Before anyone asks:

The hole through the middle of the egg sinkers will not have a deleterious effect on flight.  In fact this longitudinal hole was tried on bullets in the past and found to have no positive effect so it was not used.  But it did not cause problems of note either.

So,  a 4 ounce lead egg might just make for a very nice glande, eh?

jeff <><

Lead is available is a variety of places.  Look for hunting/reloading supply places on the web or locally in your town. It generally comes in ingots.  You might try finding some fishing weights on sale and remelting them. Also, you could try to come by some old, used wheel weights.  They are fairly soft and should melt at lower temps.  Put them in the melting pot and pull out the steel clips when melted.

Two things here.  First, always remember to ventilate your work area well when working with lead and don't touch it if you can help it.  If hot it will burn you and is more likely to poison you as well.  The vapors or liquid will get you quicker.  You might consider painting or coating them in some way also.

Second, let the lead out of the mold while still hot but just after it stiffens up.  Drop it right into a bucket of cold water.  This will harden it up some so the glandes don't deform against each other in your pouch.  This hardening technique will take a bit of practice, but you should get the hang of it pretty quickly.

jeff <><

David,

As for the lead coming out of the pot, it should come out pretty easily if the pot remains smooth.  So don't scratch it.  Check out as many web resources as you can.  There should be plenty of info on lead casting to answer all your questions.

My personal experience is actually quite limited.  I know more than I have done.  Having hand loaded for guns, I have come across tons of info that I have not yet put into practice.

I quickly learned that I liked to shoot at velocities much higher than were practical with lead.  In handguns it is marginal at best unless handled right:  gas checks, hard cast bullets and lower velocities.  In rifles lead is a joke.  Somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 fps it melts in the bore from friction and the burning powder and bullets can literally disintegrate and become spray as they leave the barrell.

jeff <><

At the velocities your friend is shooting, lead would fill the grooves in the bore and foul things up pretty badly.  This actually increases pressure because of the resistance to the bullets.

He is probably uses jacketed bullets, of course, but some folks use lead at those vels. anyway.

jeff <><

Agreed, Chris, slinging is mighty satisfactory.

I love almost any activity which involves throwing things though.  And shooting is really fun.

jeff <><

There is a picture on this site somewhere of what looks to be an oak board mold for making lead glandes.

Does anyone know who made it? If I were to router out two halves and make a football shape mold, does anyone know how long it would last or how I would use it to make glands?

David,

I used the plaster two-piece mold and a the plasticine (and a modelling paste lately) patterns. It is cheap, easy and exact enough.

Jurek