Gloobits work ! ! ! !

[Carolina Cast Bullets]

When I first read of using hot glue to cast reusable boolits, I must admit to some trepidation.
My actual thought was, "Ya gotta be kidding."

Guess what? Whomever came up with this idea was NOT kidding.

It works, and it works well. I used a 100 grn RN mold for 380 ACP to make
some of these mystical projectiles for my wife's little 380 in order to get her more trigger
time at home. After some trial and error, I finally got the gloobits to come
out of the mold in a usable form. Using once fired brass, I popped the primer
out using a 45 ACP die (to avoid resizing the case in any form), reprimed with
small pistol magnum primers and slowly slid a gloobit into the case at
the approximate COL.

Not knowing the power or lack of power, I filled a cardboard box with several
pounds of rolled up newspaper and taped it shut. The box had previously
been taped with fiberglass reenforced paper tape. I set the box up, placed a
large sheet of plywood behind it and backed off to about 15'. The laser sight
centered and I squeezed the trigger. The gloobit struck the target and did
not even penetrate the tape. The second round bounced off of the tape and
came to rest on the floor. A quick rebuild of the "backstop" using just three
sections of folded newpaper provided an excellent backstop. 10 rounds barely
penetrated the paper and were recovered almost intact. So intact that I considered them reusable.

My wife and I are both in awe of the experimental genius who came up
with this.

Jerry
Carolina Cast Bullets

[Jim]

Jerry, HERE is a pictorial essay on my method of making and loading gluelits.

Enjoy!

[BigRix]

I had a tough time with mine at first but Jim's method help a bunch. Pushing the glubit all the way down into the case and lubing made all the difference for me.

Here's a quick youtube video I shot after I got things ironed out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ANy39pHrDA

[Carolina Cast Bullets]

I was using a 380 so I didnt push the gloobits all the way down
into the case. I left them more or less at normal COL. I fed them one at a time
because, as expected, they would not cycle the action. Since it is an indoor activity,
I didnt see any problem there.

Accuaracy was better than expected in that all the rounds she fired went into less than
a 5 inch circle. I was even able to use several of the gloobits more than once.

Next time, I will use old towels for a box backstop. Less messy than paper.

Jerry
Carolina Cast Bullets

[BigRix]

I lost a lot of potential velocity by not seating them as far in the case as they would go. I think it has something to do with the primer having to first compress the air that is behind the gloobit. Shooting them in my Official Police was problematic. Although I was running them without lube at the time as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhESy_ZocfM

[Carolina Cast Bullets]

not looking for velocity, just trigger time for her and the gratification of seeing holes in the paper where she aimed. So far, got all that and more.

All comments, help and information is appreciated.

Jerry
Carolina Cast Bullets

[XWrench3]

looks like fun. since i just bought a new hot glue gun, this sounds like a great way to break it in!

[Jim]

Jerry, see can you scratch up a decent sized card board box big enough to be able to hit it. Cut the top flaps off and drape an old piece of carpet or something like that over the back wall of the box so that it hangs inside the box like a back stop. Tape or staple your target on the box and have at it.

You should find your gluelits, undamaged, layin' in the bottom of the box. Beats all that rags and stuff and diggin' around in all that to find them and then havin' to put all that back.

I use one of those furniture pads folded to the right width for my back stop. It's soft enough that the gluelits don't get beat up. I've reused some of them as many as a half dozen times.

When you're REALLY ready to get into this big time, get yourself a round ball mold. It don't matter which way it's lookin' when you go to seat it and if you grease them before seating like I suggest, they'll fly pretty true. Somethin' else, too, a round ball will go all the way into the bottom of the case. That results in less room for the primer flash and that results in a little higher velocity and accuracy.

Somebody get a net!! He's hooked!!!

Keep in touch on your progress, Jerry. I'd be interested in hearin' how ya' comin' along with it.

[BulletFactory]

good for tactical in home defensive practice too.

[Jim]

good for tactical in home defensive practice too.

