WTB Help me out: Wanted - just a few (or even just one) Nickel plated .45auto case(s)

[HEX]

A strange request perhaps, but here it is.

As the title says, I'd like just one or a few (a few would be nice, for screwup insurance) peices of, preferably unfired, 45acp cases; specifically Nickel plated (that's important).

I'm not a reloader; wish I was, but I'm not. I'm also not asking for this for reloading though.

I'm trying to acquire these for incorporating one into a ring (like a jewelry ring). The intent is to match it with a silver signet type ring, and get an all silvery look; thus why I need a Nickel plated case. It's really just the stamped case head I need (why I'd prefer unfired, to not have any extraction marring, but if I already had any .45 with nickel cases I'd just fire a round and use that). The stamp/branding is pretty irrelevant, so long as it says 45 auto on it.
If someone worked in silver and could make a mock case head out of actual silver, perhaps with a custom 'stamp', that would be rad..but I'm not holding my breath on that.

Anyway, as it's difficult to find anywhere to buy just one or a few cases (if reloading supplies are to be found anywhere these days), I'm reaching out to see if some nice forum member will help me out.

--------------------
If curious, the inspiration is something like this on etsy, BUT they're kind of a rip-off, at 60 to 75 bucks depending on seller, because I found the source of thier stainless steel rings, and those can be had for less than 15 bucks retail. They're calling them handmade, when really they're just hand gluing a case head to a cheap stock steel ring and gluing in a cheap glass stone. I'm looking for a different design, silver, no stone..and well..other stuff/whatever. Something KIND of like this is the basic idea though.

 

[Deplorable Me]

PM me an address. I'll send some .45 nickel. Would any other nickel brass be of use? .357? .38? 9mm? Add .44 mag.

Mine are fired as well.

 

[Tinman]

I have some too. Not unfired but they are nickel plated. Let me know.

 

[kaliber]

No more than 10 rings on each hand-lol

 

[meketrefe]

Let me check. I might gave some. If I do those are free.

 

[cgrutt]

45 kills the soul. Nickle/silver 45s now that's good for warewolves and vampires too!

 

[repete]

I can help you out , I can even cut them off and send just the case head if you want. Just let me know.

 

[HEX]

First thing, kinda funny, you know those guys running scams that PM users ( whole thread about it here: NYGF - Possible scammers in PMs: Very low risk alert, but be aware and let us know. )
One of those rare guys that got through forum sign up (several a day do not) sent one to me for this thread. This one bided his time on the forum since joining on Dec 19, 2020 ..only to make his play on an admin.. and the one warning people about these guys.. lol. I sent him a return PM saying something like, "Haha.. Great job dipshit; you managed to send your one and only PM scam attempt to an admin"
He was still signed in and responded with something, but it was a half second before I ran a 'Spam Clean' on him; which reports his info to forum spam filters and such, but also hard wipes all trace of anything he's posted/sent from the database so I can't see what he said.
Just funny because I haven't seen one of these guys in a couple of months, and first one tries at me of all people.

Anywho..

PM me an address. I'll send some .45 nickel. Would any other nickel brass be of use? .357? .38? 9mm? Add .44 mag.

Mine are fired as well.

I have some too. Not unfired but they are nickel plated. Let me know.

Let me check. I might gave some. If I do those are free.

Thanks for the replies guys. I truly appreciate it. I'm in no hurry, so just so as that I don't ask you to put any of yourselves out and not wind up using them if some come along, I'll hold off for a bit and see if someone comes up with some unfired ones; . I'm reasonably confident that any extractor marks either won't be a big deal or can be buffed out.. but may as well see what comes up (and go for as little work as possible all around).

 

[Deplorable Me]

To think we were going to scour the drive by shooting sites tonight to look for your .45 nickel brass.

 

[dsdmmat]

@HEX I can pull apart a couple of factory rounds if you really need them to be unfired. Let me know.
Even give you a choice of head stamps.

 

[redtail]

44 mag is more better for bling.

 

[Deplorable Me]

Hex, in your photo it looks like a spent primer. Were you going to put a stone in the new brass primer pocket?

 

[FRANKIE]

Got these
Let me know how many

 

[meketrefe]

I don't have anything unfired but if you want fired the offer is there.

 

[RSCamaro]

You mentioned a silver casing. I believe if you look “not so” hard enough you can find a .999 au bullit in the shape of a .45 ACP round. It may cost you a bit of cash though.

