Jack of all trades, master of none?

[Alan]

If you could master one skill, what would it be and why?

 

[Magus]

Medicine.

 

[Brucer41]

CNC operator. There are a lot of things I want to be able to make, fix and create.

 

[Magus]

I'd love to get turned loose in a shop for a few days myself, I have an idea for an indoor defense rifle that shoots .50 caliber graphite slugs.

 

[Brucer41]

I'd love to get turned loose in a shop for a few days myself, I have an idea for an indoor defense rifle that shoots .50 caliber graphite slugs.

Those sound painful as all get out! Almost as bad as the ol rock salt in the shotgun. Have experienced being shot out of a fruit tree in an unfriendly neighbor's yard by some. No sir, not any fun whatsoever.

 

[Magus]

The cool part? I've already developed the round on my kitchen table years ago. It could be fatal inside 15 feet, but so could rock salt. I got to tinkering with the idea after 9/11, will not penetrate even plywood past that, but it will sting like a %^*&$! It was OK in a 45 colt, but the new S@W case adjusted for an automatic weapon would be idea!. Like getting hit by bees at about 900 FPS.

 

[Brucer41]

The cool part? I've already developed the round on my kitchen table years ago. It could be fatal inside 15 feet, but so could rock salt. I got to tinkering with the idea after 9/11, will not penetrate even plywood past that, but it will sting like a %^*&$! It was OK in a 45 colt, but the new S@W case adjusted for an automatic weapon would be idea!. Like getting hit by bees at about 900 FPS.

.50 GI barrel for a Glock, figure out the right gunpowder to get enough blow back to cycle the slide, and you would be golden. DO you still roll your own at all? I used to. I found Unique powder was excellent for .45 and .45LC. I think in a .50GI round with about 6 grains of unique would get that slug rolling along pretty good and cycle the slide.

 

[Magus]

I haven't rolled my own in 25 years. I'll have to look into that round!

 

[Brucer41]

I was thinking the graphite would need enough fps, but not too much to push it too hard and blow it apart (not knowing how hard it's packed). So since Unique is gone, I looked at Hodgdon. They have a one called Universal which is very similar. So, using a .50 GI in a Glock 21, 7 grains of Universal with a tightly packed Graphite round would give you about 825 fps, reliable slide cycling and not blow apart the round. Good deal there. Lord almighty whatever you hit with it about 20 or so yards, it is going to hurt like 10 sum ******* lol.

 

[Magus]

If you want to try it, mix Elmer's glue and pelletized graphite and put it into a bullet mold you've sprayed with silicone release spray, clamp it, and put it somewhere fairly warm for about a week. The finished product will be somewhere just shy of 200 grains. I was using red dot back then. Check the load for that grain, and use the lightest load. Now here is the part I was tinkering with when I got smashed by a forklift. delicately open the primer hole with the nearest-sized drill bit, darken the brass so you don't mix it up, and blow up! pour in a powder measure of grits, add a gas check, and hand seat the slug.

Bear in mind, I'm the same guy who was patching .243 with OCB rolling paper in a 6.5 Carcano, using modded casings and a 25 auto case as a powder dipper to make plinking loads.

 

[Brucer41]

Did you use standard primers with that? I have a .45LC mold I will dig out and give it a try. Going to have to grab the powder and stuff, no biggie. I can play with it. Did the graphite give you enough bulk to seat tightly from the mold?

Like a bunch of us crazy dudes, you sound like a wild man back in the day. I have done some wild and crazy thing as well.

 

[Magus]

I believe so, I know I opened up the primer holes about one size larger. (Kitchen table tech) do you have a scale to check the slug's weight? That's the tricky part!. I remember I had to tinker with each loading because, for some reason, no matter how careful I was, the slug weight varied. If it's too hot, it shatters; if it's not hot enough, it fouls badly, so check your bore after each shot to be safe. Using gas checks is a MUST!

Are you familiar with paper patch rounds? I had a cast wax/graphite 41 slug screaming out of my 44 Redhawk at almost 1000 fps and oddly accurate at 25 yards! I kind of wanted to try one as a paper patch, but "amigo" put a stop to my tinkering and pretty much everything else. I had ideas about making polymer target loads, but they never happened.

 

[Brucer41]

I do have a scale and was going to cast up about a dozen and weigh them all to try and try to get a consistent weight on at least 6. A long while back I was into black powder with Civil War recreation and learned a bunch with pouring my own and powder charges. Paper patching was used a lot. My mold is for .46lc round nose 200 grain. I am going to play and try and get to that 200 grain if possible and see if I can hit the 600 fps a lead hits from that bullet with the old Unique.

 

[Magus]

You know, I was thinking, God tends to flinch when I do that sometimes...
Trimmed down 45/70 brass/410 shot-shell wad/cast 444 slug... sabot!

 

[Brucer41]

You are truly an innovator dude lol

 

[Magus]

I used to love experimenting with alternative ammo.