Exotic Shotgun Pellets.

[bamaranger]

Well, at least that would get through the gristle shield of a hog!!!!

Actually, I am surprised we have not seen military grade (hevi) buckshot. Maybe they make it and I am not aware? Shotguns still go to war, but I suspect more as a breacher than anything else, but tungsten buck would certainly improve a combat shotguns performance (range and penetration). And I really wonder by how much? A 00 tungsten buck pellet would be lethal way out there I suspect. At least as effective as a subgun burst.

Hmmm??....WE don't really use subguns in combat these days either....maybe I just answered my own question.

But, In this day of highcost tech aircraft/weapons, what would a couple of bucks a shot for improved scattergun performance matter?

Be grim death on deer and hogs (and felons) I bet too.

[B.L.E.]

however DU (depleted Uranium) is one of those things the govt regulates, so good luck getting any as a private handloader.

There's a scientific chemicals company that sells small samples of U-238 (depleted uranium)

http://unitednuclear.com/index.php?m...roducts_id=211

[Cheapshooter]

Silver bullets are for werewolf's. I'm not sure where the ideal for silver bullets for vampires came from, I don't think it is traditional . But then again we have a lot of walking dead downtown but few vampires..

Vampires require a wood slug fired through the heart.

"How to Kill a Vampire with Silver
Again, the curse of silver begins before the first vampire became a vampire, when the goddess Artemis (Greek mythology) cursed the first vampire so that his skin burned when it touched silver.

Using silver is a bit like a blend between sunlight and a wooden stake. It doesn't work as well as either of those two options, but it has advantages of its own. First of all, unlike sunlight, silver is highly portable. You can carry an item of solid silver (make sure it's real, solid silver please) with you easily. Secondly, it won't kill a vampire to stab it in the heart with silver (as it would using a wooden stake), but it will slow down the healing process, which can be very helpful.

In order to actually kill a vampire using silver, you'd probably need a lot of it. Silver is more helpful as a slowing or trapping agent. Vampires, despite their strength, cannot break a chain of silver, even if they tried. If you could somehow manage to handcuff a vampire to a tree, say, using silver handcuffs, all you would have to do is wait until the sun rose the next day and you would have yourself a fried vampire. Of course, how you would actually manage to accomplish this task is another story."
http://www.gods-and-monsters.com/how...a-vampire.html

[DanTSX]

This was a far more interesting and entertaining thread than I thought it would be when I stepped into it.

Good info from a few disciplines and professions. Well done!

[44 AMP]

I (finally) looked at the link, and its interesting, you get random chunks (but always at least 3-4 grams U). With a melting point above 2000F, good luck easily molding it into shot pellets!

And you'd have to buy, what, 5,6, 7or more packets and cast them into shot to make a full 12ga load, I think. How many could you buy before someone turns you in as a (stupid) "terrorist"???

It is real, depleted U though. With a U235 content of 0.3% that's less than half of the fissile content of natural U ore.

edit: looked again, they limit you to 4 pack, MAX.
At $59 per pack, plus the labor making chunks into shot, pretty spendy rounds...


A single DU round would cost more than most defensive shotgun!

[T. O'Heir]

Copper or Silver would be far too expensive with too little density. Criminals are stealing copper wire for the scrap value.
Vampires require a sabre. Off with their heads. snicker.
An APFSDS round requires extremely high velocity. MV is 5,700 ft/s, but the projectile frags easily.

[44 AMP]

An APFSDS round requires extremely high velocity.

No they don't. But they pierce more armor when they go really fast.

Meaning the FSDS concept will work at about any velocity, AP effectiveness increases with increased velocity. and our Sabot rounds (aka Silver bullets) at 5K+fps are pretty effective.

Cutting off the vampires head will do it, but you can't count on being able to do it, until the creature is staked. By traditional sources (not Hollywood) the only way to be absolutely certain of destroying the vampire is wooden stake through the heart (hawthorne recommended, though I know not why), fill the mouth with garlic, cut off the head, then burn it all, and scatter the ashes at a crossroads. That way, worst case, if they DO manage to come back from all that, they won't know which road to take...

[drobs]

I think as long as whatever it is you want to shoot (sterling silver, DU, etc) fits in the shot wad, and will fit down your barrel, you should be good to go. No need to try to melt it into pellets. Chop it up with a dremmel tool if need be.

[stephen426]

Stupid question... Has anyone loaded a stack of coins and fired it out of a shotgun? I imagine that would result in some pretty weird shot patterns. I know there is a .410 defensive found that is loaded with stacked disks, but they arethick disks.

[44 AMP]

as long as whatever it is you want to shoot (sterling silver, DU, etc) fits in the shot wad, and will fit down your barrel, you should be good to go. No need to try to melt it into pellets. Chop it up with a dremmel tool if need be.

for point blank, that would work. But for a little further out, chunks won't fly straight. Not even remotely. Once the shot cup separates, air resistance takes effect, and anything different from the rest will try hard to go somewhere else.
Chopped up bits of DU would do a devastating job at across the room, but at 20+ yards, half of them might miss even a large target.

Has anyone loaded a stack of coins and fired it out of a shotgun?

I haven't, so I can't say what they will do. Dimes are the old west urban legend for a kick butt load in a 12 ga, BUT, you also need an open choked gun, or you could get one from firing dimes! (like missing the last few inches of barrel open choke gun...) a pre-1950s era 12ga FULL CHOKE generally won't allow a dime to pass through the muzzle. A CYLINDER bore, will.

And, dimes are a bit harder than lead, so not so good at squeezing through a choke. If you don't give a crap about your gun, you can do what they do in the movies.

Note: MODERN (meaning post 1950s era) guns, designed for, and choked for the modern shotshell with a shot cup, are generally larger diameter bores for the given degree of choke. A Dime WILL fall through a modern full choke 12ga. It will balance at the muzzle of a full choke 1920s era 12ga.

[B.L.E.]

The "dime test" used to be a way to tell if a 12 gauge shotgun had a full or modified choke. If a dime would pass through the muzzle, it was modified or more open, if the dime didn't pass through, it was full.

With modern shotguns, especially those with back bored barrels, that isn't necessarily true any more, a dime easily fits through the full choke of my Browning BT-99.

My dial caliper measures a dime at .703" diameter. A true 12 bore is .729".

[44 AMP]

"Choke" is not a fixed bore diameter measurement. It is what ever amount of constriction needed to produce a given result on the pattern board.

For a "full" choke, 70% of the pellets must be inside a 30 inch circle at 40yds.

To get this result, using the old style shotshells, with card wads and no shot cup took a smaller bore (more choke) than it takes to get the same 70% performance with modern shotshells with fold crimps and plastic shot cups. Which is why a dime can fall through the muzzle of a modern full choke gun, but won't on an old one.