Wax Ammo

[OPM]

I’ve never seen this before. Can someone please tell me more? From my muzzleloader experience it seems plausible. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySfL1PV8OIM&feature=related

Also, as I was watching that wax video, I saw this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0-UYcR2tEs Does anyone know him? Is this guy on this board? Thanks.

 

[Mike_Diako]

I made a few 9mm wax bullets once. They work pretty well. Quite accurate too. I took some 9mm cases decapped them, tumbled primed and stuck them in a tray of softened wax. Kind of like using a cookie cutter. After they hardened have fun. They can still do some serious damage though. Make no mistake.

 

[OPM]

I made a few 9mm wax bullets once. They work pretty well. Quite accurate too. I took some 9mm cases decapped them, tumbled primed and stuck them in a tray of softened wax. Kind of like using a cookie cutter. After they hardened have fun. They can still do some serious damage though. Make no mistake.

Excellent. Thanks. So just to make sure – I do not need to bother to make 9mm molds like the guy in the second vid? I can just use similar shape projectiles as in the first vid? Also, is it hard to clean this stuff off? Thanks.

 

[greycar]

How to Make and Reload Wax Bullets
Wax bullets provide safe and inexpensive indoor target practice.
By Jeff Hartman
http://www.americanrifleman.org/ArticlePage.aspx?id=2294&cid=32

 

[Mike_Diako]

I basically just made a "wadcutter" bullet. Cleaning is simple. Just run a brush down the bore and follow with some hoppes on a patch.

 

[Harleynut]

Years ago I had bought some plastic cases and bullets that you could reuse just replace the primer by hand. Not sure if they are still available or not. It was a good way to practice quick draw.

 

[ShadeWPI]

A local police department used to use primer/wax bullets with a thick plexi-glass screen over a TV for training. They linked two synchronized cameras to monitor the TV screen and the shooter. When the wax hit the screen it would turn white for a brief period and they could identify point of impact.

They'd scrap the plexi clean after a while, and periodically replace the plexi as it got scratched up from scraping the wax off.

I've done it with revolvers - just press the primed case into a sheet of wax of the desired thickness. I've never done it with an autoloader as some don't feed empty cases properly. If your auto-loader will feed an empty case, you can give it a try, though it likely wont cycle the action.

 

[OPM]

Yes, it seems that auto cannot cycle, which makes sense. You can clearly see that the guy in the second video manually ejects each spent round and then puts a fresh round in the chamber. Oops, I just realized that I accidently attached a wrong video. Here is the video I meant to attach.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D5NkPxRToo&feature=related

Thank you for your feedback. I’ll definitely try this.

 

[Gammon]

An auto most definitely won't cycle with a primer as the only power source. I have used these bullets in 38 revolvers with some success. Problem #1 is wax fouling the bore; keep it lubed. Problem #2 is primers backing out of the case (this won't happen with a powder load). The solution is to drill the flash holes larger to reduce pressure.

 

[fubar]

I did it once with 45 apc. I did drill out the primer holes , too. I used a Sig 220. And no - it won't cycle the action. but it made for an interesting afternoon of holster work : clear draw pointshoot. ..

I read about it in Col. Rex Applegate's writings. He used them to practice gunfighting on each other.

Apply every warning possible to playing with unconventional ammo.

 

[Palladin]

Years ago I had bought some plastic cases and bullets that you could reuse just replace the primer by hand. Not sure if they are still available or not. It was a good way to practice quick draw

Think I still have 20 or so of these....38spc. Dad & I shot the wax .38's in the basement when I was a kid. the cases were notched, so as not to mistake them from regular ones which were reloaded, and the flash holes were slightly drilled out. The practice was draw & fire, one shot only, as there's no recoil from them.

lot of fun, good practice. We had an open basement window with a fan to draw out the smoke. 50ft range in the basement of a 3 decker in Eastie!

 

[Jose]

Bill Jordan explains it all in his book No Second Place Winner. RichC got the gist of it. The most important thing to do is to ID your cases used for wax ammo so that they can never be mistakenly loaded as real ammo.

Why? Because the flash hole needs to be enlarged to almost the same diameter of the primer pocket to prevent backpressure from driving the primer out and locking up the gun (revolver).

When you fire a normal cartridge in a revolver, the case head is driven very strongly against the recoil shield, so much so that you can see the imprints of the heads on the shield around the firing pin. This force prevents the primer from backing out of the case.

Wax loaded ammo has such negligible recoil that the case is never forced back against the recoil shield with any force. The primer can then back out enough to drag on the recoil shield. If the primer pocket is loose to any degree, the primer can back out enough to prevent the cylinder from rotating at all. By opening up the flash hole, the back pressure against the primer is eliminated and the primers stay where they should when firing powder-less wax bullet rounds.

If, however, a case with an enlarged flash hole is loaded with powder and lead bullets, dangerous pressures can be generated due to the greater flame exposure from primer to powder.

 

[OPM]

Thank you Jose. That is a very good safety tip. It seems that if all safety considered, one can do a lot of training at a very low cost.

BTW, I am familiar with plastic ammo. I use to practice with these http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=232595 I still have a few laying around. Although these are deadly and rather accurate even out to 100 yards, they too do not have enough juice to cycle the action.