Casting Silver Bullets

[scrat]

Open For discussion.

Has anyone ever tried to cast silver bullets. I was talking to some friends and the discussion came up. i started to look into it. What i first looked at was the melting temperature. Looks lik silver melts at temps between 1200-1400 degrees. So ya that pretty much takes out my lee pot.

Now i can only think that if one might be able to melt silver and lead in a different pot. You may be able to pour a small amount of silver in a cast. Then wait a few seconds. Then pour in lead. This would give you a good silver tipped bullet. Im just not too sure how good your mold would hold up. I imagine doing only the tips is the way to go. AS i believe it would be to hard of a metal to size unlike lead. im just thinkg that at 1200 degrees once you pour it you would have to wait about 30 seconds before pouring in the lead. Otherwise it will take forever to solidify. So thats what i can come with. i am sure there are people out there that can add more to this.

It sure would be fun to try though. i have a whole bunch of silver mexican coins. From the 70's these things are all silver and are about the size of a 1/2 dollar but a little thicker. i think they are 1 dollar pesos. Anyhow if could make those into bullets. ehhh id be happy.

[Ricochet]

Got a problem with werewolves?

[Nueces]

I vaguely recall an old gunzine article about this. Sounds like a Gun World project, doesn't it?

Required high temps, melt and mould. I don't think they tried to size the few they made.

Mark

[garandsrus]

Silver is over $15/oz or $180/lb. I don't think I would be shooting too much of it...

John

[scrat]

Werewolf problem hhahahahah


nope but im sure you guys remember winchester used to sell silver tip bullets. Some times you would find them on auction arms selling for some high prices. i remember shooting some of those silver tips back in the early 90's. they were pretty good. Im just wondering is it possible to cast them or not. sems like it would be fun to try if you had somthing that you could heat up the silver to the right temp.

Same time im sure i would never be spending these silver pesos. Cant believe they used to make such big coins out of silver. But then i guess thats why the country dosent really have any money.

[oneokie]

Hate to rain on your parade, but the silver on the silvertips was aluminum foil.

[scrat]

No Kidding

[Ricochet]

Seems like I read somewhere that the first Silvertips used tin for the tip jacket, but they quickly switched to aluminum.

[scrat]

Well that killed that fun experiment. Still would have been fun to try and cast some up.

[Ricochet]

If you don't tell the werewolves the secret about the Silvertips, they'll probably still work just fine.

[MT Gianni]

The big silver Pesos were used as costume decorations by those impersanating Mexican Vaqueros in certain circles. An auction site might get you enough to buy laser cast bullets that are too hard and lubed with the wrong lube but have a small amount of silver if the werewolves do show up. Gianni

[scrat]

hahahahaahaha
:drinks:

Well i was waiting for my neighbor to decide weather or not he is going to go shooting. But time is a waisting so im heading to the range. i made 200 rounds for my 30-30 and have about 500 22s so im outta here.

[scrat]

they look like these

http://cgi.ebay.com/1956-Mexico-5-Pesos-Silver-Coin_W0QQitemZ190172003503QQihZ009QQcategoryZ541QQ ssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Trez Hensley]

I've got some good monotype, linotype, or tin that I can trade you pound for pound for your "metal". Mix and match as you desire. If ya'd like I can even custom mix alloy to your specs........:mrgreen:

You know I'm always here for you man!

[beagle]

Indeed, that was a Gun World project way back when with a Lone Ranger theme. Later on they ran an article using a dolled up Colt .38 Special with silver Draculas on the grip and a coffin shaped wooden carrying/storage case. This was a display article and they didn't specify anything about the bullets except that they were made by a jeweler. Had a cross on each tip I suppose for werewolves.

As well as I recall, in the first article they were casting 454190s for loading .45 Colts in nickel plated cases.

Obviously, the lot cast was small. 6 rounds as well as I recall. Accuracy was run of the mill.

The alloy was concocted from old sterling silver jewelry and the melting was done in a ladle with a torch for a heat source. As well as I recall, they had trouble with fillout and many recycles were necessary.

Silver will alloy with lead at our melting temps. I was once dipping some old coins in my melt and then pulling the lead off to get an inpring of the design. I dipped a silver dime in and must have left it too long as only half came out. I drooped the remainder in and it melted.

