Slinging.org Forum
https://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl
General >> General Slinging Discussion >> Concrete ammo
https://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1076466234

Message started by Johnny on Feb 10th, 2004 at 9:23pm

Title: Concrete ammo
Post by Johnny on Feb 10th, 2004 at 9:23pm
I ordered the egg shaped molds from Kraft and got them yesterday. Now I need to know if I need to mix up the concrete in a different way. Does it need to be thinner than normal. Will I have difficulty pouring it into the molds(the holes are a pretty small)? Any advice would help!
Thanks

Title: Re: Concrete ammo
Post by mgreenfield on Feb 10th, 2004 at 9:41pm
Johnny, ....I got the jello egg molds, too, & molded up a set of plaster of paris eggs.   They weigh almost exactly 80grams each, which is a nice weight for me, tho a little light for the sturder lads who prefer 100-150gram ammo.  Getting the thick liquid plaster into the closed mold was hard & messy.   To do it again, I'd use a heavy-duty ziplock bag.   Fill it with plaster.   Clip a corner to make a nozzle & squeeze the bag to inject the plaster into the egg molds.   I greased the molds, too, but I'm not sure it helped a lot.   Finally, it's tuff to open the mold with the hardened eggs inside, so I dont know how many sets of eggs can be gotten out of one mold.     mgreenfield

Title: Re: Concrete ammo
Post by Johnny on Feb 10th, 2004 at 9:46pm
Isn't Plaster of Paris a little brittle for sling ammo? I would think it would break up at the first impact. If not, I'll give it a try!

Title: Re: Concrete ammo
Post by Dan_Bollinger on Feb 10th, 2004 at 10:30pm
Johnny, I'd use sand mix. Cement and sand without the aggregate (stones). It will pour into a mold better. You can buy this premixed in a bag. Sometimes it is called patching concrete, too.

Title: Re: Concrete ammo
Post by Johnny on Feb 10th, 2004 at 10:39pm
Do you think I can mix it and use the Ziplock bag technique(see above)? I know cement will make a hardy sling stone!
Thanks Dan

Title: Re: Concrete ammo
Post by Dan_Bollinger on Feb 11th, 2004 at 7:51am
I suppose you could if you added enough water.

If the molds are two parts, then why not fill each half of the egg and 'slap' them together before the concrete and fall out?

Or, go the other way. Use only enough water to make the mix sticky and roll a whole egg in your hand first, place in the mold, press together so the concrete takes the shape, and set aside to cure. Technically, the latter will make stronger concrete.

Title: Re: Concrete ammo
Post by Johnny on Feb 11th, 2004 at 9:32am
Dan, I think I may try to "slap" the to trays together. That sounds like it may work! I'll give it a try.
Thanks

Title: Re: Concrete ammo
Post by JeffH on Feb 11th, 2004 at 10:14am
Johnny,

Get the strongest concrete mix you can find.  High Early Strength should be printed on the bag.  This stuff hardens quicker and gets much stronger than the normal stuff.  

Additionally, get a grout bag.  This looks like a cake icing bag used to decorate cakes.  Mix the concrete as instructed.  If it looks a bit thick, add some water.  Then spoon it into the grout bag and fill the eggs.

Remember, no aggregate larger than sand, unless the concrete mix has fibers in it which would be good.

jeff <><

Title: Re: Concrete ammo
Post by Johnny on Feb 11th, 2004 at 10:47am
I assume you can get all of this at Home Depot. I will try to get these stones made this weekend!

Title: Re: Concrete ammo
Post by JeffH on Feb 11th, 2004 at 11:29am
Most of the stuff should be available at any large home store like Lowe's, etc.

You may have to make your own grout bag, though.  Any thing will do, like a zip-lok bag, as mentioned earlier.

Make sure you let the concrete harden sufficiently before throwing.  Even the high early strength stuff could take weeks to get to full strength.  So, be nice to the for a while.

jeff <><

Title: Re: Concrete ammo
Post by Johnny on Feb 11th, 2004 at 12:30pm
Jeff, I see you're a Tennessee boy like myself!
I will let you guys know how things are going with this project. In the past, I have gathered nice round stones at a nearby creek, paint the things white, and retrieve them after my casts. I have shattered the top of a 5 gallon bucket at 75 yards. I can't hit it at every cast but come within 10 feet or so most of the time. I use the underhand cast with one quick rotation.

Title: Re: Concrete ammo
Post by David_T on Feb 11th, 2004 at 2:47pm
Johnny,

Yes, another great use of the empty 5 gallon bucket!
My son and I are on our third one. We use them for the head of "George the Roman" --one of our fasvorite slinging targets.

Title: Re: Concrete ammo
Post by Yurek on Feb 12th, 2004 at 2:57pm
I formed the sand-plaster "stones" by the hands. If you choose the proper ratio then no molds are needed. A few minutes and you have a few dozen quite nice projectiles. I wasn't going to recover them, they had to survive only one shot. Despite of it I randomly found two of them intact a few days later. I used rather more sand than plaster due to the cost (efficiency) and density. I used minimal amount of plaster needed to get a proper compactness. When they are wet, have density simllar to stones. Just another way of making ammo.

Jurek

Title: Re: Concrete ammo
Post by Johnny on Feb 12th, 2004 at 3:18pm
Yurek
What is sand plaster? Sand and plaster mixed together?
Thanks

Title: Re: Concrete ammo
Post by Yurek on Feb 12th, 2004 at 3:27pm

wrote on Feb 12th, 2004 at 3:18pm:
Yurek
What is sand plaster? Sand and plaster mixed together?
Thanks


Exactly, that's it. Excuse my inequivalence.

Jurek

Title: Re: Concrete ammo
Post by Johnny on Feb 12th, 2004 at 3:37pm
How strong is it? Does it break apart when struck?
Johnny

Title: Re: Concrete ammo
Post by Yurek on Feb 12th, 2004 at 4:09pm

Quote:
How strong is it? Does it break apart when struck?


They aren't as strong as stones or concrete ones surely. But they are cheap and we can make them quickly. I mainly used them for longer distance shots. If you hit something hard they will crash probably. If you want use them for accuracy practice then you should choose rather soft aim. If they fall on the soft ground they should to surrive however. It depends on a ratio of components. I mixed them at a guess.

Jurek

Slinging.org Forum » Powered by YaBB 2.5.2!
YaBB Forum Software © 2000-2024. All Rights Reserved.