# Return of the Steel Cubes .... Sort of !



## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

Just got back from my fastener supplier.

I got some 5/16x18 square nuts .... when two are put together using a 1/2" allen cup screw you have a square that weights in at 262 grains. The unit is .550 high and .510 wide. so I would shoot this screw hole sticking up (.550)

Here is a pic..... I should have gotten some 1/4 Squares too ;- ( as they would have been a bit lighter, but these will fly good out of my slings and hit like a ton of bricks.









wll


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## ghost0311/8541 (Jan 6, 2013)

badass


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## oldmiser (Jan 22, 2014)

All Right then I will be waiting for the damage report...ya know show & tell...Best to ya

~AKAOldmiser


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

I should have 1/4" square nuts coming tomorrow ;- ) they should weigh in at about 100grs less or so ...we will see.

When I find the correct weight I want, I will order a supply and have them for serious smash and destruction ! I would like about 1000 of these for extreme business ! This ammo in an EDC would be ideal !

wll


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

Went out this am and shot a couple of these ....... wholly [email protected] they hit hard.

The first one I shot into some 1/4 inch thick shingle that was used on the side of a water tower .... from 40 long paces ... it went right through it, left a square entrance where it hit. The second shot was at the side of an old building from 20 yds, and it cratered the side of the heavy lath and plaster siding.

This stuff hits hard !

wll


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## Keith.B.Nimble (Jul 15, 2014)

wll said:


> Went out this am and shot a couple of these ....... wholly [email protected] they hit hard.
> 
> The first one I shot into some 1/4 inch thick shingle that was used on the side of a water tower .... from 40 long paces ... it went right through it, left a square entrance where it hit. The second shot was at the side of an old building from 20 yds, and it cratered the side of the heavy lath and plaster siding.
> 
> ...


Was that with the 5/16 or the 1/4?

I would love to see a picture of the damage on a steel can at 10 meters.

Keith


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

Seriously nasty!

Cheers .... Charles


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## Chuck Daehler (Mar 17, 2015)

Expensive ammo. Why not just cut off square or round iron stock for very very cheap...given you have a band saw. Steel shot has got to be cheaper than buying 2 nuts and an allen screw. Unless you can get these for free or five finger discount I can't see it. I can't see the assembly time being equal or less than cutting stock either. Sorry, I don't buy it.


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

Keith.B.Nimble said:


> wll said:
> 
> 
> > Went out this am and shot a couple of these ....... wholly [email protected] they hit hard.
> ...


I'll probably never shoot a steel can at 10mts ;- ) i think I have shot at 3 or 4 cans in my life.

Those were with 5/16 x 18 plain square nuts.

Here is a pic of how I hold it ..... You must be very careful on the position of the square nut.









wll


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

Chuck Daehler said:


> Expensive ammo. Why not just cut off square or round iron stock for very very cheap...given you have a band saw. Steel shot has got to be cheaper than buying 2 nuts and an allen screw. Unless you can get these for free or five finger discount I can't see it. I can't see the assembly time being equal or less than cutting stock either. Sorry, I don't buy it.


Wish I had a band saw....All the metal shops want to charge me .25+ a cut .... I'm guessing my cost will be around .07, I hope less ! Plus it will give me something to do after work ;- )

wll


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## Lacumo (Aug 18, 2013)

That is truly nasty (which is to say--great) ammo! It reminds me of how Ruthie used to shoot short sawed-off rebar chunks with a starship a year or two ago. I think Ruthie gave up on it because those rebar chunks were so destructive that she was getting concerned about what might happen in the event of a fork hit or an RTS.


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## fsimpson (May 13, 2014)

would just super glueing them together without the allen head work ? on critters , soft stuff etc does not seem separation

after impact would matter .. i`m sticking with cast 230 gr. round nose 45acp bullets . have a 6 cavity and 4

cavity for that . as well as a 300 grain 45 long colt mold ---


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

fsimpson said:


> would just super glueing them together without the allen head work ? on critters , soft stuff etc does not seem separation
> 
> after impact would matter .. i`m sticking with cast 230 gr. round nose 45acp bullets . have a 6 cavity and 4
> 
> cavity for that . as well as a 300 grain 45 long colt mold ---


Ya, I'm sure it would work, but I'm such and incredible perfectionist and a lovable pain in the arse to just about everybody I know including myself ;- ) I could not live with it till I was perfectly happy. 1/4x20 square nuts may be perfect as if you get the high nut, when you put two of them together it makes a perfect 7/16" square and should weigh in about 150-160 grns ... we will see, as of course it is not solid like a cut steel cube.

wll


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

Crap, these things are expensive ~.10 per round ... that includes 2ea 5/16 square nuts and one 5/16 set screw to hold them together ! ........ I'm trying to get them for less ;-(

If I make 1000 completed units, they would only be used for the biggest toughest game so I might do it, not sure ? They would never be shot unless at something "Big".

