Hello,
I have a friend who just bought a littleton shot maker and he is wondering if anyone out there has one of these or has used one. One of his questions is what you use for a coolant to cool the shot as it dripps? He has heard you could use antifreeze or hydraulic oil.
Thank you for your time and i'll appreciate any feedback.
Bkmastr

hello,some friends of mine use diesel fuel in the drop tank.

He is a 15 page discussion on running the littleton shotmaker on the shotgun world website.

http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=15776&p...ostorder=asc&start=0


Also he is a guy that made a complete production line from a lttleton machine.

www.prescott.myrf.net/ShotMaker/SystemPictures.html


Mark

bkmastr,
I have 4 of them and as of yet, have not fired them up. I have a pot built for melting lead and when I get the lead fluxed properly, I will start. I have that post on shotgun world copied in a binder and it goes over 80 pages. Some great information in there.

bkmstr,
This reply might be too late, I just saw your post. Anyway, I've been making my own shot, size 8 1/2, for over 15 years. I started out using a Metsafe water soluable oil, but it was expensive and hard to get. For the past 10 yrs or so, I've used just cheap liquid laundry detergent. It takes a bit of washing, but it works good, and its easy to get and cheap.

Keep the temperature of the coolant under about 125 deg F, or you will get flattened shot. I use a cooking thermometer clipped in the side of the coolant tank.

I make about 60# per session. Wheelweights. It takes about 2 hrs to make the shot and wash it, then I spread it out in a large baking tray to dry in the sun. I then tumble it, about 10-12# at a time for about 2 hrs in a large case tumbler with about 1/8 of a teaspoon of powered grafite. Finished shot looks as good as commericial. I load it in all 4 guages for skeet, and even used it to get my 27 yd punch in trap.

If you us antifreeze, use only the new "environmentally safe" kind ( Sierra brand?), as most antifreeze is VERY posionous to pets. They will lick it off the ground where you wash your shot, and they will die!

Good luck.

Thanks Buffybr, We have made a little shot, but can't find enough lead to get a good batch made. Everybody around here uses wheel weights for their race cars. So it's hard to find wheel weights. Maybe the junk yards will let us go out and take them off old cars. Thanks for your reply, we'll have to try the detergent.

Go to a major tire shop as the mechanics will merely note the stuff gets picked up as scrap and if you want some you can have it. You might even offer to buy a bucket. Store managers at big tire shops are not terribly concerned with the stuff. You can also beat apart totally useless auto batteries. I have some lead pipe from my building beating around the yard or basement and saved it for bullet casting, etc.

Don't waste your time on Auto Batteries, they have not used lead that is in a salvagable form in them for many years, to my knowledge. The last time I tried to salvage lead from an auto battery was in 1967, there wasn't any yield, and the acid that has been absorbed into the plates is a real hazard.

Wheel weights make good lead for casting bullets, and apparently shot. Pure lead will need to be aloyed with tin to make it harder.

The main ingredient, other than lead, that is used to make magnum (hard) shot is Antimony and it is pricey to buy and the temperature ranges to make it into a suitable mixture are very dangerous to your health. There is a delightful gentleman that goes by the moniker of the antimony man who will sell you the stuff but he will also advice you to use wheel weights as they are which is usually in the 2 to 3% range for antimony.

A lot of large tire dealers will not sell lead to the public anymore for safety reasons. Sears is one of those as well as Costco. Les Schwab is a large western dealer and that is where I get mine. The price has risen from 9 cents to almost 20 in the last 18 months. You will have about 10 to 15 % loss due to the clips and the dross.

Seems like recoveredf range scrap might be a good source of alloy for this use.