How-To Hollow Based Lead Slugs

[rna_duelers]

I've been making a heap of rounds for my new copper musket and I have perfected a way to make Hollowed Based Slugs.The hollow base is supposed to help the slug have a more stable flight,this is much like the design used in some shotgun slugs.

What You will Need

-Hammer
-Lead Sheet
-Electric Drill
-Drill Bit,the same ID as your pipe
-length of pipe Same as your barrel
-Hole Punch
-Shaping Die
-Metal Rod,2millimeters thinner then the I.D of your barrel
-Scissors
-Grease/vaseline

1.First of you are going to need to make your shaping die,which is important to get the initial shape of your rounds.I used an old axe head to make my die.Drilling a hole in your piece of metal till the head of the drill bit has disappeared you only want this to be about 1-2millimeters past the cutting head.

2.The Metal Rod you are going to use is going has to be rounded on the head so use a file and some sandpaper to get it nice and rounded smooth,this is going to give the hollow bas of the round.

3.The round I make are for 15mm copper and I happen to have a hole punch that was a perfect fit over the outside of my barrel,the hole punch size you are going to need must be bigger then then O.D of you barrel by about 2 millimeter.

4.Now get your sheet lead and put the hole punch over a section near an edge(so you save your lead by being neat).Punch out a piece nice and slowly,when the punch has cut the lead you should end up with a convex disc.

5.With your disc of lead place the convex side down in your die and place your metal rod in the center and carefully tap the disc down into the die.It should take on slightly deformed flower shape when it touches the bottom of the die.Carefully take out the shaped lead,this may require a tap on the side of the die with a hammer or tweezers but more then often they come out very easily.

6.Now place your piece of lead in the piece of pipe same as your barrel and get the metal rod and apply plenty of grease to both the lead and pipe.Now slowly and carefully tap the piece of lead down into the pipe trying to keep it as straight as possible.Follow tapping it till it has reached the end of the pipe and remove it from your pipe.

7.Trim the rough edges with your scissors and you are ready to shoot!Make sure you have the hollow at the base .



Trouble Shooting

I Can't find Lead Sheet-Try getting some sinkers and beating them into the die,you will need to remove excess lead and there is a higher chance of the round getting stuck in the die,which requires it to be drilled out.You could also try making some lead sheet as well by beating large sinkers flat until they are about 2 millimeters thick.

The rounds cut when I tap them through the tube-Did you apply enough grease to both areas?You can also try tapering the tube outwards slightly if you have a way possible,but I did not and it would make it much essayer if you could.Remember,Practice Makes perfect here,it takes a while to get the hang of making these but after a few tries you will be able to reproduce these easily.

The Rounds always stick in the Die-You could be hammering them into the die to hard,the die gives the rounds shape easily as lead is soft.The lead doesn't need to be smashed into shape.

Any thing you would like added or don't understand? P.M me or contact me on. MSN Goth_thugg@hotmail.com and there is an underscore in there.

[Killjoy]

I've been looking foreward to this all day. Any chance for a few pictures of the process?

[rna_duelers]

Have a look now .

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

I think you're going to need them a bit longer than that to be effective both at sealing in the barrel and for stable flight. If I could make a suggestion as per the diagram, first hammer the lead into a cylinder that fits the bore exactly, then drill out the base for a hollow tail. A simpler way of doing this if you have the facilities is to just drill a calibre sized hole into a chunk of metal.

[rna_duelers]

I made these with what I could,this works for me as for now but time will tell.I'll keep experimenting.

[Killjoy]

Cool, looks good. They might need to be made a little longer like JSR mentioned, but if they work, who cares. But it never hurts to experiment.

[Carlman]

do they tumble at all in flight or do they fly true?

[rna_duelers]

I'm testing them tomorrow.So I will know then.I'm going to be shooting into ballistics gel so I will be able to see how they fly when I see them imbedded in the gelatin.

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

The look too short aerodynamically to fly straight so if I were you I would test at longer range to see if they're tumbing.

[Carlman]

The look too short aerodynamically to fly straight so if I were you I would test at longer range to see if they're tumbing.

yea that is what i was thinking, they are wider almost wider than they are long so they may tumble.

PS: when i first looked at this post i looked at the pictures first, and i thought the hole in the axe head was a damage pic lol

[psycix]

They look too short indeed.
Maybe you could cast some hot glue, candle wax or epoxy behind it to create a slug with lead on the front.

Like this:
===>

Where "==" is a cillinder of casted stuf and the ">" is your lead.

[Carlman]

i think that defeats the purpose of this ammo though. Just a longer lead slug to begin with will be just fine, as a general rule i think the length should be more than the width for a straight flying slug.

[Hotwired]

If I could make a suggestion as per the diagram, first hammer the lead into a cylinder that fits the bore exactly

Lead doesn't bind to itself through hammering, has to be a molten lead job for a good cylinder.

But yeah, having a cylinder and then drilling it out is what I'd back for making a hollow tailed lead slug.

[judgment_arms]

Drilling out a cylinder and getting the hole centered would be almost too much hassle for what it’s worth, particularly if it’s for a smoothbore.

Try using a deeper hole in the die to get a more conical bullet.


Or do what 90% of the armies that used musket did: shoot buck and ball loads, that is, 1 round ball of approximately equal diameter to the bore of the musket (usually .69dia) and 3-6 balls of “buckshot” (~.36dia).

Bean thin’in’ about doin’ that for a paintball musket, one .68dia (standard) paintball plus three or six .24dia (6mm) paintballs


Would .535dia minie ball be too big, and if so would a .495 one be to small?

If one of the two would work then you could get a bullet mold from MidwayUSA.com (I think they still got ‘em).

You might have to go with .495dia and swage out the base a little.