Journal entry for October 25, 2001

Today's summary: BULLETS! Muaa ha ha ha haaa!

In keeping with my "small scary metal objects" theme for sculpture materials, I've been looking for somebody who'll sell me rifle cartridges or handgun bullets. Not functional bullets, mind you -- gunpowder-filled bullets would react rather unpleasantly to my soldering torch, and I would be very hesitant to sell them to anybody. But, I've been researching to find out who might be able to sell me real cased bullets without the gunpowder.

So-called "Blank" bullets won't work, since they DO have gunpowder... enough to make the bang, anyway... and they DON'T have the bullet part, which I want for visual impact. What I really want is just the brass casing with the bullet, without the powder or primer.

If my explanation is confusing, take a look at this diagram of the anatomy of a rifle cartridge. I'm not highly gun-savvy myself, but, the red conical part at the top is the actual bullet, and the outer brass tube is cartridge case... There's the powder in the middle, and down at the base is the small primer cap. I don't want the primer or the powder.

Anyway, the point is... after calling some gun shops, I was referred to a guy who does custom reloads. I contacted him, and he says he can make me some that don't have the powder or the primer. That's exactly what I'm looking for. I'm so excited!

The reloader guy is up in Pennsylvania, so I might drive up there some weekend to see what he has to offer. Besides, that way he doesn't have to send me hazardous-esque objects through the mail... I think the mail service is anxious enough lately without me asking him to send what looks like live ammo back and forth.

I asked him about non-lead bullets, since there's always the possibility I might want to also use bullets for jewelry designs, and lead + skin acids = toxic. He said there's pure copper bullets available, as well as interestingly colored polymer bullets. They both sound interesting to me. The copper would work out well since I can also blacken that with acid, or use any one of the zillion different copper patina solutions available.

He also said he'd scan in some of the bullets and casings he has available in various calibers so I can see what he has to offer. I'm VERY excited. When I get the scan, I'll let you know.

P.S.: The scan is posted in my October 28th journal entry.