If you had access to natural lead with a high silver content, I suspect pretty hard bullets could be made./beagle

[testhop]

h what abou the lone ranger he and tonto used them now dont distory that idol
but you will have a hard time confaceing me he cast his boolits over a camp fire

[Taylor]

What about silver solder? Ya'll are laughing at the werewolf thing,but I have thought about making some silver bullets myself.As a joke for the wife,she's really into horror movies. At the same time I have a friend who will not watch a movie with a werewolf in it. Example: Van Helsing,I thought about making some for her as a joke.

[quasi]

I believe Skeeter Skelton did an article on casting silver bullets. It was one of his first articles.

[STP]

I`ve done a few batches of #454190 with 95/5 solder in nickled 45 Colt brass for John Hart.

He was pleased enough to send a signed studio pic of himself and his bud Tonto as a thank you.

Pretty cool...

[Blackhawk Convertable]

You would need a clay mold. I've done quite a bit of silver soldering for refrigeration and you need a torch (oxy acetylene or Mapp-gas) to get hot enough to flow. No way the Lone Ranger was casting true "silver bullets" on a camp fire.

[oneokie]

Wife was just telling me that one could use a cast boolit lubed with garlic oil. The werewolf would die of blood posioning before it could get to a Dr.

[Scrounger]

I believe Skeeter Skelton did an article on casting silver bullets. It was one of his first articles.

Jack Lewis in the early 60s, believe it was "GUNS" magazine.

[Scrounger]

What about silver solder? Ya'll are laughing at the werewolf thing,but I have thought about making some silver bullets myself.As a joke for the wife,she's really into horror movies. At the same time I have a friend who will not watch a movie with a werewolf in it. Example: Van Helsing,I thought about making some for her as a joke.

How does she feel about that Del Taco commercial? What is it with that guy with hair all over the place?

[Scrounger]

Werewolf problem hhahahahah


nope but im sure you guys remember winchester used to sell silver tip bullets. Some times you would find them on auction arms selling for some high prices. i remember shooting some of those silver tips back in the early 90's. they were pretty good. Im just wondering is it possible to cast them or not. sems like it would be fun to try if you had somthing that you could heat up the silver to the right temp.

Same time im sure i would never be spending these silver pesos. Cant believe they used to make such big coins out of silver. But then i guess thats why the country dosent really have any money.

And what of your own country? Do you think we now use silver coins? I lived in Las Vegas 50 years ago and it's even hard for me to believe we used to complain about getting silver dollars in change. I wish I'd....

[floodgate]

Scrounger:

Back as a "teen in the late 1940's I pumped gas in a small town about 150 mi. from Reno, just when those "cartwheels" were getting heavy in the tourists' pockets. I put at least half my (measly) pay in them and by the end of the summer, I took quite a pile of them to the bank.

floodgate

[45r]

Laser-cast says they have silver in their boolits.

[MT Chambers]

I think it would be much easier to cast gold bullets, if anyone is interested send me a few pounds of your pure alloy and I will do some tests and report back.

[Dale53]

I know most of this commentary was in jest. However, if someone trys this in an aluminum mould (casting silver) the mould will probably melt at silver melt temperature.

Dale53

[475/480]

I tried it ONCE,
I had some silver coins (99.9% pure).I have a Lyman 454-270gr TCGC mould.
So I decided to heat the silver with a torch to get it to temp then heat the Lyman mould,that way the silver would fill the mould with no wrinkly boolits.
I got the silver to a red hot molten state then I poured the silver into the Lyman mould and in a blink of an eye the bluing was gone from the lyman mould and the silver turned into a solid.
NO way could I get the temps correct for the silver to pour into a mould and I did not want to ruin another mould.
NO more trying to make silver boolits.

Sean

[Thumbcocker]

I recall an article where the author used an alloy boolit and covered it with stove cement. He let it harden and then melted the boolit out. Silver was melted in a cast iron container with a torch and then poured into the cavity. The furnace cement was then chipped off. I think that the boolit was set on a piece of something smooth while the cement set up.

