offline Lloyd Smale

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Re: Need someone to cast silver bullets....
« Reply #1 on: November 25, 2006, 11:01:11 PM »
I may be intersted in doing it in exchange for a little of that silver. I wouldnt mine experiementing with adding it to my alloys to see what it does for bullets.
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Offline jgalar

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Re: Need someone to cast silver bullets....
« Reply #2 on: November 26, 2006, 04:57:58 AM »
I think silver melts around 1400 degrees, good luck getting it to combine with lead.
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Offline masek77

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Re: Need someone to cast silver bullets....
« Reply #3 on: November 26, 2006, 05:16:22 AM »
More like 2100 degree F, jglar. At that temperature, lead would vaporize before alloying with silver. Thats a very dangerous situation, especialy in a closed room.
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Offline jd45

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Re: Need someone to cast silver bullets....
« Reply #4 on: November 26, 2006, 07:29:47 AM »
Aren't there commercial casters that extol the virtues of their bullets because of small amounts of silver in them?..............I thought there were. Anyway, I've been wanting to put together a .45 Colt cartridge with a silver bullet, dummy of course, just like my hero The Lone Ranger, for many years. If  I'd need to buy several, I'd do it, if they were available. If anyone can help, I'd appreciate it. My e-mail is jdalesandro@scbglobal.net. Thanx, JD45
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Offline Lloyd Smale

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Re: Need someone to cast silver bullets....
« Reply #5 on: November 26, 2006, 08:10:13 AM »
says here 1762 degrees. I guess it wont work i wonder how they add it to bullets?
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Offline Lead pot

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Re: Need someone to cast silver bullets....
« Reply #6 on: November 26, 2006, 09:03:03 AM »
You can melt it easy using a cutting torch with a rose bud head and a cast iron lead pot.

Kurt
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Offline Nobade

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Re: Need someone to cast silver bullets....
« Reply #7 on: November 26, 2006, 02:25:46 PM »
The stuff is up to almost $14/oz now, don't think I'd be making bullets out of it.
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Offline Cat Whisperer

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Re: Need someone to cast silver bullets....
« Reply #8 on: November 26, 2006, 02:32:23 PM »
Hey!  If the Lone Ranger can cast them over a camp fire what's the big deal?

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Offline Cat Whisperer

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Re: Need someone to cast silver bullets....
« Reply #9 on: November 26, 2006, 02:37:59 PM »
Seriously, there is a way of doing it.

1. Forget the use of a mould.  (Steel/iron/brass/aluminum that is).

2. Silver is commonly cast into a cavity using the lost-wax method.  That means to make the image of a 'bullet' of wax, casting that in plaster or one of several other materials used for this, and WHEN COMPLETELY DRY the wax is melted out and the silver poured in.  The plaster takes very little to heat up and the surface finish is MUCH better than would be achieved using a metal mould.

3. You could build a 'tree' with many bullets on it and even use a 'match plate' mould if y ou wanted to go into production.

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Offline flintman

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Re: Need someone to cast silver bullets....
« Reply #10 on: November 28, 2006, 05:03:02 PM »
 Pewter helps cast bullets to keep a good clean color to them.
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Offline 454PB

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Re: Need someone to cast silver bullets....
« Reply #11 on: November 28, 2006, 05:18:13 PM »
Seems to me it would be easier and safer to turn a bullet on a lathe.
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Offline Haywire Haywood

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Re: Need someone to cast silver bullets....
« Reply #12 on: November 28, 2006, 11:46:25 PM »
You could make your wax bullets with a mold and use them with the plaster.  I like it the idea.

Ian
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Offline VTDW

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Re: Need someone to cast silver bullets....
« Reply #13 on: November 29, 2006, 06:45:12 AM »
masek77,

I would be more than happy to give it a try for you.  You know how to contact me eh?

Dave 8)
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Offline masek77

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Re: Need someone to cast silver bullets....
« Reply #14 on: November 29, 2006, 08:45:14 AM »
Email sent.
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Offline ggeilman

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Re: Need someone to cast silver bullets....
« Reply #15 on: December 21, 2006, 05:05:17 AM »
It can be done. Oregon Trail uses silver in their laser-cast bullets.
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Offline NONYA

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Re: Need someone to cast silver bullets....
« Reply #16 on: December 21, 2006, 05:14:08 AM »
TAKE A LEAD BULLET,COVER IT WITH PORCELIN AND FIRE,THE LEAD WILL MELT OUT LEAVING A CAVITY TO FILL WITH MELTED SILVER,USE WAX TO MAKE A SMALL SPOUT ON TOP OF THE BULLET B4 U FIRE IT,POUR MOLTEN SILVER AND BREAK PORCELIN OFF AFTER IT SETS.
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