Experiments with making fired clay plugs for the Enfield bullet

[maillemaker]

The first Pattern 1853 bullet, the Pritchett bullet, had no plug. It had a very shallow cavity in its base, and was more of a compression bullet than an expansion bullet. Due to its limited ability to overcome tolerances in the production of the bullet and the bore of the muskets, it was discarded in favor of the "Hay" bullet. It was also smooth sided, but had a deep cavity in the base. Initially this was filled with a hemispherical iron cup, then a truncated conical iron cup. This was quickly superseded with a conical plug made from Boxwood. Boxwood, however, had to be imported and was expensive, so in 1860 it was replaced with a molded, fired clay plug.

I have experimented with making plugs using the Noe Bullet Moulds plug plate. I have tried Bondo, which works pretty good but is wasteful of material, and Sculpy, which makes a somewhat soft and crumbly plug. So, I decided to try to make actual fired clay plugs.

Here is a video of how I did it and the result:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RdEkEG4vDo

Steve

[rancher1913]

interesting, might work for shotgun slugs as well.

[LAGS]

If you want to work with Bondo , and be less wastefully.
Put a blob of Bondo on a flat board maybe the size of a golf ball.
Then on the other corner of the board , put a spot of the hardner maybe the size of a quarter.
Take a putty knife and scrape a spot of the Bondo about the size you are going to use immediately , and scrape it onto the center of the board.
Now do a small scrape of the hardner , and then mix it into the small spot of bondo you placed in the center of the board.
Apply the mixed Bondo to where you want to place it.
That way you are not mixing a cup of Bondo and have it harden up before you use it , and wasting it.
Your set up this way is like an Artist Palet.
Use it like an artist does with mixing paint from the different colors on the Palet to get the color you want.
I worked in a body shop when I was a teenager.
These is how I would mix Bondo to repair spots without wasting material.
I used the same method in the construction industry to repair dings in metal doors and frames as I prepped them for painting.
Have you tried something like Fix All plaster that you can get at a hardware store.
It sets up really fast and is durable.
There is also plaster of Paris.
But it takes longer to dry and is not as durable as Fix All plaster.
Another cheap option is.
Cat Litter.
Grind it up , and mix it with a small amount of water.
I used that paste to make plugs for model rockets years ago.

[Nobade]

Good ideas there. You reminded me about how we used to ram rocket nozzles using cat litter a long time ago, I wonder if making a die to somehow form the plugs with an arbor press would work. I need to watch the video on the clay plugs to see how that was done. As an aside, I have the NOE plate for making plugs for the .562" bullets, do any of you know if that will work with the .550" ones? I have the mould but haven't used it yet since I'm in the middle of moving and NOE doesn't have the .550" plates in stock.

[LAGS]

There is also a product ar hardware stores called Pour Rock , or Pour Stone.
It is used for concrete repairs.
It is very fine sand in it.
It dries quickly , and is very durable.
We used it to repair concrete floors and even to fill in under base plates on steel columns.
It is like the name says , pourable.
Or it can be mixed into a paste or ball.
And it doesn't Shrink like concrete mix does.