I KNOW THERE ARE MANY VARIABLES IN SHOT MAKING, BUT WOULD APPRECIATE INPUT ON DROP DISTANCE TO LIQUID AND ANGLE OF PAN. THANKS FOR ANY INPUT.

UP

using a 220V better shot maker the shot rolls from the DRIPPERS about 3/4 inch on the LIP and then a free fall about 1/4 inch into the coolant. The coolant is 8 inches in depth.

Was curious as to Auctioneers set up in the barn worked out?

Jerry

Still working on things. Trying to work out some lead issue's when some other SMALL PROBLEM came up later afternoon of July 3, 2011. I'm getting prices right now. $H!T!

Auctioneer,

Is that a shot tower on the right??

I take it your not a country boy. That is a silo from about 150 years ago. It was used to store winter food for cattle.

Auctioneer.. If you have power out there and the ability to get your materials up to the top of that silo and build a platform with a hole in the floor over it, I think you would be surprised what you can get if you air drop wheel weight alloy at 625 degrees or less from a shot maker into a 5 gallon bucket of hot water. 25 feet is all you need for 8, 8 1/2 or 9's. 7 1/2 needs a few more feet. Closer to 30 if you can get it. If I had access to a silo or similar I'd sh*t can my entire overflow operation. The shot we got when we did a test run off my buddies roof was absolutely perfect. Never did find a place to accomodate all that was necessary to make a large quantity.

Jeff

Auctioneer,

Country boy - born & breed.

Just pulling your leg. Hoping to 'catch' one of the city dwellers who frequent the site...

Hope all goes well with the repair.

GoldEx,

Really only need 25 ~ 30 feet for small shot??

All the shot towers I've seen were in the 200 foot range - just assumed you needed the height for all shot, hadn't figured the smaller shot would cool that quickly.

HSLDS - Shot towers were tall in the old days because they used to drop fairly large musket shot in them in addition to bird shot so they needed a couple hundred feet for them to work. All you need is 25 feet or so to make 8's and smaller. We did it on a 55 degree day so if you tried it in the winter, you might get 7 1/2 to work from 25 feet. We could not that day. 7 1/2 kept exploding when it hit the water. 8's did not work at first but we started getting good shot once the temp of the molten lead was lowered. Lots of folks have the mistaken impression that you need a hundred plus feet to drop shot. No so. There are old barns and silos all over the place tall enough for the purpose. I just havn't met the owner of one who is a trapshooter yet! lol.

JK

Here are some pic's of the tower that I have in the same barn before the west end got blown in from a storm. From the bottom up and from the top down. Its about 25 feet tall.

The silo would be a good idea but right now there are some blocks that are coming loose at the top. I not sure how safe it would be. But yes I did think about doing so.

I have a rope with a hook to hook the 5 gal buck with lead and then bring it up to the top.

Once you get your barn back up to snuff... have someone with a back hoe dig you an old style grease pit like they had in automotive garages before hoists were popular. Will serve the purpose of allowing you to change your own oil safely without getting under an elevated vehicle and gain you another 6 feet of drop distance inside the barn for shot making.

JK