Homemade shot dripper

[rokefert]

Has anyone made their own shot dripper?  I bought nearly a half ton of wheel weights but dont really feel like shelling out the 400 bucks fora littleton shotmaker, plus i talked to the company rep and he made it sound like there are a lot of "variables" I think he meant pains in the butt to make larger shot such as 4's.  I mainly want to make some suitable shot for rabbit hunting which is where i fling the most lead. 

[cutshurt]

Try a five gallan bucket of water and a small tin can for the dripper with a sturdy handle of some kind. Then just experament with the size of the holes till you get what you want for size. they wont be round they will be tear drop shapes but will work well.

Hold the can abuot 2 feet above the water, with a ladle scoup up some lead and pore that in the can (dripper), it will drip out and hit the water and harden. A word of caution keep your lead pot away from the water and DONT get any water in the molten pot of lead it will explode and lead will spray everywhere. And That dont feel so good! also wear eye protection and gloves.

I have seen this done and it works well, but water and lead are scary things to have anywhere near each other! so if you do it take care.

Darrel

[Graybeard]

The further you let it drop the more round it will be. In air molten lead just like water forms into a perfect spere given time. That's why shot towers used to be 100' or more tall. That's not practical at home but letting it drop several feet before hitting water is clearly best. In fact it is best if the fall also gives time for it to solidify prior to dropping into water.

[rbwillnj]

While I agree with everything Greybeard said about commercial shot making and the theory behind it, .. the instructions for the Commercial "at home" shot makers (like the Littleton Shotmaker) say the shot shouldn't drop more than 1/4" before it hits the cooling liquid.  And they don't recommend using plain water.   If you google shot making there is quite a bit out there.

I bought a Littleton Shot Maker, but then shot prices when down, so its still sittin in the box.   If lead goes back up I'm sure I'll put it to use.   I have a 1000 lbs of muffin ingots all ready to go.

[Swampman]

When I did 18th century reenacting we made shot for our muskets.  Some hot charcoal in the bottom of the lead container keeps it flowing.  Just pour the molten lead through the hot coals.  It looks like tear drops and makes a cool whistling noise going through the air.  Be careful and wear safety glasses.

[Three44s]

You might check here:


http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=14917


Wad around in there some more and you'll find some more pertinent threads.

Three 44s

[tpic402]

Looked into it myself, have not gotten to it yet, go to shotgunworld.com if I remember there are even guys on there with detailed drawings and lots of ideas from simple to WOW how did you think of that.

[.45 COLT]

When you have a lot of time, go here:

http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=15776&hilit=littleton

33 pages of posts, some with more links. More than you want to know about making your own shot.

Another group at castboolits also discusses it pretty thoroughly in several threads. Start there at the link posted by Three44s.

DC