Stainless shotmaker

[leadhead 500]

I just built a homebrew shot maker from stainless steel and was playing around with it.I am dropping my shot into pure antifreeze and keeping the coolant level
about 1/4" below the bib and alot of my shot has small tails on it.What causes the tails on the shot and how do you correct this problem?

[Sitsinhedges]

Pictures please!

Tails are caused by the shot not leaving the ramp crisply, assuming you have a ramp.

[leadhead 500]

Not able to post pics. but the ramp is 3/4" long.The tails on the shot are about a 1/32" long.The ramp is covered good with soapstone,I have tried playing with the angle and the volume of lead behind the drippers.What do i need to do to correct the problem?Polish the ramp more or what?

[Red River Rick]

Leadhead 500:

Here's a link to a previous thread, you may have read this already, but there is some good info here as well: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=27239&highlight=shotmaker

RRR

[Sitsinhedges]

Not able to post pics. but the ramp is 3/4" long.The tails on the shot are about a 1/32" long.The ramp is covered good with soapstone,I have tried playing with the angle and the volume of lead behind the drippers.What do i need to do to correct the problem?Polish the ramp more or what?

The tails come from catching as they leave the ramp. It needs to be a good sharp knife edge, maybe even lightly rubbed with a bit of abrasive to produce a tiny radius that the shot can pass over without obstruction. IME, the ramp needed to be an inch or just over for best results (in my set up at least).

[leadhead 500]

What length are the bolts that you guys are makeing the drippers from?I used
5/16"X inch& half and drilled them 5/32" with a .060" hole on the end.My shot comes out to mostly .110-.112" but the drippers want to make a stream of lead instead of dripping.What do I do to get them to drip instead of running a stream,and how high should they be off of the bib?Also I am running my lead temp. around 600 degrees.

[heathydee]

I assume you are getting some shot and then having problems . I have never used holes in the drippers as large as .060". My maximum size drippers are about .040". As a general rule I have found that the larger the dripper size, the lower the lead level in you trough has to be . My drippers are about 3/8" from the bib which is inclined at 30 degrees and about an inch long . Small shot such as eights or nines from a .024" dripper bounces two or three times on its way down the ramp . I have the bib as close to the coolant as possible .
Best of luck

[leadhead 500]

Thanks for all of the help guys!I made new drippers from 5/16X1" bolts,drilled the hole up thru the bolts with a 1/8" bit and then drilled the .040 hole 90 degrees into the 1/8 inch hole.I placed the drippers 3/8" off of the bib and sharpened the bib up to a sharp edge,the bib ended up being 7/8"LONG from the .040 hole to the edge.I then polished the bib up with some 600 grit sand paper and then applied alot of soapstone to the bib.The coolant tank was filled with diesel fuel and the drop was set to 1/4" above the coolant tank with the bib set at 30 degree.My lead temp was ran at 625 degrees and my shot come out to #6 that looks as good as factory shot.I will also add that I tried white diesel fuel and Red
#2 diesel fuel.The red fuel makes some great looking shot.