Thermite = ammo? Hear me out.

[paaiyan]

SO I just saw the topic on whoever is was that made the 19mm fin-stabilized, discarding sabot steel round. That made me think of an idea, for those of us with cannons powerful enough to chuck a steel projectile at a high velocity that is. Would it be practical to make a, say, clay version of a round you want to fire, harden the clay, use it to make a mould from something, then use iron from a thermite reaction to fill the mould? You could make pretty much any round you wanted that way.

Obviously you'd need a mould that wouldn't incinerate or crack from the heat. I just wanted to see if you guys thought it might work?

[BC Pneumatics]

God knows I am not wasting quality Al powder on a cast iron slug.

[paaiyan]

It's not like it's that expensive. And you don't use that much. Maybe a quarter of an ounce for a reasonably-sized projectile.

[BC Pneumatics]

What use do I have for a single projectile? Not to mention I have a lot of powder, so I do not want to buy more, but I am certainly not using 2 micron for thermite.

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

It would be easier (and predictable of me to suggest it ) to use a simple piece of steel rod or heavy bolt as a core and build up the outer body and fins with an epoxy casting.

[psycix]

Why not cut such a rocket-shaped projectile with fins from a potato?

But actually, it is not a bad idea, as long as you have way too much thermite lying around. For the rest of us: its a waste of thermite.

You could better just melt lead or alluminium to cast projectiles.
Cheaper, easier, doesnt need a superheatresistant mould.

[paaiyan]

Why not cut such a rocket-shaped projectile with fins from a potato?

But actually, it is not a bad idea, as long as you have way too much thermite lying around. For the rest of us: its a waste of thermite.

You could better just melt lead or alluminium to cast projectiles.
Cheaper, easier, doesnt need a superheatresistant mould.

True, but aluminum is lighter than iron, and lead is softer. I admit it's not the easiest way to make a good projectile, but if you really wanted to make a precision round, you could do it. I just wanted to see if you guys thought it was feasible. Practicality is still an issue.

[Antonio]

hey btw I saw these 6mm 0.25g bb balls with fins on ehm. I dont know if they could be of any inspiration as u were talking about 19mm fins lol.

http://rap4.com/paintball/os/rap4-airfi ... -2943.html

[ALIHISGREAT]

hey btw I saw these 6mm 0.25g bb balls with fins on ehm. I dont know if they could be of any inspiration as u were talking about 19mm fins lol.

http://rap4.com/paintball/os/rap4-airfi ... -2943.html

i found them a while ago, i'm gonna use them in my 6mm 'sniper'

[Hotwired]

Casting an iron projectile sounds like fun but also sounds impractical compared to sharpening a steel rod and fixing on the finnery.

I've done a bit of simple lead casting and I can get bubbles on the sides even in a cylindrical mould

I'd suspect thin fins on a homemade mould would be more trouble than they were worth.

[quinn whitsitt]

i made a solid steel armor peracing thermite incedary tracer for my spud once and thank you all for making this suggestion and you all should have a great day