Wax Rounds For Indoor Practice

[Mergie Master]

Or practicing to get the feel of a new handgun, practice reflexive shooting, just having a little fun around the house, or teaching the kids to shoot, etc.

The cool thing about wax loads is that you can count on them hitting accurately up to about 10 feet. If you use a piece of plywood you can see the wax circle where they hit. Just draw a life sized silhouette on the plywood with a felt marker. After the wood is full of wax rings you can use paper towels and an iron to absorb the wax and start all over again with a clean board.
Of course you do have to cycle your pistol manually, but who cares? Its great practice for reflex defensive shooting?

Ok, you must size and decap the cases. Don't prime them and DON'T flare the case mouths like you would for reloading! You won't be able to chamber the wax rounds if you do.

Clean out the primer pockets. Take a cake pan that's about 1" deep or more. Melt parafin wax in it slowly and keep adding parafin till the wax is 1/4" to 3/8" deep. When its completely melted, put the cases mouth down in the pan. Leave about 1/4" or more between the cases. Allow the wax to cool overnight. Don't try to rush it by putting it in the refrigerator. If you do the wax will contract and be loose in the case mouth.

In the morning remove each case by pushing down and giving a slight twist to break the case free. The wax should stay where its seated without coming out or going back in the case. Sometimes it works better with some waxes to wiggle the cases gently back and forth.
Wipe each case with a cloth to remove the wax from the outside of the case.

Prime the cases without running them back into the sizer die. Some presses do this as one function. If you have one like that, back the die out of the head.

Now you can fire them by cycling the pistol by hand. If you hand feed them you won't dislodge the wax. The loads are very accurate at close ranges like you'd have in a defensive situation. To learned reflex shooting wax loads are the safest way to practice this before going to real loads. Its really a lot of fun and no more noise than a cap pistol.

Btw, I bout forgot about cleaning the barrel! To get the wax out gasoline works better than anything else.

[Palmetto Bug]

Don't underestimate the power of light loads. I had some plastic bullets that used only the primer as propellant and they'd shoot through a hollow door at close range.