I've always thought about making ammo, since there are plenty of tutorials on this site, but i always get stuck on this one part.
Wasting materials.
I just feel as if making ammo is wasting supplies that could go to other things. Concrete for houses, clay for art, etc.
and slinging may destroy the object or loose it unless your slinging on a field. so ive never done it.
i prefer to just sling rocks, which were already there.

thoughts on this?

i agree, which is why i was thinking on mud projectiles- it's every where and if you move a few hundreds yards down then there'll just be a bit more there, and a bit less here

xxkid123 wrote on Nov 23^rd, 2009 at 8:04pm:

i agree, which is why i was thinking on mud projectiles- it's every where and if you move a few hundreds yards down then there'll just be a bit more there, and a bit less here

exactly. thats why ive considerd makign dorodango, but just to get the ball shape, then hawk it.
http://www.dorodango.com/about.html

I always considered making ammo for a sling a waste of time and energy, but then again I have a pebble beach less than 50 meters from my home ;D. Now making darts for my blowgun that´s another matter...

I've been making those for years Woonilsra, I've just never knew what they were called. I have only made them from sand though.

I use essentially the same method as described on the link, except I deviate after step 3 by dumping a small pile of dry sand over the sand ball to draw the moisture out. After as few as 3-5 minutes of being buried, and after clearing the dry sand that clings to the ball off, (brush it off until you reach the more moist inner ball.) you have a slightly moist sand ball leather-like in stiffness at this point. I usually stop here.

Since I usually make them from sand (when I'm at the beach), I've only made the rough shape. (I never considered polishing something as fragile as a sand ball. :P)

Now I wanna try making a polished one. Thanks a lot. ::)

I've mentioned this before.. some time in prehistory South Jersey, where I live, was under water.  Consequently there are smooth, oval shaped river stones everywhere here.  Making ammo is completely unnecessary.  If I had to make it there is also good quality clay at many locations not far from me.  There's one clay bed right across the street.  I've been curious about experimenting with clay ammo, but with all of these perfect river stones around it's not a pressing need.
 Now to look up what the heck dorodango is...

I have a decent amount of access to good river stone, so I don't always make ammo. I do make clay glandes when I am looking for consistent ammunition however.

In my opinion it's not a waste if you are having fun and the ammo fits the purpose you need it for.

Most of the time I sling tennis balls as I live in the city now. I can go down to the river and shoot stones, or I can make clay shot when I am looking for consistency.

ilovepancakes wrote on Nov 24^th, 2009 at 8:20am:

In my opinion it's not a waste if you are having fun and the ammo fits the purpose you need it for.

Of course not, and I was only talking about me personally ;) You should know how much time and effort went in the perfect blowgun wire dart  ::)

I make lots of lead glandes.  I've got a couple thousand pounds of lead, and cast thousands of bullets each year, anyway.  My son and I are competative shooters.  It's nice to use projectiles of consistent weight, size and shape when working on accuracy.  There aren't many natural sources of ammo near me, so making my own is a convenient way to keep slinging.

sash wrote on Nov 24^th, 2009 at 9:20am:

I make lots of lead glandes.  I've got a couple thousand pounds of lead, and cast thousands of bullets each year, anyway.  My son and I are competative shooters.  It's nice to use projectiles of consistent weight, size and shape when working on accuracy.  There aren't many natural sources of ammo near me, so making my own is a convenient way to keep slinging.

Are you serious or are you pulling our leg here; you purchased a couple of tons of lead for your slinging hobby? And you actually cast thousands of glands yearly (is there a war going on where you live?) If true  I hereby nominate you and your son  honorary sling nuts of this site....!

wrote on Nov 24^th, 2009 at 12:40pm:

sash wrote on Nov 24th, 2009 at 9:20am: I make lots of lead glandes.  I've got a couple thousand pounds of lead, and cast thousands of bullets each year, anyway.  My son and I are competative shooters.  It's nice to use projectiles of consistent weight, size and shape when working on accuracy.  There aren't many natural sources of ammo near me, so making my own is a convenient way to keep slinging. Are you serious or are you pulling our leg here; you purchased a couple of tons of lead for your slinging hobby? And you actually cast thousands of glands yearly (is there a war going on where you live?) If true  I hereby nominate you and your son  honorary sling nuts of this site....!

