Wax Bullets

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I would really appreciate it if you folks would post the process in making wax bullets please.

I never got into metallic reloading, instead shotgun shells.

I have some folks interested in making up these Wax bullets for .38spl.
They have used the Speer Plastic Training Bullets, just with ammo prices and other factors, these Wax Bullets offer a great alternative for them.




Respectfully,

Steve
 
Steve, I never played with wax bullets, but I have loaded those little foam earplugs into 38sp brass with just a primer to push them. Got the idea from a fella in Florida who uses them to shoot rubber duckies in his swimming pool.
 
Fond this with a quick search...

Gary C said:
Then I came across a link that introduced me to wax bullets:
http://yarchive.net/gun/ammo/waxbullet.html
I immediately fixed up 50 cartridges with homemade wax bullets, went out to the back yard
and discovered a cheap and very effective way to practice point shooting. If you reload your
own ammo, wax bullets are are an alternative to expensive ammo and save on gas money by
not having to drive to the range. You don't really have to be a reloader to create your own wax
bullets. The only thing necessary is a hand loader for inserting the primers into the cartridge.
Everything else can be done with hand tools that you probably already have in your tool box.

The sound of a wax bullet being fired is no louder than a cap pistol and you can practice in your
garage if your neighbors live too close for shooting outside. If you shoot indoors, make sure you
have adequate ventilation. Because there is no recoil, your shots will hit low but you can compensate
for this with two targets, one for your sight picture, the other for actual target hits. I was very
surprised at how accurate these wax bullets are.

BE CAREFUL. These wax bullets can penetrate 1/2" wallboard at close range.
Click to expand...
 
I've made wax bullets using a method similar to the one listed in the above link except I didn't drill out the primer pockets and I didn't push the wax rounds in.

I decapped a bunch of 38/357 cases, melted some wax in a pan about 1/2 in, let it cool. Pushed the shells in the wax like a cookie cutter. Pressed in new primers. Good to go.

Shot well over 100 of these and haven't any problems with primers setting back. No problems with accuracy at short distance. They can be loud and they make some smoke.
 
I have never shot wax bullets, but I have made wax gas checks the same way. Make them thin and seat a bullet over them. They will eliminate, and even blow out, lead fouling, but are somewhat of a pain.

I would not think water, hot or not, would get out wax, but someone here will know how.
 
Bill Jordan used wax bullets all the time. Drill out the flash hole to 1/8". Melt wax and pour into a flat tray to 3/8". Use the mouth of the case like a donut hole cutter, or biscuit cutter. Press in a primer and shoot. Used them in my single action pistols when practicing in my garage. Got pretty handy with those pistols.

Punch out the spent primers and repeat.
 
Over on castboolits they have a whole thread dedicated to 'hot glue' bullets, or 'glulets'

I've made them and they shoot well, and are re-usable. I still would NEVER EVER point them at something I did not intend to destroy- but they are great as a gallery load. no recoil.

open up the flash hole in the primer pocket and mark the brass so you don't put it in with regular brass. if you do your life will get interesting.

opening the flash hole keeps the primer from backing out and locking up a revolver.

I use standard primers.
 
I've done the same as plexreticle. A couple of the primers backed out somewhat but only enough to change the feel of the action, never enough to lock up the gun. Accuracy was poor even at 7 yards and I could see the bullets flitting around on the way to the target. I think next time I'll try different bullet lengths (mine were probably 5/8 of an inch long) and maybe add something to soften the wax some.
 
if you do your life will get interesting.
Click to expand...
No it won't.

You need to drill the flash holes out to 1/8" for use with wax bullets.

Many versions of the new "Clean" and "Lead-Free" factory ammo come already drilled that big.

You can reload them with normal power loads just like any other brass.

BTW: Most revolvers will bind up on backed-out primers if you don't drill the cases. It is very hard on DA revolver lock-work to force them to overcome the resistance.

rcmodel
 
We drilled the cases to take 209 primers and loaded wax. They definately have some velocity and would put a hurtin' on any innocent victims.
 
I've shot hot glue slugs. I don't know if they come in a size close to .38 caliber.
The .45" sticks work nicly in a .45 though.
 
The wax you use is paraffin canning wax.

Any gun oil or solvent will take it out in one pass.

Or just leave it in.
It's a pretty good rust proofing lube, and has been used as a base or additive for homemade bullet lube in the past.

Liquid paraffin is Mineral Oil.

rcmodel
 
Steve, I never played with wax bullets, but I have loaded those little foam earplugs into 38sp brass with just a primer to push them. Got the idea from a fella in Florida who uses them to shoot rubber duckies in his swimming pool.
Click to expand...

I am just picturing my grandfather sitting pool side in his swim suit doing this....

That was the funniest thing I have heard all day.
 
I wanna shoot hot glue bullets, how big are the hot glue glue sticks .45"
Click to expand...

They're around .430" ish if I remember correctly. I brought a mic to the store and got the biggest ones. They vary quite a bit from one bag to the next. At 5 paces, they shoot into a tight wad out of my 1911.

Drill the flashhole out to 1/8", stuff a glue stick down the neck and cut it off, prime and fire. I've seen that some people use the hot glue gun and use a real bullet mold to make glue bullets.
 
how do you get them to load in your 1911? Do you put them in the magazine and then rack the slide each time or do you manually load through the ejection port?
 
It's been a couple months and I don't recall. I probably tried to load from the magazine since it's bad to chamber and drop the slide.
 
I shoot wax every day, and to be perfectly honest, I've never had any home made bullets -- made with a number of different published techniques including the ones mentioned here -- that worked as well as the ready-made ones from C&R. At $25 per thousand including shipping, these actually cost less than buying bulk wax.

They also offer shells drilled for shotshell primers, which really do make things easy. Unfortunately they are a lot louder than standard primers, so might not be appropriate for an urban garage.

I don't clean the guns though C&R recommends it -- warming up the barrel with hot water then brushing. They do get cleaned before shooting "real" cartridges, as I worry a bit about increased pressures caused by a bullet running into a bunch of wax in the bore. This may or may not be a legitimate concern, but there you go.

HTH!
 
I too am a wax bullet shooter, yes the primers will back out to a degree. Ya'll are going to laugh, but a friend and I were speculating as to the speed of the wax bullet. So being the redneck that I am, I chrono'd them and was surprised at avg. speed of over 300fps with a Fed primer. I know I should have saved them and used a cci or win. Mac
 
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