Wax Shotgun Slugs

How to make them:

How they work:

Both the process of making them, and the way they function seems safe enough.  They cycled really nice in that Saiga 12 at the end of the video too!

I might give this one a try.

Anyone have any experience with these, that can attest to their effectiveness?

30 COMMENTS

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That one guy July 9, 2011 at 05:09 am

I think i love this guy lol.

And lol pronouncing Saiga like Sega.

Broadkil July 9, 2011 at 04:49 pm

I would love to see what these do on ballistics gel in slow motion.

JK March 19, 2012 at 01:09 am

It’s pronounced “say-gah” and not “sa-ee-gah.”

AyeBraine April 26, 2012 at 03:44 pm

Actually we in Russia pronounce it “sa-ee-gah” =)

Abongo November 20, 2012 at 02:28 pm

Most Northern Europeans, including Russians, would pronounce it “Sa-eeh-gah”

Jon July 9, 2011 at 09:36 am

Yeah, this guy is the best!

armed_partisan July 9, 2011 at 12:05 pm

I find this an intriguing and amazingly practical idea. I wonder if Y-Man is familiar with these? I wanna see if I can make bullets using substances other than lead which have higher melting points, such as iron oxide. Homemade Lead Free bullets.

JamesF July 9, 2011 at 02:42 pm

Yeah, someone should send a link to this to Y-man (of TheFirearmBlog.com fame.)

Ed July 9, 2011 at 02:47 pm

I want to see what this does in ballistics gel.

I imagine it would be pretty devastating as the shot would in theory splatter out upon impact.

Hrachya Hayrapetyan July 9, 2011 at 02:53 pm

There are a lot of good conventional factory slugs in the market…so I don’t see the advantages of these wax slugs. If you need penetration , then shoot a DIY shell with .700 steel ball projectile. I will agree with “armed_partisan”, that this method can be used to make projectiles from higher melting point materials. Also I would make a conical cap, which would let to make kinda spitzer point projectiles . Or put a tube in the middle and you’ll have a hollow slug …

backwoods bobby December 24, 2012 at 12:13 pm

you obviously dont understand the point of this.

jpcmt July 9, 2011 at 10:47 pm

I’m afraid I don’t see why one would make these except for the obvious novelty making cool homemade wax slugs. Is there a reason one would prefer these wax slugs over regular 1oz lead retail slugs?

dagamore July 10, 2011 at 04:02 am

these wax slugs are a carry over from the past, like the cut shell. it was one way to make cheap and effective ‘slugs’ when the only ammo you can afford/find is bird shot.
Keep in mind a box of slugs from cabelas is still federal truball rifled slugs are ~$5 per 5 where you can get 25 shots of the kent ultimate fast lead shells(still 12Gauge 2 3/4″ shells) for ~$12. So for a bit more then twice the price you get 5 times the shells. If money was very tight, like from the great depression, or if this is your only option. it is one way to get it done.

That one guy July 10, 2011 at 03:49 pm

Plus the Glaser effect it has on a body. I dont care about it being cheap, i care about the newfound limb-shearing power :D

Jeff July 11, 2011 at 09:36 am

Hence the term Lost Arts =P

Hrachya Hayrapetyan July 10, 2011 at 07:06 am

Agree with “dagamore” !

armed_partisan July 11, 2011 at 10:58 am

Another real advantage is not all gauges have slugs available locally, like 28 gauge or 16 gauge. You can find ’em online, but I’ve never seen these in the wild.

coyoteken July 12, 2011 at 07:03 pm

DON”T DO IT! The wax builds up in the barrel after a few shots and the gun will burst! I know. It happened to me about 40 years ago. It was used as a last resort long ago during hard times and only one or two shots were fired then the gun was cleaned with gasoline as I found out too late from my grandfather. I’m very lucky I wasn’t injured, my gun was totally destroyed.

passingby March 16, 2012 at 05:34 pm

sure it wasn’t the gasoline in the barrel?

