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Dirt sling bullets (Read 674 times)
Blindsquirrel
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Dirt sling bullets
Jan 1
st
, 2023 at 5:08pm
Here is a picture of 2 sling bullets I made from dirt I dug up in the woods behind my house. The smaller one has some heavy blacksand added to it. I found out that brick is harder than my rockite and quikrete ammo. So I want some brick sling bullets. Brick is made from clay and sand that is baked. So armed with mr. Channing’s video on getting clay from dirt, I’ve got clay and I’ve got heavy blacksand, look out brick sling ammo mayb on the way?
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Blindsquirrel
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Re: Dirt sling bullets
Reply #1 -
Jan 2
nd
, 2023 at 9:11am
Here is the weight difference between dirt bullets and 2 rockite bullets about the same size. I’m surprised to c the weights so close. I would have thought the cement would have been heavier. I can’t wait to fire them. I’ve been researching how bricks where made in colonial times, and this is exactly it. Dirt turned to clay, clay kneaded add a sprinkling of sand added slammed into a mold, turned out in sun to dry, wait a few days build a kiln with ur bricks and light it all ablaze. Fire the bricks till they glow yellow, then wait for the whole thing to cool to the touch. And Padoww u made bricks.
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IronGoober
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Re: Dirt sling bullets
Reply #2 -
Jan 2
nd
, 2023 at 7:54pm
Note that when you fire them, they will lose a significant amount of weight (and shrink a bit). If you fire them at a low temperature, they will be porous enough to dunk into water and gain some of the weight back. But they will also be weaker. I'm not sure if fully dense clay is more dense than concrete or not.
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John R.
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Blindsquirrel
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Re: Dirt sling bullets
Reply #3 -
Jan 2
nd
, 2023 at 10:26pm
Since u have to add about 20% sand so that it can b fired, I’m using blacksand (the heavy sands that r found along with gold) to keep the weight up, even after moisture has been removed. The process im using is the same as what a traveling brick maker in the colonial times would use to make bricks on any job site. The sand seems to b the key, this evening I successfully baked the projectiles pictured above up to 500 degrees and have not had them crack yet, they r now on the cool down. So we will c tomorrow. Next I’m going to use some old chimney bricks to build a small rocket stove kiln to fire my bullets up to the full yellow glow to make them into bricks.
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Blindsquirrel
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Re: Dirt sling bullets
Reply #4 -
Jan 3
rd
, 2023 at 10:07am
Here r the 2 dirt bullets that weighed in at 60grams, pictured above. This picture is after they had been baked in oven to 500 degrees. Results seem promising, no cracking and they only lost 10grams in weight. Still good weight to size ratio. Can’t wait to make more and fire them for real!
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Blindsquirrel
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Re: Dirt sling bullets
Reply #5 -
Jan 12
th
, 2023 at 9:39pm
I’m currently working on a small brick kiln to fire my dirt clay ammo in. My test showed good promise, I just need to control the heat better to get more even baking. I’ll video the process to share with all. I have found it to b very interesting that the weight to size ratio of the dirt clay projectiles doesn’t seem to b far off that of the concrete ammo? We will c once I can get them fired into bricks, instead of just pottery.
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SmokinRocks936
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Re: Dirt sling bullets
Reply #6 -
Jan 13
th
, 2023 at 4:30pm
https://www.6mmbr.com/sandcomparison.html#:~:text=Sand%20Characteristics,165%2D1...
https://www.thecrucible.org/guides/ceramics/how-to-glaze/
Some links on the subject of sand density and firing technique for your perusal. I had the idea of making a typical biconical sling bullet out of dense clay and sand, fired then was dipped in a ceramic shell and fired again. Bisque is a term used for an object fired once already. I’d use a natural fiber string to dip and dry over and over then heat in the brick style kiln suggested in the second link.
Edit to fix link.
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Last Edit: Jan 13
th
, 2023 at 5:43pm by SmokinRocks936
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Blindsquirrel
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Re: Dirt sling bullets
Reply #7 -
Jan 16
th
, 2023 at 9:46am
Thanks for the info. The sand I’m using comes from a beach in my area that if one pans off the lighter sands u r left with very fine and heavy black sand. Should b perfect to use as temper for the dirt clay bullets, helping to drastically increase the weight of the projectile for its size. And from what I read the ash from the wood fire will act as a kind of glazing. I want to keep this as simple as possible with the end result being the hardest and heaviest projectile I can make.
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Blindsquirrel
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Re: Dirt sling bullets
Reply #8 -
Jan 17
th
, 2023 at 12:58am
Here is my new rocketstove kiln firing several dirtclay sling bullets. We will c what I got in a couple of hours when the sun comes up. Here is a link to a short of the kiln
https://youtube.com/shorts/XONM9742zR4?feature=share
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Archaic Arms
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Re: Dirt sling bullets
Reply #9 -
Jan 27
th
, 2023 at 12:56pm
It's better to not add grog/temper if you don't have to. The reason they use it for bricks and pottery is because it reduces thermal shock, increases wet strength, and minimizes shrinkage. The latter is the opposite you want for a bullet. Grog can also reduce fired strength as well. As long as you dry them properly first, and warm them up slowly, then the finished result is better. They're smoother too, which means better aerodynamics.
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Regards,
Lewis
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Blindsquirrel
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Re: Dirt sling bullets
Reply #10 -
Jan 27
th
, 2023 at 8:46pm
Yea, ive got some more experimenting to do. I didnt get the fire hot enough. The main reason for adding the black sand is the colonial brick making technique calls for sand to help stabilize and reduce the thermal roller coaster ride a rocketstove type kiln is going to send them on, they will need it. The whole idea is to turn the dirt clay into for real vitriflicphied brick with a pottery smooth surface. That hopefully will maintain the 75-80grams weight for a prolate spheroid that is 2.5-3inchs in length and 1-1.5inchs in diameter. These particular dimensions seems to have the best and most stable flight characteristics of the bigger than or smaller than sizes. I’ve not put together my video study of the different shapes and weights but it is on the way. If in doubt go check out Channing’s video where he made some of my sling bullets(80+grams) with a screws sticking out, like i was talking about in another post some time ago where i showed one with a different shaped concrete bullet and a nail. He was getting good sticks with them and they held up to the abuse quite well. So stay tune, you’ve heard the saying hard as a brick. That is what this is all about, free dirt to clay, free clay to brick, brick to sling at stuff….
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