One day, while talking with my neighbor about reloading, he told me that his father-in-law had reloaded his own ammunition, and that since his death his equipment had been stored in their barn. He asked if I would like it, and in one of those boxes laid the 42nd edition of Lyman Reloader’s Handbook (copyright 1960). Flipping through that book revealed an article by Charles M. Heard, titled “Wax Bullets” where he described a wax bullet formula along with the proper way to prepare the case for loading.
The wax formula is softer and more flexible than straight paraffin and even includes grease for barrel lubrication. I now use the method he described for both preparing the shell case and the wax mixture.
Wax Bullet Recipe
1 lb. paraffin (available at your local grocery store)
1/4 lb. beeswax (available at your local craft store)
1/8 lb. water pump grease (Lubriplate No. 115 grease works well)
1 flat pan (a cake pan works well)
1 old pot or double-boiler to melt the wax and mix in the grease
via American Rifleman – How to Make and Reload Wax Bullets.
Before you go crazy, this works with revolvers, not semis. But I have a bunch of .38 special cases being wasted and I can put to proper use. The noise should be lower than a cap from toy pistol of old.
On my way to the local arts & craft store. I’ll be making a post on manufacturing & test.
Several years ago in American Rifleman magazine, they had an article about using wax bullets and just a primer load for indoor target practice in your house.
In Bill Jordan’s book No Second Place Winners, he had a chapter on wax bullets for practicing in the house. I’ve got a couple of buckets full of 38’s. I should load some up so I can practice when it’s 3 degrees (like today).
The late Bill Jordan devoted a chapter of his classic book No Second Place Winner to the manufacture and use of wax bullets for practice. He had a lot of good tips on the procedures involved. Even better, the book is available free online:
https://archive.org/details/No_Second_Place_Winner_Bill_Jordan
Free is good but I wouldn’t take for my signed copy. He was one of my hero’s when I got started in shooting all those years ago. Along with Skeeter Skelton.
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I think Hornaday makes plastic bullets for use in revolvers with just a primer. Instead of wax, hopefully someone will try to use a 3d printer to make them too!
[…] today, I went ahead and tackled the wax bullet cartridges. I more or less followed the instruction from the America Rifleman that I posted before but not […]