Iraqveteran8888 demonstrates homemade wax slugs in the below video. To make these slugs you just buy some #8 target shot shells, remove the shot, mix the shot with wax and then pour back into the shotshell. They seem to hit accurate and hard.
Y-man here! I’m alive and kicking… I saw this and it is impressive! Like Barry L said: exception 3 hits 6″ group at 100 yards: more realistic for same size group: 6″ at 40 to 50 yards. My groups have always been at a max 40 yards, but I once hit 10″ targets repeatedly at 70 yards.
I also tried something similar with hot-glue dribbled into paper tubes filled with shot, then inserted into shotshell and re-crimped. Never fired any though. Maybe I should.
I have been working on round ball slugs recently, and I think I’m getting there: just no chance to do any real testing: elections just ended here in Nigeria, there’s still so much security tension here, and recently, a gang of brigands in the north have claimed to be “Islamic terrorists”, mostly dismissed, but have carried out some suicide bombings (Google: UN building Abuja, Boko Haram bombing.)
So no ammo available, too much tension to go shooting (Ranges closed) but I will have a video and guest post out soon.
16 
0Glad to hear from you! Be good to see your next post. Stay safe… and good luck with the ammo work!
0 0Well the story goes that in ye olde days in Sicily, arguments were sometimes ended with a Lurpa, which was a double barrel shot gun with a cut down barrels and stock for purposes of concealment. For loads they would uncrimp a bird shot round and dribble candle wax into it then recrimp. It was for close range use and a gut shot would often be a through and through. The exit wound being rather large. Slugs weren’t that readily available and weren’t that necessary for the application.
As stated this is a lost art video, it is about making do and improvements on thing people don’t do anymore. If you need slug round and don’t have the casting equipment, the reloading equipment, the money,or the access for a commercial round, with the repackaged wax slugs shown in this video I don’t think you have to worry about under penetration on large game. It would be interesting to see a ballistic channel through gun gelatin, but only that, interesting.
8 0Lupara, not a Lurpa. Italian is much too beautiful a language to produce a word like “lurpa”. Sounds like a disease.
11 0Someone should show Y-Man how to do this. Have you heard from Y-Man lately Steve?
7 0That’s what I was just thinking. Last blog post I remember was slug testing.
6 0This is a cool project but what, if any, benefit do wax slugs have over a solid lead slug?
7 0I believe that on impact, the slug would penetrate flesh, then disintegrate, casting off and scattering shot inside the target, increasing cavitation. (Needless to say that this would also be a nightmare for any medical personnel attempting to remove the shot…)
1 0My father told me that British gamekeepers and country boys were recommended to make some birdshot held with wax rounds in case of a German invasion.
It does seem like a simple emergency method to reach out there.
3 0Just don’t run them through a barrel with any choke.
3 1Interesting video.
I wonder if you could use a cigar cutter for removing the ring and possibly a funnel for filling the shells.
1 0Ewan:
Agreed. My Old Man also told me about this modification to standard shotgun cartridges when Britain was alone in 1940-1. The purpose was to produce a short-range slug out of everyday birdshot cartridges.
1 0My family has had a tradition of scoring 12 gauge birdshot shells about 3/4″ from the end so they fire as a slug. These wax slugs remind me a lot of that.
1 0I am extremely doubtful the wax leaves behind any residue inside the barrel. Odds are any wax that is scraped off the projectile is instantly vaporized by the burning propellant gases and exhausted out the muzzle.
If wax buildup truly was an issue the first place to look would be on the exterior of the muzzle. Vaporized wax might condense into a solid deposit on the muzzle surface. If you see any wax there, then you might begin to worry about wax on the bore surface.
1 0Just gotta love these Videos! =D
0 0I imagine the wax lets you shoot these through a fully choked barrel fairly easily without tearing the slug (or the barrel) apart.
0 0Looks like a budget way of making close range turkey hunting ammo. Its also bio degradable.
0 0are you raising pressure by the weight of wax?
0 0Wax slugs? Those are breaching shells.
0 0I believe he has another video where he briefly discusses the cleanup issues.
0 0Bees wax works better…. as it flys it flattens a bit
1 1I would love to see slow-mo shots in flight and on impact of these things.
1 0Wow, that is badass. Any special cleanup procedures after running wax through your shotgun? I’d be curious to see what these do to ballistic gelatin.
0 0On the second video, you’ll see that the barrel was clean…not dirty at all.
0 0Might be a ‘safer’ load for home defense, I’d think the birdshot ‘slug’ would be less likely to penetrate walls in case of a miss, and definitely would not over penetrate after a ‘hit’!
0 0Uhm, BTW, why not just reload an empty shell with this and use a standard crimp? Should feed like normal then.
4 0It looked to me that there was a coating of wax in the barrel. My 12 gauge barrels only look that nice with a fresh coating of gun oil in them. But I seriously doubt that a lil bit of wax on the inside of your smoothbore is going to be any problem at all. If anything it adds a lil corrosion resistance. But it most likely will come right off if you use a boresnake or really clean the barrel well.
