kraigwy and Ideal Tool,
Thanks! I like the copper tubing idea and I have some out in the shop and can go try it right now. I can use a Dremel to cut off the copper and be left with a perfect lead rod to slug the barrel with.
I like the plaster of paris idea too for finer stuff. Then a guy could even get a lot of detail into the casting! I can think of a hundred things I have been wanting to do for years where the plaster of paris idea will let me get all sorts of details directly in the casting and then just smash the mold off.
I actually just bought a big cake of natural beeswax yesterday and now I can see 1) carving whatever figure or shape I want in the wax, 2) Making a mold by casting the wax in plaster of paris and 3) then pouring lead into the plaster of paris mold of the original wax carving!
Thanks a lot to both of you kraigwy and Ideal Tool.
I just had another thought. I wonder if you could just roll some of that metal tape that some one was using to "beagle" molds and roll it up into a long cylinder with the right diameter and then plug one end and pour the lead right down into that?
viola' instant lead rod?