[Ricochet]

Sean, it ruined a Lyman mould?! :shock:

Did you try casting lead in it again?

I'd've thought it just about impossible to ruin one of those by heating short of melting it.

[475/480]

Well I say ruined, it just took the bluing off of it .

Sean


Sean, it ruined a Lyman mould?! :shock:

Did you try casting lead in it again?

I'd've thought it just about impossible to ruin one of those by heating short of melting it.

[Ricochet]

OK.

My understanding is that the original color on these moulds is a "temper blue."

[leftiye]

Yep, And the mold will reblue itself during later casting. The question is- Did it mess up the diameter or surface of the cavity?

[475/480]

When the molten silver touched the lyman mould it changed to white steel immediately.

Sean


Yep, And the mold will reblue itself during later casting. The question is- Did it mess up the diameter or surface of the cavity?

[Char-Gar]

This has been done several times over the years, but never with any sucess. The bullets won't shoot for spit.

If you really must do it, it is far easier to melt the metal, pour into some kind of round pipe, push out and turn the bullets on a lathe.

[Jack Stanley]

I like the lathe idea , I just can't imagine trying to cut the sprue with a normal bullet mold :roll:I don't think I'll sacrafice any of my US silver dollars , should trouble arise I'll throw my wifes cat at it .

Jack

[reloader89]

you guys are out there. i cant even hardly get led to cast right, nor can i hardly afford tin, much less silver. im new to reloading and casting. i agree with Jack, ill throw the cat.

[carpetman]

Beagle dipped a dime in his melt and got half of it back----now we know the mother of inventing a coin changer.

[lathesmith]

The only problem I see with relying on garlic oil as bullet lube to kill the vampire is, it's going to take awhile. In the mean time, you have one p1$$ed-off monster that is going to do you in long before the poison can take effect. Same problem with the silver alloy--I believe the silver's killing power on the beast is directly proportional to its silver content. I guess if all you have is low-silver alloy, like silver solder, then a "shoot and run" might work here, if one is fleet of foot. And, be sure and fire before you get too close!
lathesmith

p.s.-- I wish Kolchak was still around, we could ask him. Nothing like consulting an expert in the field for accurate information!

[Ricochet]

How about silver beads loaded in a riot gun?

[carpetman]

Ricochet-- There is not one documented case of werewolves rioting. There was a rumor of one,but it turned out to be a pack of coyotes and silver bullets were not needed.

[Ricochet]

And that raises more questions about how to fend off werecoyotes.

[carpetman]

werecoyotes will indeed riot but werecoyotes are rare as they are hybrid and dont reproduce--they are a labratory product and creating them is way too expensive. It is easier to nail Jello to a tree than it is to build a werecoyote. The threat from them is so minimal that money would be better spent on preparing for something posing a bigger threat. Be like spending money on frost bite preventitive gear when you live on the equator.

[KCSO]

Gun World 1968??? Jack Lewis and dean Grennell tried this and wrote and article about how they wouldn't work. They tried them in revolvers and couldn't get them to group. I may have the article yet, but i would have to go through 30 years of magazines.

[JIMinPHX]

Isn’t silver a whole lot harder than boolit alloys? Wouldn’t that cause high chamber pressures? Might that not do unfriendly things to your riffling? I might be tempted to make something to put inside a sabot, but I don’t think that I would load a cartridge directly with a silver boolit.

[No_1]

Lone Ranger did and he lasted many seasons ;)

R.


Isn’t silver a whole lot harder than boolit alloys? Wouldn’t that cause high chamber pressures? Might that not do unfriendly things to your riffling? I might be tempted to make something to put inside a sabot, but I don’t think that I would load a cartridge directly with a silver boolit.

[HeavyMetal]

When Dean Grennell did this story in the late 60'a they had a special mold made, they used acteleyne to heat the alloy and couldn't get them to shoot!

Silver melts in the area of about 2000 degrees! Look it up!

Seems every third trip to the range some guy will see my cast boolits and start the Lone Ranger story again and why don't I cast from silver???

I think it would be a great idea if someone dug out the story by Dean and Jack and posted it in the permanant Stickies!

It was fun, it was informative, and it proves without a shadow of a doubt how stupid the television people think the population of this country is.

