View Full Version : Making own bird/buckshot?
pullnshoot25
05-17-2007, 8:55 AM
How does one go about making their own bird/buckshot? I see these huge shot towers made a long time ago to make such munitions but is that really necessary? Do you have to have a huge tower to make shot or can one make it in their garage using a normal table or special stand as elevation? Where can I find information on making my own bird/buckshot?
ibbryn
05-17-2007, 9:21 AM
First you build a huge tower....
I'm hardcore about some of my hobbies but this might be one of those areas where you get more effecient cost=value ratio by buying the ready made stuff.
I admire your dedication. Have fun!
Outlaw Josey Wales
05-17-2007, 11:17 AM
I recently read about this very subject on either Remington or Winchester's website. Anyhow a measured amount of molten lead is dropped from like 70 feet down into a water tank where it cools. On its decent the shape of the lead becomes perfectly spherical in addition to the lead becoming hard enough to maintain this shape. It was a pretty interesting read, never imagined that manufacturing buckshot was that complex.
shonc99
05-17-2007, 11:36 AM
The thing I would try is to fabricate a steel pipe that is tall and filled with water. The main variables are the size of the holes in the tray above and how far they drop before hitting water. In most of the online info the shot fell pretty far before being caught in a water tray, not actually falling through a tube of water.
Also, air is used to slow the falling of the shot. Perhaps you could shoot air up a pipe (without water) and see if that reduces the need for a taller tube.
sargenv
05-17-2007, 1:09 PM
I do believe that modern buckshot is swaged and not dropped from a shot tower. All of the buckshot I've bought in recent years has been swaged from lead wire. If you want I'm sure you can find round ball molds in the correct size of buckshot if you wanted to cast it. I don't think it would be cheaper in the long run to make your own.
maxicon
05-17-2007, 1:28 PM
Here's a good description of shot towers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_tower
and the replacement for it for smaller shot, which involves rolling molten lead down a ramp through a liquid with a specific cooling profile:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bliemeister_method
Larger shot are swaged, as sargenv says.
I can't imagine it would be worth the time and trouble to make it, unless you just wanted to do it for the experience.
Rob454
05-17-2007, 2:19 PM
Some things arent meant to be made at home. i think buckshot is one of them. Cheaper to jsut buy a couple of hundred pound bags. Youll probably have it till you die
Rob
megavolt121
05-17-2007, 2:22 PM
http://www.littletonshotmaker.com/
maxicon
05-17-2007, 4:25 PM
Heh! That's pretty cool! I bet you could make your own with a set of his dripper nozzles...
shonc99
05-17-2007, 4:41 PM
While it certainly would be more economical to buy that nifty machine, I'd build something just for the fun of it.....and waste more money and time in the process! :dupe:
But hey, that's the point of a hobby right, to waste extra uneeded time and money:D
vBulletin® v3.8.11, Copyright ©2000-2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.