Casting real silver bullet

[Gelandangan]

Gday mates!

I was given about 200 grams of silver flakes from a friend.
I am thinking to use them to make ornamental bullet (not to shoot)

Molten silver is very runny, I doubt my standard casting mold can be used to cast the bullet.
I might even end up silver soldering my mold together.

So my question is, how do you make silver bullet, other than machining it or using a more elaborate lost wax investment casting?

Thanks for any advice!

Gelan

[docone31]

Melting point of silver is about 1630*F. Unless, you want to make a large glob, and then machine it down, I suggest you start with the 95/5 solder, and start adding flakes. As they are absorbed into the tin, add more. This can be then alloyed with lead.
Aside from either investment casting, or lumping and machineing, You will have to alloy it into something.
You will not get a very high ratio mix though.
However, if you know of a jeweler, or dentist who makes crowns, and dentures, you might consider trading metal, plus payment to have him make a mold, and then cast it.
All things considered, it is going to end up less expensive to have it done rather than do it your self, unless you want to go further with the casting experience.
It is a question of heat.

[AbitNutz]

What's this for? I have an ex wife and I can assure silver boolits won't work.

[blikseme300]

What's this for? I have an ex wife and I can assure silver boolits won't work.

:groner:

... they prefer GOLD.

:bigsmyl2:

I miss my ex, but my aim is improving.

Bliksem

[madsenshooter]

There was a site once, a fellow's wife had written a werewolf book, and he undertook the molding of a few silver bullets for the 444 Marlin. To get it done he wound up going to a university's chemistry lab and had to do some some weird things like make a plaster insulator for the sprue plate. If you really want one, I'd say forget molding, buy some rod of the appropriate diameter and machine your bullets, better yet, cash in your silver and buy your ornamental silver bullet here: http://www.bulletforge.com/

[markinalpine]

There was a site once, a fellow's wife had written a werewolf book, and he undertook the molding of a few silver bullets for the 444 Marlin. To get it done he wound up going to a university's chemistry lab and had to do some some weird things like make a plaster insulator for the sprue plate. If you really want one, I'd say forget molding, buy some rod of the appropriate diameter and machine your bullets, better yet, cash in your silver and buy your ornamental silver bullet here: http://www.bulletforge.com/

http://www.hurog.com/books/silver/silverbullets.shtml

It's an interesting read :coffeecom

Mark [smilie=s:

[mastercast.com]

AbitNutz and blikeme300,

You tickled me "funny bone" with those posts, BIG TIME!

[lwknight]

Like someone posted on another thread: You need pure silver bullets for were wolves , other wise they just transform into attorneys.

[cbrick]

Silver bullets didn't work for my X either but in the end I got a gun for her.

It was the best trade I've ever made.

Rick

[shotman]

you can cast them I made 20 38s to put in a belt . It is best to do with a single mold and leave the sprut plate off . You need a good large flame to turn the mold a dull red. heat the silver in a CLEAN laddle and pour in the mold . It will have a rounded end. It cools as soon as you move away from the flame. File the base flat. save the fileings to remelt. They will tarnish so you need to clear coat..
I had mine for about 10 years and a friends son stold them.
I know its illegal but coins make the best ones. The coin shops have the ones that have no dates and will sell them .
Oh silver is about $18 an oz A 158 gr mold casts about a 125 gr bullet
Last thing The mold will never be as good so best find a trash one .

[Reverend Recoil]

I have an idea that might work for making a silver, gold, or stainless steel bullet. Using your bullet mold cast several bullets of wax. This wax should be foundry pattern wax. Nothing else will do. This wax is availible from foundry and jewler's suppliers. You will now have a pattern for investment casting. Send the wax bullets to a jewler or dental lab and have them cast and finish your bullet. For a complete descripion of this process look up investment casting.

[1874Sharps]

Silver boolit? Is there a werewolf loose in your area?

[jlchucker]

How did the Lone Ranger make them, I wonder?

[trk]

I've cast electronic solder (96%tin 3.5% silver and 0.5% copper).

It casts BEST into a stone-cold mould. SHARP CRISP and SHINEY. Stays that way.

[Dframe]

what's this for? I have an ex wife and i can assure silver boolits won't work.
rotf lmao!!!

[Big Dave]

You might check around your area for someone into jewelry craft, preferably with a centrifugal casting set up, since you have the silver they probably won't charge to much to make you a bullet. Especially if you have a mold to make the wax positives. My sister's father in law had a set up he built himself that made some really intricate gold and silver castings for jewelry he designed, unfortunatly he is dead now.If nothing else try a google search for jewelry crafters or something like

[Shiloh]

I've made several silver boolits. One in 18kt yellow gold. I turn a piece of casting wax to the shape of a boolit and use the lost wax casting process. These are strictly ornamental novelties, not for firing.

I don't see a mold surviving the process to make usable lead boolits again.

Shiloh

[1Shirt]

Years ago at an NRA convention, I ran into a guy who had a silver mini ball on a chain around his neck that he said he had cast of pure silver. had drilled a small hole (I think) in the top for inserting a silver loop to put the chain thru. It was pretty sharp. It was a big 58 cal, and he had on a black sweatshirt. Should have asked him what it cost him to put it together.
1Shirt!:coffeecom

[Gelandangan]

:grin:
You guys definitely have great imagination!!

