Shooting Silver as a Projectile

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Everyone forget the tests in Germany? It was silver bullets v. lead. Silver bullets were marked with a cross and after sprinkling with holy-water, were blessed by a priest. Darn lead balls outshot the silver ones all the time. They surmised it was the screaming demons who rode atop the silver balls and threw them off the mark.

Nowadays we know that lead is softer and takes rifling better than silver which is a harder metal.

Conclusion: silver is for show, not chut'n. I expect silver to reach triple digits this year. If you're going to use silver, c'mon over to my place. I'll be happy to provide a nice safe backstop.

Actually they surmised that the silver bullets were unaffected by the devils power because they were hallowed thereby proving that rifled barrels were more accurate due to unholy powers at work. It was then declared that rifled barrels were hexed and anyone using, making them, etc.. would be charged with some sort of heresy or witchcraft and put to death.

The truth is that the lead being softer filled the rifling grooves when being fired in a black powder rifle while the silver being harder did not fully fill the grooves.

It is said that the brave hunters in large part used rifled barrels anyway. Possibly it had something to do with the choice between maybe getting caught by "holy" people or starving to death due to missed shots. It's refreshing to know that even in those dark ages people were not stupid enough to believe that nonsense.

My opinion is in a modern smokeless firearm silver bullets would probably work with the right powder charge, weight, etc... workup but not any better than other MUCH less expensive alloys of similar weight and hardness.

In a black powder firearm I would guess they are too hard.

The Yankee Marshal has some youtube videos that include a box of silver bullets and information on who sells them.
 
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Even though The Lone Ranger is fictional (Sorry if that's a spoiler for anyone) I always assumed the silver bullets meant silver plated not cast silver.

Say it ain't so, Joe! :(

If you were a devoted fan, as I was in the '50s, you will remember that the Lone Ranger had his own silver mine and some of the episodes showed him casting silver bullets with a ladle. I don't think he had an electroplating device to help him.
 
If I missed the explanation excuse me but why on earth would you want to do this? Is this just one of those "because I can" things?

What a waste of increasingly valuable silver.

Dave

Partly because I can (I think).

Partly because 9 mm is a more valuable commodity, so shooting silver instead might literally be cheaper for now.

Partly because silver is the only element that exists in both the physical and spectral realms. As such, it works against lycans, vampires, and uninformed witches, though I imagine they could conjure a spell to become invulnerable. Just to be safe, I asked my wife to NOT inform my mother in law that I’m casting these.

(In seriousness, I’ll probably unload these with a hammer/brass dowel and remelt the balls back into bars. It gives me a reason to learn something about casting boolits though. If I can do silver, I can sure do lead.)
 
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I know lead has gotten more expensive, but last I checked it's still way lower than silver! :eek:

Your silver bullets have no power over me! :evil: It's the belief of the shooter.....MWAHAHAHA!

:uhoh: Ruh-roh!
 
Howdy

Way, way back when I was a kid, sometime halfway through the last century, there was an article in one of the gun magazines about shooting silver bullets. Real solid silver, not plated.

Anyway, it was not much of a success. I don't recall the particulars, it was a long time ago, but it turned out silver was not a very good material to make bullets from.
 
Say it ain't so, Joe! :(

If you were a devoted fan, as I was in the '50s, you will remember that the Lone Ranger had his own silver mine and some of the episodes showed him casting silver bullets with a ladle. I don't think he had an electroplating device to help him.

I wasn't around in the 50s but I watched plenty of the reruns as a kid and listened to a lot (possibly all) of the radio shows and don't remember anything about a silver mine if I even ever saw or heard it before.
Thanks for the trivia info!
 
Why stop at silver why not try shooting gold. Some people may be willing to take the chance to be shot just to recover the slug. LOL
 
If I missed the explanation excuse me but why on earth would you want to do this? Is this just one of those "because I can" things?

What a waste of increasingly valuable silver.

Dave

While it's not really the first use that comes to mind for any silver I might happen to own, I can hardly blame a guy for trying it if that's what he wants to do for fun.
 
http://www.patriciabriggs.com/articles/silver/silverbullets.shtml


This includes the old Gun World article from the 60's

Seems like a lathe would be the better tool.

