Lead shot

[turtlezx]

dang good looking shot for a tin can and holes
surprized round and no tails

[Retumbo]

dang good looking shot for a tin can and holes
surprized round and no tails

Yah, thats where I am at, mine look like lead sperm

[Huntsman]

Just looking into the Russian methods.
Limited success so far.

Interesting method 🤔. Good thing he was wearing heavy gloves. Don’t know if the open toe sandals would’ve done much.
Oh those Russians eh

[turtlezx]

glad you said it i didnt want to be rude LEAD SPERM

[Retumbo]

glad you said it i didnt want to be rude LEAD SPERM

We are all grown ups here, nothing rude about it.

[centershot]

Pretty ingenious set-up! Retumbo, even with the tails I'm betting your pellets will pattern pretty well. They'll fly like a shuttlecock with the tails trailing, like a raindrop.

[Retumbo]

Pretty ingenious set-up! Retumbo, even with the tails I'm betting your pellets will pattern pretty well. They'll fly like a shuttlecock with the tails trailing, like a raindrop.

Putting them in a "Russian Tumbler" should help quite a bit

[MUSTANG]

Just looking into the Russian methods.

Limited success so far.

Looks like a Back Yard Version of Commercial Shot Towers. The only commercial tower I know of personally is the one that is (Was?) located in Mound House Nevada (Easterly of Carson City Nevada. Can't link picture here; but one can see the pic at: https://external-content.duckduckgo....jpg&f=1&nofb=1

The Russian Method is only a couple hundred feet shorter.

[Retumbo]

Looks like a Back Yard Version of Commercial Shot Towers. The only commercial tower I know of personally is the one that is (Was?) located in Mound House Nevada (Easterly of Carson City Nevada. Can't link picture here; but one can see the pic at: https://external-content.duckduckgo....jpg&f=1&nofb=1

The Russian Method is only a couple hundred feet shorter.

We still have one in our neighbourhood, about 40 minute drive from home. Hummason, a big name in these parts

[Cap'n Morgan]

That's pretty neat! I wonder what kind of oil he's using, it seems to be water soluble and shows no sign of boiling when the pellets drop.
I once did a test using a length of pipe filled with quenching oil. I can't remember how well it worked - probably not good, as I never pursued the idea further.

[Retumbo]

That's pretty neat! I wonder what kind of oil he's using, it seems to be water soluble and shows no sign of boiling when the pellets drop.
I once did a test using a length of pipe filled with quenching oil. I can't remember how well it worked - probably not good, as I never pursued the idea further.

Some kind of liquid sugar, I forget what it is called

[Retumbo]

Left is first attempt using water
Right is second attempt using fabric softener

[skeettx]

For Mustang

[Retumbo]

Third attempt

[Retumbo]

So, final form. Going to keep working on the dripper

[Russel Nash]

So, final form. Going to keep working on the dripper

Here is an old pic of the shot I used to “drop”:



I use a graphite spray on my ramp.

I drop right into plain ol’ water.

I made my first drippers by using Tweeco wire welding tips.

[Russel Nash]

From 2007 to 2012, I was shooting these IDPA, USPSA, and steel challenge matches.

One of my fellow competitors was a mechanic at a Toyota dealership. He would squirrel away all the old lead wheelweights.

We had an arrangement set up where he would bring me 100 pounds of WW’s at one match.

Then at the next match, I would bring him 50 pounds of birdshot.

So I have kept the other 50 pounds or rather the other half in ingots since that time.

[farmerjim]

I still have about 600 lb of mostly #6 shot that I bought for $5 per 25 lb sack back in the 60's. I did mostly duck hunting back then. The cloth bags have rotted and the shot is in quart jars.

[Cap'n Morgan]

Retombo,

Your last batch looks good. Your first and second attempt show why water is a poor coolant unless the shot has time to cool a bit while rolling down a ramp.
The tadpole shape, once you switched to fabric softener, looks better, and I wouldn't hesitate to use the shot from your last attempt for hunting loads.
I often thought that if you could find a cooling medium which didn't cool the droplets too fast, it should be possible to do away with "the long drop" Perhaps by heating the cooling medium.

On a side note: When outdoors, I sometimes empty my coffee mug for the last bit of cold coffee by a flick of the wrist, sending the coffee up in the air.
For a split second the droplets - some of them as large as 3/8" - will form an almost perfect sphere.

Now, if you could do that with molten lead, you would just have to time the upwards velocity so that the droplets solidified on top of their apogee while at the same time forming a perfect sphere. Please don't ask me how to construct such a contraption, it's just one of the many ideas that hunts me from time to time.

[Russel Nash]

I made it out to the range Wednesday to shoot my first shotgun reloads and my old left over homemade birdshot from 10-15 years ago.

I was just using my el cheapo Baikal (Russian made) over/under for the paper targets I set up at 16 yards and again at 40 yards.

There was a bay next door that has a plate rack.

My 870 and 1100 ran those shells 100% .

It was fun!