Wax Bullet

Wax Bullet

Wax bullets are bullets made of wax, often paraffin wax or some mixture of waxes and other substances that produce the desired consistency. Wax bullets are typically used in a primed cartridge case, with no gunpowder; the primer provides all the necessary power to propel the wax bullet at low velocities. Wax bullets have been in use for over a century, providing a projectile for use in training, indoor shooting, and shooting competitions where a high velocity metal bullet would be needlessly hazardous.

Wax bullet cartridges do not provide enough force to cycle automatic firearms, so they are most commonly used in revolvers and other manually cycled firearms. Specially designed cartridges and conversion units can be combined to convert automatic firearms into wax bullet firing guns, and these are used for training police and military.

In the past, wax bullets were used by illusionists for illusions involving firearms, such as the Bullet Catch. This practice goes back at least as far as Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, who used hollow wax bullets colored to resemble lead balls. When placed on a charge of gunpowder, the wax bullet would disintegrate upon firing.