[Gandolf]

Hi All,

I have been reading this post with fear and trepidation!! I am greatly concerned about possible repercussions for some of you, but suppose I should get to the point.

Do not shoot any werewolves with silver bullets! I read about a fellow who shot a grizzly bear in self defense. If several witness were not present, the fish and wildlife officer would likely have tried to send him to prison, which brings me to point!

I fear that werewolves may fall under the Endangered Species Act! You may risk a $5000 to $10,000 fine and up to half a dozen years in prison!! There can't be very many werewolves, and so I am thinking that if a far left prosecutor finds out that you have shot one you are likely to be at great risk.

Remember these people are the same folks that brought us the "No Lead Bullets for Hunting in Central California" fiasco, and they would just as soon have a werewolf kill and eat an adult or child ever now and then as have one of their endangered werewolves killed. These people will do anything to try to stop legitimate hunting and gun ownship.

I could not possibly be more serious here. You shoot a werewolf at your own risk.

(If you already have one as a head mount and a fish and wildlife officer from the far left sees it, I would be tempted to tell him that it was a deer with a really odd head shape. You will have to consider if your conscience will allow you to do that. Also be sure to mention that you had an anterless permit when you shot it.)

I am tempted to put this same note in the gold bullet post so those folks will also have been warned!

Regards,

Gandolf

[KCSO]

Lone Ranger Away, with the subtitle It's a Cinch Tonto Didn't Cast These Silver Bullets Over any Campfire. It details, in hilarious and witty dialog, the trials and difficulties some experienced gun experts had in casting silver bullets, and the extremely poor results they obtained when shooting them.

I also found out that Mythbusters did a silver bullet test. Now casting won't work but I may try turning some to see if a silver bullet of the right diameter with compression grooves might work.

[lathesmith]

Lone Ranger: "Oh, no Tonto! It looks like we are surrounded by hostile Indians!"
Tonto: "We? What's this 'we' stuff, paleface?!"

:) Ricochet, I don't know about silver beads, but Kolchak once used the silver buttons off of a ship captain's dress coat. He loaded them in shotshells; however, he didn't have a riot gun, just a plain ol' double barrel. I think it worked, too; and, if I remember right, the werewolf just vanished. So, that should quell some of Gandolf's fears about the F&W people getting all excited about this; it's going to be mighty hard to prove a case against you, without a ...er, body. I wonder what happens if you shoot a werewolf while it's a bat? Hmmm, now that might be a problem....
lathesmith

[The Nyack Kid]

The only problem I see with relying on garlic oil as bullet lube to kill the vampire is, it's going to take awhile. In the mean time, you have one p1$$ed-off monster that is going to do you in long before the poison can take effect. Same problem with the silver alloy--I believe the silver's killing power on the beast is directly proportional to its silver content. I guess if all you have is low-silver alloy, like silver solder, then a "shoot and run" might work here, if one is fleet of foot. And, be sure and fire before you get too close!
lathesmith

p.s.-- I wish Kolchak was still around, we could ask him. Nothing like consulting an expert in the field for accurate information!

One just need have good knowage of werewolf anatomy , and place your shot accordingly . if you can shoot him in the @$$ he aint going to be able to run fast enough to catch you , now will he ?

[DLCTEX]

Any one wanting to try silver boolit casting, I have a silver mouthpiece for a horn my son tried to play just long enough to get me to lay out the money for years ago. $16 an ounce, maybe four or five ounces. Hey, at that price my wife has a silver jewelry box I may be able to sneak out! Naw, better not. It's just me and her at home now, can't blame it on the boys. DALE

[MtGun44]

Harking back to the Lasercast comment ----

The lasercast 'silver bullet' thing is, I think, a Clintonesque marketing gimmick.

As I understand it, silver is essentially always found in small quantities
in lead ore, so the lead refiners routinely run some sort of silver
extraction process. Like any industrial process, they can't economically
extract 100% of the silver from the lead, so there is some (extremely
tiny, I think) amount of silver left in apparently all lead. So -
they aren't actually telling a lie, but they aren't exactly telling us
the whole truth, either. Probably .001% silver or something like
that.

