Can anyone out there cast silver bullets for me?

[Lead Waster]

So if we hear about a new Supervillan who's calling card is silver bullets, we'll know who to look for! (Some guy on the internet named Sammy LOL!)

[spacecase0]

if they are for show, silver plate is kind of easy to set up,
I use to silver plate things all the time,
it is fun
a silver plate bullet would be very easy to make once you get things set up,
I can likely make you a few if I can find my silver nitrate,
I think I even know where I put it.

[Hooligan]

...the best 50 cal bullets were made from turned STEEL.
...
I shoot turned solid copper bullets

Instead of casting the silver- why not lathe turn it?

Guess you would have to cast some sort of ingot first. But turning would eliminate the need for a precisely measured cast.

[Texas Boy]

First one is a jeweler, might be a little pricey...

Second is a person who had the same idea as you...

http://www.bulletforge.com

http://www.patriciabriggs.com/books/...rbullets.shtml

The 2nd link was a very interesting read, explaining the history of silver and how the whole silver bullet story came into existence. It also chronicles the huge effort to produce a decent looking silver bullet and the ballistic testing of said bullet. Needless to say, the accuracy was horrible, and the expansion non existent.

So the next time you hear someone refer to a solution as "the silver bullet" you will know it is a) near impossible to implement and b) doesn't work for crap.

All that said, I can total see why Lone Ranger fans and werewolf genre fans would want to have a few as a conversation piece.

[a.tinkerer]

Tell this to the hundreds of tons of big game killed with barnes copper solid bullets (and similar mono-solids)

That is my point... copper is only the jacket... what makes bullets travel distance is the weight of the lead contained therein. Without that density, fast moving bullets slow WAY down, very quickly.

Cheers
Tinker

[Bongos]

it should still take out any decent sized vampire.

Ahhh Werewolf... DUh

oops I guess it was mentioned

[guile_99703]

Here's an idea, if it hasn't been mentioned yet (sorry if it has)..

Why not find copper rings/washers (like those used to seal up hydrolysis connections) that are the same outside diameter (of just slightly larger) as the diameter of the "driving bands" (is that the right name?) cavity in the mold. Insert them before casting the silver..

If it worked the way I would imagine, the rifling of the barrel would engage predominantly copper.. Making the hardness of the silver slightly less an issue as it should ride on top of the rifling being the narrower part of the bullet.

The key would be to completely fill the bands in the mold with copper so it is still exposed after the bullet's cast... I'm sure your machinist friend could get the copper washers to fit the mold quite well.. Might also want to bevel/chamber the inner opening to lessen the chance of gas pockets in the final casting.. You probably want atleast twice as much copper buried in the silver as exposed beyond it, and square corners on the outer edge of the driving bands might not be good either (in case they manage to role due to the shrinkage of the silver)

Reading that article mentioned earlier it sounds like you would want to soot up your mold with a carbonizing flame, add your copper bands, then slowly heat it to as much as you dare (800 degrees+?) before making the pour... You'll probably want to cool it pretty slowly too (don't know how well molds will hold up under those temps especially if its traveling through broad temperature ranges quickly)..

My experience with silver solder, though it was unlikely very pure (so might not be applicable) is that the stuff is very, very hard and resists deformation far more than tin/zinc/lead/copper.. My biggest concern would be that it simply would put up too much resistance in the barrel leading to excessive chamber pressures if this isn't accounted for.. Copper bands should help reduce that at least somewhat... Might save you a barrel too... Though I would load it to the lower end (published/reliable) specs of a 260gr projectile with the slowest burning powder I could find (reference all the possibility's with a powder list and pick the data for the slowest burning powder) Might just give you enough a margin to spare your hands/face/gun....

You realize that gold on the other hand is almost a perfect match for lead... If you want precious metal bullets that would be the way to go, having essentially the same density, strength, and malleability (should have nearly identical expansion/weight retention as lead). Not to mention that it probably wouldn't last long in evidence storage if they ever had to dig it out of anything... (insurance policy that could keep you out of jail if nothing else worked in your favor).

Don't forget you could use a platinum core too, it would give it greater mass and penetrating power... (precious metal equivalent of a tungsten core)

[MrNiceGuy]

I was gonna load up some silver buck or slugs....just in case......

[Mikeb]

I use Oregon Trail bullets in .45. There is not much silver in them but enough for most werewolves vampires and zombies. They may require a double tap...
so practice
Mike