Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting Just for fun Casting Silver bullets ?

OK
just for fun
casting Pure Silver bullets.

My thoughts are if you cast them in brass or steel molds they would probably fuse the molds together just like solder.

My guess is that you would have to cast them like jewelry in investment type casting or machine them.

Anyone on the Fire ever try casting Pure Silver Bullets just to have one?

I did some round balls, years ago, just for the heck of it, it did not hurt the cast iron mould. You would probably want to soot the mould first.

It can be done. It's been done fairly often. Successfully is another matter.

There are magazine articles on it. Lots of material to be found with Google and some at Castboolits. For giggles see Lone Ranger Go Away by Jack Lewis from the April 1964 edition of Gun World in the middle of the last century.

Using strictly lead equipment and temperatures flat doesn't work. For a one off try a torch but don't expect it to work. The Lone Ranger could not have done it with portable equipment let alone over campfires.

Silver's melting point is way too high for a lead pot - needs foundry equipment to get maybe 2000 degrees and when you're done with a lead bullet mold the bullet is way under size and too hard to upset and obturate. Mostly looks wrinkled and often cools too quickly and in zones. Like zinc diecasting metal - pot metal - a pointed design like the Lyman 356402 just might give good penetration on steel or body armor.

As you say jewelry equipment or plating or finding one of the old Railway Express marketing silver bullets or machine one.

That pretty much mirrors my experience. I had the bright idea to make silver bullet necklaces, and started out with an RCBS 230gr double cavity .45ACP mold. I melted a couple silver quarters in a small iron crucible with an oxy-acetylene torch. Even with the mold preheated darn near red hot, the bullets were wrinkly as heck, and the sprue plate wouldn't cut the sprues. I wrecked the sprue plate in the process, and discovered that the shennanigans warped the mold blocks too. So much for that folderol!

I have all of the equipment to investment cast gold silver and platinum but I have not used it for 2 decades.

Casting in investment is a lot of work compared to lead molds but it is cleaner and more controlled.

I was just hashing around with my girl friend about the silver bullet thing and it got me wondering how many on the fire have tried it.

Thanks for the info. If I do some I will do them the jewelers way.

Cast from lead free solder will look like silver and be cheaper.

Wax is the way to go. My stuff is about 20/25 years old also.
Was fun to buy gold back in the day, make a mold, then cast.
Did find out I was one bad artist. Liked the tech more than the design.

I think we must be twins.

Same here.
I cast up a bunch of sleever bars and spud wrenches in gold and silver to sell to the iron workers that I working with and they were very hard to get right.

I am NO ARTIST but I like the toys what every trade they are for.

If you ever get it worked out I would 'kill' for a handful of 38 caliber silver bullets.

If and when I do try and make some. I think that I will cast up some lead first and then cast them into the jewelers investment , cook that and then cast silver just like jewelry.

I need to get the gumption up first.

I have not played with my jewelry equipment for many many years.

I think you could sell a bunch, if people could 'load' them.

Got a vampire problem around your house down there?

Werewolves, silly.

I thought they were best hunted in night time London...

The Lone Ranger used them didn't he.

And I gota few neighbors that could pass as Werewolf's.

Cast wax in a standard mould and make a wax tree with several wax bullets. I don't see why it wouldn't work.

I was thinking just cast them out of lead then make the tree out of several different size slugs.

When you put it in the kiln just start with a low heat melt out all of the lead and reclaim it and then turn it up for the silver.

For me that would be less of a chance to mess up the slugs before casting.

Wax can be touchy with scrapes and dimples when you mess with it to much.

You can't do it.......

Just get some silver bars and a mini lathe...

That would work, if I knew how to work a 'mini lathe'