Potters clay slug

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KC0QGL

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The wife and I were talking about breaching rounds today. I told her that our borther-in-law (wifes sisters husband) and I are working on making our own dental plaster breaching rounds (just for fun). Then she asked me if potters clay would work? Which got me thinking. I wasn't sure if it would work. I know after clay dries it is still soft like plaster. Untill it's fired in a kiln, then it's like rock. Has anyone even heared of using clay as a slug or shot?
 
Im not sure how well it would work but im pretty sure it would leave quite a bit of residue in the barrel. Im not sure. You would have to be positive that it is exactly round
 
Interesting question, get yourself a shotgun, or shotgun barrel you no longer care about and go to town on it. Be sure to post some nice pictures of the carnage(be it door knob carnage or gun carnage).

The one issue I can think of is the problem of weight. Would the clay be heavy enough to do any damage, are you planning on kiln firing it or shooting it out 'wet'? Or would it simply shatter upon impact?
 
shooting it out 'wet'?
I would let it air dry for a few weeks before loading it.
I have test fired dried clay balls out of my wrist rocket beore and they went trought 1/8 inch plywood at 20 feet.
 
I guess I didn't think of that.
A cup should get you out of the barrel just fine.
I'm just worried that if you are out of round you are going to have a pretty solid object clattering down the barrel.

Oh, and a quick addition. Have you ever dropped a clay pot? I think you will be surprised when you get a huge burst of white powder rather than a busted lock.

(edit) Im willing to bet that you could toss it in the oven and have it harder than you could get it via sun drying
 
I kind of always wondered if you could mix up some real fine shot(#12 maybe?) with wax and then use that as a breaching round. I don't have any use for this so i've never tried it.

It seems that the 'sintered metal' breaching rounds are made of powdered metal held in a binder that is sometimes wax. Maybe using that really fine shot would be an easer method for the arm chair commandos out there? Is there a source of powdered lead?
 
I just talked to my wife about the oven. She said it would get it harder. Also it would shrink by 15%.
 
Granular or powdered lead is pretty easy to make. Melt it down and let it cool slowly. All the time it's cooling, keep stirring it with a spoon or something similar. Just below the melting point, it'll start to crumble very easily (I think the stage is referred to as "hot shortness",) It works even better if you scoop out some of the "plasticy" lead and work it across some window screening.

Of course, you really don't want to breath this stuff.
 
It will probably will just explode on contact....
be really careful as in don't stand next to a door and pull the trigger. String?
I have a feel that thick clothes and a face shield are in your best interest if your crazy enough to try it out.

HB
 
I'm very leery of firing this stuff through any degree of choke.

You're on your own here....
 
No. Never heard of it. Not even in the days when they used to use black powder frontloading blunderbusses, and loaded them with rocks, scrap metal, whatever came to hand.

Doesn't mean it never happened, of course- just means I never read about it anywhere.

'Scuse me for asking, but 1)what do you plan to need to breach, and 2)why not just use proven commercial breaching rounds? Breaching isn't something to be taken so lightly, especially if there's something or somebody on the other side of the door in question.

lpl
 
Umm... #8 or 9 birdshot is what I've been trained on for breaching. A good friend of mine is a certified Royal Arms Breaching Instructor, and his trainer told him that one normal doors, there is very little to be gained with specialty breaching rounds, but a lot of LE guys feel the need to use them for liability reasons. He said that small birdshot is fine. In fact, it is what ballistic breaching was pioneered with.

Until you get up to reinforced or steel doorframes, you don't need a special breaching round. Keep in mind that is is the door frame that you are trying to destroy, not the door and certainly not the lock itself. Ballistic eyewear and very good gloves are an absolute MUST for breaching.
 
If it weighed the right amount, I bet it would work very well. The hangup is in the aftermath, with a dirty , abrasive barrel.

First time, if it the weight matched the charge, sure.
 
Of course, you really don't want to breath this stuff.
Be very careful working with lead, and even more careful making particles small enough to become airborne. I would just advise against working with or making powdered lead.

Really tiny shot, the smaller the better is the safest thing.

Some clays and minerals in them can actualy be very hard even though the clay is not. A good way to scratch the the barrel. You wouldn't want to sand blast the inside of the bore would you?Certainly don't use a a choked gun.


Breeching is not to be taken lightly, use eye protection and heavy clothing/gloves in case of debris and ricochets. Making a habit of doing a lot of it just for fun may eventualy lead to some problem, especialy on something with internal metal like hinges, locks, and reinforcement.

Otherwise the main problem would be the lack of density. You really want something heavy. Lead is very dense. Clay is going to be much less dense, and do a less effective job than the same payload of lead. It will still transfer a lot of energy though so it could be effective enough.
 
Don't fire the clay, that turns it into ceramic. Ceramic is about the same hardness as tool steel, and way more abrasive. IOW, it would really screw up a barrel.
 
Small lead birdshot would work for breaching, but not like one of those powdered breaching rounds. Take a bunch of lead pellets and smash them together hard enough, and they tend to stick together in a solid mass.

I'm guessing a sun-dried clay round would just bust into large-ish pieces, which isn't what you want, if you're trying to replicate the metal dust breaching rounds.
 
Good idea, but think about some fiber reinforcing...

Composite breaching slugs are designed to keep them intact upon discharge in the chamber and bore. If you use plain potter's clay with no reinforcing, it is likely the shock from the dischage will bust it up before it leaves the shotshell. Once busted, it probably won't stay in the cup but fly ahead of the wad and coat the bore. Then the wad follows, scratching the heck out of your bore with the abrasive dust.

Perhaps you can cut up some fiberglass cloth and mix it with the clay to keep it intact until it leaves the muzzle. And definitely use an old barrel.

Post back to tell us how it works. By the way, I like your wife's adventuresome attitude. She contributes to the fun you have in your hobby. She's a keeper.
 
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