Beginning shot dripper questions....

[beezapilot]

Well, I've taken the plunge and sent Mr. Stewart payent for a shot dripper. Spent the last 2 days smelting down 470 pounds of ingots in preparation for the big day!!! Right time of year for this as waiting for it to come in the mail makes me feel like waiting for Santa.

Well- I'm on my 4th run of shot, dripped over 800 pounds so far so thought I would offer an OPINION as to the answers I was looking for.

Questions....

1- I've read about heat treating bullets to make them harder, pans of shot could also be placed in an oven for heat treatment... or is the drop into fluid enough to harden them???

A- Shot shape & hardness mattered a lot less than I thought it would at the 16 yard line for trap, shot with small dimples or tails did not have much of an effect on patterning at that range and no effect of trap average. At handicap ranges the patterns were more unstable than at the 16 yard line.

2- I've been circling building a stainless pin tumbler, this morning I saw a design on the forum that had a "drive" bucket that was a sleeve for the "payload" bucket. If I had a dedicated "payload" bucket that was for tumbling shot, would that be a step that would help to uniform the shape of the shot in addition to using it to graphite coat the pellets??

3- I've some pretty strong recommendations for the cooling fluid- Wallmart brand fabric softener seems to be the choice, as it is realtively cheap and rinses offf the shot easily... any other recommendations??? If so, why? What do you use and what makes it work for you???

A- I went with the recommendation of canola oil, worked fine BUT WAS A MAJOR PAIN IN THE KAZOO, getting the oil off the shot took multiple washings in dish soap and a final rinse with mineral sprits- too much work. Tried the cheap wallmart fabric softener and it was just great! A buddy at the club has decided to try his hand at dripping and after much discussion, he's decided to try the non-ethyl anti-freeze, very much looking forward to his first run and I'll keep you posted.

4- Coolant temperature, makeing a water jacket for the coolant tank would be simple enough, how hot does the coolant have to get before there are problems??

A- The final system was to have my 20mm drip tank in a tub of water with a hose on slow flow, worked great!

THE BIGGEST LESSON- Alloy matters a great deal, with COWW getting hard to get I was using soft lead and ended up with over sized shot, got some superhard from Roto-Metals and it did a nice job of strengthening the alloy and making shot more uniform- it was an added expense over all, but I think it will be a necessity for me with the lead that I am able to scrounge.

Thanks, as always, for the wisdom of experience.

Beez

[Scooby]

Hi and welcome to the interesting frenzy of shot making. I have owned and used a James Stewart shot maker for about 5 or 6 years now. It will be a huge learning curve so do not get discouraged. I have used brake fluid, hydrolic oil, laundry detergent, antifreeze, and crop oil. For me Crop oil works the best, with brake fluid and hydrolic oil you have to wash the shot with mineral spirits or kerosene. The laundry detergent I tried smelled horrible and made my shot have dimples. The antifreeze zerex original green which Jim recommended made the shot elongated and have dimples. So I went back to crop oil it has always been the best for me it works from 20 deg f to 155 deg f, it washes off with purple power or simple green then just let it dry and bottle up. I personally do not graphite my shot for 12 ga but for the smaller gauges I take an empty 32 auto case of graphite and mix it with 20 pounds of shot, just remember a little goes a long way. The biggest thing to making your machine run well is the lead you use. Hand sorted coww work the best, however once people find out you make shot everyone will want to trade you lead for shot, this too is a learning curve. You have to learn what you can use to make a good mix, unlike bullet casting tin is not a good thing for shot it makes the drippers flow instead of drip. anywhere from 2 to 4% antimony is perfect for shot I use 8# coww to 2# range lead or mystery metal. There is a lot to learn however what works for one person might not work for another good luck and keep posting if you have more questions I will help you as best as I can.

[too many things]

bee
you say ingots are they COWW if not they wont work. you have a lot to learn and it wont be easy. you can read all the stuff and most don't work for YOU.
the ONLY coolant that will work at any temp is hydraulic or trans fluid
GOOD LUCK

[Ed_Shot]

What size drippers are you getting?

That's a great recommendation to use a 32 / 380 ACP case of graphite for 20# of shot.

Good luck. Post some pictures.

