Home made shot

[tombogan03884]

I was reading a back issue of "Backwoodsman" magazine and ran across an item about a guy who makes his own shot by melting lead through a strainer and letting it drop about 2 inches into a pail of water. he claims it comes out tear drop shaped but has somewhat better performance than round shot as it is more aerodynamic.
I'm interested in hearing the thoughts and comments about this.

[PegLeg45]

Interesting, indeed. Twenty or so years ago, I knew a guy that melted his own shot from old used wheel weights that he got free from tire repair shops.
He did as you explained with the lead, but when time to batch up the shot loads, he also mixed in a proportional amount of solder that he also melted into a cup of water with a soldering iron.
He said the mixture of heavy lead shot with the lighter shot made from silver solder helped his patterns.
I don't know for sure, though, because I never shot any of his loads.

Sounds plausible.
There are some companies now that put light weight silica ballast in amongst the shot as a buffer. They say it helps the patterning.
But I surely am not an expert on shot making by any stretch of the imagination.

I too would also be very interested in the application side of this theory, if there is someone who might try it.

[TAB]

I've shot some stuff that is simlar... lets just say it patterns like shit.  Lead is currently ~$.75/ lb  

I just reloaded 1500 16 ga shells, and it was cheaper for me to buy 1 oz target loads in 12 ga, cut them, save the lead and powder, then it was for me to just buy the lead.

[Big Frank]

Making your own bullets makes a little bit of sense but never thought shot would be worth it.

[TAB]

Making your own bullets makes a little bit of sense but never thought shot would be worth it.

standard lead shot is running ~$2/ lb   lead is only ~ $.75/ lb.   So there is money to be saved.

[Sponsor]

[tombogan03884]

standard lead shot is running ~$2/ lb   lead is only ~ $.75/ lb.   So there is money to be saved.

still doesn't seem worth it unless you get the lead for free, or just want to be able to say you did.

[Big Frank]

I didn't realize shot cost that much more than lead. I just assumed lead went way up like all other metals. I don't have a place I can safely melt lead anyway so it's something I'll never do. But wouldn't it take a lot of homemade shot to offset the price of all the equipment?

[tombogan03884]

I didn't realize shot cost that much more than lead. I just assumed lead went way up like all other metals. I don't have a place I can safely melt lead anyway so it's something I'll never do. But wouldn't it take a lot of homemade shot to offset the price of all the equipment?

No equipment, just a burnz omatic torch a pair of pliers and a hunk of lead, my original post was wrong, he does not use a sieve, he just holds the piece of lead with the pliers and lets the drops fall into what looks like a V-8 juice can (no. 10 ?).  If any one is that interested I can scan the article and send it to you if you send me a PM

[blackwolfe]

I know guys who "mined" the berms at ranges for the lead to cast bullets from.  I guess you could also mine the skeet and trap ranges and use differant size sieves to seperate the shot.  Iv'e been told that once years ago the shotgun ranges at my sportsman club did mine the ranges.  I imagine they would have to have had heavy use to make it worth while.

[TAB]

reclaimed shot also patterns like shit.( made that mistake once... never again.)

when you think about it, if you could produce your own shot, you would save $2/ box.  which for some one that shoots several thousands of shot a year it would be worth it.  For me its not.  As it stands right now, I could buy 12 ga target loads for cheaper then I can reload them for,  that is not the case with 16 ga.