And I love this idea!!! It essentially is just a way to turn cheap target loads into slugs. Granted these wax slugs are crap compared to any real slugs. But on the other hand I’m thinking about doing this then using these just for practice loads or poping milk jugs on the range with friends. Essentially plinking with slugs! 
1 2I’ve heard of those, and the “cut shell” technique. Just have to maybe disagree a little about effectiveness. Unless I just wasn’t paying enough attention, he wasn’t 100% clear on whether he considers these adequate for hunting, self-defense, or both.
I’ll say up front, this guy obviously knows EXACTLY what he’s doing, how these things work, and precisely what they do on target. Impact, maybe 2-3″ penetration, then the “slug” breaks up, creating a fist-sized wound about 6-8″ deep. Definitely lethal.
But I’m one of those weirdos who just has to insist on 12″ to 18″ penetration, ideally 13″ to 15″, for defensive ammo. A good slug or buckshot will make a hole ALMOST as wide, but twice as deep. A GREAT slug or buckshot load will make a WIDER hole than the wax slug, and still penetrate twice as deep.
Yes, a wax slug will leave a guy trying to hold his guts in. WHICH guts he’s trying to hold in, determine how long he has to do so. Thus, deeper penetrating ammo is better. Humans are much less uniform than jello, buckets of water, watermelons, etc. Defensive ammo should be adequate for something like a “realistic worst-case” scenario. Let’s say a very large, strong, but also fat guy, who’s high on drugs. If he’s muscular and fat enough, a wax slug would inflict an extremely severe flesh wound, but might take several minutes to actually have much effect, depending on the drugs.
Wax slugs and cut shells, I’d really hesitate to use on anything larger than a coyote, unless I could get close enough to put the shot exactly where I want. Of course, that’s a luxury you do have with hunting, but not in self defense.
For defense, I’d go with the “drywall screw through a fishing sinker attaching it to a wad” slug, that he demonstrates in another video. Dirt cheap, perfectly adequate for short range. Just a little less accurate and lower velocity than a commercial slug, and you can only single-feed them. If I for some reason had no access to standard antipersonnel ammo, those would absolutely be my first choice for home defense or whatever.
Anyway though, like I said, I missed if he was saying the wax slugs are good for hunting, or defense, or both. That’s what determines if I’m disagreeing, or just rambling.
5 8I wouldn’t take these over factory slugs, but they would be quite useful in a survival situation if you had only birdshot and needed a more effective way to hunt large game and/or for self defense.
2 0Now what about one of these wax slugs with buckshot?
0 0
are you raising pressure by the weight of wax?
Interesting video.
I wonder if you could use a cigar cutter for removing the ring and possibly a funnel for filling the shells.
Just gotta love these Videos! =D
Ewan:
Agreed. My Old Man also told me about this modification to standard shotgun cartridges when Britain was alone in 1940-1. The purpose was to produce a short-range slug out of everyday birdshot cartridges.
I am extremely doubtful the wax leaves behind any residue inside the barrel. Odds are any wax that is scraped off the projectile is instantly vaporized by the burning propellant gases and exhausted out the muzzle.
If wax buildup truly was an issue the first place to look would be on the exterior of the muzzle. Vaporized wax might condense into a solid deposit on the muzzle surface. If you see any wax there, then you might begin to worry about wax on the bore surface.
My family has had a tradition of scoring 12 gauge birdshot shells about 3/4″ from the end so they fire as a slug. These wax slugs remind me a lot of that.
Y-man here! I’m alive and kicking… I saw this and it is impressive! Like Barry L said: exception 3 hits 6″ group at 100 yards: more realistic for same size group: 6″ at 40 to 50 yards. My groups have always been at a max 40 yards, but I once hit 10″ targets repeatedly at 70 yards.
I also tried something similar with hot-glue dribbled into paper tubes filled with shot, then inserted into shotshell and re-crimped. Never fired any though. Maybe I should.
I have been working on round ball slugs recently, and I think I’m getting there: just no chance to do any real testing: elections just ended here in Nigeria, there’s still so much security tension here, and recently, a gang of brigands in the north have claimed to be “Islamic terrorists”, mostly dismissed, but have carried out some suicide bombings (Google: UN building Abuja, Boko Haram bombing.)
So no ammo available, too much tension to go shooting (Ranges closed) but I will have a video and guest post out soon.
Glad to hear from you! Be good to see your next post. Stay safe… and good luck with the ammo work!
Just don’t run them through a barrel with any choke.
Might be a ‘safer’ load for home defense, I’d think the birdshot ‘slug’ would be less likely to penetrate walls in case of a miss, and definitely would not over penetrate after a ‘hit’!
Uhm, BTW, why not just reload an empty shell with this and use a standard crimp? Should feed like normal then.