[shootinfox2]

I use a 30 cal ammo can under the drip lip of the shot maker. I use antifreeze for the coolant,straight, not diluted and only 1/4 inch below the drip edge. Make sure the shot maker is level. The drip ledge should be angled down as described in the directions. Make sure the coolant tank is not touching the shot dripper or the stand, it will heat up really fast if it is touching.
I found that if the can gets more than 3/4 full the shot starts to deform or bridge. If the coolant starts to smoke, cool it with more antifreeze or turn off the shot maker and allow it to cool. I'll send you a pic by PM this evening.
Fox

[shootinfox2]

Pm sent reference thepictures.
Fox

[shootinfox2]

Did you get everything set up yet?

[beezapilot]

************I keep editing this so there is not a huge string of posts...
I went with 7 and 1/2 drippers- what I use most at trap.

Well, life for me is never all that simple- I like to have stuff on wheels so that I can roll a tool or piece of equipment out, plug it in and use it. So my shot dripper stand is done (save for the plumbing- pump on order).
125228

The suggestion that everyone agreed on was that the shot dripper will need to be level, but on a rolling cart it may be on a variety of surfaces with slightly different grades. So I put the dripper on a platform that is supported by engineers rod on pillars, this makes the platform adjustable so that I can level it no matter the anomalies of the floor that the cart is parked on. Ended up getting one of those little 2 way levels to screw on to the platform. *****Some moves are too stupid for words, I'm replacing that platform with an aluminum or steel plate- the heat from the shot dripper has burned the paint off the platform and scorched the wood a bit.
125230

I went with an 8 gallon cooling system- the approximate capacity of a 20MM shell case. That way when I am done, all the coolant will be in the lower shell box, I put the lid on and it is sealed off ready for the next session. The primary drip coolant is in the upper shell case- I cut a notch in it and put an overflow tube. The overflow tube is adjustable via the brass fitting on top of the tube- just over 3/4 of an inch for adjustment that will allow me to (1) level the dripper with the engineers rod then (2) adjust the fluid level to specification with the brass fitting. When I am done, I'll unscrew the upright piece of pipe and that will drain most of the coolant from the primary to the holding tank.
125231
I've ordered a small pump with a flow rate of 45 gallons per hour, less than a gallon per minute. Depending on the flow rate/ viscosity of the coolant, that brass fitting will allow me to adjust for a neutral fluid level. ****** BIG LESSON- the pump is rated for moving WATER, canola is much thicker, the pump that will move 45 gallons of water moves about 6 gallons of oil per hour.... need a bigger pump.... Well, the bigger pump helped a bit, I had a jug of ice in the primary cooling tank and the secondary holding tank with a MUCH better flow rate, I was able to drip about 65 pounds of shot before the oil reached the critical temperature of 120 degrees.*********YET ANOTHER EDIT- I gave up on finding a pump to recirc the canola, now I just have an overflow jug to catch the coolant displaced by the shot. When the coolant gets up to 120, I just turn off the machine and do something else for a while.


Some stuff- Holy blasted bovines Batman- it comes up to temperature in minutes, and eats lead about as fast as you can feed it in. It is a full time job tending it and (foolish me) I was concerned that the output rate would be too slow. Better have a PILE of lead close at hand.
Looks like I've a learning curve ahead as about 3% of the shot is deformed- but that is not a fair average as I had to learn the head pressure, unit coming up to temp, and unit cooling down.

Still- I'll be loading this evening and shooting trap on Sunday with shot that I've made- I'm happy about that. As a "range report" here was no difference in performance with the home made shot. Aside from the below wire cloth sizing evolution I did no sorting of the shot, the few that had "tails" or "dimples" seemed to make no difference in my scores. In the near future I will be loading up some "special" shells, a few with only "tailed" shot, a few with only "dimpled" shot, some with "elongated", and will pattern them to see how much of a difference it makes at break point range to simulate 16 yard trap as compared to factory loads.

So far the hardest part of this whole evolution is getting the dang oil off the shot- off to GoodWill in the morning to see about some pots and pans- perhaps a bath in Dawn then put a big pot on the smelting furnace, fill it with water and boil the shot- boil off the oil and leaves the shot at 200 degrees or so to speed up drying. ***** Boiling was a bad idea, just leave it to soak overnight in soap solution and give it a hot rinse- good to go. Looking forward to trying out fabric softener tho.... easy rinse is a big selling point!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
125378

I ran the shot over a piece of 1/8th inch wire cloth to pull out the oversized pieces, 7-1/2 seemed to drop through with no problem leaving the clinkers behind. I did several test weights- 7-1/2 shot should weigh 1.5gr., so did tests of 6 pieces of shot that came in at an average of 8.3gr, so the shot is ever so slightly undersized, no complaints on that though. On a few melts I got alot of oversized shot- still not sure why that happens***** I KNOW now there is not enough antimony in the alloy- too much soft lead.

So the first required modification to the ShotMaker was to bevel the drip ramp- due to the thickness of the material used, by the time the top of the ramp (where the shot rolls off) was the recommended 1/4 inch ABOVE the coolant, the bottom of the ramp was IN the coolant. So spent a little time with a file to cut back the lower edge (in the photo the equipment is inverted) to allow clearance for the bottom of the drip edge above the oil. Thing about canola oil, you have to be VERY careful NOT to let any oil get on the drip ramp, it will immediately start a problem collecting lead until it is about the size of 0000 and plops in the water. Tried using the provided acid brush to apply "Jims Red Stuff" to the problem area, you know how acid brushes have plastic bristles??? Yep, melted right off, but got the flow going again.
125444


***** I hit the alloy wall- at about 25% COWW and 75% range scrap, I started to get oversized shot- 2's & 4's and the like- they are nicely round, but not fodder for the trap range... might be good for turkeys tho.....

Well another run of shot with about 15 % large- still not enough antimony- so ordered in some "SuperHard" from RotoMetals- nice comapny to do business with- Astoundingly quick shipping, see if that will strengthen the alloy enough to give more consistant shot.

Last batch of shot was very nice- the Roto-Metal alloy strengthened the mix and the shot was very consistent in size- however- lost patience with the canola oil removal process. So am off to Ed Shot / Scooby School and WallyWord to buy some fabric softener.....

!IT'S ALL OVER NOW, BABY BLUE Wall-Mart fabric softener! Oh, my yes. Easy clean up! Streamlines the whole after-drip process. Ed Shot & Shootin' Fox & Scooby were right! I'm done with Canola.... I also tried a new cooling arrangement of having my 20mm shell case in a tub with the hose on slow flow to put a water jacket around the bottom of the tub and just had an overflow tube running to a recovery jug- ended up displacing 2 gallons of softener before it got warm (it was time for a break anyway). Shot looks great and rinsed off with NO PROBLEMS!

JUST GOES TO SHOW THAT WHEN YOU THINK YOU GOT ALL THE DETAILS WORKED OUT. Fabric softener is Water Based, so you drip 500 Plus degree stuff into it and (oh, yeah, right) evaporation happens! I noticed the viscosity of the softener getting thick, so added water. Now I have a "flow cup" like they have for painting, fill it up and time until it is empty. Check your softener BEFORE you use it to have as a standard and, as it evaporates, add water to keep the viscosity consistent. Update- as soon as I had a way to measure the viscosity / flow rate I let the F/S get a bit thicker, about 5 seconds slower out of the drip cup and the quality of the shot went up a bit. Still more room for experimentation.

Not really related to dripping- but a nice thing. I've cut down two fair size stands of oaks on the front of the property- clean-up has been slow as the rainy season hasn't started so I can't burn yet. A rather shy lady from a small farm down the road and asked if she could have some firewood, of course! Gotta get rid of is somehow. So, bucked up and split a pick up load and drove on down to her farm, helped her stack it, and she asked if there way anything she could do for me. Half joking I said "Well, if you have any lead laying around", and dang if she didn't walk me over to her fence-line where an aged & weathered 150# hunk was all but buried... smelted & alloyed with SuperHard yesterday and it is a nice pile of shot this afternoon.

Yesterday I did 2 cooks- each about 150 pounds, the "water jacket", a plastic tub (thanks, Jimbo) that the drip container sits in with a hose slow running kept it at a very good temp- just under 100 degrees. The higher viscosity F/S and the higher running temps seem to go hand in hand.
136511

So I've a good pile of shot drying in the shop- ready for graphite in a few days.

136512

I'd have to say that Roto-Metals SuperHard is excellent insurance when alloying- I put about a pound in every 14 pound smelt pot and it adds enough antimony to scrap and mystery metal that it drops nice shot- adds about .35 a pound of shot overall, but as I'm getting most of my lead these days from roofing contractors and scrap- COWW having become tough to get- it is still very cost effective to do.

Another update that has nothing to do with dripping or casting- over the last year or so, I've probably smelted close to a ton of lead, cast thousands of boolits, dripped 1500 pounds of shot, mined the berm at a range etc... etc... I had a physical and asked the Doc to test me for PB in the blood. Acceptable levels of lead range from 0 to 19... mine came in at 4. Remember you're ABC's and Always Be Careful!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bdicki]

http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=15776

[Scooby]

I have tried all different coolants, hydro oil, laundry detergent, antifreeze, and crop oil. I have had problems with each of them. I like crop oil the best however I did not know there is 2 different brands of it Rway and Krop care. I had Krop care and it washed off nicely with purple power and dry shot. After a few years I wanted to replace it so I bought some new and it was the R way brand and now I have to use kerosene to get it off then wash the kerosene off with simple green. However it smells horrible while it is drying. I am going to try a small batch of water soluble oil for cnc machines. However I read that it makes good shot from 80 deg to 150 deg. So it might be interesting to get it between that range. Shot Making is def a learning curve hard on the back and sometimes makes you scratch your head. But it still beats paying for new shot. Good luck keep us updated.

[heathydee]

For many years I used soluble oil/water mix for a coolant . Smells a bit when hot but rinsed off easily and any which was left helped the graphite to adhere .
I changed the way I make shot to a method which uses hot water as a coolant and find it produces the roundest and cleanest shot I have ever made . Thread here http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?208460-Ultimate-home-shotmaker
The shot is so clean it has to be dried and graphited immediately otherwise it will oxidise .

Although the method used to produce pellets is different ; bleed hole and submerged wooden ramp ; it may be worth trying it yourself . A long drop through the hot water is needed to adequately cool the pellet - around 3 feet or the pellets clump together .
A friend has just bought a Betta shotmaker and we hope to trial it using hot water as a coolant in the near future .

Heath

[Scooby]

Heathydee: what mix ratio do you use with the water soluble oil? Thanks

[heathydee]

Heathydee: what mix ratio do you use with the water soluble oil? Thanks

About 20 to 1 water to soluble oil . If "popcorn" pellets start happening the mixture needs stiffening with more oil .

Heath

[heathydee]

What kind of soluable oil? I did a search and came up with a multitude of options.

I can't remember what I use . Been using the same stuff for twenty years . Any brand should do .

Heath

[Ed_Shot]

Walmart brand fabric softener right out of the bottle works perfect with my Stuart shot maker. Yes, Mr Stuart recommended canola oil to me and advised against fabric softener citing the danger/problem of water in the coolant. What water??? Perhaps cheapo "THIN" fabric softener from the Dollar Store would be a problem, I don't know. The fabric softener sure does rinse off the shot easily just using just water. My shot falls 1/8" from the shot maker to the coolant and I get no tails or dimples. My catch tank is a 20 MM ammo can (7 1/2 gal) and I make batches of 130# of #8 shot at a time. I get 6 to 8 ounces of "goobers" per 130# batch.

I did get a piece of stainless steel wire mesh sieve from GRAINGER (Item # 3GPH8) with openings of .097 which sure make sorting my shot a breeze. I don't mind a little #7 1/2 in my #8. Just want to discard the over sized pieces. My shot averages .089 to .093.

I use an 1100 GPH Rule 12v pump to circulate my coolant. On a hot day I use bottles of ice to help keep the coolant temp down. I've made shot when the ambient temperature (and the temp of the fabric softener) was 38 degrees and the fabric softener worked perfectly. I've never had the fabric softener get over 95 degrees in a 2 hour session making 130# of shot.

Nice looking apparatus. I recommend you get more flow volume and add a bottle of ice to dissipate heat from your coolant.