Warewolves!! Stewth!!

I have no real reason to want to make the silver into pellets.
It is just I got this bag of real silver flakes given to me and I dont know what to do with it. :confused:
Being a shooter and cast my own boolits, I thought silver boolits would be nice. :idea:
But the more I think about it, the less attractive the idea became. :rolleyes:

So, anyone in the largest Southern hemisphere island would like to trade silver flakes with sumptin? I got about 200 grams worth.

[pilot]

How did the Lone Ranger make them, I wonder?

I have one the Lone Ranger gave me when I was sixteen. Been a long time ago. I think it's just plated. Could be chrome plated.

[Daddyfixit]

I have a few silver and gold 36 cal round ball stacked next to my BP cannon. I cast some from lyman #2 and had them plated. 15 years later and they still look great!

[Lunk]

I had mine for about 10 years and a friends son stold them.

Well don't that just beat all. I'm sorry to hear that. They sounded really cool.



I know its illegal but coins make the best ones. The coin shops have the ones that have no dates and will sell them .

The only thing illegal about defacing money is trying to USE it as money after the fact. Once you have it it's legally yours and you may do with it as you please. Just don't try to spend it afterwards.

Remember those machines at the zoos and ammusmant parks that would crush a penny into a souvenir? It's legal, but you can't spend that penny later. :grin:

[HammerMTB]

How did the Lone Ranger make them, I wonder?

Prolly had Tonto do his dirty work.

I have electro-plated gold on small parts before. Seems like the easy way to do this might be to make up a dummy boolit, nickel plate that, and silver plate over that. That'd sure make 200 gms go a long way!

[docone31]

It is simple,
The lone ranger, and Tonto, knew an old priest who made jewelery.
Back then, they made beeswax models. These once invested, and yes, they had investment, they used a potato to steam the mold.
It is a technique called potato casting.
They used this technique, or something like it for many centuries.
I have done casting this way, and in some regards it is simpler.
The flask becomes the crucible. Steam from a potato, or other root becomes the pressure. The silver, or gold, is melted in the flask itself, then forced into the mold by steam.
Detail is as good as with todays modern investment casting.
It is highly unlikely anyone would have used silver bullets in anything but jewelery. You are talking hard here! Rifleing would never engrave, the projectile would never expand. Obturation in the bore would be an abstraction.
It would look good though.

[Multigunner]

I have one the Lone Ranger gave me when I was sixteen. Been a long time ago. I think it's just plated. Could be chrome plated.

I had one Clayton Moore gave me when I was a kid. It wasn't really silver or even plated. It was a copy of a Civil War Mine' Ball made of cast aluminum and milled out as a pencil sharpener.
There was a Bread company decal logo on the side, Merita Bread I think.

I had it until about 1985 when one of the niece's kids must have carried it off.

I'd heard Clayton Moore began giving away Silver Bullets in his later years, as tips at hotels or just whenever anyone recognized him.

PS
There was a testfiring of some silver bullets on a documentary about a month ago, they were investigating the story of the killing of that French wolf that killed a bunch of people back in the 1600's.
They made a movie about that wolf, called "Brotherhood of the Wolf", pretty good movie.
The records at the bestiary where the carcass was taken identified the creature as a long haired Hyena instead of a Wolf, possibly an escaped zoo animal from some Lord's estate.
It was killed by a Silver musket Ball cast by the wolf hunter and blessed by a priest.

The testing was done using a leveraction rifle, which was pretty lame since the wolfhunter used a smoothbore musket.

Results were the bullet had a higher velocity for the same charge, but was not very accurate.
Actually the test proved nothing about the effect of a silver musket ball.

An Italian goldsmith claimed to have made an extralong range hit on the prince who's army was beseiging his city, (wounding the prince broke the seige by convincing the enemy they were outranged), using a Gold rifle ball. The Gold smith was named Benevenuto Cellini, and while known to brag a lot his claim and explanation of a Gold Bullet having better range than a lead bullet made sense.

[gwilliams2]

Plaster mold over wax pattern and bake it in the oven to remove the wax... One time use. Learned this in a jewlery making class in high school. I'd suggest browsing some jewlery making forums...

[pilot]

I had one Clayton Moore gave me when I was a kid. It wasn't really silver or even plated. It was a copy of a Civil War Mine' Ball made of cast aluminum and milled out as a pencil sharpener.
There was a Bread company decal logo on the side, Merita Bread I think.

I had it until about 1985 when one of the niece's kids must have carried it off.

I'd heard Clayton Moore began giving away Silver Bullets in his later years, as tips at hotels or just whenever anyone recognized him.


I was working as a bus boy at a restaurant for the airport hotel. He came in for dinner one night and gave me one out of his pocket. My mother was quite impressed and framed it for me. My camera is downstairs or I'd take a pic and post it. I may do that later.

[Artful]

Pilot and Multigunner - darn cool momento of a good actor.

[45nut]

from a jeweler friend of mine:


Hi
The best way I know is take a lead bullet and make a rubber mold of it and then inject wax into the mold and then put the wax into an investment until hard and then burn the wax out and use a centerfuge or vaccumm to get the silver into the cavity where the wax had melted out so then you got a silver bullet like the lead one then load it into a casing.
Good luck, might find a jeweler to do it for you