I'm mulling this over for a bit for sure ! I may see my fastener guy next week to have him put a serious pencil to it.

wll


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

Just contacted my fastener supplier today and asked for a quote ... sales man said he is going to take it the big boss to see if they can actually do .10 per I hit them up for .09 but I may be smoking something ! My first quote was actually closer to .11 per round ....very, very expensive stuff, but it will do tremendous damage to larger size game for sure.

I really would like just 500ea or so total pieces, but it may have to be more.This is just "to have" ammo, I have shot a few of these and they destroy stuff, much, much more than any steel ball or lead ball for sure. Cube ammo is very dangerous and rips what it hits !

wll


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## oldmiser (Jan 22, 2014)

Yup I can see your going to be getting a band saw here before long..I am sure you will make good use of it even with what you mfg alread...

You could check out scrap yards for the iron you would like....aslo you my sell some 100 or so rounds..to help recoupe your dollars invested..

Best to ya my friend..

~AKAOldmiser


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

oldmiser said:


> Yup I can see your going to be getting a band saw here before long..I am sure you will make good use of it even with what you mfg alread...
> 
> You could check out scrap yards for the iron you would like....aslo you my sell some 100 or so rounds..to help recoupe your dollars invested..
> 
> ...


The trouble is I would never use it and the company has no need for one now,,, it is like I'm caught between a rock and a hard place with this.

So much depends on price I may just buy enough to make a 200-300pcs .... as I said, this is not for everyday shooting, just for very rare circumstances when I want smash and penetration. This is very dangerous stuff !

The edges will be filed a little sharper than the square nut comes from the factory too. I will work up about 50-75pcs and store them in my "to go" ammo cache, the rest will be bagged up and stored with the rest of my ammo

wll


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

wll said:


> Just contacted my fastener supplier today and asked for a quote ... sales man said he is going to take it the big boss to see if they can actually do .10 per I hit them up for .09 but I may be smoking something ! My first quote was actually closer to .11 per round ....very, very expensive stuff, but it will do tremendous damage to larger size game for sure.
> 
> I really would like just 500ea or so total pieces, but it may have to be more.This is just "to have" ammo, I have shot a few of these and they destroy stuff, much, much more than any steel ball or lead ball for sure. Cube ammo is very dangerous and rips what it hits !
> 
> wll


Well just spoke to my fastener supplier and we brought the price down to .096ea ... so I went with it. I'll be making custom square ammo for the next week or so if my hands don't fall off. like I said, this stuff is extremely dangerous and hits like a ton of bricks ! Any finger hit, and I think you are on your way to the hospital.

wll


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

Picked up all the pieces today, everybody is off tomorrow at work, so I'm coming in to make "CUBES"

I have all the tools I need to assemble them ... I would like to make 150-250ea tomorrow ..... that is a lot to make in one sitting for me !

wll


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

Just finished 50,, these are a pain to make for sure, but worth it. I will make 50 more today and try to make 100 or so a day till done. Thought I could make more but to heck with it.









wll


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

I have finished 600ea at a hour per 100ea ..my blisters have blisters ;- )

Here are 100ea lined up and ready for bagging









I will finish off the last 400ea tomorrow if I can and box most of them up. I'll box up the 4 bags of 200ea and keep the rest on hand ;- )

There are not enough Zombies for me to use this ... right now ..... but you can never be to sure ;- )

wll


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## Resigned User (Jul 4, 2015)

Maybe I missed it... But... Have you just made a video of the "destruction power" of this dangerous guys?!


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

Here they are all packed up, 800 in this box. I have about 50ea out and about 125+ that I have not put together .. will do that later in the week ... no hurry, and those will beput in my to go box ;- )









Will go out later today and maybe fling a few if I can find a suitable target, these way to much a pain to make just to fling without a "special purpose "

I don't do videos, just pictures, and I will post if I get to shoot these at something worth showing;- )

wll


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

Well just got back from shooting and It was dead as a door nail out there ...nothing... I mean zip.

Fired off some shots with the cubes .... all I can say is I don't want to be hit with them. None of my pics showed up as they were against grainy wood and one against some type of fiberglass on the back of an old boat and I did not want to clime over broken glass and beds of nails to take some photos. All my shots were at about 25 long paces and all the shots hit and cut into what I was shooting at. I shot the same wood a while back with 214 gr and 314 gr lead and it just made a big dent, my 5/8 steel did the same thing .... this actually cut into the wood and went about 2 times as deep maybe a bit more.