125910

125920

[Littleton Shot Maker]

Oils.com- Advantage fr46 from Allegheny Petroleum
Washes off with water - no diluting with water
Have run the stuff at 75F up to 130/140f no problems unless you get it too cold it will not dimple your shot. Tried to run when it was 25F in the shop- too cold for me to be watching the shot maker and it just wanted to make #4 or #2 shot not #9's
Made hundreds of pounds using this stuff - CAN not recommend softener, or soaps, or Soluble Oils for sure not ATF or Diesel NOPE - why works so hard to get the shot cleaned off afterwards?
IF YOU find the magic liquid that works and makes shot and you are happy _- DON'T TRY ANYTHING NEW stick with what works for you. Metsafe was good if you can find it and can afford to get it - Citgo makes a coolant- have to look that up-

[Scooby]

Allegheny Petroleum is about 25 miles from my house, I looked at oils.com did not see the fr46 however I will look into it. I agree that when you can make 500# a day then it takes a week to get it somewhat clean it is a pita to keep up.

[Sitsinhedges]

I tried all sorts of oil, cooking oil, diesel and proper quenching oil and found they all to a man were virtually impossible to clean no matter what you washed them in. It was as if the oil got right inside the shot and burned if you melted it down again and it would remain messy. It used to take more time cleaning than making with oil based coolants but trying fabric conditioner was a revelation. Fab con in my experience makes for great shot, is cheap and safe to use compared to flammable toxic oils and the clean up is a dream, a quick swill in a bucket of water and we're good to go. Pure water always leaves dimples even when quite hot. Too much thermal shock, in my set up anyways. DOT4 brake fluid is very good but expensive and still flammable/toxic.

[Littleton Shot Maker]

Water:: YES IT HAS BEEN DONE
1st not all water is the same
2nd HARD WATER will not work
3rd I do not know about PURE water? depends on who is testing it and what they are looking for in order to be considered 'pure', but it can mean a few things to different persons- but the softer the water the better.

MOST importantly the temp of water is the critical part- and SURFACE tension. We used a product Kodak made for film processing years ago- it was a wetting agent 1 and 2 it would make the surface tension less severe- this is with DI water...DO NOT DRINK THE DI WATER OR GIVE TO PETS>>>>>
what temp?? right- I do not know- I have heard 55F and then I have heard 185F I know a few guys that have done it and they would not tell me the EXACT temp - BUT they all told me SOFT WATER!! I know the Hard water was a bust we tried it here in Phoenix - sucked went back to FR46.

reason it's not on website: it was called something else up until last year- but if you call them they will have it ( altra fr200?? I think ) licensing and names changes happen- same stuff new label

[shootinfox2]

Tried the fabric softener today. Remember, if it ain't broke , don't fix it. Back to straight antifreeze tomorrow. Know process with good results.
Fox

[Scooby]

I have been using crop oil for years however I am getting tired of the cleaning process. I tried softener once made popcorn and could not stand the smell of the softener. Jim told me to get zerex original green antifreeze, I bought 20gal of it tried it and got popcorn and dimples. shootinfox2 what brand antifreeze are you using? I am thinking about trying water soluble oil for cnc machines.

[Littleton Shot Maker]

POPCORN or LAVA ROCK can be made with ANY COOLANT if it's too cool....
Crop oil?? Yes heard good thing about that stuff , never heard it was hard to wash off- good intel.
One customer works for CAT. tractors- he loves to use the Hydraulic fluid used in the piston the raise and lower bucket. WILL I try it NO- he gets his for free and say it worked well...OK more intel good or bad.

Antifreeze? RV or other wise..the green stuff that is made with Ethyl is bad %%#$@-- Water glycol is your friend (RV antifreeze). Too much water, IN ANY coolant is a killer- will give you higher than normal surface tension must be HOT to work and makes MICRO STEAM that leave PITS or rough surface on the shot where it impacts the lead. I have seen HOLES blown right through the pellet, then coolant got warm and it then made almost perfect round shot.

[shootinfox2]

I use prestone concentrate. It makes good shot from cold to hot. If I start to see steam coming off the coolant I add more cold and keep going. If it gets too hot, I turn off the machine and empty the catch can. I do not use a recycler pump. I have a water heater catchpan with an overflow tube under the whole setup to catch the overflow of coolant. Good cleanup and good ventilation are the key to using antifreeze.Tried the fabric softener and was unsuccessful. Now the garage still smells like flowers.

