Homemade lead dropper?

[Blammer]

they will, $42 for a set of 6 drippers, your choice of size.

[Blammer]

at the going rate of shot, I was thinking about buying one and selling off enough shot to pay for it.... wouldn't be hard at $35 a bag.

[AZ Pete]

Go to Connies, magnum shot is $24.99 per bag, buy two bags and the shipping if free.


http://conniescomponents.com/index.html

[Johnch]

Go to Connies, magnum shot is $24.99 per bag, buy two bags and the shipping if free.


http://conniescomponents.com/index.html

If you got and pick it up .
But if they ship it

Try America's best shot NORTHWEST MAGNUM! MINIMUM 2 BAG PURCHASE!!!!! 2-9 Bags $35.99 EA 10+ Bags $33.99 SHIPPING INCLUDED!!!!!!!!!

If it was 24.99 each shipped I would have ordered a ton
I know enough trap shooters
That a ton will be gone in a few days

John

[AZ Pete]

looks like the price went up since my last purchase. They sent me 4 bags of 7 1/2 magnum for 24.95/bag delivered to AZ. Sorry for quoting old information.

[NSP64]

sorry If you click on the photobucket link it is now pics of another project(frankengun). will try to find the original pics and repost since renewed interest.

[NSP64]

If you run it hot 750-800 *F the shot ends up size 12.

[Single Shot]

I exchanged a few e-mails with MICHAEL BURGESS [bbullets@nwinternet.com]

He is the seller of the LITTLETON SHOTMAKER

When I asked if I could get a copy of the instructions and a few nozzles, so I could build a shotmaker, He sent a detailed reply.

You can buy one nozzle if that is all you want. His reply included the critical angles used in the base and pot of the shotmaker and how many watts of heat you need.

A pdf of the instructions. NOTE the only coolant he now recommends is SIERRA Brand antifreeze available at MURRAY' Auto Stores:

"The best choice of the easy to find coolants is the SIERRA Brand antifreeze. NO OTHER BRAND WILL WORK. Use it straight out of the container or add less than 10 % water. This is the recommended coolant!" He no longer recommends Brake Fluid.

If you are planning on making a shot maker, and going to use a nozzle from him, contact him. He is glad to help out.

[billz]

Hello there from oz,
Can you folk tell me if the littleton
and the stewart drippers are interchangable?
Do they both have 3/8 whit threads to go through
the ladle.?
thanking you...................

[LeadThrower]

I'm intrigued and will likely tinker with shot in the near future... but one question: what's the largest shot that's practical for the dropping method, and what diameter orifice is good for that size? Is #4 possible?

[shotman]

Yes there is a little more to making large shot with a shot maker. If you are going for large shot it is best to stay with 2 dripers. and install a reostate to control the heat. I have made BB size but it takes alot of time to get the alloy and the temp right . It is sort of trial and error. When you get things right you need to keep a log. Even then its hard to go do it the second time.
Making smaller shot ,you want temp as high as you can get it. Larger size works better if temp is lower.AS for temp? I dont know the answer. Its kind of watch and see thing. Small shot we use WW because it has arsnic in the lead to act as a surfactant. larger shot seems to work better with a 50/50 mix. I dont know all the answers just what has happend in the time I have messed with a shotmaker.

[RP]

well i see shot prices are going up and everone that uses it looking for a new source. My Two cents on it' I got a buddy that is a shotgun reloader and shoots alot of skeet he bought a better built unit witch is cast iron and runs on 220. He took it to my house and ask hey can you help me get this thing up and running. Long story short we went into shot making. We made and sold right at 3 tons they are very picky machines that a more fickle than any woman I know. Here are a few things to keep in mind Do you or can you get enough lead to feed it, do you have the space it will talke to do it on a large scale, you will need a tank to catch it in and a table to sort grade and a way to graphie it, I used a cement mixer various screens rolling table drying table scales. My coolant was used transmission fluid free and worked better than the soap brake farmers oil antifreeze only draw back was riniseing the shot I used gas then used the gas in my smelting outfit so no real lose just a fume danger. BUT I FOUND OUT REAL FAST if your lead is not free you wont make any money the time it takes to make shot from start to finish. Unless your from a third world county that 5 cent a hour is good money. But i was making it on a large scale paid for machine and it got me about 5 new guns then my lead dried up. I got some one looking at buying the setup I hope he buys it so i can get it out of my shop.

[scrapcan]

Ricky P,

Can you post some pictures of the setup?

[peter nap]

well i see shot prices are going up and everone that uses it looking for a new source. My Two cents on it' I got a buddy that is a shotgun reloader and shoots alot of skeet he bought a better built unit witch is cast iron and runs on 220. He took it to my house and ask hey can you help me get this thing up and running. Long story short we went into shot making. We made and sold right at 3 tons they are very picky machines that a more fickle than any woman I know. Here are a few things to keep in mind Do you or can you get enough lead to feed it, do you have the space it will talke to do it on a large scale, you will need a tank to catch it in and a table to sort grade and a way to graphie it, I used a cement mixer various screens rolling table drying table scales. My coolant was used transmission fluid free and worked better than the soap brake farmers oil antifreeze only draw back was riniseing the shot I used gas then used the gas in my smelting outfit so no real lose just a fume danger. BUT I FOUND OUT REAL FAST if your lead is not free you wont make any money the time it takes to make shot from start to finish. Unless your from a third world county that 5 cent a hour is good money. But i was making it on a large scale paid for machine and it got me about 5 new guns then my lead dried up. I got some one looking at buying the setup I hope he buys it so i can get it out of my shop.

