I was just curious to know if anyone casts their big bore slugs with regular bullet molds but uses pure tin instead of lead to get a weight more suitable for air rifles or to make a lead free slug for big game hunting.
Casting big bore slugs from tin
- Thread starter SkwerlSniperTony
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My big bores are capable of 500 gr + bullets. No need to find a different alloy. Lead retains energy MUCH better than a lighter alloy although 2% tin is added to my lead to allow a better fill when casting and produces a projectile less prone to rapid oxidation than pure lead.
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I have been wondering if anybody cast a non-lead slug for the Texan or even tried it. Got a place I might get to hunt but it requires non-lead ammo.
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I'm a big believer in copper bullets for big game hunting, not even from an environmental standpoint, but from a terminal performance and meat loss standpoint, and I've put some thought into the thought of casting non lead for powder burners, but not airguns. As far as powder burning guns are concerned, the main problem is that there aren't any metals other than lead that are castable at lead casting similar temps, have ballistic properties similar to lead, and are affordable. Other than some of the non lead bismuth alloys that are out there, which are more expensive, I think tin is the best you can do. It makes bullets that are approximately 7/11'ths as heavy as lead due to the difference in density, which isn't good for many firearms applications, but I thought it might be better suited to airguns since typically airgun bullets for big bores arent as heavy as typical bullets of the same caliber in firearms. My thinking was you could use the same molds as for rifle bullets, but cast them in tin and have suitable weights for airguns.
Another problem is that tin is a lot harder than pure lead, so you need either a big HP or a big meplat for good performance on game. Finally, if a warden were to ask you about your ammo, you have to somehow prove your gray metal bullets are tin and not lead. In the end you could defend it just fine I'm sure, but you'd have to go through that headache.
Taz, if you end up casting any bullets out of tin. Definitely let us know.
I've also wondered if maybe you could use a paper patch or sabot on a sub caliber copper bullet out of an airgun. A copper bullet of appropriate construction for the impact velocity, weight, and diameter might solve your non-lead problems
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Taz why not try useing a sabot slug with a copper bullet? I did it with my old50 cal dragonslayer bigbore with good results. You may have to do a little modifying to get a perfect fit but its easy.
Edit: Sorry skwelsniper for some reason i didnt read your last paragraph about the sabot. I agree. It does work.
Edit: Sorry skwelsniper for some reason i didnt read your last paragraph about the sabot. I agree. It does work.
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A less dense material would require a faster twist and then there is price.
This chart makes me wonder why we aren't casting 8g~12 Aluminium .22 pellets using molds that were designed for lead at 4 times the weight.
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I thought of using sabots, but since I’m a newbie I wasn’t sure if it would work. Might have to check into it more.
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Yeah in that case I'd look at the copper handgun bullets from Barnes, Lehigh Defense, or Cutting Edge Bullets designed for slow handguns like 45 ACP, 38 special, 9mm, 45 Colt, etc and modify some muzzleloader sabots
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Bullets cast from pure tin would be quite hard. Pure lead allowed with 15 to 20% tin would be better. I have also cast lightweight slugs in my moulds by squirting in hot melt glue. These will be very light weight unless you drop in some additional weight like a buckshot or a steel ball. The hot glue will form a sabot around the steel ball and protect the barrel if done correctly. Be sure to lube your mould with WD40 or other spray lube to keep the glue from sticking in the mould .
Good luck.
Good luck.
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I tried Bismuth and tin, both are tough to cast. When it comes to breaking the sprue bismuth simply crumbles leaving a crystalized jagged edge while tin is hard to shear off. Better amongst both were bismuth which was shiny, uniform and heavy. Next step is Bismuth and tin alloy. The only problem with them is that they are too hard to fit in the barrel. So sealing the barrel is a big question (paper patch maybe). I am into manufacturing custom diabolo pellet swaging kit ( The one with the punch and a press). I have a .357 102 grain 5 cavity block undergoing machining, It belongs to my client from TX who wanted a heavy .357 lead diabolo pellet designed around a JSB head and skirt dia, I will try to make some tin swaged pellets with it. Stamping some skirts in the tin will be tough, but my hardened tool steel blocks are capable in dealing with it. Maybe the tin variant may weigh in at 65-70 grain's.
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yoopper; I was thinking along similar lines as you describe; I face the same problem as the OP; the only place i can shoot i cant shoot lead; and the only lead-free pellet I can find goes only up to .25cal.
As others say, the properties of lead are hard to beat; especially its workability and softness. Many other materials might chafe more in the barrel or damage your rifling.
But why restrict yourself to a single material? Take a piece if threaded metal rod, slightly lower OD than your bore, cut to length, and shrink a piece of PTFE shrink wrap over it? That should give a compliant layer to engage your rifling, cant get lower friction than PTFE, and the threads should hopefully suffice to keep the PTFE in place.
It would require some tinkering to find thread (or rod) diameters in combination with the right shrink tube to get a good fit; but PTFE sitting in a dimpled surface should have quite some give. Copper or steel rods would be obvious choices, but if you can get your hands on a custom mold, you could also cast in zinc, and get it exactly to size including the shrink tube.
This would, (should it work well in practice), be like a regular teflon coated bullet. Potential higher muzzle velocities, and great penetration, though no expansion. But as a variation, your core could also be steel powder fused with some wax, wax-shotgun-shell style, for awesome energy dumping (is this generally accepted practice or a taofledermaus thing? either way a great resource for experimental ammo). Probably still want to do the teflon coating then as steel powder would not be kind to your barrel.
Alternatively, some hard waxes could also be cast around some metal core in an existing bullet mold, along the lines you describe.
Doesnt sound that more labor intensive than casting your own lead; although getting it set up probably requires a lot of tinkering. I dont currently own any big bores myself to test this on but im eager to start tinkering with my budget 25cal.
If anyone has experience or insight along these lines, please let me know!
As others say, the properties of lead are hard to beat; especially its workability and softness. Many other materials might chafe more in the barrel or damage your rifling.
But why restrict yourself to a single material? Take a piece if threaded metal rod, slightly lower OD than your bore, cut to length, and shrink a piece of PTFE shrink wrap over it? That should give a compliant layer to engage your rifling, cant get lower friction than PTFE, and the threads should hopefully suffice to keep the PTFE in place.
It would require some tinkering to find thread (or rod) diameters in combination with the right shrink tube to get a good fit; but PTFE sitting in a dimpled surface should have quite some give. Copper or steel rods would be obvious choices, but if you can get your hands on a custom mold, you could also cast in zinc, and get it exactly to size including the shrink tube.
This would, (should it work well in practice), be like a regular teflon coated bullet. Potential higher muzzle velocities, and great penetration, though no expansion. But as a variation, your core could also be steel powder fused with some wax, wax-shotgun-shell style, for awesome energy dumping (is this generally accepted practice or a taofledermaus thing? either way a great resource for experimental ammo). Probably still want to do the teflon coating then as steel powder would not be kind to your barrel.
Alternatively, some hard waxes could also be cast around some metal core in an existing bullet mold, along the lines you describe.
Doesnt sound that more labor intensive than casting your own lead; although getting it set up probably requires a lot of tinkering. I dont currently own any big bores myself to test this on but im eager to start tinkering with my budget 25cal.
If anyone has experience or insight along these lines, please let me know!
Upvote 0