Paraffin Wax Reloads

[Obturation]

Tape decreases the size: used to make slightly (thickness of the tape X 2) smaller "bullet".

I disagree. The mould halves will be slightly (the thickness of the tape) further apart , that makes the cavity larger . no one puts tape in the cavity, that would make some deformed bullets that would be smaller. The tape us applied to the flat areas between cavities. As I've said , I haven't needed to do this and I'm not experienced in casting but I have tinkered with it some.

 

[Jim Watson]

Known for some reason as "Beagling".
Apparently a slightly out of round bullet that fills the grooves is better than undersize.

 

[Obturation]

Known for some reason as "Beagling".
Apparently a slightly out of round bullet that fills the grooves is better than undersize.

I believe the intention is to then size the (lead) bullet which should force it concentric.

 

[whughett]

Or you could just order wax bullets from the Cowboy Fast Draw Association. One can even order brass drilled out for shot shell primers. I plan on drilling out a few 38 Special cases. A small notch filed into the rim identifies it.

 

[PWC]

I disagree. The mould halves will be slightly (the thickness of the tape) further apart , that makes the cavity larger . no one puts tape in the cavity, that would make some deformed bullets that would be smaller. The tape us applied to the flat areas between cavities. As I've said , I haven't needed to do this and I'm not experienced in casting but I have tinkered with it some.

Stated that way, used as a separator between the mold halves, yes, it will increase the size of the out of round (but not by much) bullet.

When I first read your post, I thought you meant rubbing the tape into the cavity (what a lot of work).

 

[Trashyshoots]

I get pretty good results with hot glue bullets. Get a bullet mould and a hot glue gun and make some up, use a primer only and it is a good idea to open flas hole some. 25' accurate and will completely pass through a full can of pop. I've been tinkering with this on and off for years.

As with all load data, you must use your own judgement and only use published data. If you load something that isn't published you must accept all responsibility for whatever happens.

Here are a few of my goofy plinkers-
View attachment 907144
On the left is a 38 sp case cut down to seat the glue bullet directly on the flash hole, it makes it a little quieter but not really worth the extra effort. The one on the right is unmodified 38 sp case with the same glue bullet from a 158 swc lee mould.

That is actually really really neat.

 

[loneviking]

Or you could just order wax bullets from the Cowboy Fast Draw Association. One can even order brass drilled out for shot shell primers. I plan on drilling out a few 38 Special cases. A small notch filed into the rim identifies it.

I did that. Their wax bullets are pretty hard and I haven’t had a problem with them gumming the gun up. A few tips..

You don’t have to drill the flash hole out. Just primer, insert and go. Some say that you have to put the wax bullet in first or you’ll push your primer out of its pocket, but I haven’t had that happen. Without the flash hole drilled out, these are about like an air soft round. They are going about 200-250 fps. It’s a lot of fun drawing and snap shooting ping pong balls off a table.

I think the cowboy site says to use a 1/16 inch drill bit to open the flash hole. I have some I did that with, primered them with CCI 550’s and at 21 ft I put dents in my steel garage door. So, be careful, these are flying about 800 fps.

I’ve never tried a shotgun primer, but supposedly the wax bullets get up around 1100 fps with those.

 

[FROGO207]

Take your wooden bullets and seal them. Then wax really well. Build a form around them and place base down. Mix plaster of Paris and pour in. After setting up screw a sheetrock screw into the wood and pull bullet out of mold. Coat mold with cooking spray and fill with hot glue. Use a small flat blade screwdriver and push it into bullet base slightly and twist. Bullet will release. Repeat.
Using hard wax it is better to use a regular bullet mould as they will release better.

 

[Patocazador]

I just bought some of those plastic cases and "bullets" from Speer.
https://www.grafs.com/catalog/product/productId/17388

 

[whughett]

I just bought some of those plastic cases and "bullets" from Speer.
https://www.grafs.com/catalog/product/productId/17388

View attachment 907400

Somewhere I got some of these, or something similar, dating back to the 80’s. I’ll never find them. 50 years in the same house a lot of “stuff” has accumulated.

 

[WheelGunMan]

Straight paraffin.
I figured out pretty quickly I didn't want 100 Patrolmen having to get that stuff out of their revolvers before going back out on the road.
I scrapped that program before it got started and went to plan B.

Now I'm curious... what was plan B?

 

[Iggy]

Plastic bullets..

 

[Rembrandt]

Interesting topic, learned a lot. Years ago I purchased some left over reloading components at a swap meet and found these. Never realized what they were till now....wax bullets.

Suppose you could also make them with a 3D printer.

 

[WheelGunMan]

Thanks for all the great suggestions and cautions!

I now have a little insight on what I want to do. Problem is I'm still 800+ miles from home still and getting all yancy and wanting to go shooting or do something shooting related. Currently hunkered down at my sister-in-law's place in N C waiting for this craziness to end. She lives in a suburban neighborhood so shooting plastic bullets in her backyard is probably not a good idea. There's no room to set up my reloading press and nowhere to go use up the fruits of my labor anyway as everything is closed. My nephew, who lives nearby and whom I planned on spending a lot of time with, is a range officer at Camp Lejeune, but he respectfully stays away from us older folks so as not to pass anything along. I wile away my time doing projects for my sister-in-law. I'm even thinking about removing some doors and rehanging them to keep myself entertained. She did mention that the mice got into her generator and chewed up the wiring harness, so I'll probably tear into that in the coming days.

Of course, there's always YouTube for a fix. Been watching a lot of shooting videos to pass time... found a few new interesting ones I like.


All the snow has melted at home in northern Michigan, and other than still being cold, I could at least get out to my own range and shoot.

Still glad to be on the green side every morning and the weather has been great. Everyone stay safe and healthy.

 

[no.5enfield]

I use the fast draw cases drilled out for 209 primers, along with the bullets they sell. Good for backyard plinking with my son. The wax makes a good ringing sound on the ar500 silhouette and basically disintegrates.