I make swan shot with a dripper and am going to try Zinc. Beats throwing it away.

Anyone try just setting a pan of water under the drip o matic. Might make good buckshot.

[Russel Nash]

Here is the first part video of my shotmaker in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zahDLTdfPME

Here is the second part:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I433C...eature=related

[shotman]

What ricky said is 100% true. Shot is running around $25 to 30 a bag . That is around a $1 a pound. A shot makeing set up will run about $500 to set up. You cannot run anything but Wheel Weights . so if you dont have a free source, it does not pay to do it. It is a large scale project. You dont do it in the kitchen. If you want to save money on shot BUY IT

[Russel Nash]

The reason I made my shotmaker was so that I could get the trap and skeet shooters to bring me wheelweights and I would give 'em back 60/40 in shot. They would get 40% back. The other 60% I get to keep and I turn that into ingots that I turn into bullets.

I reckon'ed it beats me driving around all over and buying...or rather trying to buy the wheel weights from the tire shops.

I just lucked out in that a buddy of mine who I shoot steel and USPSA matches with is a Toyota dealer mechanic. So I meet him at the matches and he brings me jugs of wheel weights and I bring him a 1/2 gallon jug of birdshot. I can put 25 pounds of #7's / #7.5's into a plastic 1/2 gallon milk jug.

So I have plenty of ingots made up now, and my buddy has bunches of birdshoot for him and his girlfriend to shoot trap with it.

It's a time consuming process, to make birdshot. I have other bigger fish to fry right now. If I was really planning ahead, I would have made a bunch of shot ahead of time and taken it down to Sparta, IL for the big Grand Trapshooting match. I guess I could have sold the jugs out of the back of my truck.

I think if I were to start over again, I wouldn't buy all that steel to make a frame to hang the ladle from.

I would just buy a bunch of chain, some screw hooks or eyes and hang the ladle from the floor joists...or the roof rafters. I might use a turnbuckle or two to be able to level across the laddle and to get it parallel to the ammo can filled with water/coolant.

[grages]

What did you use for the dripper valves.

Shawn

Here is the first part video of my shotmaker in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zahDLTdfPME

Here is the second part:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I433C...eature=related

[Russel Nash]

I went to the local welding store/supplier and bought wire welding tips. They are made by Tweeco and have an orifice size of 0.024" .

The drippers themselves are ordinary hardware store bolts. I first started out with 1/2" diameter bolts....meaning that the threaded part of the bolts, the shank, was a 1/2".

The problem with that was that the heads on those bolts was/were only 0.300" thick.

The Tweeco wire welding tips have an outside diameter of a quarter inch, exactly 0.250".

When I would take a center punch to one of the flats, I would just eyeball it...

0.300"

- 0.250"
______
= .050"
divide by 2 = 0.025 worth of wiggle room on each side of the hole.

So I redrilled the "dam" on my laddle to accept 5/8" bolts, which gave me a thicker head to drill through.

The next evolution of drippers will probably get drilled and tapped all the way through or across the flats for a 1/4X28 (fine thread) bolt/screw.

Then I am going to try screwing in the Tweeco wire welding tips. They already have a 1/4X28 thread on one end.

I was just cutting them in half or thirds and inserting them into the 1/4" hole. Then I would take the center punch and pin prick the steel around the copper tip to hold the tip in place.

Then I had a 1/4X20 allen headed bolt/screw up top that would act like a valve.

Opening it up, as you can see in the video, gives more "head pressure" to the top of the Tweeco wire welding tip, and so the lead drips even faster.

Screwing the bolt in, closes off most of the head pressure to the top of the wire welding tip, and in some cases keeps the lead from dripping at all.

What I had noticed was that once lead would stall out on the ramp, then that one spot would become a problem child and would eventually lead to the lead clumping on that same exact spot. So having the screws on the drippers lets me shut off that one problem dripper, and then the rest can keep on dripping.

Until it becomes a big enough aggravation that the majority of the drippers or the spots below the drippers are clumping up. Then I would just rather shut the whole danged thing down.

Then let it cool.

Clean the ramp off completely. Take the scotch brite pad on the right angle grinder to it. Then the buffing wheel.

Then I spray it down with graphite spray.

I wasn't having much luck with soapstone or chalk. When I went to graphite spray, I had much better results.

I still get some clump-age going on, that's why I added the mesh basket into the coolant tank. It lets the good stuff go through, and the bad stuff gets caught in the basket.

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that the bolts or drippers have two holes drilled in them. One goes across the flats like I described above. The other goes right down through the shank of the bolt and just barely stops short of going all the way through the face of the bolt.

So basically, the two drilled holes intersect, and the molten lead is made to make this sharp right turn into the top of the Tweeco wire welding tip.

[NSP64]

I went to the 'Grand American' (and shot sporting clays). I attached a pail to the top of my tumbler/vibrating case cleaner and vibrate the shot in it. I throw in some Moly B powder to coat it.