Fun with wax.

[ABaker]

I was messing aroung the other day and decided to buy some 357 magnum primers. I also got some cheap candles. I took the candles and melted them into an empty lid so the wax was about 3/8 inch thick. I then let it dry while I took some 357 brass and knocked out the spent primers and replaced them with new ones. When that was all done I took the primed brass and shoved it into the wax. Pretty cool. So I had 6 wax bullets. Would they work as planned? I picked my first target, a soda can. The first wax bullet went all the way thru and stuck to the wall. Wow more powerful than I thought. Not too loud either. Cheap fun, but still dangerous. I wouldn't shoot them at anyone. I think I am going to shoot them out in the garage.

What would happen if I added some powder to the wax bullets? I mean If I knew what the max load was and all?

[rickyp]

I have been using wax bullets for a long time. I use them during off season and during bad weather to hone up my trigger pull and sight picture.
What I use is my wife's old candles

I mostly use 45 long colt contender barrel for this. I bought the speer plastic bullets and cases for 38/357 mag they work just like the wax but less messy. I normally shoot in to a thick cardboard box.  
one time my cat wanted to See what was in the box while he was looking I let a wax bullet fly and it hit close to him ( right where I wanted t to) and scared the poop out of him. now when ever he sees a firearm in my hand he runs.
I have killed some squirrels and birds around my yard with the speer plastic bullets.

What would happen if I added some powder to the wax bullets? I mean If I knew what the max load was and all?

Do not do this the powder will melt the wax and make a real nightmare when you clean the barrel If you want more power then move up to a mag primer.

[Vern Humphrey]

Sierra makes plastic cases and bullets for this kind of shooting.  You prime the case by putting the primer on a flat surface and pressing the head of the case down over it.  You load the reusable plastic bullets by hand -- no tools needed.

A good sized cardboard box, filled with newspapers makes a good backstop.

For wax bullets shot from regular brass cases, it's a good idea to open up the flash hole with a twist drill.  The primers tend to back out when fired, and in a full charge load, recoil forces the heads down over the primers again, reseating them.  In primer-only loads, the primers can tie up your revolver if the flash hole is too small.

[rickyp]

For wax bullets shot from regular brass cases, it's a good idea to open up the flash hole with a twist drill. The primers tend to back out when fired, and in a full charge load, recoil forces the heads down over the primers again, reseating them. In primer-only loads, the primers can tie up your revolver if the flash hole is too small.

Tis is true, i forgot to mention it I only use the wax bullets out of my contender so primer back out is not much of a problem for me

[Dan Chamberlain]

I shoot wax balls all the time in my cap and ball revolvers.  I seat 10 grains of 777 with a wonder wad and a wax ball seated all the way down and tamped into place.  My target is a coffee can and I tape the target over it.  I can hit the opening every time at 20 feet in the basement.  After 6 shots, there's a bit of smoke, but not too bad.  If I do happen to miss, the wax just flattens against the floor or wall.

For hip shooting practice, I'll dance a 2 liter plastic soft drink bottle on the floor.  

Dan C

[rockbilly]

Many years ago, (late 50s-early 60s) there was a recipe in The American Rifleman for wax bullets.  I used them a few times till my wife got tired of me shooting in the house or garage.  If I remember correctly, it was about a fifty-fifty mixture of paraffin used for canning and bee's wax.  They would do a trick on a piece of sheetrock when shot out of the old model 27 Smith.  About the same time, someone (I think it was Lee) had a good plastic bullet on the market.  Shooting it into a cardboard box stuffed with newspaper would harley damage the bullet.  I reused some of them several times before they were so badly damage the couldn't be reused.

Warning.........it can be a task cleaning the wax off floors and walls.  That's experience talking.

[Flash]

Yes, wax bullets are inexpensive and fun to shoot. My bullet of choice here is a Crayola crayon. It measures .311 in diameter and it gets used in several of my rifles and handguns. The entire crayon can be used for 4 to 5 rounds and without any additional melting or processing.  The penetration is remarkable so be careful.

[Bikenut]

I used to shoot wax bullets in my Ruger Single Six... pulled the lead bullet out of the cartridge, dumped out the powder, pushed cartridge into 1/4" of wax melted into an old metal container lid, and popped away with just the primer for propulsion. It was great fun during the cold winter months but cleaning the barrel afterwards was somewhat difficult as the wax tended to really foul it.

