Casting silver bullets

j_h_smith · Apr 2, 2017

Here ya go. Everything you asked for.

~~http://www.bulletforge.com/calibers.php~~

Strike that. They are not taking orders at this time.

Sorry.

Blacksmith101 · Apr 3, 2017

To address the bullet hardness issue here is a chart of metal hardness in Moh's Scale:

The Metals Scale of Hardness
Lead – 1.5
Tin – 1.5
Zinc – 2.5
Gold – 2.5 – 3
Silver – 2.5 – 3
Aluminum – 2.5 – 3
Copper – 3
Brass – 3
Bronze – 3
Nickel – 4
Platinum – 4 – 4.5
Steel – 4 – 4.5
Iron – 4.5
Palladium – 4.75
Rhodium – 6
Titanium – 6
Hardened Steel – 7 – 8
Tungsten – 7.5
Tungsten Carbide – 8.5 – 9

Silver is no harder than Copper, Brass, or Bronze. Would you shoot these?
http://www.hornady.com/store/gmx-ammunition
http://www.brownells.com/reloading/...e-bullets-solid-copper-bullets-prod42796.aspx
http://www.barnesbullets.com/bullets/banded-solids/
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/3...er-160-grain-hollow-point-lead-free-box-of-50

Silver bullets will be lighter than the same size and profile in lead. Here are some specific gravities of metals:
Lead 11.35
Silver 10.50
Gold, pure 19.32
Copper 8.89
Brass, cast rolled 8.4 - 8.7
Bronze, 7.9 - 14% Sn 7.4 - 8.9

Google "Lost wax Casting Services" for lots of choices of people who can custom cast in many materials the ones who do jewelry casting will do silver usually sterling but if you want pure ask for "Fine Silver". You could send a wax replica of the bullet you want or send them a metal bullet and they can make a mold to make the wax patterns. He are a few to get you started:
http://www.jccojewelrycastingservices.com/
http://www.rosaryshop.com/resources.php/request/casting
http://www.hutchscasting.com/index.php
http://www.gsjewelrymfg.com/

hodgepodge · Apr 3, 2017

Thanks, that makes sense.

So, if I add tin or antimony, I get a bullet that's as hard as copper because 1.5 + 1.5=3. Good to know.

Blacksmith101 · Apr 3, 2017

hodgepodge said:
Thanks, that makes sense.

So, if I add tin or antimony, I get a bullet that's as hard as copper because 1.5 + 1.5=3. Good to know.

You think that if you melt Copper, Brass, and Bronze together 3+3+3=9 you will have the hardness of Tungsten Carbide? :lol2:

Brass 3 is Copper 3 + Zinc 2.5
Bronze 3 is Copper 3 + Tin 1.5

km04 · Apr 3, 2017

Great Caesar's ghost...I had no idea this would be that hard to accomplish. I just wanted 12 silver bullets made, I would load them myself. I didn't know it was gonna take an act from congress, a nod from the Pope, and promising my first born.....

Mike · Apr 3, 2017

hodgepodge said:
Thanks, that makes sense.

So, if I add tin or antimony, I get a bullet that's as hard as copper because 1.5 + 1.5=3. Good to know.

You're kidding, right?

Are you trying to start something? LOL

Blacksmith101 · Apr 4, 2017

To give a rough price for a custom mold and casting in sterling silver at today's spot price for silver unfinished and unpolished using the numbers quoted on the JCCO web page.

If you supplied them with a 240 grain lead bullet for making the mold it should cost about $45.00 to make the mold for the wax patterns and $50.00 for each silver bullet cast. So your 12 bullets would cost about $600.00 plus the $45.00 for the mold plus shipping and COD fee and you would have them in about two weeks. I assume you would do the finishing because dimensional accuracy is important.

For other bullet weights estimating purposes you could use a figure of about $0.21 per grain of lead bullet weight to get an approximate cost of replicating them in silver plus the mold.

km04 · Apr 4, 2017

Blacksmith101 said:
To give a rough price for a custom mold and casting in sterling silver at today's spot price for silver unfinished and unpolished using the numbers quoted on the JCCO web page.

If you supplied them with a 240 grain lead bullet for making the mold it should cost about $45.00 to make the mold for the wax patterns and $50.00 for each silver bullet cast. So your 12 bullets would cost about $600.00 plus the $45.00 for the mold plus shipping and COD fee and you would have them in about two weeks. I assume you would do the finishing because dimensional accuracy is important.

For other bullet weights estimating purposes you could use a figure of about $0.21 per grain of lead bullet weight to get an approximate cost of replicating them in silver plus the mold.

Maybe I'm just cheap, but that price is inssane!!!!! I have more than enough silver on hand to provide for the manufacture of the bullets. Thanks for the info.

Who'da thunk it would have been this damned hard....not this guy. I really thought it would have been way easier than this. Thank goodness I have the knowledge of you guys at my fingertips.

kohburn · Apr 4, 2017

silver plating instead?

Blacksmith101 · Apr 4, 2017

km04 said:
Maybe I'm just cheap, but that price is inssane!!!!! I have more than enough silver on hand to provide for the manufacture of the bullets. Thanks for the info.

Who'da thunk it would have been this damned hard....not this guy. I really thought it would have been way easier than this. Thank goodness I have the knowledge of you guys at my fingertips.

The price won't sound so bad when the werewolves are chasing you.

Like anything else custom it's not the materials it's the labor. In the 240 gr example it's about $8-$10 worth of silver per bullet.

km04 · Apr 4, 2017

Blacksmith101 said:
The price won't sound so bad when the werewolves are chasing you.

Like anything else custom it's not the materials it's the labor. In the 240 gr example it's about $8-$10 worth of silver per bullet.

Yeah, I know, but that still sounds like an awful lot of money for that.

Brychan · Apr 4, 2017

http://bulletforge.com/calibers.php

Says they are inert but can be reloaded.

j_h_smith · Apr 4, 2017

Brychan said:
http://bulletforge.com/calibers.php

Says they are inert but can be reloaded.

That's an old web page. If you click on any item from that page, you will get the following message.

"Sorry we are not accepting orders at this time "

Brychan · Apr 4, 2017

j_h_smith said:
That's an old web page. If you click on any item from that page, you will get the following message.

"Sorry we are not accepting orders at this time "

Oh well I tried :cool:

Art3 · Apr 4, 2017

Blacksmith101 said:
The price won't sound so bad when the werewolves are chasing you.

Like anything else custom it's not the materials it's the labor. In the 240 gr example it's about $8-$10 worth of silver per bullet.

If that's the case, I wonder if they could be more economically machined rather than cast?

Blacksmith101 · Apr 4, 2017

Art3 said:
If that's the case, I wonder if they could be more economically machined rather than cast?

The problem is finding silver bar stock to start from. Unless you first cast something out of some other silver. Save all the turnings for remelting. But if you buy silver eagles at a premium and turn them into homemade cast ingots you will take a big hit on value and would probably need to pay a assay fee to get someone to buy them back.

Review the video in post #20 they were close and if they had included a sprue and runner system in their mold and added some Borax as flux to their melt they probably would have had better luck. Also if they used an acetylene torch instead of overheating the silver with the home made arc furnace it would have been better.

However I looked up what they appeared to be using for a mold which I believe was Delft Clay and it costs $47.00 a bag + shipping.
https://www.riogrande.com/Product/Delft-Clay/705137

I have done an experimental Lost wax casting using a tomato paste can as a casting flask that was burned out in a couple of flower pots using charcoal briquets and a gravity pour (some people use steam pressure) and it worked for the single piece I tried. I had previous experience using proper equipment before attempting. I used regular commercial investment for making the mold.
https://www.riogrande.com/Product/Kerr-Satin-Cast-20-Investment-2kg/7020992KG
This leads me to believe that it could be done "on the cheap" if someone wished to research the subject and spend some time experimenting. There should be enough information here that along with Google you could try it. PM me with specific questions if necessary.

Alan3413 · Apr 5, 2017

km04 said:
I loved that show when it first came out. To me, it kinda jumped the shark as time went on, but it looks like it might be getting better.

For me it jumped the shark after season 5. Hard to top that.

Casting silver bullets

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