I am serious that I have a bit over 2000 pounds of lead.  However, I didn't buy it.  My wife collected used wheel weights from various tire stores and gave it to me for my birthday some time ago.  I don't cast thousands of glandes, just a few hundred 4 and 2 ouncers.  What I cast thousands of are lead bullets for our revolvers.  We compete in USPSA and ICORE with revolvers and shoot a thousand rounds a month or so.  On the other hand, we are definitely sling nuts, too!!

That explains it, still impressive, and in my humble opinion very worthy of the title... :D

sash wrote on Nov 24^th, 2009 at 1:15pm:

wrote on Nov 24th, 2009 at 12:40pm: sash wrote on Nov 24th, 2009 at 9:20am: I make lots of lead glandes.  I've got a couple thousand pounds of lead, and cast thousands of bullets each year, anyway.  My son and I are competative shooters.  It's nice to use projectiles of consistent weight, size and shape when working on accuracy.  There aren't many natural sources of ammo near me, so making my own is a convenient way to keep slinging. Are you serious or are you pulling our leg here; you purchased a couple of tons of lead for your slinging hobby? And you actually cast thousands of glands yearly (is there a war going on where you live?) If true  I hereby nominate you and your son  honorary sling nuts of this site....! I am serious that I have a bit over 2000 pounds of lead.  However, I didn't buy it.  My wife collected used wheel weights from various tire stores and gave it to me for my birthday some time ago.  I don't cast thousands of glandes, just a few hundred 4 and 2 ouncers.  What I cast thousands of are lead bullets for our revolvers.  We compete in USPSA and ICORE with revolvers and shoot a thousand rounds a month or so.  On the other hand, we are definitely sling nuts, too!!

Wow I have never seen a revolver at an IPSC match..unless it was on tv and the only guy weilding one was jerry miculek. I reload too and have been thinking about making some lead glandes what do you use to cast them?

I use egg sinker molds from Do-It Molds.  I've got a 3 cavity 4 oz. and a 3 cavity 2 oz. mold.  They work very well

There is a pretty large and growing revolver division in USPSA, even though Jerry is still pretty much unbeatable.

Thanks for the link..What kind of revolver are you using a S&W 625?

I usually shot stones, but you find them seldom in the same wight and size.
Thats why I form my ammoballs from concret.

Beginner have to start with tennisballs first, in our group.
Later we use Tennisballs filled with Gelantine.
I´ve heard about ballisticgel. Thats also Gelantine with a higher density (Blom)

I would like to fill my "safety" ammo with ballisticgel, but you can´t get it here in germany.

To fill it, is very easy, you injekt it into the ball. Over the little hole you put a tape afterwards.

This ammo is flying very good.

I´ve got a very spezial Projectile. It´s made of damaststeel from a smith and its to fine to shot with it.

If you want I´ll post a picture soon.

I don´t like to shot with Plumbum, because its uncalculateble when it hits a target.
During a show such a plumbum-projektile hits my target, but didn´t stop. It flew into the audience and hits 2 people and harms them seriously. ( I´m sure, a direkt hit  would have been deadly for sure.)

It was a shok for me.

Jaegoor wrote on Dec 8^th, 2009 at 6:00pm:

I would like to fill my "safety" ammo with ballisticgel, but you can´t get it here in germany.

I bet unprocessed gelatin would work if you could stand to smell chicken and beef every time you sling.

This is one of my very speziall Slinging-ammo.

It was a present of a reenactment smith.

The projektil has a wight of 125 gramm and is made of damast steel.

I didn´t dare to shoot with it up to now.

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Jaegoor, have you tried making clay ammo? Its very easy to do and historically accurate. These are ordinary potters clay shaped by hand and air dried for two days:

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Hi,

I have made ammunition of tone.

In with me has given pieces of Flintstone.
The effect with strike was dreadful.
The splinters many cm deep penetrated into wood.

Here's a smaller view of Jaegoor's ammo:

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thats awesome looking ammo, looks like it'd leave a nice mark!

I plan on dabbling a bit in making my own ammo out of concrete in the near future. But for now, I'll be using tennis balls, baseballs, or jagged, angular chunks of granite. :x

I too like to throw rocks, I have since childhood. But heavier projectiles really go! A cheap way I have made some, though not nearly as efficient as the cast ones, is I came across some 5/8" rebar, I have access to a cutting torch, and cut up a bunch of bullets 2-3" long. I put a bucket of water under the vise and they fell into the cooling water. They really move too!
Oscar

These are my artificially made ones. The red ball is made from hard rubber

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