Plastic Practice Bullets

[36g]

Okay, not cast lead...

Has anyone made cast plastic bullets for indoor practice use using brass cases and primers for propellant along the lines of the Speer plastic set up?

Thinking of taking some cast 158 gr. SWC, making a bulk silicon rubber mold, then pouring polyurethane to make projectiles and using the projectiles in .38 special brass with primers for indoor short range practice. If successful could expand to .45 LC, .38 Long or Short Colt, and any variety of Cowboy calibers.

Thoughts?

[Stig]

Something like this maybe:

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?143126-Wax-Glue-Bullets-I-Have-To-Ask&highlight=hot+glue+bullets

[Pipefitter]

Under pressure cornstarch will turn to plastic. If you could get a simple swage die you can make them easily.
Don't forget to open up the flash hole on the brass cases or the primers will back out and cause issues on the cylinder turning.

[Sasquatch-1]

Why not use wax slugs? Take a thin sheet of wax and just press the case neck through.

[36g]

I made wax slugs when I was a kid, both by pressing brass casings into a sheet of wax and by melting and pouring into primed brass. For a bit more punch I would melt a BB or some #6 birdshot into the nose.They worked well to discourage the neighborhood tomcats.

The glue bullets seem a bit messy to me.I do have experience making silicon molds and have cast polyurethane cartridges for dummy rounds for movie use. I can make a gang mold and cast 50 or 100 bullets at a time if so desired. Potentially they would be reusable. I don't know if making hollow base would be a help or hindrance.

[Kraschenbirn]

What you're proposing should work okay. Back in the day when I shot a lot of 'combat-style' games...like 30 -40 years ago...I used plastic bullets for off-season practice. Started with some of the Speer(?) then went to making my own, punching them out of sheet polyvinyl. Plastic boolits were reasonably accurate out to 10 yards...the longest indoor distance I had available at the time. Eventually, decided I'd rather pay for indoor range time to practice with live ammunition in my semi-autos than limit myself to only revolvers. Also tried wax boolits, as suggested by Sasquatch-1, but found those 'fouled' so badly that accuracy went completely south after three or four reloads of the cylinder. IIRC, I just might have some of those old vinyl boolits stuffed away somewhere...may have to dig around and see if I can find them.

Bill

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Yes, Speer, if I remember correctly. I have about 20 of them somewhere in .44 Cal. They were a lot of fun, especially indoors in the shop in the wintertime. They consist of a black plastic case, red bullet, and are powered by just a primer. They were quite accurate at indoor distances. I doubt if they're still made--haven't seen any for sale for years.

DG

[DonHowe]

I have some of the Speer plastic bullets I bought 40 years ago for basement practice with .45 acp 1911 pistol. Didn't do much practice with them.
About that time we were having problems with the garbage being scattered every week before it could be picked up. I managed to catch sight of German Shepherd in the act and determined to stop the aggravation. I thought a out stinging him with a plastic bullet but their pfimer-powered range was short and the beast was a spooky devil. I needed more range. Maybe a grain of Bullseye over the primer?
The next week I saw the brute about 5 AM and grabbed the .45 and one of my loads. Thought it would be better to go out the front door and ease around the house to surprise the pest. I paused at the door to chamber the round. The flat nose plastic bullets hung up clambering, not quite in battery. I pointed the gun down about 45° ad hit the back of the slide with the heel of my hand and shot a hole in the wallboard next to the door. My wife briefly took leave of her senses and the dog got away unscathed.
I kinda forgot about the plastic bullets after that.

[bangerjim]

HOT Melt Glue (HMG) boolits cast in your regular COLD (chilled with ice & lubed with PAM) molds are a great "plastic" slug. Also "shooting wax" a special formula, not candle wax (!), has been used for years. There is a huge thread on here about casting HMG boolits. By using your actual molds it is just like casting, loading & shooting the real thing, except in HMG.

You must have a tree growing primers!!!!! Most would sure not waste precious and expensive primers on HMG or plastic boolits.

