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Thread: In the dark and dusty........

  1. #1
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    In the dark and dusty........

    ....recesses of my mind, I vaguely recall either reading in a magazine or on t'interwebby thing, somebody was advising BP shooters to load powder, wad and then filling the cylinders of BP revolvers with melted wax, to practice indoor shooting.
    Now, I have this aversion to getting anything hot within 10 feet of BP, but I was wondering if anyone else had heard of this or does it just exist in the alcoholic mists of my mind???
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  2. #2
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    I think filling the chambers on a BP revolver is impractical. It would be messy and you would have to wait for the wax to harden.
    I don't think it would ignite the Blackpowder but if it seeps past the wad it would probably reduce the efficiency of the ignition by cuasing the powder to clog up.
    I doubt that using wax would do anything for your accuracy and would be more of a novelty than being of any practical use.

    It would make more sense to use pre-cast plugs of wax. But indoor shooting? On the indoor range I used to go to a few shots would leave a fog hanging in the air if someone forgot to switch the extractor fans on.
    And don't forget that a plug of hard wax a close range is just as lethal as a bullet, and so is a hard wad.

    I can't comment on the state of your mind.

  3. #3
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    Seems like a reasonable proposition, if, as enfield2band said, you use pre moulded wax plugs, I could see no reason to use a wad either. For indoor shooting, you would need plenty of ventilation and unless you can wash down the range afterwards, BP would not be advised (explosive residue). I recall mention of peeps using wax bullets for light indoor plinking with nitro cartridge guns too. For either you would need to use very light loads since the wax would otherwise disintegrate, but I think it would be practical.
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  4. #4
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    I used to use plastic bullets in my 357 revolver in the good old days with a small pistol primer as the only propellant. They worked very well at about ten yards against beer tins etc. More recently I've been using half inch paint balls in my Pedersolli Charles Moore pistol powered by a shotgun primer in one of the adapters made to clear misfires on the range. Great fun. I notice that Kranks now have a range of ML indoor stuff under Pedersoli Indoor Shooting.
    [I]DesG
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  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by DesG View Post
    I used to use plastic bullets in my 357 revolver in the good old days with a small pistol primer as the only propellant. They worked very well at about ten yards against beer tins etc. More recently I've been using half inch paint balls in my Pedersolli Charles Moore pistol powered by a shotgun primer in one of the adapters made to clear misfires on the range. Great fun. I notice that Kranks now have a range of ML indoor stuff under Pedersoli Indoor Shooting.
    I've still got some of the Speer plastic cartridges for use with just the primer - they were fun to use in my Mod 14 S&W .38 spec.

    Wax bullets are regularly used in cowboy quick draw competitions. The way to make them is to melt some candle wax in a tray about 1/2 inch deep, let it almost set, then use a .357 case as a cookie cutter. If you drill out the primer you can put a flat head nail in the case first and use if to push out the wax bullet.

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