andy July 30, 2012 at 01:01 pm

plus you also have to consider that back in the day the shot didnt sit in the fancy plastic shot cup wads like it does now. the wax doesn’t build up in the gun because it isn’t touching the barrel at all, it is contained by the shot cup. plus if there was a small amount of wax left behind it would be vaporized and ejected from the barrel by the heat and pressure of the gun discharging anyway.

brendan June 18, 2016 at 12:47 pm

hello came across this site while doing some research on wax slugs. I say you are spot on right.wax will be contained in plastic shot cup ,it wont be free till after leaving the barrel. may I ask do you know a lot about wax slugs how to reload etc. I am from Europe at the moment the are even banning buck shot ,and slugs so we are only left with birdshot. so we have no other option to look for other means,am I right to say there is huge misconception false fear misleading info about reloading shot shell either wax or home made slugs .question: when you have a shot shell top cut opened and you pore in the candle/wax mix bird shot into the shell is there a chance that the liquid wax will seep through to the bottom and wet/damp the powder charge?. please bare in mind as from European views I am talking about only opening top of shell not interfering with primer charge etc. we don’t have LEE loaders etc. also keep the weight of the lead shot the same we use 28 grams 7.5 shot . hope to hear from you thanx

Scotty April 2, 2012 at 01:44 am

Do you think this would work with “white school glue” instead of hot wax.Seems like it would work fine and be easier and less messy.

Redgreen January 4, 2013 at 09:24 pm

Now that Obama is hell bent to disarm America, anyone wondering why wax slugs may make a comeback? I can still by birdshot, but slugs and 000 buck… nowhere in quantity. I can go make myself a case of these in an afternoon and go hog hunting… yes, with my shotgun that holds more than 3 rounds and is (gasp) a semi-automatic.

Scotty January 5, 2013 at 05:35 pm

I’ve been making them with hot glue.I dont cut the crimp all the way off,so i can glue it back down.This keeps it the same size,leaves no exposed lead at the end,and also make a kinda hollow point. The balistics are unreal,even better than slugs! The shot fuses with the cup and wads out to the size of a quarter! This is my new shotgun ammo.

andyk February 20, 2013 at 05:49 am

I’ve used just about every shell there is, I’ve made over a hundred of these wax slugs and as far as cheap and effective go id put a B-plus for these wax slugs..only for the reason of distance and break up upon firing…. as too “build up” in the barrel, I shot these out of my newest shotgun,and can find no evidence of any kind(other than cheap target shells leaving there residue). (P.s all my shotguns are benelli, and I’ve heard people say that they don’t do so good in older, cheaper models)

adam320 April 11, 2013 at 11:45 am

I’ve been firing these out of my stevens 320, wax slugs that is. Somewhere near a hundred or so rounds and while they aren’t consistant I have hit targets at the 80 to 90 yard range, with total devistation. .25 cents a round and all the fun of target shooting. So far televisions, laptops, 2x4s, and almost a 4″ tree. Never have tried a hd wax slug, anyone?

wax slugs July 19, 2014 at 01:42 pm

can you do this with a 20 gauge

mechu February 19, 2015 at 10:14 am

If you made these from reloading components, not having to cut them open, could you crimp fold them?

R July 4, 2017 at 05:54 am

A couple of thoughts;
1) There are “hot melt glue guns” for wax.
2) I think this could be done as a step in regular reloading and all done in the plastic cup.
This would be away from powder, so any issues of heat, hot wax, naked flames, etc wouldn’t arise.
3) A bit of tape wrapped around the slits should keep any wax drips or leakage ever getting out of the slits and fouling the barrel.
(although I suspect that any wax residue in the barrel would be wiped out by the wad of the next round.)
4) I don’t know the “LAW” on any of this, other than that it almost certainly varies by jurisdiction :D
However, I think you could (make that WOULD) be in very deep trouble if you ever used one of these rounds in a “defense” situation.

Standard disclaimer applies; these are just my inexpert thoughts and “OPINION”, they should not be used to affect anyone’s course of action.

Forest greenfield April 24, 2017 at 10:51 am

I reload my own shotgun ammo and was thinking the same thing? Have you Hurd anything?

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