That is a great read! I learned a lot, which was the point of me considering how silver bullets could be made. I’ve concluded roundball would be a better option, loading should be accomplished with a cloth patch to accommodate shrinking or balls should be molded .01 larger, the mold should be significantly preheated to 450+ F and held with tongs rather than wood, precharring the inside of the mold with carbon is a good idea, and I’ll probably want to cast these once if ever, load them as seasonal novelties and never actually shoot them. After consulting an actual silversmith, they cited a $500 price for 50 round balls of correct diameter, which actually seems quite reasonable in retrospect.
 
While it's not really the first use that comes to mind for any silver I might happen to own, I can hardly blame a guy for trying it if that's what he wants to do for fun.

One of the gun myths about the Old West was that cowboys carried their "six shooters" loaded with five rounds and had a $20 bill (some even claimed a $100 bill) rolled up and inserted in the empty chamber. I have read that firing a couple rounds of black powder ammunition (all that would have been available) in a gun so loaded might very well set the bank note on fire. Since I shoot nothing but black powder cartridges in my single action revolvers I could easily duplicate this to see what happens. However, I don't see the fun in burning up a $20 bill (let alone a $100 bill) any more that shooting silver bullets...because I can.

YMMV,
Dave
 
Say it ain't so, Joe! :(

If you were a devoted fan, as I was in the '50s, you will remember that the Lone Ranger had his own silver mine and some of the episodes showed him casting silver bullets with a ladle. I don't think he had an electroplating device to help him.
If the Lone Ranger got his "silver" strait from the "silver mine" chances are what he was shooting was mostly lead.
The effort and cost to extract silver from ore is one of the reasons people think silver will sooner or later spike.
 
One of the gun myths about the Old West was that cowboys carried their "six shooters" loaded with five rounds and had a $20 bill (some even claimed a $100 bill) rolled up and inserted in the empty chamber. I have read that firing a couple rounds of black powder ammunition (all that would have been available) in a gun so loaded might very well set the bank note on fire. Since I shoot nothing but black powder cartridges in my single action revolvers I could easily duplicate this to see what happens. However, I don't see the fun in burning up a $20 bill (let alone a $100 bill) any more that shooting silver bullets...because I can.

YMMV,
Dave

One could use a $1 bill and the experiment would work just as well. Of course, money is probably made out of a different type of paper now so who knows if it's more or less flammable.
 
If the Lone Ranger got his "silver" strait from the "silver mine" chances are what he was shooting was mostly lead.
The effort and cost to extract silver from ore is one of the reasons people think silver will sooner or later spike.

I'll make sure and tell him the next time I see him. He may be able to retire from the Rangers.
 
If I missed the explanation excuse me but why on earth would you want to do this? Is this just one of those "because I can" things?

What a waste of increasingly valuable silver.

Dave
wouldn't be a waste, and would still be silver, if you never ran into a werewolf or vampire and didn't have to shoot them.

d
 
Question 1. Does silver solder contain elemental silver?
Question 2. Could I fill hollow point bullets with silver solder then use the bullets to handload some Werewolf Special cartridges?
 
Your Google Genie at your service.
56% silver in two brands I saw.
The last chapter of the Briggs article describes silver nose bullets.

Watch your pocket change, a silver coin will turn up now and then.
 
I still believe patched round balls in a pair of single shots are the way to go if you are actually gonna try this. Would help with engaging the rifling and eliminate some hardness concerns. Still be lighter than lead though.

plus it has more historic appeal being that werewolves, vampires, etc go back over a few hundred years.

d
 
Electroplating, or silver plating. I have had 6 bullets .451" set aside for about 10 years
now to have them silver plated & then I will - was goanna- might- put them in 45 colt .452"
with no powder & a dead primer. Just for show.
Then a Werewolf showed up & bit me.:evil:
 
The question reminded me of this werewolf story by science fiction author James Blish, which I have not read for years and years (the link is to a summary of the story, not the story itself): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_Shall_Be_No_Darkness#:~:text="There Shall Be No Darkness,as The Beast Must Die.

I think there was a remark in the story about the "makeshift silver bullets" ruining the bores of some the rifles they were used in, but I have no idea if Blish knew what he was talking about. On the other hand, the story may have contained a reference to the T25 rifle (https://www.forgottenweapons.com/m14-development/t25/), so Blish may have known something about guns.
 
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