Nothing To Do? Don't Do THIS!

[Griff]

At least the way I did it! Study up on it a bit more... or print out the instructions so you have something besides you memory to go by! I did the redneck, bubba bit, "here, hold my beer and watch..." my 1st attempt at powder coating boolits!!!

Didn't turn out quite like I hoped for. But... better than a worse case scenario! Read as much as I could absorb last nite and this morning... I decided to forego the paint gun and opt for the shake & bake method... less investment, and probably less mess, since I don't have a paint booth.

Wal-Mart to get a toaster oven... decisions, decisions. Opted for the 39.99 Black & Decker... test fitted some pie pans, good to go! Over to sporting goods and pick up some air-soft BBs... darn, no black... but, hey these are called "Back Ops"! Like the next best thing, right? Nitrile gloves and I'm outta there!

Off to Harbor Freight for some paint... poor selection, Red, Yellow & White. Stuck with red & yellow. Head back to the reloading shop... 36ºF out, not the best temps... but, fire up the propane stove and take some chill out of the air. Unpackaged everything, set up the T-O... wow! It works. Oven thermometer sez I need 450º on the dial to get 400º. I can deal with that.

Ok, so where's that plastic butter dish thing? No can find! So... lookin' around, I spy a small 1lb coffee can that had some .45-70 cases in it... what're they doin' in there, I need that can... put the cases in the 3 lb tub with the rest of the 45-70 cases! So... open the 1,000 tub of BBs try to remember how many of these? Stuff! Dump in enough .452 185 grain WFN to cover the pie plate. Cover those with BBs. Yeah, that looks right! Now, for the important question! Do I use a level tablespoon, heaping tablespoon, or just wing it?

Ok, let's go with a nice heaping... naw... that looks like too much... knock a little off there! Went with more'n level, less than heaping... about the same as sugar on the Rice Krispies! Ok, put the cover on, and do the "la cucuracha" thing for 30 seconds or so... Got a little outta sync cause Garth Brooks in the CD player messed up the rhythm!

All good! Took the lid off and viola! Coated bullets with a nice bright red! Nestled in amongst a bunch of gray BBs! Gosh, nothing I read covered how to get the boolits separated from the BBs and the left over powder! Wait... tweezers, yeah, that's right! Tweezers. No joy, no tweezers... but do have a nice pair of small angle needle nose pliers. WHAT A PAIN IN THE KEISTER!!! Just dip the hand in and pick 'em out... ain't that why you bought the gloves?

Okay, so that leaves a less than neat, uniform coating, SO WHAT! I got nothing but time, we'll just plan on doin' 'em twice!
Batch #1, 1st coating:


Batch #2, 1st coating:


Batch #1, 2nd Coating:


Batch #2, 2nd coating:


So, what'd I end up with? A bunch of red boolits! Ran the 1st batch thru the RCBS sizer after backin' off the lube tension, while the 2nd batch finished cookin'! Loaded up 14 rounds and ran a magazine thru my 1911! And go figure... just like every other time I've run THIS boolit thru THIS gun, they don't chamber good. Fit fine in the Wilson gauge... I'll have to try the other seven in one of my other 1911s...

Seven little tubes of lipstick and their predecessor!

[2ndovc]

Funky!

At least they're not pink!

jb

[JerryB]

They look as good as what Ted was turning out. Can you increase the fps without leading?

[sore shoulder]

Your baking skills are admirable

[Chuck 100 yd]

For CAS I PC in a gray/silver color from Eastwood. A little more expensive than Harbor freight for paint but the quality is like night and day better than HF. I ordered it from Amazon. A pound will double coat 1K + bullets easily.
I tried the Airsoft bb's but found that if the bullets are warmed,just about too hot to hold, that the powder clings real nice. The bb's will be given to the next kid that wants them.I just warm them, shake them up in a Cool Whip tub and bake.
I size my .45's to .451 in a Lee push through die before powder coating. I use spray on case lube to size and wash it off with white gas using an old pan and a seive. A piece of window screen works good.
They look like real lead bullets and shoot great and the bores of my guns shine after a match. Not a trace of lead fouling.
I have not tried pushing them hard.that is what jacketed bullets are for.
Check out Elvis Ammo's youtube videos. I found he has the easiest and probably the best system to
Powder coat. I followed the shake and bake system he uses. Look for the video with the blue bullets.

