Wax Bullets. .45 Colt?

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ndh87

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Im interested in loading some wax bullets to use in my .45 colt. I was looking at the SASS quick draw shooting website and saw that they use wax rounds. Considering the price of lead it seems like wax would be a good way to practice too.

Does anyone know any specifics about loading these rounds? Im already set up to load 45 Colt so the hardware isnt a problem. I might just invest in the brass thats setup for the 209 primers. Do you just have to press the wax rounds in like anything else or is there some heating involved?

any information would be appreciated.


heres a link for the wax rounds.
http://www.banditshooting.com/
 
I have not used the Bandit wax; all my experience is with the C&R wax and shells.

They work very well as long as the range is not more than 10-15 yards. Brass drilled for shotgun primers makes it simple: push a bullet into the case with finger pressure until it is flush with the case mouth. Drop a primer into the case, load, and shoot. The primer will fall out with gravity power and the case is ready to load again. The only real downside is that shotgun primers are loud. I can't use them in my suburban garage as they are essentially as loud as a .22 LR.

So my wax shooting is done mostly with standard cases/primers. The flash holes have to be drilled out so that the primers don't back out and tie up the gun. Prime and deprime with a standard press. I use a decapping-only die so I'm not constantly resizing the case. The bullets have to be pushed all the way into the bottom of the case. Seating them flush with the case mouth results in wildly erratic velocities, bloopers, and bullets stuck in the bore. I use an old bolt with the head turned down in a lathe; the threaded end goes into the drill press and then the drill press handle lowers the rounded-off bolt head into the case, forcing the wax all the way down.

It all works, but is obviously a bit of a pain.

The only other consideration is cleaning. C&R recommends the bore be cleaned every, IIRC, 50 rounds, using hot water and a brush. I have one gun set aside for wax and have found that it never needs to be cleaned except before shooting standard rounds through it. The wax seems to build up to a certain point and then becomes self-limiting, kind of akin to the .22 LR situation. It may be safe to fire standard ammo through a waxy bore, but I'd hate to find out that it isn't.

HTH!
 
in a nuttshell here you go.

You take some .452 molds. coat the inside with vegetable oil. A light coat but make sure its well coated. Then you heat up a glue gun. Yep those cheap glue guns you see at stores. once it comes to temp fill the mold cavity with the wax (glue). Use a rubber band to keep the mold haves together and put it in the freezer to let it cool down. Once it cools down you may have to use a razor blade to cut the back side to make sure it is flat. Now after you shoot do not size the cases. Take a drill and drill out the primer pocket with about 1/8 drill bit. Then prime them with normal primers and load the glue bullets. I cant say its a lot cheaper. The benefit is that you could load up a revolver in your back yard and shoot them at a cardboard box with a plywood back. then after you shoot 6 rounds. Go get the glue bullets. deprime the shells and reload again.

On castboolits.com there is an article on it.
do a search on here for gluebullets and wax bullets you will see some old threads
 
The Cast Boolit folks swear that the hot glue bullets work fine, and I believe them. I just can't imagine going through all that trouble when wax costs $25 per 1000 shipped.
 
The Cast Boolit folks swear that the hot glue bullets work fine, and I believe them. I just can't imagine going through all that trouble when wax costs $25 per 1000 shipped.
Click to expand...

because the glue bullets are reuseable wax bullets are not really
 
$25 per thousand, shipped. :neener:

I still haven't tried the "foam ear plug" bullets yet. They would probably be scads of fun to shoot at the local mouse population -- and I'll bet the mice would be reusable too!
 
Wax.

Hey There;
I too drilled out the primer holes. (keep them away from real loading)
I melted wax in a pan about 1/2" or deep. I have at times just set the cases in the melted wax and wait till it cools then twist the brass and pull it out.
No matter how you go about it, it works . They are very strong and would really hurt. They cut thru news paper very well. And in the .45 and 38s they seem to be accurate at close ranges. They are loud.
Never try to reload real bullets after drilling that primer hole.
 
