Building a shot maker on the cheap?

[AAAOA]

Hey all,

I recently acquired an old 16 gauge side by side with some tight chokes. As such, steel shot is a no go and on a personal level I want to minimize how much lead I shoot. Also, 16 gauge isn't the easiest to find as I have discovered lol. As such I am looking at reloading to reduce cost. Lead 16 gauge rounds are around 30 cents a round and bismuth starts at 1.20 a round and goes up from there, if you can find them in store.

I've been putting together the math, the shells will be easy and cheap enough if I buy some bulk ammo and save the shells, powder, primer, and wad don't cost much either. The biggest cost is the shot, a 10 pound bag of bismuth shot is usually around $160 to $170, really making reloading far from cost effective. However, if I look around enough, 10 pounds of bismuth in ingots can be as low as $65, usually closer to $90 or $100. Either way, that really opens up the opportunity to save money and the little bit of tin doesn't cost much to add in. But, we run into a new problem! A commercial shoemaker can cost $350 to $450.

I'm sure they are great, but it'll take me years to even save enough on reloading to even out the cost of equipment. So, I'm considering building my own shot maker. It seems easy enough, a heated and angled pan with shot drippers drilled in. Some people seem to have reservoir of melted metal above the pan, others seem to just have a big enough pan that it doesn't matter. Then the shot kinda pops into a short runway before falling into a deep container of fabric softener.

Maybe quarantine is giving me boredom driven confidence, but it seems like this may be easy enough with my minimal tools and budget. Is it realistic the build one of these for less than $150, maybe even $100 that'll make at least vaguely round shot? I've got a hunch at least a few of you guys have tried to build one of these, how did it go for you? Any tips or tricks?

Also, I've heard about people selling homemade ones on craigslist and home depot but I've never seen any for sale there. Must be something to do with living in the Liberal heavy suburbia of Northern Virginia lol.

Thanks everyone for your help.

 

[s100whunter]

its not hard to build one running lead shot bissemeth is another story

 

[AAAOA]

What are the differences between running lead and running bismuth shot?

 

[JSH]

By the time you get lead and build a shot dropper or buy one, your cheaper to just buy some shot and go on.
FYI the way they change hulls any more I would ask around what is best today.

 

[jon248]

There is a guy on ebay that sells the drilled bolts (Jets), this is just a sample listing.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/6-Lead-Sho...124004?hash=item2d094633a4:g:fBEAAOSwoylem3Eh

You can buy just about any size you want

I think my unit is about 40 years old and still works great, I drop mine into propylene glycol.

 

[C.E.Smith043]

Hey all,

I recently acquired an old 16 gauge side by side with some tight chokes. As such, steel shot is a no go and on a personal level I want to minimize how much lead I shoot. Also, 16 gauge isn't the easiest to find as I have discovered lol. As such I am looking at reloading to reduce cost. Lead 16 gauge rounds are around 30 cents a round and bismuth starts at 1.20 a round and goes up from there, if you can find them in store.

I've been putting together the math, the shells will be easy and cheap enough if I buy some bulk ammo and save the shells, powder, primer, and wad don't cost much either. The biggest cost is the shot, a 10 pound bag of bismuth shot is usually around $160 to $170, really making reloading far from cost effective. However, if I look around enough, 10 pounds of bismuth in ingots can be as low as $65, usually closer to $90 or $100. Either way, that really opens up the opportunity to save money and the little bit of tin doesn't cost much to add in. But, we run into a new problem! A commercial shoemaker can cost $350 to $450.

I'm sure they are great, but it'll take me years to even save enough on reloading to even out the cost of equipment. So, I'm considering building my own shot maker. It seems easy enough, a heated and angled pan with shot drippers drilled in. Some people seem to have reservoir of melted metal above the pan, others seem to just have a big enough pan that it doesn't matter. Then the shot kinda pops into a short runway before falling into a deep container of fabric softener.

Maybe quarantine is giving me boredom driven confidence, but it seems like this may be easy enough with my minimal tools and budget. Is it realistic the build one of these for less than $150, maybe even $100 that'll make at least vaguely round shot? I've got a hunch at least a few of you guys have tried to build one of these, how did it go for you? Any tips or tricks?

Also, I've heard about people selling homemade ones on craigslist and home depot but I've never seen any for sale there. Must be something to do with living in the Liberal heavy suburbia of Northern Virginia lol.

Thanks everyone for your help.

I know very little about shotguns but have u considered having it tubed for 20 gauge?

 

[AAAOA]

I know very little about shotguns but have u considered having it tubed for 20 gauge?

I have not, pretty sure I'd basically end up building a shotgun from the ground up. It'd be smarter to just buy a 20, but I like the gun as it is. Even so, with a 20 I'd still like to reload my own shot less from the perspective of cost and more about having a more eco-friendly cartridge. I want to use a fiber or nitrocard wad that'll disintegrate or break down pretty quickly. I find it weird how all the nontoxic rounds do a wonderful job keeping lead out of the environment but still launch hunks of plastic out there which we know causes problems in the long term. I'd like to to at least my little part to help out.

 

[C.E.Smith043]

I have not, pretty sure I'd basically end up building a shotgun from the ground up. It'd be smarter to just buy a 20, but I like the gun as it is. Even so, with a 20 I'd still like to reload my own shot less from the perspective of cost and more about having a more eco-friendly cartridge. I want to use a fiber or nitrocard wad that'll disintegrate or break down pretty quickly. I find it weird how all the nontoxic rounds do a wonderful job keeping lead out of the environment but still launch hunks of plastic out there which we know causes problems in the long term. I'd like to to at least my little part to help out.

Keep in mind, this so called horrible highly toxic evil lead they are always trying to rid the earth from...actually comes from the earth.

Now I'm not one to sprinkle lead pellets in my Cheerios but I'm not going to make my life miserable losing sleep at night over something that's not really that big of a problem. I personally don't shoot enough of anything to make that big of a difference. And a high percentage of shotshells used for practice take place on a range that is harvested to recycle the lead.

 

[jds holler]

Shouldn't be to hard to order lead shot from a lot of places, including members right here. Flat rate shipping makes it cheap to ship too.

Another thought if you're not gonna shot large quantities --
I started my reloading habit with a 20 ga. Lee Loader. The kind where you pound your shells together. Truly "old school" and quite satisfactory for custom ammo.

I've still got the one that I bought when I was thirteen years old, and managed to load shells for quail and pheasant that lived around the house. Never made my own shot, but did make my own wads. jd

 

[Twicepop]

ROTOMetals has recycled lead shot that can be bought by the ton if you want that much.

 

[mac86951]

ROTOMetals has recycled lead shot that can be bought by the ton if you want that much.

Sounds like a great way to test the "if it fits it ships, $5."

-Mac

 

[Webster]

I have not, pretty sure I'd basically end up building a shotgun from the ground up. It'd be smarter to just buy a 20, but I like the gun as it is. Even so, with a 20 I'd still like to reload my own shot less from the perspective of cost and more about having a more eco-friendly cartridge. I want to use a fiber or nitrocard wad that'll disintegrate or break down pretty quickly. I find it weird how all the nontoxic rounds do a wonderful job keeping lead out of the environment but still launch hunks of plastic out there which we know causes problems in the long term. I'd like to to at least my little part to help out.

Sell it. Buy a cheap 410.