Hard clay slingshot ammo?

[miglee279]

Good day to you all gentlemen. Just thought I’d go ahead and ask a dumb question I probably already know the answer to. I have seen hard clay with ceramic coating slingshot ammo in a lot of the common muzzleloader calibers and thought to myself I wonder if I could patch that and shoot it with a low power charge out of a 10 in. pistol without turning it to powder and just dirtying the bore. What are your thoughts on this matter?

 

[64Springer]

I do a lot of ceramic work.

Dry clay is unbelievably brittle. Doesn't take much to turn it into dust.

If you bake the clay hot enough in a kiln or furnace you can turn the clay balls into what is called bisque.

A bisqued ball of clay can be patched and shot.

But it won't have the weight to travel very far and accuracy will be non-existent.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I do a lot of ceramic work.

Dry clay is unbelievably brittle. Doesn't take much to turn it into dust.

If you bake the clay hot enough in a kiln or furnace you can turn the clay balls into what is called bisque.

A bisqued ball of clay can be patched and shot.

But it won't have the weight to travel very far and accuracy will be non-existent.

I'm thinking even if you used a bullet mold to get the sphere round to avoid or reduce a "wobble" in flight..., the molds are designed for the finished ball to shrink when it cools and be the right diameter, but the clay might not shrink as much or at all, and thus be too tight a fit ???

LD

 

[64Springer]

Clay shrinks around 6% to 12% depending on the clay body being used.

 

[William Sublette]

I measured some clay slingshot ammo. It varied widely, ( .430 something to .470 something), and was not exactly round.

 

[Eutycus]

I've bounced slingshot ammo off of the steel gong I use for the rifle. Only a minute scratch on the ball so they are tough.

 

[Sam squanch]

There are accounts of poor people in India making mud and clay round balls for matchlocks.

 

[hinamanra]

If it's a smoothbore pistol I'd definitely try it.