Fox

[mtgrs737]

The soaps and the fabric Con. does smell bad! But you get used to it and I don't run that much shot to worry about it, what I like is the ease of cleaning the shot. To clean the soap off I have a five gallon bucket with holes and a screen in the bottom so I can hose off the shot. I then use those cheap sheet cake pans that I get at ChinaMart (wally world), I put a hand towel in the bottom and set it out on the concrete driveway in the summer, dump in the shot from the wash bucket, let it set for 15 - 20 minutes then carefully remove the towel. On a hot day this process with have the shot dry in 30 minutes or less after removing the towel as the hot concrete warms the shallow pans well. Then it is off to the Midway tumbler for 20 minutes a 5 pound batch to be graphite and polished to a smooth shiney gloss. I built a timer from componets out of the hardware store so I don't have to clock watch the tumbler. I then sieve the shot to keep it uniform so that my loads will be consistant. I bottle the shot in 2 liter pop bottles which hold about 31 pounds of shot and is easy to pour from into the shot hopper of the loader. I have some ideas to speed up the grapihting/polishing process (I purchased one of those little cement mixers) and I am thinking of a way to automate the sieving process as that is the worst part of shot making to me. I would also like to work on making a separator for removing the very small percentage of shot that is grossly out of round or has flats but that is on the back burner right now.

I enjoy the shot making process and the cost savings of doing it. It can be frustrating but when I make good shot and can load a box of quality shells for $2.50 - $2.75 then it makes me smile. :)

[Littleton Shot Maker]

mtgrs737

Sir contact me- I can give you some ideas on the sorting of the shot- if you are will to fab up some stuff I have a reasonable way to do it-


Alan

[beezapilot]

[QUOTE=Alan B;3075978]Water:: YES IT HAS BEEN DONE
1st not all water is the same
2nd HARD WATER will not work
3rd I do not know about PURE water? depends on who is testing it and what they are looking for in order to be considered 'pure', but it can mean a few things to different persons- but the softer the water the better.

Yep- as I expand into different games at the club I started skeet shooting, and met another guy that drips shot. He shoots only skeet and uses water as a coolant, says his shot is ugly as can be. 8- 8.5- 9 and probably 10 & 11. Says he get popcorn, dimples, 2 or 3 stuck together... and he dosn't care one bit. He said that the average skeet shot is 21 yards, and he dosn't think it matters one bit.... he holds a 23 + a decimal average at skeet, so I believe him.

The quality of my last batch was more improved yet, after a while you get a feeling for head pressure and lead viscosity, find a good rythem and run with it. Neither my wife nor I noticed any decrease in scores at the 16 yard line or at handicap with the home made shot. I've close to 700 pounds of shot set aside for loading- should see me along for a while.

Lead sourcing is my only worry these days. Getting harder and harder to find COWW- the keystone to shot alloy...so if you don't have enough antimony in the alloy you get bigger shot than the dripper is designed for. SO- If COWW are getting harder to find- perhaps consider getting the next smaller sized drippers, you get bigger shot... So perhaps if I wanted 7.5 shot and had 8 drippers.....

[Scooby]

Well I'm off to the local wall marts I have a few big orders for shot and do not have any shot for them so I am jumping in to the fabric softener, I need 20 gal for my recirculation tank so I will most likely have to go to several places. I will leave feedback once I try it out.

[Faret]

Is it softener or detergent that they are using?

[Scooby]

I got lucky and got all I needed at one Walmart, I cleaned all the crop oil out of my set up and dried everything. I will be setting it back up tomorrow morning and hopefully it will do a good job. I will leave feed back and let you know. On another note the fabric softener is half the price of the crop oil, and not having to wash the shot in kerosene then simple green should help the process a lot.

[RP]

Pick you up some used transmission fluid its free works great only draw back it getting it off the shot. When I was making shot that's what I found to work after trying crop oil antifreeze the soaps and another that eludes me right now. Draw back to it was cleaning I use gas to rinse my shot and I did it in stages. 4 buckets holes drilled in the bottoms and screen placed over the holes the buckets were small so they fit into a 5 gal bucket. I would set the small bucket over the larger one and pour gas over the shot then move to next bucket and repeat until I got to the last bucket. Then I dump the shot on a table to dry out in the Sun which did not take long 4+8 sheet of plywood with a old sheet covering it. As I washed the shot I move the gas up to the first rinse station as it got oil up so I keep a clean rinse at the end and getting the most out of the gas. I am aware of fumes with sparks and open flames and did this out side so the breeze would keep the area clear. The good thing about using gas for me was my smelting heat source was a mil cook stove that use gasoline as its fuel it did not burn as hot but still burned well.