If you mean shootin' 'em in the house, you might wanna give that some thought. You b'lieve what you want, I'm tellin' ya' what I KNOW. Them things will break windows, knock holes in sheetrock walls and go slap through a hollow interior door.

If you think the explosive force of a primer don't amount to nothin', let somebody pop you in the prat with a gluelit and come back and tell me about the experience.

[odoh]

I recall the wax bullets of the mid 50's. Then, flash holes were enlarged a bit for enhanced performance of course the case could not be used for conventional loads ever again. Wondering if there would be advantage to do so w/gloolits?

[Three44s]

I see the advantage with the glue boolits being reusability over that of the wax bullets. The wax can be recycled but won't have the survivability that the glue ones can.

Jim,

Have you thought about a heat source under your vise?

Three 44s

[Southern Son]

Three44s, I fooled around with the wax bullets in my 686 and I didn't like them because they had the nasty habbit of claggin up the cylinder. After I fired two cyclinders full I would have to remove the crane and then the ejector star to clean out the wax, otherwise the whole thing would just bind up and I couldn't shoot it.

[lavenatti]

I had a similiar experience with wax bullets. Messy. They've been turned into firestarters.

I use the non-toxic primers for the glue bullets since I usually play with them inside. I use a dab of lanolin on my finger and run it around the base of the glue bullets before I insert them into a primed case. They go in easily and don't seem to get chewed up by the rifleing as quickly. Other than turning black after a few shots they last last quite a while.

I've had them go through seven layers of corrugated cardboard. Jim isn't kidding about them having a little bit of power.

[BulletFactory]

If you mean shootin' 'em in the house, you might wanna give that some thought. You b'lieve what you want, I'm tellin' ya' what I KNOW. Them things will break windows, knock holes in sheetrock walls and go slap through a hollow interior door.

If you think the explosive force of a primer don't amount to nothin', let somebody pop you in the prat with a gluelit and come back and tell me about the experience.

I live in a mobile home, cough, er, trailor. That means I get to do that sort of thing.

[Chicken Thief]

So if i want to play with a 125+yrs old 45-70 with a 35" barrel, then what?
Is the fart of a primer enough for "all" that (barrel) work?

I just dont want to buy a round ball mould for nothing.

[Edubya]

I finally completed one "Gluelit" (hot Glue bullet). I bought a larger hot-glue gun because the little one took so much time and the glue sticks were only 4" long and it was constantly running out of glue. The new one has a larger stick, about 10" and larger diameter.
I knew that the instructions said that we should enlarge the primer fire hole but I decided to complete one without enlarging. I'm glad that I only assembled one. The primer backed out enough to stop the little .38's cylinder from turning. I wanted to check the barrel for glue anyway. It cleaned out with a pipe cleaner so I guess that part is okay.
I shot the Gluelit into a corner of the back of my shop. It ricocheted around and I thought that I would never find it. After searching for some time, I went to the bathroom to wash my hands and there it was; sitting on the sink between the faucet and the wall. It was a little gray ball that started off almost as clear as crystal.
I have enlarged the primer fire hole of ten cases that I have marked up with a red marker. They cannot be used for anything else.
I can't say anything about the accuracy, yet, because I just shot the one and I was just peeking around a door way and was ducking to avoid a possible ricochet. I'll know more tomorrow because I now have the cases drilled and will load them and probably scare the hell out of some squirrels soon!

EW

[Edubya]

tried it with three Glulits packed into a .38 case and at about 10 or 12 ft they impacted within 2" and penetrated the cardboard box. I had filled the inside with hand towels because the single shots were almost penetrating the complete box. They are reusable unless you're shooting at the garden pest, which I intend to do very soon.
This is all with a S&W 642, 1.75" barrel.

EW

[Mrbrent]

So I'm sitting out by the pool today and the dragon flies are hovering around and it came to me that it would be fun to have a micro shotgun and try to blast them out of the air. I started thinking along the lines of a glue boolit and thought about modifying the idea. So I made a quick drawing of an idea and wanted to post it and see what everyone thinks. I just started a new business so I don't really have time to play. Idle minds are dangerous LOL

[thegreatdane]

interesting.