…Ron

 

[HEX]

You mentioned a silver casing. I believe if you look “not so” hard enough you can find a .999 au bullit in the shape of a .45 ACP round. It may cost you a bit of cash though.

…Ron

I've seen 'em, yeah. I've thought about it, and wouldn't even feel bad about cutting one, because you're not really losing any silver anyway. That could be great, but they don't make any (that I know of) that have a realistic headstamp. The 45 auto headstamp is kind of a big part of the point.

Something I hadn't really thought of though.. I wonder If I brought some silver to a jeweler or something how much it would cost to have it made like that. Being rather poor, I don't really have money to spend.. but it's probably not that complicated a thing for a professional. Maybe it wouldn't be nearly as much as I might assume (but it probably is).

I'm certainly not abandoning the original plan, but it may be worth checking into at least.

 

[gun_slinger_boy]

I've seen 'em, yeah. I've thought about it, and wouldn't even feel bad about cutting one, because you're not really losing any silver anyway. That could be great, but they don't make any (that I know of) that have a realistic headstamp. The 45 auto headstamp is kind of a big part of the point.

Something I hadn't really thought of though.. I wonder If I brought some silver to a jeweler or something how much it would cost to have it made like that. Being rather poor, I don't really have money to spend.. but it's probably not that complicated a thing for a professional. Maybe it wouldn't be nearly as much as I might assume (but it probably is).

I'm certainly not abandoning the original plan, but it may be worth checking into at least.

To have a custom piece like that made would cost a bunch. Even if you brought in your own silver. You're better off sticking to the plan of getting an unfired case. Hell buying 20 rounds of some defensive ammo would still be cheaper. If you had steel cases you could also nickel plate them yourself.

ETA: I was thinking of nickel plating aluminum which involves copper plating the Al before you can plate the aluminum. Brass will readily take nickel as well as steel.

 

[repete]

Just got to thinking about this, won't the brass turn your skin green after awhile like the cheap kids jewelry?

 

[spat]

I've seen 'em, yeah. I've thought about it, and wouldn't even feel bad about cutting one, because you're not really losing any silver anyway. That could be great, but they don't make any (that I know of) that have a realistic headstamp. The 45 auto headstamp is kind of a big part of the point.

Something I hadn't really thought of though.. I wonder If I brought some silver to a jeweler or something how much it would cost to have it made like that. Being rather poor, I don't really have money to spend.. but it's probably not that complicated a thing for a professional. Maybe it wouldn't be nearly as much as I might assume (but it probably is).

I'm certainly not abandoning the original plan, but it may be worth checking into at least.

Something that small you could cast yourself pretty easily.

Just use any old .45 case pressed into some kinetic sand or plaster of paris to make the mold, melt and pour in $30 worth of silver with a propane soldering torch and Bob's your uncle.

 

[gun_slinger_boy]

Something that small you could cast yourself pretty easily.

Just use any old .45 case pressed into some kinetic sand or plaster of paris to make the mold, melt and pour in $30 worth of silver with a propane soldering torch and Bob's your uncle.

Having made gold and silver jewelry myself I will say it's not that easy. That's with more modern equipment/techniques. Using a lost casting process certainly won't yield the results he's looking for right out the gate and will take much more effort. Either way it will cost more money for the material/equipment then he's looking to spend.

 

[spat]

Having made gold and silver jewelry myself I will say it's not that easy. That's with more modern equipment/techniques. Using a lost casting process certainly won't yield the results he's looking for right out the gate and will take much more effort. Either way it will cost more money for the material/equipment then he's looking to spend.

I'm not talking about an investment casting process

I'm talking about just pressing a case head into some mold materiel and removing it, then pouring some molten silver into the depression it made.

No real mold, no lost wax, just a dimple in some sand that's the right shape. Obviously you would need some very fine material to catch the detail and not just some playground sand mixed with motor oil, but the quantities are so small and if you don't like the result, just re-melt it and try again.

 

[gun_slinger_boy]

I'm not talking about an investment casting process

I'm talking about just pressing a case head into some mold materiel and removing it, then pouring some molten silver into the depression it made.

No real mold, no lost wax, just a dimple in some sand that's the right shape. Obviously you would need some very fine material to catch the detail and not just some playground sand mixed with motor oil, but the quantities are so small and if you don't like the result, just re-melt it and try again.

