my littleton shotmaker making shot

yodave

yodave

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
436   0   0
finally took some pictures and video of the shotmaker actually working. I bought a littleton with number 7.5 drippers, did a lot of reading and ironed out most of the bugs for perfect shot. Using just straight wheel weights melted into ingots, and Dot 3 brake fluid for coolant in the drop tank. Decided on the Brake fluid after reading about the changes in viscocity of anti freeze, even the pet freindly brand sierra. As the coolant heats up the viscosity changes and the lead pellets deform, some add corn startch to get the viscosity back up, the whole process is a art in itself whereas brake fluid is brake fluid and it requires little if any maintenance during the shot making process.

This string of pictures is from last Sunday, I ran the machine for 4 hours and yielded 125 pounds of usable shot, I culled out probably ten percent of blobs from clogged drippers. Using spray graphite lube on the dripper tray rather then the soap stone littleton reocomends again takes out a lot of the quess work. When a dripper is leaving a trail on the tray rather then a pellet rolling down a quick blast of graphite gets it back on track. Of course it is flamable and not highly recomended from a safety standpoint :D

The drop height is also a major factor, they say a quarter inch, i found 3/16 of an inch works better. to high and you get pancakes, to low and the fumes from the coolant make the lead stick to the drip tray. Again this was something that had to be experimented with. Coolant temperature is also important, to hot and the shot will not solidify right away giving you out of round shot, to cold and you get dimples in the lead. I am now circulating two and a half gallons of brake fluid with a outdoor fish pond pump, after four hours of hot lead dropping in the fluid I could still stick my finger in the fluid.

Because brake fluid is water soluable a quick rinse with warm soapy water and it is ready to dry. One dried one teaspoon of dry graphite powder is stirred into 25 pounds of lead and it is ready to load.


The littleton shotmaker
stuff045.jpg


My ammo can coolant tank, a small hole in bottom allows the shot to flow out and collect in my strainer.
stuff046.jpg


A modified parts washer that holds my extra coolant and houses my pump.
stuff047.jpg


A stainless steel bowl i filled with 3/64 inch holes to sieve out the 7.5 shot from the blobs and oversized shot.
stuff048.jpg


the 125 pounds of lead I made in four hours :D now to wash and graphite it.
stuff050.jpg


And finally a video of it in action, enjoy
[youtube]dq3jzxTJWkE[/youtube]

I left a few things out I am sure, but I am more then glad to answer questions :D
 
Last edited:
Nice... great job rigging up that coolant pump, looks like you frequent princess auto as much as I do :). You need to rig up an old car rad and fan...:D
 
msg.drew said:
Nice... great job rigging up that coolant pump, looks like you frequent princess auto as much as I do :). You need to rig up an old car rad and fan...:D
Click to expand...

I got a heater core coming for when the days get hotter :D
Also have more brake fluid to add to the mix to get the warm up period down as well.
 
I also have one and it works great. Have you tried making bigger shot? Drippers with a bigger hole.
 
Amazing. So there is no "heat exchanger" per se in your set up, the brake fluid just circulates around from the parts bucket to the ammo can?

Is there a test to compare your product to factory pellets, such as rolling an amount down an incline and seeing what perentage is out of round and falls off at the side of the incline?
 
The shot rolls of the drip tray once it comes out the dripper, I haven't tried to make bigger shot as the littleton came with 7.5 size drippers and that was what I was after.

As of right now there is no heat exchanger on the set up, although I have the parts to put one in if the need arises, like I said I ran it for four hours and could still stick my finger quite comfortably in the brake fluid.

The shot I made patterns the same as factory, no real noticable differences. I opened a couple Federal 7.5 shells and dumped the shot :eek: If you saw what they were loading you would cringe. So far most of it rolls nice, there are the odd weird shaped shot but for 16 yard and skeet so far it works like a hot damn and the price was right :D
 
you can buy a new littleton direct from the company in the states for 400 american. Then you need to get all the other stuff, I don't want to add it up :eek: When shot went up to 45.oo a bag and the guys at the range told me to look into making shot, based on my lead bullet experience I researched it and decided to jump into it. I should break even after I sell half a ton of shot at a dollar a pound, or I hope to break even after I sell a half a ton :D
 
Dave sell it for a $1.50 per pound, you'll break even way faster. Wish I lived closer to you, I have a big can of wheel weights looking to be melted. FS
 
There is a heating element under the pan on the top of the littleton, the first models were 110 volt but the lead would freeze when you added more to the pan, this one is 220 volt.


Fassteel. send your lead out on the bus :D I'll send you half the take in the mail :D COD of course
 
I did not think it would cost that much. Does the ladle just sit on an element like on a stove ??? I wonder how hard it would be to rig one up by just buying the ladle and dripper, and buying the rest at a local hardware store?
 
heavyBullet said:
I did not think it would cost that much. Does the ladle just sit on an element like on a stove ??? I wonder how hard it would be to rig one up by just buying the ladle and dripper, and buying the rest at a local hardware store?
Click to expand...

This is not something you want to rig up at a hardware store it will never work as good as the magma shot maker yo dave has... there is a reason magma products cost what they do its because the work very well and are designed for volume production.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom