cheap shooting question

[NYMUZZLES]

I know this is may be a dumb idea, but is it possible (and acceptable) to shoot foam earplugs out of a 50 cal Huntsman?

or is there any other safe cheap ammo that can be loaded in there to shoot at say pop cans or something within 25yrds.

I just want to have some fun with it and not spend much on ammo. 

Any thoughts or suggestions welcome as long as they are safe and not insulting.

Mike

[Keith Lewis]

Probably the most reliable would be to use patch and ball which is pretty inexpensive. That rifle will do a good job with patch and ball at reduced powder loads for the short distance shooting.

[ShadowMover]

If you wade through this guy's site you will find all sorts of oddball shooting and reloading stuff, with a lot of emphasis on light DIY loads. Be advised it's in Finland, where some stuff like silencers are legal, and politics are mixed with history and shooting. I'm not connected with this site at all, just linked it to answer your question. It's all interesting, even though it takes forever to wander through all the links.
http://guns.connect.fi/gow/gunwriters.html

http://guns.connect.fi/gow/arcane1.html

[zackyholdem]

i'd say an earplug would be a safe bet to try, the only problem i count think of was keeping the powder compacted, but if you could assure that then i dont really see any problems.....but don't quote me on that lol

[bubba]

I would think an ear plug would melt in front of the burning powder and make a mess in the barrel. They are not going to engage rifling , so thet will fly all over and no tenough weight to stabilize. Wy no tscarf some lead and make round balls or a conical bullet. I personally shoot a 44 cal rpund nose bullet in a 50 cl harvestor crush rb sabot.  The only expense I have is the sabots, and my time to mold bullets.  Round balls and patches would be even cheaper.

[bikerbeans]

Cut the petals off a 50 cal sabot and try that.  More mass than the ear plug and will engage the rifling and stay put on top of the powder.  I'd try it with a standard 209 shotgun primer first without powder.  THis works with pistol primers on the Speer revolver training cartridges.  As an alternative you could leave the pedals on the sabot and put the earplug inside of it.

My favorite (cheap) MZ plink round is a 50 cal round ball in a 50/54 sabot over (1) 60 grain pyrodex pellet out of a T/C thunder hawk. I usually trim the sabot petals back a bit so they don't stickout in from of the ball.

[moorepower]

Some times at gun shows you can find partial boxes of bullets real cheap. There are alot of swaged bullets and copper plated bullets floating around if you look for them. I have got boxes of jacketed bullets with only 70-80 bullets in them for $4-5.

[Rustyinfla]

 Patched round ball all the way with the patch cut on the muzzle.