Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Cowboy Action Shooting quick draw wax bullet loads

I went by my shooting club today to watch the gentlemen and ladies compete at quick draw. I had never seen a match before and was quite fascinated by the event. I am thinking of participating in one of their monthly shoots to see how I like the game. I was interested in the ammo they were using. It was wax bullets driven by a shotgun primer. Where do you get those cases? I have not been able to find them in any catalog I have. What kind of wax is used for the bullets? The rounds are available at the matches, but I would like to have something else to tinker with.

The cases have to be modified, the "bullets" are made by pushing the unprimed case through a bar of paraffin. You can also use large magnum pistol primers in .45 brass to make loads.

Be aware that wax loads can cause a LOT of damage. My first wife had a horse that kept getting into the fence, so I "brewed" up some wax loads for my .45 Colt. I used a light charge of Unique then filled the case with melted wax. Thought I should test it before shooting the horse in the arse. Had a sheet of 1/2" plywood in the garage, so I shot it at about 10 feet. To my suprise, it went right through! Glad I didn't try it out on the horse!
Virgil B.

NO POWDER for wax bullets, just primer power.

You've got to modify the cases yourself. Either drill out the primer pocket for a shotgun primer or you can use a reguler primer as TLEE said. Even then, you must drill the flash hole to twice the size or the primer will back out a bit. And, no powder.

When we were kids, we got a bunch of the red wax bullets from our Uncle Bill - he always had neat stuff for us. I think CCI used to sell them. We had them in .357, .429 and .454 diameters. We just used them with no powder and a regular pistol primer.

I remember my uncle 'quick-drawing' with wax bullets. One night, after a few jiggers of Early Times, he drew against Paladin on the TV. My aunt never let him live down blowing up that console Quasar picture tube.

Back in junior high I had some plastic cases with plastic bullets that used only a primer and could be reused many times. They shot well out of my Ruger .357 Blackhawk. I would think the modified cases would be quite a hot item with all the cowboy shooting going on these days. I have a drill press and can easily modify the cases if I get into the game.

Notropis.I still have two boxes of those plastic bullets and cases. Speer made them.
I have shot quite a few wax bullets with no modification to cases, using std primers, both rifles and handguns. I use bees wax though,not parafin. Then I use a std decapping die to remove primers and then seat new ones

Oh that is too funny.

I'll bet he lost too.

Now that is funny!

Plastic bullets are still available. http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=315781

They may still make the plastic cases I didn't check that far.
I have some but being married now I don't shoot much in the house anymore.

Yep, they also list the cases as well as .44 & .45 versions.

Another vote for regular primers and paraffin or plastic bullets. No need for shotgun primers. I've had no problems with regular primers for the 20 or so years that I've used wax. They mushroom when shot into water, dent the garage siding, and go right through the girlfriend's favorite, flower-patterned waste basket.

I found bees wax works better than parifin

If you want them already made try C&R Wax Bullets ans Shells

www.gunfighter.com/waxbullets or call 541-575-4241
if you want to learn more about the sport www.cowboyfastdraw.com
Its easier to buy the cases and wax bullet already made, it dosnt cost that much. I picked up a timmer and target and my wife and I practice in our garage all the time, you can barley hear the bank with the doors closed and a fan going to blow away what little smoke there is. lots of luck pard, enjoy!

And its green!

Anyway, I suppose if the sport has a regulation cartrige w shotgun primers, that's the way to go. I've probably been left in the dust of product development again.

When I re-organized my reloading bench over thanksgiving, I came across my speer 38 plastic cases and bullets. I got them as a kid and would shoot them out my dads 38 sp in the backyard. To think they'd sell those things to a kid, and primers in California no less, but that was a few years, er decades ago. I'll have to let the boys shoot them out of the blackhawk in the garage over Christmas break.

And even with primer only power, they will do a fair bit of damage up close. Which means I'll probably have some drywall repairs in the future

Do the folks wear eye protection and shoot at each other?? What's the format and need for wax boolits?

This sounds interesting ... & expensive

Avagadro, I have only been to one match and was fascinated by how it was conducted. Our club has targets about two feet across with a light in the middle that comes on when you are supposed to draw. The target is wired up to a timer that records the time between when the light comes on and when the wax bullet hits. We shoot four people at a time, but they are racing the clock and certainly are not shooting at each other. Eye and hearing protection are worn.

(Avagadro, I have used your famous number on many occasions.)

Many moons ago I shot paraffin bullets in my .357 Blackhawk. As others have said, a primer and NO powder. I don't remember whether I used standard or magnum primers. You can either push the cases through a bar of paraffin, or melt the paraffin, pour it into a flat pan to the required depth and then insert the unprimed cases. Both techniques are a bit messy, but nothing really bad. Wax bullets will damage drywall ...

Ask me how I know.

Thanx for the insight ... thought with the "just Primer" loads it would be like a paintball type of thing ... mask and cathcer chest protector. Gotta admit, that does sound like fun ... little extra motivation NOT to be slow

But the format you mentioned sounds interesting too .... what distance are those targets away from the shooter??

The targets were fairly close, perhaps 5 or 6 yards. My club has another quick draw shoot the day after Christmas that I will be unable to attend. I do plan on giving it a try sometime. It does, indeed, look like a bunch of fun.