So - "true but irrelevant" would be what I would say. :-D

Bill

[Lead melter]

Ya ain't got to worry about them thar' silver boolits. I saw a movie once where Frankenstein killed a werewolf by throwing him....her....it from the top of the windmill. Killed Wolfy deader than a road-kill 'possum. All you need is an oversized, ugly, bad tempered monster around...a mother-in-law would probably work!

[maas]

Tonto, not knowing the "Lone Ranger" disguised as a screen door, banged him!

[stillhunter]

Check your old Rifleman mags. They did an article about it a LONG time ago. They burned up several moulds and never were able to get acceptable results. The Lone Rangers bulletts were silver plated!

[trooperdan]

Meanwhile, Tonto, not knowing the Lone ranger was disguised as a pool table, racked his balls!

[snowtigger]

I am sitting here looking at some 5% silver bullets I cast several years ago.
First I got my pot as hot as it would go, about 1070*F. It had only about an inch of alloy in it at the time.
After that I took some silver ingots and floated them on the melt. They slowly began to disappear into the alloy. I added alloy until I had 8lbs of alloy, giving me about a 5% silver content.
They cast at about 800* as near as I can remember. This makes a very hard bullet, but it didn't fracture when given the very scientific "hammer test". They do shine up very nicely and look good in nickle brass.
I vave not killed anything with them, but I think they would hold up.
Would I do it again? Probably not at the price of silver today.
PS; After I made the 5% bullets, I diluted the remaining alloy to about 1% silver. Those bullets were not as shiny, but were still very hard, and shot very well.
My job here is complete, HI-YO Silver, away!!!

[Wayne Smith]

:) Ricochet, I don't know about silver beads, but Kolchak once used the silver buttons off of a ship captain's dress coat. He loaded them in shotshells; however, he didn't have a riot gun, just a plain ol' double barrel. I think it worked, too; and, if I remember right, the werewolf just vanished. So, that should quell some of Gandolf's fears about the F&W people getting all excited about this; it's going to be mighty hard to prove a case against you, without a ...er, body. I wonder what happens if you shoot a werewolf while it's a bat? Hmmm, now that might be a problem....
lathesmith

Err, it's Vampires and bats, not werewolves. Let's keep our mythology straight here. Good idea, though. Silver shotgun loads would do for a Vampire Bat, no?

Werewolves need another solution. Can't shoot them when they're human, Police would be all over you. Shoot them when they are werewolves and the SPCA would be all over you. Course, I'd prefer the SPCA over the Police!

[calaloo]

A couple of years ago I bought on ebay four sterling silver bullets. The guy who cast them was a jeweler. They were obviously made in a bullet mould as the base sprue cut is visible. The bullets are polished so no casting seam is left. They were cast from three different molds but are all .32 caliber and tapered. I still have three, one of each type. I gave the fourth one to my son.

[lathesmith]

Gosh, Wayne, of course...how stupid of me! Bats?! sheesh! What was I thinking? Werewolves look like people, until they see a full moon. In Harry Potter, when that teacher turned into a werewolf, he looked a lot more like a wolf than a hairy person with fangs. I reckon they can take different forms, but not bats!
lathesmith

[Scrounger]

Err, it's Vampires and bats, not werewolves. Let's keep our mythology straight here. Good idea, though. Silver shotgun loads would do for a Vampire Bat, no?

Werewolves need another solution. Can't shoot them when they're human, Police would be all over you. Shoot them when they are werewolves and the SPCA would be all over you. Course, I'd prefer the SPCA over the Police!\

But they always change back to human when you kill them so you still have the police problem. Where is Frankenstein when we need him?

[carpetman]

Lone Ranger and Tonto were camping. During the night Lone Ranger woke up Tonto and said look up what do you see? Tonto said stars,millions of stars Kemosabe (or howevever the hell it's spelled) What does that tell you Tonto? Many things,spiritual,scientific and practical. I can find my way. I can tell time. I know I am just a small part of God's massive universe. What does it tell you kemosabe? " Someone stole our damned tent."

[bohica2xo]

Having a screw machine within easy reach leads to shooting all kinds of odd alloys... I shot a bunch of 12L14 bullets, I guess with .30 % lead you could call them "hard".