If you load a live round in a case with an enlarged primer hole the pressure will spike quicker.
I use .45 caliber plastic bullets from Speer in .45 Automatic, .460 Rowland, and .45 Colt and I did not drill out the primer pocket.
With just a primer the plastic bullet will go through a magazine and into a cardboard box.
They would hurt bad and they are hard enough to reuse.
 
ndh87...Drill out your .45 Colt case primer flash holes. Press in either a magnum or standard primer (preferably a magnum primer). Warm up a rectangular canning parifen block (3 to 4" long by 2 to 2 1/2" wide and 1/2" thick) until it is just pliable and push the primed case into the parifen (like a cookie cutter). Use a match or lighter and just warm the case mouth enough to just barely melt the edge of the parifen to seal the case mouth. Shoot'em and reload them again...Good for about 15 to 20 feet. Will sting the hell out of a stray dog in your yard and make the sound of a BB gun...

Must warn you though...They sure wax up a barrel...Messy...

As long as you don't drill it too over sized it will have no or little effect on the case when loaded with powder and lead bullets. Winchester has been using enlarged primer flash holes in some of its eco friendly cartridges. Drill it no larger then 1/8" to 9/64" and you'll be just fine either way...
 
enlarged primer holes.

Hey there:
I have never seen an 1/8" primer hole in any factory ammo. An 1/8" hole will help push the wax bullet out with more volume and less PSI. Just the opposite is true when useing real loads with powder in there. But then I am sure someone will try it.
I did. It will smoke up the back end pretty good. Gas can and does get around the primer.

I too have used the plastic bullets in a .38.... They hit hard...
 
Or another way is to; with flashole enlarged (for revolvers), unsized case, put a wad cut from a hollow hole punch, push it right down into the case (unprimed, at this stage) light a candle over a case and drip the wax into it (only fill upto halfway for long cases like 357mag), after they are cool then prime CAREFULLY with mag primers if possible. Those suckers punch a hole straight through an empty soda can at 10 yards in my 357mag and 45acp. Good indoor/garage practice on rainy days.
 
I found some glue sticks that are a snug fit in 45 colt cases that have been fired,gonna chill them in the freezer to see if they'll bo in easier.

this could be fun !
 
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SASS#23149 - My option would be to size those cases, if you can still push the glue bullets in by hand, being that they are only primer propelled ammo your not trying to ignite powder so either way should give results.
Be sure to enlarge the flashole for revolvers, otherwise the primers back out and bind up the cylinder.
If you do size them cases first, try a very slight bell on the case mouth to aid loading.
 
:( :(

I enlarged the flash hole,loaded a chunk of glue stick,primed with win Mag/Reg primer...don't see how one can do the job of both...and now the 'bullet' is STUCK STUCK STUCK in the barrel.

gottta get to work,I"ll get it out tomorrow.

am going to buy some Federal Magnum primers to try.
 
SASS#23149 - It sounds to me that those glue sticks maybe too hard (and tight fitting in the barrel) to be pushed out by just the primer, shotshell primers might an option though.

Or just use the wax slugs.
 
Way too easy. You obviously haven't been reading. You need glue sticks, Lee molds, plastic bullets, special cases, razor blades, drill bits, and some kind of license too, I think.

Just buying inexpensive stuff that works really well and is easy to use... obvious newbie.
 
OK,got me some parafin wax...and they WORK :)

got some parafin and some magnum primers,shot a few and they were fun !!
The magnum preimers also will shoot chunks of glue stick,where as regular primers just got the 'bullet' lodged TIGHTLY in the barrel.

next,SHOTGUN PRIMERS HEHEHEHE

Man oh man,my winter project is now laid out befor me..figureing out parafin vs. glue stick slugs..

and of coure the fps,ballistic coefficient variables of each,etc etc etc

LOL like a loon !!!!!!!!!!! :) :)

I"ll have target pics up soon.
 
Quote:
The Cast Boolit folks swear that the hot glue bullets work fine, and I believe them. I just can't imagine going through all that trouble when wax costs $25 per 1000 shipped.

because the glue bullets are reuseable wax bullets are not really



it all about recycling...it is for the children....
 
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couldn't the used wax bullets be melted down and be made into...


more wax bullets?

and we could add green foo dye...for the children.
 
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