stupid question time... silver bullets?

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Willie Lowman

New member
So I'm talking with a friend of mine about mythical monsters and he asked me "Just how hard would it be to make silver bullets for killing werewolves?"

Now I know next to nothing about metallurgy and casting bullets. I don't think silver would be a good choice for a bullet but I honestly don't know.

So aside from the price, how well would silver work for casting (and shooting)?
 
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Doyle

New member
Well, silver falls about halfway between lead and copper as far as hardness goes. It casts well (just ask those Spanish conquistadors how easy it was to cast ingots). So, I'd say that aside from the cost there probably isn't any reason it wouldn't work.
 
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FrankenMauser

New member
Pure silver requires over 1,700 degrees F to melt.

To cast with it, at home, you'd need a mini foundry (not a lead melter) and graphite molds (typical bullet molds can't handle the heat). The 'consumer grade' graphite molds are only good for about one or two dozen uses, and would still be fairly expensive. So... between the cost of silver, the cost of a foundry (and gas to run it), and the cost of a mold that's only good for maybe 20 bullets ...I'd say it isn't a great option.


If what you're looking for is just a small percentage of silver...
...Then using 3% silver solder (with the remainder tin and a trace of copper, generally) will get you there. 3% solder has a melting point below 800 F, and many of bullet casters already use it as their source of tin.
 
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Mike / Tx

New member
You would be MUCH better off using a blended alloy with a high silver content rather than using pure silver, IF you were really wanting to pour some Werewolf boolits up.

If you want a good read on doing it however here ya go,
Silver Bullets
 
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Emerson Biggies

New member
You can always try the Zombie ammo that has been on the LGS shelves for a long time. Definitely cheaper than silver which is about $16/31.1 grams and guaranteed to garner more attention at the range. Hope you don't run into any wierwolves out there!;)
 
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twobit

New member
So do you mean the scenes of the Lone Ranger casting silver bullets over a campfire are just a bunch of hooey? Say it ain't so :eek:
 
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4runnerman

New member
Willie- Heres another one to learn- Silver does not kill werewolfs it only wounds them. Causes them extreame pain not death.:D
 
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dahermit

New member
I remember an article many years ago (middle-late sixties), in one of the lessor gun magazines (not Guns & Ammo or Shooting Times), where someone cast a silver bullet and fired it into a sand backstop so they could recover it. As I remember, they recovered the bullet and re-cast it and fired it several times. As I remember, they did it to investigate if, relative to the Lone Ranger, it was possible. I do not remember how they got the heat to melt it.
 
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FrankenMauser

New member
I remember an article many years ago (middle-late sixties), in one of the lessor gun magazines (not Guns & Ammo or Shooting Times), where someone cast a silver bullet and fired it into a sand backstop so they could recover it. As I remember, they recovered the bullet and re-cast it and fired it several times. As I remember, they did it to investigate if, relative to the Lone Ranger, it was possible. I do not remember how they got the heat to melt it.
Click to expand...
1964 Gun World?

Article here: http://www.patriciabriggs.com/articles/silver/ranger/
(Part 3 of the link posted by Mike / TX. -Which is worth the read -- I read that article a year or two ago, while wondering about casting with brass.)
 
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gwpercle

New member
Gun World 1964...those guys were something else, way ahead of Mythbuster's. Lone Ranger and silver bullets...they went through a lot to get that silver bullet.
Another test they did was comparing penetration of a 44 magnum and a arrow! The arrow would penetrate farther than the 44. Always doing something interesting in that magazine.
Thanks for the link, brought back some memories!
Gary
 
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res45

New member
These bullets already have silver in them I shot these bullets in my 357 Mag. Ruger BH for years before I started casting. Silver is a good bearing surface metal,I never had any issues with leading as the bullets we sized to .359" back then which is what my Ruger likes.

http://oregontrailbullet.com/
 
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Chuck Dye

New member
Friends who wanted to play experiment with silver bullets turned them from rods on a lathe (carefully saving the scraps.;)) When their bullets and scraps were ready for it, they remelted the silver, cast new rods, and started over. As I recall, they resorted to the lathe because of reports that bullets cast in standard lead bullet molds cool well under lead diameter.
 
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pete2

New member
Silver good enough for Lone Ranger, good enough for me. Also good for vampires or is it werewolves? Never can remember.
 
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