[Littleton Shot Maker]

fr46 Advantage- Oils.com
washes off with water, not gas- or solvents

is not going to flare up or burn. has a great temp range

- why do all the other stuff??- that is too much work - too may steps- too much wasted time and money on coolants that make YOU work more - NOT less for the shot you want to make-

WHY do folks keep posting up the hardest way to do stuff???
OUR Littleton shotmaker instructions have been posted for over 12 years- we give out this info for free- I post on here and other sites many times-
I have spent 100's of hours helping folks with their shot problems over the last 14 years-

Never,,, would I tell some one to use a coolant that makes you works so hard or go through so many steps to get cleaned off or use!!
I am lazy and making shot or bullets is hard enough- why include steps to that process YOU KNOW will add time or expense or effort??

IS there more than one way to do it?? YES! the easy way and about 20 other ways not so easy---

IF you choose to not read, or follow good proven results or advice then NO ONE can help you! YOU must help your self see the foley in your futile efforts or YOU like to work harder than needed??!!!

I have tried for a decade to tell folks not to use the used atf- motor oil- diesel fuels- over a decade - maybe I should give out bad info and see where that goes-

DROP YOUR SHOT IN JET FUEL!!! see what happens?? From 12 inch up. or Maple syrup- sure I heard that one time too- Carro syrup heated up t0 120 f- or Castor bean oil or better yet some Sperm whale oil too....maybe straight up gas while I smoke and joke with buddies....yeah, that's the one....no! NO!

ANYTHING I tell you about has been proven by years or real world use. NOT by just myself but by customers that make tons (TONS) of shot yearly.....
ANYTHING 'we use' will not require 1 -- 5 extra steps to clean off- or solvents that have to be dealt with....

[Sitsinhedges]

When I started making shot the traditional way was to use a thick layer of cooking oil floated on water.
The shot would pass thru the oil and then in its coated state would enter the water.
Having a coat of oil would protect it from the thermal shock of the water and stop it turning to popcorn or just pitting deeply. It made good shot but the problem was getting it clean of the veg oil was nigh on impossible.
No matter what you cleaned it with the shot would remain dirty to handle and if melted down the oil that remained was very apparent, it almost seemed to be in the shot rather than just around it.
If I hadn't discovered fabric conditioner I would have given up years ago.

[Scooby]

I made just shy of 500# of shot today, the fabric softener worked well, after making that amount of shot my temp was only 110 deg F and the Garage was 72 deg F. I am going to rinse and dry the shot and put it thru my screen. I think I can give the Fabric softener 2 thumbs up for now. I will post back later as I use it more.

[beezapilot]

As near as I can see, the FR46 Advantage oil is a glycol product- those are often a problem with water contamination... Rinsing it off close to a well may be problematic, or not.

On the very up side----- if you are exposed to it- they recommend drinking 80 proof whiskey.... mmmmmm.......bourbon.........


http://nu-tierbrands.com/pdfs/msds/Gulf%20Altra%20Advantage%20FR%2046.pdf

[Littleton Shot Maker]

IF it cleans off with water and makes good shot GREAT...

what brand?? They are not all the same...

[Scooby]

It took about a gal of cold water to wash it off of 50# of shot, no other chemicals used just cold water. So I paid approximately .10 an oz for crop oil and the softener is less than .04 an oz, so it is less than half the price and you do not need another cleaning agent to get it off. I do have to say it is super thick tomorrow I am going to try to mix 4:1 softener and antifreeze to thin it down and give it some protection from freezing because my garage is not heated all the time. I bought Final touch Fabric softener from Walmart it is the cheapest concentrate they had. It seamed to be the same consistency as the GV brand that another member posted he had luck with earlier in this post.
132822

I will report back with how the 4:1 mix works, the shot I made yesterday has sat over night and dried it is nice and shinny no oxidation so I am jugging it up no graphite needed.

[Faret]

You still might want some graphite to help it go threw the loader.

[Sitsinhedges]

I would avoid thinning down the fab con or you might get pits in the shot and I doubt it freezing would matter. I also certainly would add graphite, it performs a number of functions to improve the shot and loading process.