[Shmackey]

Has anyone heard of this (http://www.totse.com/en/bad_ideas/guns_and_weapons/cheapamo.html) before?

[Hkmp5sd]

Yep. It is an effective way to practice, although a little messy. There used to be a company that sold "rubber" bullets that you could use the same way and use them over and over until they fell apart.

Remember, there is still a lot of energy in the primer, so be carefull and shoot in a ventilated area.

[444]

I didn't go to the link, but I have shot my share of wax bullets. Mostly in .38. I bought parafin wax at the grocery store, melted it in a pan to a depth which corresponded to the length of the bullet. I deprimed the cases, seated new primers, and then used the cases as cookie cutters to cut/seat the wax bullet. The next time, you just re-melt the wax into a solid block again. They are very accurate out to a moderate distance. They put a nice round cookie cutter hole in a paper target just like a wadcutter. They are not super quiet like I thought they would be, although you can comfortably shoot them without ear plugs. But the neighbors very well might hear them. They pack a little punch; I had a guy shoot me in the back with one out of a .45 Colt rifle, it hurt about like a BB gun. My goal was to shoot them in the house, but I discovered that they smoke like crazy. I am not sure if this is just the primers, or if the wax also plays a role in it. If you get serious about this, they work better if you drill out the primer pocket flash hole. Make SURE that if you do this, you mark these cases and keep them seperated from your regular cases so that you don't accidently reload these cases with powder.
In summary, they are fun to play around with. If you live in an area where you can shoot them in the yard they will make a great practice round.
I also own the Speer plastic bullets and cases in .44 Special. This is the same kind of thing only with plastic bullets. You prime the case and seat the plastic bullet by hand in the case.

[mgjohn]

I do that. It helps to drill the flash hole in the primer pocket up to a larger size. This helps keep the primer from backing out on firing. Use these cases for wax loads only. This works best in revolvers but can also be done in autos also. To keep accuracy up clean your bore every 10-15 rounds. AT 35-40 feet indoors I can shoot a 3 inch group with a DA S&W 42 38sp. This is great for those times that a trip to the range is not possible. You do also want some hearing protection, and yes the waz bullets will bring blood and make welts.

[ahenry]

Hmmm, interesting info here. I want to try some wax bullets or something like them because I want to try shooting various objects out of the air. Even though I can go to a few places with more than a mile of open land (no people or houses etc), I have been too apprehensive about the downrange danger to actually do anything. Seems like wax bullets are the way to go here. I might give 444’s method a try as a simple way to test it out.

With just a primer, how far do you think these bullets would travel? I'd figure well under 100 yards, right?

[444]

I would be surprised if they could travel 100 yards. You have very little power, very little mass, and they are not aerodynamic.
Sure, try them out shooting at objects thrown in the air. It will be more difficult because you don't have much velocity, but I am sure you can do it. I have fired a few thousand rounds at stuff thrown in the air. I live in the Nevada Desert. I can shoot into areas that are so remote that they do nuclear testing, but I have always done it at the base of a large hill so that my rounds impact the side of the hill. I actually did most of it standing at the bottom of a very deep gravel quary with a 9-10 thousand foot mountain in the background and basically nothing on the other side for hundreds of miles. If you toss something straight up in the air, I can almost always hit it. Sideways, forget it. I even tried this with a .22 rifle and clay pidgons thrown with a spring operated trap. I don't think I hit any of them. You got me thinking, I might have to go out and try that again.
If I was going to get serious about this and lived in a more populated area, I would probably use a BB gun (with safety glasses). Not to get totally off topic, but I bought the whole set up for the "Shoot Where You Look Course". http://www.shootwhereyoulook.com/
But of course, I haven't taken the time to really get into it.

[El Tejon]

Used to shoot them against a heavy flat mirror in practicing my drawstroke. They do pack more punch than you think. Be careful--eyes and ears.

I remember Uncle Mel writing about wax bullets in the `70s. Do not know who was first to suggest this.

[Jim K]

Wow! That is really something new. Folks have only been doing it for about 80 or 90 years, since the time paraffin wax was used in "puttin' up" vegetables and fruit in jars and sealing them with wax.

Speer made a plastic case and bullet that also used just a primer. These are pretty peppy. I once used an old overstuffed chair as a backstop and found the "bullets" completely penetrated the chair back if they didn't hit the springs.