Then I found out about airsoft guns. The one's that look like the real thing except for having an orange muzzle but shoot 6mm plastic balls. I have 2 that are perfect clones of my Glock 26 and one very realistic 1911. All 3 are accurate enough to shoot across the living room but the plastic balls don't cause any damage if they happen to miss the target or the draped towel used for a backstop. Warning! It is a pain to pick up all those little plastic balls afterwards... and my vacuum cleaner must have a thousand or so of them inside by now too.

The airsoft guns let me practice drawing from concealment and target practice without fear of breaking anything in the house.

[osceola]

Wax works great out of my .45 acp. I have to chamber the shells one at a time into my 1911. My friend had a smith do some reliability feed work on his glock to shoot wad cutters and can hand cycle a magazine of waxers through it.

I use a needleless syringe to fill the brass in a loading tray, pop them into fridge, let them set and am ready to go.  In the basement it's best to crack the door open and have a fan to pull the the primer smoke out.

[dakotashooter2]

I can see the headlines now.  "The mysterious crayon murders" Police are searching schools for suspects. Police are withholding information as to specific colors or brands and are looking for any information on broken crayons. Stores have taken colors off the shelf and residents are calling for he banning of all brands of crayons. The suspects profile is described as youthfull, colorfull with a vibrant imagination.  The suspect is also thought to be a perfectionist as placement of the crayon in each victum was precise, within the lines and appeared to cause instantanious death.

[Badnews Bob]

Thats funny.

[Flash]

I have to agree, that's pretty funny. The crayons sparked my interest a long time ago when my daughter's crayon broke and the remaining piece looked like a semi wad cutter. As I was looking at it, I decided to measure it and voila, .311 + - .001. These work surprisingly well and will blow through an empty soda can without a problem at 20 feet. I won't mention what else these will put a hurtin' on but they sure work for me. :grin:

[Flash]

I have to agree, that's pretty funny. The crayons sparked my interest a long time ago when my daughter's crayon broke and the remaining piece looked like a semi wad cutter. As I was looking at it, I decided to measure it and voila, .311 + - .001. These work surprisingly well and will blow through an empty soda can without a problem at 20 feet. I won't mention what else these will put a hurtin' on but they sure work for me. :grin:

[Flash]

Dakotashooter2, I'll certainly be thinking of you the next time we shoot those crayons.

[Patriot_1776]

I was thinking on a couple of improvisions on this subject.  Being the primer would slightly melt the base of the wax plug, would it help to put a sheet or two of aluminum foil along the top before you push the mouth into the wax? I think it would help kind of like a thin gas check.  My point is it will allow the hot gases to have zero contact with the wax itself.  I also have a question about doing stuff like this: What does it sound like, and about how loud is it when fired in something like a 45 Colt with the reg lg pistol primer?  Hope this is a good idea I presented, and thanks for any input regarding my questions.

-Patriot

>>>>UPDATE<<<<

I just got through a small session with some wax slugs I made out a a home-made mold.  Pretty fun time, and sure to be more fun in the future.  But, my question would still remain about the logic around putting aluminum foil around the base, for use with higher-powered primers. :wink:

[rickyp]

the aluminum foil may damage the bore. you could always use a small piece of cleaning patch. this will not travel very far and it will loose energy very fast.

[king nero]

doesn't this foul the barrel/cylinder gap?
if not, I'll give it a try in my S&W 686 .

In .38 cases (have lots of those), how thick do you make the layer of wax?
all the way down? or pour the hot wax on a plate, until it 's (eg.) 1/4 inch thick, and then pushing the brass into the wax?
(meaning you've got a wax bullet of 1/4 inch thick, flush seated in the shell?)

[unspellable]

A towel hung over the open side of a corregated board box makes a good back stop for the plastic bullets.  The towel will swing with the impact and bring the bullets to a gradual stop without deforming them so they can be reused.

But do give due respect!  In the days of my youth someone shot a white tailed deer in a Christmas display at close range during the small hours.  The wound became infected and by the time the keepers realized what was going down it was too late to save the deer.  Not to mention they would do a number on an eye.

Another hazard is lead.  The usual primer compound contains lead azide and there will be lead in the smoke.  There are lead free primers but they do not yet see wide spread use.

[rickyp]

doesn't this foul the barrel/cylinder gap?
if not, I'll give it a try in my S&W 686 .

