3D printed pellets? I guess so!

[Treefrog]

Something in another thread made me think of this. A friend built a DIY kiln and casts things out of various metals. It strikes me that it would be possible to print 3d models of various pellet types and then use them to make molds for pellet casting. Possible? I don't know. What are your thoughts?

3D printed sabots are another thing that might be fun to play with. .177 pellets in a .22?

I did find a site with pellet files. Who knew? Yeggi.com has files, but you have to go there and search for them.

J~

 

[iAMzehTOASTY1]

I'd love to give some a try

 

[goral13]

As a kid, not having a penny in my pocket, I would strike / press my own pellets for my .177 Slavia spring action.
My father was a machinist, and I begged his boss and spent weekends cleaning the factory so my father could machine mold for me.
Mold worked perfectly but it was more like a form tool where you put the lead inside and punch out the pellet.
Since then, I have done it all. I own a forge and kiln furnace, melted aluminum brass and so on. (A couple of beers with friends on Saturday really opens your imagination lol)
I machined some custom molds for muzzle loaders and also tried 3D printing some fishing molds. Unless you have one of those resin deposit metal printers
The problem is resolution. Unless you have a few grand to spend, current 3D printers are not as precise as you want them.
But it's still doable, but a lot of post processing and calculations. I 3D printed a fishing jig mold, then used it as pattern to sandcast an aluminum mold and poured my own custom jigs. Pellets wise, I made a buck shot mold for a friend for reloading 12-gauge shotgun shells. Then I decided to make round pellet mold for 22cal. All good but I ended up needing a swaging press (with precise mold) to reform them to final dimensions. Out of the mold some pellets would get stuck in the barrel and some would fall out due to inconsistencies.
Hope that helps a bit