CAUTION! If you drill out the primer pockets of regular cases, mark those cases clearly by filing an X or something on the base. You don't want to ever use them for normal loads as the powder ignites too fast and pressure goes through the roof!

Jim

[El Tejon]

Jim, nothing new under the sun!:)

[Blackhawk]

I used to pull the bullets out of .22 cartridges, dump the powder and drip candle wax into the casing for target practice with my .22 revolver in my garage when I was a kid. Accurate at 20 feet, and quiet enough that nobody got excited.

As KSF said, there's nothing new under the sun, and he wasn't the first one to say that either.... :D

[Pistolsmith]

In a Model 15 they were super acurate. I used magnum primers and drilled the flash hole larger. After you melt the canning wax in a pie plate, add a small amount of glycerine. Load the wax bullet first by pressing onto the solidified wax. Push it against the rear of the case with a ramrod.
I used to shoot at a small target on one side of a sturdy cardboard box. Wax projectile penetrated forward side of box, but was retained inside for easier cleanup. In the garage, I firead at a target taped to an old screen door. It was easy to remove wax from the screen with a wire brush.
The wax bullets carried across the street. The adjustable sight on the Model 15 could be adjusted so that point of aim and point of impact at 20 feet correswponded.
I never cared for the plastic projectiles, since they were not as accurate as my wax bullets after a few shots.

[TaxPhd]

Wax bullets are a lot of fun. As noted, drill out the flash hole to keep the primer from backing out and tying up the gun.

I have read for years the dire warnings about not reloading the cases with the enlarged flash holes. Winchester Win Clean ammo has significantly enlarged flash holes, and Winchester claims that the cases are reloadable, the same as those with standard flash holes.

Anybody have the straight info? With evidence beyond "gunshop wisdom?"

[444]

I don't have any hard evidence on loading cases with enlarged flash holes, but I have read that every time this subject has come up. It made sense to me and I never saw any reason to try it just to find out. Brass is cheap.

[Dan Morris]

I tried this many moons ago...never tried to reload the cases....marked the heads with a marker........also, the ole tape and pencil trick ........to work on trigger control works wonders....
take several wraps around a lead pencil...shims to the center of barrel....Auto Only....make some dot the size of the erasor on a sheet of paper........place pencil in barrel....place target on wall....
stand off with the pencil point about 1 1/2 inches from the paper...
size of dot will approxamate the black size of a pistol target at 25yds......fireing pin will drive pencil point to paper......dots will
approxamate the size of hits ........it may sound goofey...but it works!Taught to me by a ole pistol team shooter.
Dan

[4v50 Gary]

Pick up a copy of Bill Jordan's "No Second Place Winner." He's got a section on rolling your own wax bullets.

[M2HMGHB]

I'd be careful with them in the house. The primers contain a form of lead. That being said I can not find a reason not to use them outside.

[coonan357]

win clean .45 case when I reloaded shot like standards , so as an experiment I loaded up one of my .38 W-W cases I use for x-ring bullets ( rubber/ primer powered- enlarged primer hole ) with some #2 and a 110 gr jhp , it shot like a non modified case ... YMoMnV

[braindead0]

My first shooting experience was in the garage with wax bullets from an old S&W .455 webley..

When making these, I don't bother melting the wax at all...the slabs of canning wax are about perfect for anything I've ever done (.44mag, .357mag, .45LC). Simply use a block of hardwood to press the cases into the wax slab and presto...wax bullet..

A 1/4" peice of plywood/masonite seems to work fine for stopping at 15'+

[Onslaught]

I have no idea how different parafin or canning wax is different from candle wax, but wouldn't the reusablerubber bullets (http://www.midwayusa.com/rewriteaproduct/489581) be cleaner?

I've been thinking about getting some of these.

[444]

I have never used rubber bullets so I can't say. I will say that I don't like the plastic bullets as well as the wax. For one thing they are somewhat fragile. I found that when shooting them into my bullet trap, the impact with the trap severely damages the bullet. Also, the lands of the rifling are pressed into the bullet. With wax, you don't worry about any of this because you don't try to pick them up and use them again. And, wax is very cheap. As much as I enjoy reloading, I take special delight in not trying to recover components, like when shooting milsurp ammo. You shoot and pay no attention to where the brass goes, same when shooting wax bullets, you shoot and forget.

I have cut bullets out of parafin wax just as it came from the store, but found that it crumbles. It makes a much cleaner bullet if you melt the wax and cut the bullets just before it is completely hard again.