I followed the path as the cubes hit the intended targets, All the cubes were tumbling in flight (which may be because I always twist and tweak the pouch) and all three shots all went to point of impact. I shot the back of an old boat, which I have shot before with 1/2" steel - 5/8" steel balls also my 214-314gr heavy lead ... none made so much as a mark !!! I shot today with the cube and it left a 1/2+ inch cut and indent where it hit..I was impressed. This stuff is hard as heck and it looks like guys with hammers tried to work on this but got nowhere... like I said, I was impressed with the hit.

I was using 1842 looped and the temp was 85 deg. 7" static and a 36"+ draw. This 264gr cube ammo is on the heavy side for 1842 and I think 1745 or my 3/16"odM would have been better, but that is what I had.

The ammo was flying hard and true (it was no slow ball softball pitch that's for sure), and although I did not chrono it, it looked on par with my 314gr lead and 5/8" steel ammo. (about 175-185fps)

This is some pretty wicked stuff ...... I can see why many of you guys that hunt with hex nuts rave about them, they go in with an edge and want to tear and cut, not just hit !

Side note #1 ... Although the steel cube bounced after hitting the target, they did not act like a steel ball does where the ball comes flying all the way back ... not the case with this, at least with what I shot today ... the shots landed about 3 feet away from the board or boat I was shooting at .. I was shooting hard and the targets all were pretty level with my eye height.

Side note #2 ... I was EXTREMELY careful to have the cube exactly in the middle of the pouch, centered for height and made sure the tubes were not twisted ..... this stuff coming back to you will lead you to the emergency ward for sure ! If any of you try this stuff ..... please be VERY careful.

I will go out tomorrow, but I'm looking for starlings so I don't think I will let loose with this ammo, but we will see !

wll


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## Toolshed (Aug 4, 2015)

Geez dude. That stuff sounds like it packs the punch!!

What are you having to do to keep the sides lined up so neatly? Really torque on them until they line up?

What was the actual bottom line$$$??


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

Toolshed said:


> Geez dude. That stuff sounds like it packs the punch!!
> 
> What are you having to do to keep the sides lined up so neatly? Really torque on them until they line up?
> 
> What was the actual bottom line$$$??


I'm just very careful to make sure the flat is against the back of the pouch and the pouch is even (you can see on page one how i hold it)... you definitely don't want that ammo hanging up on something as if it comes back your slingshot shooting career will be over !

These things are VERY, VERY expensive ... the best price I could get from my master distributor who I have been dealing with for 20 years and know personally was .096 per completed unit ... that includes two 5/16 x 18 SQ nuts, held together by a 1/2" long 5/16 x 18 set screw... It took me close to three days to put 800 of them together and they were a pain in the *%% to do.

This is very specialized ammo, if I was to do it again I would have made half as many, I still have about 100 to make, and will do that and keep them open packaged for shooting

This is the kind of ammo that you load up for the first shot, you can't load it up correctly fast enough for a second shot. if you are using this for your first shot, your quick load second shot ammo with probably be something on the order of a 5/8" steel ball, or 200+ gr lead. This ammo at about 264grs is for heavy game or Zombies !

wll


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## oldmiser (Jan 22, 2014)

Linatex band set with that cube ammo..mercy what a power house that would be..You will get at least 1,500 shots or more..

~AKAOldmiser


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## Tendele (Nov 29, 2014)

What sort of speeds you think you might get with that ammo. Coincidentally, I got some roller bearings that weigh exactly 236 grains and I find them lethal. I used double TBG 32 mm to 16 mm and 26 cm long and got them going over 250 fps over the chrony. The best Fpe i got was 36 fpe. They are also lethal as they often hit with a sharp edge which does plenty of damage.


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

Tendele said:


> What sort of speeds you think you might get with that ammo. Coincidentally, I got some roller bearings that weigh exactly 236 grains and I find them lethal. I used double TBG 32 mm to 16 mm and 26 cm long and got them going over 250 fps over the chrony. The best Fpe i got was 36 fpe. They are also lethal as they often hit with a sharp edge which does plenty of damage.


You are getting some great speed, these cubes weigh in at 264gr and after putting 252 gr steel balls and 314gr lead through the chrony at speeds between 175-185fps this will be the same, more toward the 180 fps mark. This is fast enough to fly straight without to much trajectory to 25 ish yard range.

With these I use looped 1745 or looped 3/16od x 3/64w tubes (pretty much like 1745 on light steroids.)

wll


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