Home Forums Reloading Shotshells Anyone make their own shot?

I’ve acquired around 600 lbs of lead and a 55 gal drum full of wheel weights. Interested in making my own shot. Need to melt all the wheel weights down into ingots but not sure when I will find the time to do it before the snow flies. Interested in what machine to get and what you guys use for coolant.

The Littleton Shotmaker company was bought out by Magma Engineering but heard magma went tits up. So I don't know what's availible anymore. When you reprocess those wheel weights make sure you separate out the ones with zinc in them..mb

Already went through the whole drum and checked for zinc weights. I am not sure when they went to zinc but this drum came from a tire shop that closed I. The late 70’s

Prolly ok but a another guy told me the newer zinc weights have a small content marking on them. If you were to smelt about 10 #'s or so about 3 times to clean it and Flux the impurity out try to find a salvage dealer who has a analyzer to check the make up on it. Good Magnum shot runs about 4% antimony content. Mb

Go on YouTube and look up Danny Roberts shot makers. He has a bunch of videos on how to make the shot maker or he sells them already made. You can also find him on facebook.

too time consuming.
i sold all my shot making stuff off long time ago.
its not as easy as they make it out to be.

btw...zinc is best used for fishing weights, not shotguns.

How long to make, say 100lbs? Just curious - doing the math vs buying 100lbs...

600 pounds of lead would make about 24 bags of shot. 384 boxes of one ounce loads. About 18 months worth for me. Too much work and hazard. Sell the lead, buy your shot. Shoot and be happy

My dad is retired and often bored. I'd love to sit him down with 1000 lbs and a dripper to make enough for both of us to shoot.

I've been making my own shot since sometime in the '80s. I currently use a Littleton. Back when I was competing in registered Trap and Skeet, I was making about 700 lbs of shot every year.

Making the 27 yard line in Trap and the State Skeet teams felt that much better by shooting my homemade shot.

Danny Roberts has a Facebook Shotmaking group, where he sells his own shotmakers, along with plans on how to build them.

Thanks I’ll check out Danny’s shotmakers

Been making mine for about 10 years now I think, haven't had to cast any for a while , but we are down in inventory , so will get after it again this winter.
We use reclaimed lead from our indoor range these days.
Cat

My sorce for wheelweights pretty much dried up. You have enough to do most people a long time but Might check availability of lead before you buy a shotmaker. I gave my Littleton away when i could no longer find a good source for lead.

Yup the lead is now the tough part of the equation.

I have around 800 lbs now plus the 55 gal drum full of wheel weights