Littleton's Shotmaker Mag Articles

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The Littleton Incredible Shotmaker

by Doug Freeburg

I had the opportunity to go back to the Grand American this year and if you've ever been there, you know that behind the firing line there is a long row of vendors, and in fact, without them the Grand would lose much of its interest. I say that because much of what's new for clay target shooters makes its "debut" there.

I was riding back late in the afternoon on one-of those tractor-drawn wagons they have at the Grand for shuttling to and from various points on the firing line, when I happened to notice a crowd gathered around one of the vendor tents. Curiosity got the better of me and I hopped off the wagon to find out what all the commotion was about. What I saw in a few short minutes held me completely fascinated . . . just like all the other shooters gathered 'round.

What we were gaping at was a machine called the Littleton Incredible Shot Maker ... and incredible it was! Jerry Littleton has developed an at home, do-it-yourself shot maker that is one of the slickest things to come along for reloaders since the introduction of the all-plastic wad. Jerry's Incredible Shot Maker, pumps out an incredible 60 pounds of high antimony, perfectly round shot every hour ... for as little as $10 per 100 pounds! After a brief talk with Jerry, I learned it could even be less than $10. But I'm getting ahead of the story, let me back up a little.

Jerry comes from Oroville, a town in northern California. He made the trip back to the Grand with one of his Incredible Shot Makers and a pocketful of lead ingots for the sole purpose of demonstrating his machine to the shooters at the Grand American. I was so fascinated by his operation that I asked if I might be able to meet with him in a few weeks after the Grand at his home. I was going to be in northern California at that time and wanted to do a story on his machine to let the handloaders of American know that the fine art of reloading has taken a giant step forward in that the average shotgunner can now create his own high antimony extra hard shot right at home.

When I arrived at his home, we exchanged greetings and then I pulled out my list of questions that would form the basis of this story.

It turns out that Jerry developed the shot maker, like so many other great ideas to come along, namely as a result of necessity being the mother of invention. Jerry, his wife Lorraine and several of his five kids like to shoot trap and skeet and you know what that amount of shooting activity can to the family budget. So Jerry, who likes to tinker, had some ideas and one thing lead to another. Two years later and some 30 or so different prototypes under his belt, Jerry stuck pay dirt. His incredible shot maker at long last was manufacturing shot as good as any that can be purchased commercially.

The process of making shot with his device is rather simple. All one has to do is locate a source of used wheel weights, available at tire shops, wrecking yards and metal dealers. The going rate for wheel weights varies across the country but usually they can be purchased for about 10 cents to 25 cents a pound.

Why wheel weights? Because just like the best shot you can buy, They contain lead (of course) and antimony and that's the stuff that we all want in our lead shot. It's the stuff that makes lead shot a little harder so it deforms less and patterns better.

After you get your lead weights, you melt them in a lead-melting furnace obtained from most sporting goods stores. The next step is to pore the melted lead into something like a biscuit tin. When it cools off, you have lead ingots and you're all ready to start making your own shot. The process, to quote Jerry is "so damn simple". All you do is plug in the shot maker and allow it to warm up to 650 degrees. At this temperature, the lead ingot will start melting. Once the lead is melted and the unit is thoroughly heated up, the melted lead start flowing through six nozzles that determine what size shot you end up with. The hot shot then flows into a 5-gallon can consisting of a mixture of three gallons of water and two gallons of soluble oil (the kind of oil used in machine shops)… and it continues to pump out shot at the rate of 60 pounds per hour.

Interesting, when lead flows out of the six nozzle, it looks like a steady stream but, in fact, it is individual BB's that can be seen if you look very closely. Once you've made as much shot as you need, the next thing to do is allow the pellets to dry (they dry out in the sun just fine). The final step is to coat your shot with graphite. A coating of graphite will have your shot looking exactly like the shot that you normally buy commercially. Not much expense here either, as you only use three spoonfuls of graphite for every 300 pounds of shot you make. That's all there is to it.

