doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Shot making, Italian style

A few yrs back Wallis Labisky ran a rather extensive test of patternms using a wide variety of shot. Some which were unavailable in bulk for loading he opened factory shells for his supply. Of all the shot he tested the unplated "Diamond" out-performed all others. As i recall this was reported upon in the "Rifleman", but may have been "Handloader".

Any use shot towers still? The gravity in Italy is much stronger, than in US I guess
Modern shots making from rods of different diameter and hardness.

Uh...those virgins? If they had bear feet where did they buy their shoes?


Art

Gamebore use a shot tower.
Geoff Dales the founder of Gamebore was an avid Wildfowler and got into loading as a result of his hobby.
Gamebore bought a Corn Mill in Hull and converted the tall building that was used for milling into a shot manufacturing facility.At the very dop of the building they have a furnace where Lead ingots are melted and mixed with antimony before the molten metal is poured through various gauzes dependant on shot size required before dropping a considerable height into an awaiting water tub.Air blast facilities are available if required for updraft to produce larger shot.Then the shot is inspected for size variations, barrelled to improve hardness and roundness, graphite powder coated to improve appearance and cut down on frictional losses also to help prevent sticking together and 'balling'Then the shot is rolled again to inspect for roundness it then goes through a series of mesh screens to grade and size before finally being packaged or sent to the loading line for cartridge production.Quality control and inspection processes are very high on the agenda to help Gamebore to comply with BSI Auditors and CIP specifications.I have been very happy with Gamebore cartridges for over 15 years, yes I can find fault with some lines some times, but the important thing is I know their performance envelope and work within my favoured brand's parameters.I do not think we have any bad cartridges here in Europe, just some are better (or worse )than others.Given the technology available to you guys and the amount of homeloading you do, you have the facilities to produce the finest shotshells.

Gamebore use a shot tower.
Geoff Dales the founder of Gamebore was an avid Wildfowler and got into loading as a result of his hobby.
Gamebore bought a Corn Mill in Hull and converted the tall building that was used for milling into a shot manufacturing facility.At the very dop of the building they have a furnace where Lead ingots are melted and mixed with antimony before the molten metal is poured through various gauzes dependant on shot size required before dropping a considerable height into an awaiting water tub.Air blast facilities are available if required for updraft to produce larger shot.Then the shot is inspected for size variations, barrelled to improve hardness and roundness, graphite powder coated to improve appearance and cut down on frictional losses also to help prevent sticking together and 'balling'Then the shot is rolled again to inspect for roundness it then goes through a series of mesh screens to grade and size before finally being packaged or sent to the loading line for cartridge production.Quality control and inspection processes are very high on the agenda to help Gamebore to comply with BSI Auditors and CIP specifications.I have been very happy with Gamebore cartridges for over 15 years, yes I can find fault with some lines some times, but the important thing is I know their performance envelope and work within my favoured brand's parameters.I do not think we have any bad cartridges here in Europe, just some are better (or worse )than others.Given the technology available to you guys and the amount of homeloading you do, you have the facilities to produce the finest shotshells.

The problem with any shot towers is too many rejected pellets and you never get needed equal in size pellets, they are allways will vary from each other in diameter.
Modern shot making machines will make great shots, moreover you don't need too much antimony and to get the same hardness as from tower. It's very cheap process and firms such as UEE in Spain make great ammo for very little money.

Salopian, that is interesting and I thank you. Gamebore must do additional steps that the US companies do not do. All you have to do is look at the US shot and it is not nearly as smooth, at least in my experience.

About 50 miles from my home there is a shot tower that was used during the Civil War. The tower and the land around it are now a park. Perhaps the rangers would let one use it if they asked nicely? :-) And it might be wise to take your own virgins rather then trying to find any at the local pub.

But for the ones who would prefer an easier way to do it, here is an article for making lead and bismuth shot at home. I would think you could put in as much antimony as you would want. http://www.svartkrutt.net/articles/vis.php?id=8
And here you can purchase the shot maker http://littletonshotmaker.com/

Regards, John

John, I like your humor. Might be interesting to contact the new owner and see what positive changes have been made to the Littleton shotmaker.

For a long time I made shot with a littleton shotmaker, never had a problem with it, used to use wheel weights.
I have been Coaching today for a major British cartridge manufacturer.I asked if lead was going to come down, No it is not it is going to go up again, UEE have just had one price increase, another due next month, Nobel increased last week, so you can bet they will all increase soon.Buy NOW.