Never ran any silver bar, but AMS 4880 polishes up damn near silver.

B.

[Refraktorius]

Guess I'll have to show some of my castings. Some of these are sterling, others are .999 fine silver (I'm too cheap to shoot them, but they are a fun challenge to cast)

.308 .357 and .45

Werewolf season is coming up, that's the great thing about living in Europe!


:castmine: from silver if I want to :mrgreen:

[Scrounger]

Even a man who is pure of heart,
and says his prayers at night,
can become a wolf when the Wolfbane blooms,
and the Autumn moon is bright...

http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o9/artcompton/wolfman-2-1.jpg

[deltaenterprizes]

A friend had a jewler try to cast some silver 38 bullets from a silicone mold and he said they came out about 32 cal because of shrinkage.

[Boerrancher]

When I dig up that veign of lead and silver and start using it to cast, I will let you all know how it turns out.

Best Wishes from the Boer Ranch,

Joe

[AZ-Stew]

Lone Ranger Away, with the subtitle It's a Cinch Tonto Didn't Cast These Silver Bullets Over any Campfire. It details, in hilarious and witty dialog, the trials and difficulties some experienced gun experts had in casting silver bullets, and the extremely poor results they obtained when shooting them.

Maybe this is why the Lone Ranger always shot the gun out of the bad guy's hand. He was really aming center of mass, but with the poor accuracy of the silver boolits...

Regards,

Stew

[ForneyRider]

You can get rid of the zinc in your wheelweights with silver.

[OeldeWolf]

As I recall, the time period for the origin of the silver bullet stuff would indicate that they were shot out of muzzle loaders, and not even revolvers or cap and ball. So the silver bullets would have been patched round ball.

No sizing, no touching the bore, even... might work fairly well.

[kamikaze1a]

I've had thoughts about casting a 14k gold boolit to wear around my neck...high melt temp changed my mind.... Asked a dental tech, the guys who make crowns and bridges how much is would cost to make a cast of an expanded boolit and again changed my mind....

[docone31]

Phooey on the cost of casting gold, or silver. You can either steam, or potato cast without too much hassle.
If you are willing to put the time into doing it, it can be done. Just like load development, and casting sizing, it takes time and desire.
Silver is much too hard to shoot, unless it has more copper in the alloy than sterling. 860 would be a better blend.
Why would anyone want to shoot a silver boolitt? Who knows. It can be done however. Solid copper boolitts do shoot well. An annealed silver boolitt would at least shoot somewhat well.
Might not expand so well, unless it is swaged with leaves. Like the copper swageings.
It can be done.
On the net, there are tutorials on how to cast. Karat gold is similiar to silver casting with the exception the casting temperature is lower. Instead of steam, or a potato, you can centrifigul cast using a sling. It will take two people. Melt the gold, pour it into the heated flask, and swing in circles over head. Bingo, cast boolitt. I wouldn't want to do that either, but it is one of the ways they used to cast gold and silver. The wax you can make from the basic mold on hand.
Pour the was into an heated mold, let it cool, cut the sprue. A sprue for casting is added after the wax is removed from the mold. Then invest, burn out the wax, melt the gold, pour and either steam, or spin. Toss the mold into cold water once the button is solid. Remove the casting, add a jump ring, bail, polish and have a ball.
To find out how much gold you need, float the wax in water, mark the level. Remove the wax, toss in some gold. When the level reaches the mark, add about 30% more. that is what you will need.
It will take a few tries, but, just think of what you will have accomplished. There are several free internet sites on casting using steam. For a flask, use a soup can. Investment can be purchesed in 5lb increments. To debubblize prior to casting, set the flask with the wet investment on a vibratory tumbler for a few minutes. Then let it sit. To make a kiln to burn out, and get the flask up to temperature, get a clay flower pot, fairly large, cover with aluminum foil inside and out. Put this on a propane camp stove and let it cook. The top of the flask becomes the crucible to melt the gold, then steam in. The camp stove burns out the wax, the crucible heats the mold to casting temp. Cut a potato in half and jam it on the molten gold. The steam from the potatoe forces the gold into the mold.
BadaBing, BadaBoom.
You can do it. That is how I started all those years ago.
Some of those early castings were some of my best ones.
Canning wax can be used for the model, with sprue. Aluminum foil is used to contain the investment, the crucible is made on the flask.
It is that simple.