It's difficult to convey in a story like this just how easy it is to make your own shot with the Littleton Incredible Shot Maker. There is virtually no maintenance before or after that must be done to the machine. With its rather small size, you can single out a small, well-ventilated area for your shot-making corner. Of course, as you are working with a very hot (650 degree) liquid, there are some precautions that should be followed, such as working with gloves and a face shield, but all such precautions and other useful tips are thoroughly explained in the complete set of instructions that are included with each unit.

Is the Incredible Shot Maker expensive to operate? Not at all. It consumes about 10 cents an hour in electricity. The Incredible Shot Maker will make perfectly round shot in sizes 6, 7, 7½, 8, 8½, or 9 (depending on the size of nozzle you put in) that is guaranteed to be within 3/1000ths of the correct measurement.

After the discussion and the demonstration, I went away convinced the Incredible Shot Maker will become a very popular item with the reloader who would like to save even more money. He can shoot more or, like the Littletons reduce the cost of shooting so the entire family can take up the sport of trap or skeet. From what I've seen the word "incredible" is well used in the description of this machine, available for shotshell reloaders.

Article appeared in "ShotGun Sports" Magazine Oct 1982

Business Opportunities Journal
February, 1987

Littleton's Incredible Shotmaker

Make shot for reloading shotgun shells. Jerry Littleton of Oroville, California has developed a machine that enables people to start their own very profitable business at a minimum cost with a waiting market for their product. The machine has been acclaimed by leading sports magazines.

Shot making factories mix lead with antimony (for hardness) and arsenic (so shot will form roundness during fall). Then they pour this molten mixture through screens in 100-ft. shot towers. This causes beads of shot to form in 100-ft. fall in water. Then the shot is put through various processes, then bagged and trucked to distributors to be sold to people to reload shotgun shells.

You can imagine the cost and labor of the above process. Littleton says shot towers can't compete with his machine, which sets on a bench and you feed it with cheap, waste lead (used wheel weights make an excellent shot) and the machine spits out high quality shot, dropping only 1/4" into a coolant at the rate of 130 lb./hr.

You can sell the shot in bulk (plastic garbage can is excellent), plastic milk bottles or bags. There are thousands of reloaders and they buy shot in 100 lb. quantities. All you need to do to advertise is place an ad on gun club bulletin boards saying you have shot at cheap prices, you can build business as big as you want by getting retailers to sell your shot. But, just the ad at the gun club plus word of mouth will give you plenty of buyers for your shot.

What does it cost to start and how much can you make in this business? You can answer these questions yourself. Littleton recommends that you find out if you have a market for your shot (which he is sure you will have, no matter where you live).

Simply ask around and see how many tons (yes, tons) of shot are sold in your area, and at what price. Littleton says you'll be surprised. And then find your supply of cheap, waste lead to run through the shotmaker. Experience at buying waste lead will get you more and more sources at cheaper and cheaper prices.

To get a good fast idea just do the following: Simply call a junkyard and see what he pays for used wheel weights and other waste lead. You'll be surprised at how little he gives and only if you bring it to him. After you find out what price he pays, then you know approximately what price you have to pay. Check at service stations, tire shops, etc. and you'll find plenty of cheap waste lead to make your shot.

But lets say you have to pay $15.00 per hundred lbs. (which is high) and you've found that shot in your area sells at $65.00 per hundred lb. (Which is cheap). You want to sell your shot fast so you sell your shot at $55.00 (which is below wholesale no matter where you live).

Littleton says if you'll check in your area you will see that his machine will pay for itself the first weekend of operations.

The sizes of shot the machine makes are the most popular sizes sold worldwide (#6, #7, #7½ , #8, #8½ or #9).

The machine has 2 ladles so you can make 65 lb. per hour of one size and 65 lb. of another size at the same time, or 130 lb./hr of one size. The machine comes set up to make the sizes you request. On asking around, you will find out which sizes sell best in your area.