Bees wax works better…. as it flys it flattens a bit
I would love to see slow-mo shots in flight and on impact of these things.
It looked to me that there was a coating of wax in the barrel. My 12 gauge barrels only look that nice with a fresh coating of gun oil in them. But I seriously doubt that a lil bit of wax on the inside of your smoothbore is going to be any problem at all. If anything it adds a lil corrosion resistance. But it most likely will come right off if you use a boresnake or really clean the barrel well.
And I love this idea!!! It essentially is just a way to turn cheap target loads into slugs. Granted these wax slugs are crap compared to any real slugs. But on the other hand I’m thinking about doing this then using these just for practice loads or poping milk jugs on the range with friends. Essentially plinking with slugs!
I imagine the wax lets you shoot these through a fully choked barrel fairly easily without tearing the slug (or the barrel) apart.
Well the story goes that in ye olde days in Sicily, arguments were sometimes ended with a Lurpa, which was a double barrel shot gun with a cut down barrels and stock for purposes of concealment. For loads they would uncrimp a bird shot round and dribble candle wax into it then recrimp. It was for close range use and a gut shot would often be a through and through. The exit wound being rather large. Slugs weren’t that readily available and weren’t that necessary for the application.
As stated this is a lost art video, it is about making do and improvements on thing people don’t do anymore. If you need slug round and don’t have the casting equipment, the reloading equipment, the money,or the access for a commercial round, with the repackaged wax slugs shown in this video I don’t think you have to worry about under penetration on large game. It would be interesting to see a ballistic channel through gun gelatin, but only that, interesting.
Lupara, not a Lurpa. Italian is much too beautiful a language to produce a word like “lurpa”. Sounds like a disease.
Someone should show Y-Man how to do this. Have you heard from Y-Man lately Steve?
That’s what I was just thinking. Last blog post I remember was slug testing.
This is a cool project but what, if any, benefit do wax slugs have over a solid lead slug?
I believe that on impact, the slug would penetrate flesh, then disintegrate, casting off and scattering shot inside the target, increasing cavitation. (Needless to say that this would also be a nightmare for any medical personnel attempting to remove the shot…)
I believe he has another video where he briefly discusses the cleanup issues.
My father told me that British gamekeepers and country boys were recommended to make some birdshot held with wax rounds in case of a German invasion.
It does seem like a simple emergency method to reach out there.
Looks like a budget way of making close range turkey hunting ammo. Its also bio degradable.
I’ve heard of those, and the “cut shell” technique. Just have to maybe disagree a little about effectiveness. Unless I just wasn’t paying enough attention, he wasn’t 100% clear on whether he considers these adequate for hunting, self-defense, or both.
I’ll say up front, this guy obviously knows EXACTLY what he’s doing, how these things work, and precisely what they do on target. Impact, maybe 2-3″ penetration, then the “slug” breaks up, creating a fist-sized wound about 6-8″ deep. Definitely lethal.
But I’m one of those weirdos who just has to insist on 12″ to 18″ penetration, ideally 13″ to 15″, for defensive ammo. A good slug or buckshot will make a hole ALMOST as wide, but twice as deep. A GREAT slug or buckshot load will make a WIDER hole than the wax slug, and still penetrate twice as deep.
Yes, a wax slug will leave a guy trying to hold his guts in. WHICH guts he’s trying to hold in, determine how long he has to do so. Thus, deeper penetrating ammo is better. Humans are much less uniform than jello, buckets of water, watermelons, etc. Defensive ammo should be adequate for something like a “realistic worst-case” scenario. Let’s say a very large, strong, but also fat guy, who’s high on drugs. If he’s muscular and fat enough, a wax slug would inflict an extremely severe flesh wound, but might take several minutes to actually have much effect, depending on the drugs.
Wax slugs and cut shells, I’d really hesitate to use on anything larger than a coyote, unless I could get close enough to put the shot exactly where I want. Of course, that’s a luxury you do have with hunting, but not in self defense.
For defense, I’d go with the “drywall screw through a fishing sinker attaching it to a wad” slug, that he demonstrates in another video. Dirt cheap, perfectly adequate for short range. Just a little less accurate and lower velocity than a commercial slug, and you can only single-feed them. If I for some reason had no access to standard antipersonnel ammo, those would absolutely be my first choice for home defense or whatever.
Anyway though, like I said, I missed if he was saying the wax slugs are good for hunting, or defense, or both. That’s what determines if I’m disagreeing, or just rambling.
Now what about one of these wax slugs with buckshot?
I wouldn’t take these over factory slugs, but they would be quite useful in a survival situation if you had only birdshot and needed a more effective way to hunt large game and/or for self defense.
Wax slugs? Those are breaching shells.
Wow, that is badass. Any special cleanup procedures after running wax through your shotgun? I’d be curious to see what these do to ballistic gelatin.
On the second video, you’ll see that the barrel was clean…not dirty at all.