I've often wondered about bullets other than lead, one that comes to mind is zinc alloy of which there are a bunch of different kinds commonly called pot metal. I know it can be easily cast having cast a steam engine out of old carburetors' although the melting point is a lot higher, it cast really nice. I've never had a bullet mold to try it in though. The weight would be less than lead for the same size bullet might be an advantage I don't know. Hyper velocity projectiles maybe. Anybody else have any thoughts on this?
Scalar -
Howdy !
I’ve read of guys casting bullets with Bismuth, which is a fairly heavy materiel for not being lead. Bismuth is a non-toxic heavy metal, that has a low melting point. It has been used for some shotgun pellet ammunition. This would mostly be for a lower velocity application.
For some higher vel applications, it might be possible to wrap a lead, zinc; or Bismuth bullet with a paper “ patch “, or similarly…. wrap w/ self-stick ( nylon example ) tape.
Within certain calibers, it is possible to ( in some instances ) shoot a sub-calibre bullet in a larger calibre rifle; via use of a “ sabot “. Remington used to offer 55gr .224” cal bullets
held in .30 cal sabots, and marketed as .30-06 “ Accelerator “ ammo; for one example.
Sabots are used frequently in muzzle loader applications, one example would be shooting a .45 cal bullet from a .50 cal muzzleloader.
In recent years, one has been able to buy bullets “ turned “ from brass or solid copper.
The are even some ELR shooters, that “ role their own “ brass projectiles.
For something more exotic, water ice can be made very hard, when cooled to cryogenic temperatures. With use of an appropriately dimensioned and sealed “ mould “, a bullet could be cast using water…. and then cryo-cooled to final hardness. Such a bullet probably would benefit from use of a “ gas check “ fitted to its base. It also might work
( better ) if “patched” as mentioned above.
One hyper velocity non-lead projectile is a “ flechette “. These are sometime impact-formed steel projectiles, that weigh a comparable amount to smaller calibre light varmint bullets. These were known to have been used in the Viet Nam war, sometimes as
“ cargo munitions “ carried in large quantities; for ariel delivery from a outer case that splits open to deploy its cargo. There are flechette shotguns rounds available for purchase. During the Gulf War, one of our 2 battleships fired a few special purpose
16” shells; loaded w/ a large qty of flechettes. This was done as a diversion, to draw attention away from the US armored swing around Western Iraq. One coastal Iraqi complained on world news, that a flechette had penetrated the concrete wall of a nearby building; and then still penetrated completely through the fleshy upper portion of one of his thighs.… showing the wound to the camera. For anything remotely approaching accuracy, a flechette fired for a rifle ( smooth bore or otherwise ), would need some sort of sabot; or discarding light wt spacers.
With regards,
357Mag