If you want to practice, invest in a "green gas" Airsoft balls. I have 4 of them and the feel and perform just like the SIG and S&W's they are copied after. I spent around $120.00 each.

With real blowback action (!) and weight, you would not know you were shooting Airsoft! Where I live ANYTHING powered with gun powder or primers, no matter how low/light light the load, is illegal. But Airsoft is not.

The weight and feel and action are amazing. Many pro training places use these.

Not cheap like the carp sold at Walmart from Crossman. Check out PyramidAir.com for a good source. That is where I go.

And I refill them with common propane with the little needle filler they use. The mags hold about 20 rounds.

good luck!

[36g]

[QUOTE=DonHowe;5390868]I have some of the Speer plastic bullets I bought 40 years ago for basement practice with .45 acp 1911 pistol. Didn't do much practice with them.
About that time we were having problems with the garbage being scattered every week before it could be picked up. I managed to catch sight of German Shepherd in the act and determined to stop the aggravation. I thought a out stinging him with a plastic bullet but their pfimer-powered range was short and the beast was a spooky devil. I needed more range. Maybe a grain of Bullseye over the primer?
The next week I saw the brute about 5 AM and grabbed the .45 and one of my loads. Thought it would be better to go out the front door and ease around the house to surprise the pest. I paused at the door to chamber the round. The flat nose plastic bullets hung up clambering, not quite in battery. I pointed the gun down about 45° ad hit the back of the slide with the heel of my hand and shot a hole in the wallboard next to the door. My wife briefly took leave of her senses and the dog got away unscathed.
I kinda forgot about the plastic bullets after that.[/QUOTE}

Now this brings up another question - would a solid cast 158 gr. SWC (.358) style bullet in polyurethane over say a single grain of bullseye hold together and be light enough to chrono at 1500 fps+ thereby extending a useful practice range?

[WRideout]

I have used a 38 spl case pressed into a cake of paraffin wax, then primed. Wax first, so the air can get out. This does require an enlarged flash hole, so segregate the cases to avoid a misadventure. I never tried them beyond about five feet.

Wayne

[country gent]

The polyurethanes could be interesting in several ways. A wad cutter style with hollow base in around 80 durometer material should do well nd be easy to cast. I believe I would use a hard mould from wood plastic or metal. Another thing would be to convert a pressure cooker to a pressure tank to cure under pressure, this makes a better cast and pushes air bubbles out.

A .359 drill ground to cut square hole would make he main body and a pin set in. even better wuld be a rotary cutter made up like dowel cutter to cut the pocket and base pin in 1 pass. IN the center a 1/8" hole thru. In use the hole would be plugged off with a 1/8" dowel pin. the mould sprayed with release agent. poured and set in the pressure pot to cure. when cured pull the pins and blow the bullets out with compressed air. A mould for 100 or 200 at a time would fit in a normal pressure cooker..

The silicone moulds work okay but dont always give true sizes and forms. They also change with age.

A nylon or teflon cutting board thick enough would make for a large mould of several hundred bullets. And with the dowel cutter style bit be able to be made with a simple drill press.

[Green Frog]

For Cowboy Fast Draw events we are required to use 45 caliber wax bullets as provided by their vendors, but for casual use, the bullets described in this article can be used for about any handgun caliber you wish;

https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2010/4/12/how-to-make-and-reload-wax-bullets/

This was written back when there were some very useful articles found in every issue of The American Rifleman. I think you will find they work well, since back then they tested the DIY projects they published.

Froggie

[country gent]

The big thing I found with wax bullets ( and probably the polyurethane) is to seat the bullet first then the primer. Doing it the reverse the bullet air locks and pushed back out of the case.

[Tazman1602]

Why not use wax slugs? Take a thin sheet of wax and just press the case neck through.

^^^^^^^ This….is exactly what we were doing with 38’s indoors in the 80’s ——- they are NOT safe to fire at other people! Gulf wax as I remember.

Art