[sniper]

[QUOTE=scrat;243646]Werewolf problem hhahahahah


No, No, NO! You have it all wrong. :shock: There ARE several flavors of Werewolf. First, the poor guys that would like to be wolves. Then, the Hexenwolfen, who have a powerful wizard give them an amulet that will change them. Fast and mean, but they are susceptible to plain ole cast or jacketed boolits.

The worst ones, the Loup-garous are really fast and powerful, too. They can be killed by silver, but it has to be inherited silver, passed directly on to the caster/shooter. Hit 'em anywhere, and it is fatal. (Probably the only instance of a one-shot stop, even if only hit in the little finger.:razz: )

Garlic? Only on barbecued Werewolf! So sez Emeril.:wink:

[REDTAIL]

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[Refraktorius]

I guess I forgot to describe my method:

I use "jewellers casting sand" which is a fine-grained petrobond.

The primary advantages are, that it is quick and easy when just casting a few pieces, and that you avoid the "double shrinkage"-problem.

In traditional lost wax casting, you first make a rubber mold (no shrinkage), then you cast wax in that mold, and the wax shrinks on solidification. After that you "invest" the wax in refractory gypsum, burn out the wax and press molten silver into the void left by the wax (using steam, centrifugal force or vacuum) On cooling, it shrinks a bit more, and you'll even loose a little more when polishing the casting.


You loose less when sandcasting, but the sand is too slow for large-scale production (4-5 castings per hour is a maximum for me)




And by the way: Pure silver is the softest (and too soft to be used for most jewellery). When alloying with copper, hardness is significantly increased.

[sniper]

Tonto, not knowing the "Lone Ranger" disguised as a screen door, banged him!

The Lone Ranger, not knowing that Tonto was disguised as a door, had just shot his knob off!

[sniper]

Maybe this is why the Lone Ranger always shot the gun out of the bad guy's hand. He was really aming center of mass, but with the poor accuracy of the silver boolits...

HERESY!!! Is NOTHING sacred ? :bigsmyl2:

[arclight]

OK, here is a boxed set of Silver bullets i made for an old machinist friend of our family:

http://23b.org/gallery/d/48946-2/IMGP1309.jpg

http://23b.org/gallery/d/48949-2/IMGP1312.jpg

I made a .400 diameter cylinder mould from a piece a graphite, melted some scrap .999 Silver using a small crucible, a pinch of Borax and an acetylene torch, and then cast the rough blanks.

Each bullet then got lathe turned and parted off, then sized. What a PITA to size that was - glad I got it very close in OD.

Finished weight was around 85gr.

Arclight

[Maskatron]

I have to agree with Refraktorious, sandcasting is the way to go. You can find tutorials on various jewelry websites. A trick I have learned is to take Sierra FMJ bullets and epoxy brass drill rod onto the base as a sprue, then paint the whole thing with three coats of automotive primer. After casting, run them through a sizer die for the correct caliber. After loading you can use regular old Brasso to polish out the sizing marks.
Good Luck

[trooperdan]

Maskatron, I missed something in your explanation; just how do you the FMJ boolit?

[Maskatron]

You use the fmj's as a positive in the mold making process. When placed in the sand casting mold it will leave a perfect negative once removed. Thats where you pour your silver.

[Duckiller]

Refrakratorious has the way to cast gold or silver bullets using the lost wax method. You need to find a Dentist that shoots and is interested in making silver bullets. Had an uncle that was a dentist. He always made a gold key for his wife when they got a new car. Before anyone gets too serious about making and shooting silver bullets, REMEMBER THE MIDDLE AGES. When rifling was first invented it was thought to be possibly an invention of the devil. To test silver (pure) and lead (base) balls were cast and fired in rifled firearms. Lead shot straight and silver wouldn't group for anything. Ancients decided that the devil could stay balanced on the lead bullets but the angels couldn't balance on the spinning silver bullets. Therefore rifling is the invention of the devil. To which anyone trying to get a stubborn rifle to shoot good groups would have to agree.