In .38 cases (have lots of those), how thick do you make the layer of wax?
all the way down? or pour the hot wax on a plate, until it 's (eg.) 1/4 inch thick, and then pushing the brass into the wax?
(meaning you've got a wax bullet of 1/4 inch thick, flush seated in the shell?)

You do need to clean the handgun after you finish your session. the wax is soft and is very easy to clean out.

The way I make mine is:
I found an old metal dish put put the wife's candle clippings in it and use a blow torch and melt the wax ( do this carefully) let it set up. when it is ready I will prime a number of brass then push them in the wax then pull them back out. the way will be pushed back to the primer pocket and go all the way to the mouth. I then load them like a Norma round.

[king nero]

thx!
will try that one of these days...
sounds like great indoor fun (outside = snowed... won't drive me car trough that)

[Win50]

This DOES sound like a way to have fun, stay sharp, and kill the time until the snow melts...but back to the noise question above...

Realizing that there will be some difference due to caliber, what noise level are we talking about here in the .357 to .45 range?  Is it similar to a starters pistol at the track, fire cracker,  lady finger, what? (give or take a decibel or 2)   :?

Also, are you completely filling the brass or does it matter as long as you get a good seal and it's at least 1/4 of the brass "length"?

I like the towel "catch" and recycle idea too. :wink:

Probably not workable in long barrels...huh!?...not enough punch to clear the bore and a whole lot more cleaning to do   :wink:

[Patriot_1776]

I've tried three different primers so far: Lg. Pistol, Sm. rifle, and Lg. Rifle.  At the very worst, the sound levels are close to that of a good-size cap-gun.  Don't really have to worry about the noise levels that much, unless you are firing in a very small enclosed area (try maybe a 8'x8' room).  But, overall, it is nothing compared to shooting a pistol round, or an unchecked primer alone.  

I don't completely fill up the brass on my 45 Colts.  I made my own mold using a block of wood, and a drill bit just over the size of a resized Colt casing.  One thing to remember when making something like this: A drill press is a great asset, and ALWAYS cut the block in half FIRST before you drill the holes; otherwise, you will have some funny looking plugs.  Plus, I measured out how deep I wanted the bit to go, by measuring with calipers the length of a FMJ 230gr RN.  Once the bullet was measured, I transferred that length to the drill bit, and used a black marker to mark how deep to go.  Another thing I found out that will help keep the brass cases cleaner after firing, is to push the plug as far as it could go into the case with simple hand pressure.  This helps keep the residue from coming out too readily.

Barrel length is not too much an issue.  The pistol I used for my wax shooting sports a 7 1/2" bbl.  Short terms, I used my SRH 454.  Works pretty good.

Be careful where you shoot them though; they do go fast enough to hurt.  I clocked a few plugs with the different primers, and they did make a dif.  The plugs I made average 16gr or so in weight.  With a Lg. Pistol primer, the velocity was around 390FPs.  The Sm. Rifle primer, for which I had to use a 454 case, was a bit slower, running at just under 300 FPs.  Now the Lg. Rifle primer, using a 45 Colt case for this as well, zipped out the bore at 461 FPs.  But the Lg. Rifle primer is probably at the limit for my plugs; I used paraffin alone, which IMO is too hard and brittle.  With the Lg. Rifle, I had one come apart and turned it into a small wax spread gun.  Have fun, stay safe, and remember to use eye protection especially.  Plus, don't forget good ventilation; you need it to help keep residual lead exposure to a zilch or at least a small minimum, and remove the primer smoke.  Kind of like those indoor ranges, make sure the stuff is drawn away from you.

 
-Patriot

[rickyp]

I normally use a full case just essayer or me to make them this way.
As for noise level  you will want to use hearing  (and eye) protection! You neighbors will not hear what you are doing unless they are very close. When I shoot indoors I take my fan and put it to my side blowing twords me and have a window open about 2" behind me this way all the smoke blows out the window and I keep most of the heat or A/C in.
I would use a heavy cardboard box with the top still on then cut a hole in one end and tape the target over it. Then in the back I put an old truck mud flap. I have yet to have a pass trough or any wax spray.

One thing to remember this is not a toy and can hurt / kill a person or pet !!!

[dakotashooter2]

Another tip I have heard is to prime them AFTER you have seated the wax bullet. If you seat them with the primer in the internal pressure may want to push the wax bullet back out. I tried pushing the cases into a block of paraffin wax but it was a bit hard and the plugs tended to crack. A mix of paaffin and toilet seating wax would probably be about right.