"Dueling with Wax Bullets" ( circa 1909 )

[Oyeboten]

Looks like it would be kinda fun!


Duelling with Wax Bullets, New York, 1909 | Retronaut

[HayesGreener]

Bill Jordan recommended using wax bullets with just a primer for indoor practice. We were also using primer driven wax bullets for SWAT training in the late 60's/early 70's-you had to be careful to be thoroughly covered because those wax bullets would cut a divot out of you if you had skin exposed and leave one heck of a welt through regular street clothes

[Oyeboten]

The distances the fellows are at in the old images...I am wondering it maybe they had a little Powder behind the Wax Bullets?

Hard to tell what sort of Pistols those are...but the Box of 'Bullets' does seem to have what look like Percussion Caps in the left side cocmpartment.


I used to make and use Wax 'Balls' for a repro Colt Navy in the early 1960s, and, shoot them at paper Targts in our Basement.


I think I will get back into that for indoor Home practice.

[Tel]

I do this from time to time, it is fun,..............just do not shoot your wife,........it will not end in a good way.........................you may never get laid again.

[broknaxl]

BigRix had a thread about casting bullets out of hot glue for indoor use. Just used the primer to power them. Hopefully he'll come along and post a link. He sent me some in .44, but I'm embaressed to say I haven't tried it yet.

[ohiobuckeye]

Speer makes reusable plastic bullets and cases for 38/357 and 44mag/spl that work well and they are quick and easy to assemble. All you need for a target is a cardboard box stuffed with an old blanket or wadded newspaper to catch the bullets for reuse. After seeing how hard they hit I don't plan on ever being on the receiving end of either plastic or wax.

[Bart45]

If shooting indoors, isn't breathing the primer fumes a little dicey?

[Shooter_55]

If shooting indoors, isn't breathing the primer fumes a little dicey?

Unless you have a state of the art ventilation system using hepafilters, I would have to agree. Arsenic being one of the materials used in the manufacture of primers isn't something I would care to inhale a lot of......unless you are Bill Clinton and just didn't inhale at all....

[BigRix]

While I would not recomend using them indoors, I do shoot them in my garage from time to time.

[bang]

My experiments with wax and hot glue bullets taught me that the flash hole needs to be reamed out as large as possible, leaving just enough shoulder for the primer to "ledge" on -- otherwise, the primers will back out and cause cylinder binding.

One other thing -- magnum primers work best . . .