Gotcha. That would be even more difficult then. Molten metals like gold and silver are super dense and heavy. They won't take the form like you think it will. This dimple you're talking about would most likely be crushed under the weight of the silver. That is if you could even get it to take the form of the case without some type of vacuum. Just pressing it into a medium won't cut it. Then there's the matter of getting it out without ruining the transition from the rim to the head to the case wall. How would you do that with a medium like sand? A medium like clay won't work for obvious reasons. You'd also have to pour an excess of metal to overflow the impressions opening. That would then involve cutting off the sprue and shaping it to the proper dimension. Since you're pouring into a negative space you would also have to drill into the piece to create the hollow inside of the case head. This would all have to happen before even thinking about shrinkage, filing, sanding and polishing. No offense but what you suggest is probably one of the worst ways to go about doing something like this. Believe it or not a hollow casing is actually a pretty intricate thing to try to produce from a precious metal. At best you will get an ugly silver cylinder without some serious work. I won't hijack this thread any longer but you would have to do something akin to below to get what he's looking for.

Me making a gold ring

 

[spat]

Gotcha. That would be even more difficult then. Molten metals like gold and silver are super dense and heavy. They won't take the form like you think it will. This dimple you're talking about would most likely be crushed under the weight of the silver. That is if you could even get it to take the form of the case without some type of vacuum. Just pressing it into a medium won't cut it. Then there's the matter of getting it out without ruining the transition from the rim to the head to the case wall. How would you do that with a medium like sand? A medium like clay won't work for obvious reasons. You'd also have to pour an excess of metal to overflow the impressions opening. That would then involve cutting off the sprue and shaping it to the proper dimension. Since you're pouring into a negative space you would also have to drill into the piece to create the hollow inside of the case head. This would all have to happen before even thinking about shrinkage, filing, sanding and polishing. No offense but what you suggest is probably one of the worst ways to go about doing something like this. Believe it or not a hollow casing is actually a pretty intricate thing to try to produce from a precious metal. At best you will get an ugly silver cylinder without some serious work. I won't hijack this thread any longer but you would have to do something akin to below to get what he's looking for.

Me making a gold ring

Why would you need it to be hollow ? It's decorative, not functional, and nobody will see the back anyway.

What I'm talking about is:

Mix up some thick plaster of paris or some fine grained paste that sets like that.

Press a casing head first into it. Leave most of the casing exposed.

Wait till it sets. Yep, the extraction groove will probably not get molded. But the head will just fine, with all the headstamp detail.

Pull the casing out, pour in some silver. Once it cools, break the mold off of it. If you want an extraction groove, break out a dremel and a drill.

Higher density of the silver is beneficial.

Might need to pre-heat the mold somewhat to get it to flow well enough to take all the detail.

I've done similar things with Aluminum, I wouldn't expect Silver to be any more difficult.

 

[kev74]

Why would you need it to be hollow ? It's decorative, not functional, and nobody will see the back anyway.

What I'm talking about is:

Mix up some thick plaster of paris or some fine grained paste that sets like that.

Press a casing head first into it. Leave most of the casing exposed.

Wait till it sets. Yep, the extraction groove will probably not get molded. But the head will just fine, with all the headstamp detail.

Pull the casing out, pour in some silver. Once it cools, break the mold off of it. If you want an extraction groove, break out a dremel and a drill.

Higher density of the silver is beneficial.

Might need to pre-heat the mold somewhat to get it to flow well enough to take all the detail.

I've done similar things with Aluminum, I wouldn't expect Silver to be any more difficult.

Even if this worked, the head stamp would be backwards.

Its not that easy to get jewelry quality castings.

 

[cgrutt]

Even if this worked, the head stamp would be backwards.

Its not that easy to get jewelry quality castings.

No idea how difficult this would be but not following your comment here... wouldn't the form / "dimple" be backwards (negative) but the ring be correctly oriented?

 

[kev74]

No idea how difficult this would be but not following your comment here... wouldn't the form / "dimple" be backwards (negative) but the ring be correctly oriented?

D'oh! You're right.

Note to self... Self, don't post until the coffee soaks in. Got it!

 

[RSCamaro]

Too much. OP, pm me your address and I’ll send you some samples, with spent primers and without primers. Different head stamps too.

…Ron