[pokey]

Check this guy out. Lots of answers to coating woes.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yaU-KsZAaAQ

[Chuck 100 yd]

Fortune Cookie has some great videos. He uses his tumbler to coat the bullets . I wanted to avoid all that mess and the shake and bake method just plain works for me. Pre heating the bare bullets is the trick. Handle them with forceps untill they are baked to keep from brushing the powder off. After that you cant hardly scrape it off. Tough stuff !

How you been Pokey ? Havent heard from you or your boy since the saw shop closed.

[Sixgun]

Mmmmmm.......that 45 brass looks alllllllfffuulllyyy familiar.....it has that "Pennsylvania" look.

Griff......what the hell are you doing???? You and I are old heads who never fooled with such foolishness. Powder coating cast bullets??

I got a bridge I want to sell you. ----6

[Griff]

Mmmmmm.......that 45 brass looks alllllllfffuulllyyy familiar.....it has that "Pennsylvania" look.
Griff......what the hell are you doing???? You and I are old heads who never fooled with such foolishness. Powder coating cast bullets??
I got a bridge I want to sell you. ----6

That brass is pure TEXAS! Gotta wild hair... thought, if these young pups can do it, so can I! Plus, like a friend & I were talking, it'll eliminate the potential for lead in the gas port on the M-1! A good thing!

[rossim92]

can u do a glow in the dark coating?might look kind of neat with bullets cycling in the receiver at night time! just hit em with a flashlight before loading.

[Rusty]

I did a lot of reading over on castboolits about powder coating. I never did se the point in it for the most part. One thing that did look like it would work took me back in time when you could buy NYCLAD ammo. Nyclad was a dead soft lead bullet coated in some kind of plastic type coating. The advantage was that the bullet could be driven fast, you got no leading, and great expansion.

BTW Griff, I think you need to use one of the plastic butter bowl type containers along with the plastic BB as that is part of the system that helps build the static charge that causes the powder to stick better.

[Griff]

BTW Griff, I think you need to use one of the plastic butter bowl type containers along with the plastic BB as that is part of the system that helps build the static charge that causes the powder to stick better.

They're pretty well coated when I'm done shaking them in the plastic coffee can... it's the getting them out where I'm handling them that causes the blotchy results... I need to get a strainer of some sort that will leave the coated bullets separated from the powder and BBs. Just didn't want to "dirty" another tub!. I gotta try the yellow... so maybe I'll try it there.

[M. M. Wright]

I'm fixin' to make some bullets for my FAL and the M1. Maybe I'll try this powder coating for them, especially if it helps to keep the lead out of my gas ports.

[3leggedturtle]

TedH has good results pc'ing bullets. Maybe he'll chime in and give you a few pointers as well.

[Rube Burrows]

Funky!

At least they're not pink!

jb

[walks with gun]

Possibly this might work to keep leading down in rifle rounds but for cast handgun bullets, whats wrong with good old Liquid Alox or just plain old sizing lube. I'd rather be shooting them not looking at them, my plain shiny cast bullets are good enough for me, although winter is long and a guy needs something to do to keep boredom away. I guess I could also see this for load development or to maybe keep hotter loaded rounds separate from the others, which could possibly lead to suites or riots and protests from other bullets that don't want to be segregated.

[mikld]

I did a lot of reading over on castboolits about powder coating. I never did se the point in it for the most part. One thing that did look like it would work took me back in time when you could buy NYCLAD ammo. Nyclad was a dead soft lead bullet coated in some kind of plastic type coating. The advantage was that the bullet could be driven fast, you got no leading, and great expansion

.

Nyclad was a nylon coating that supposedly would penetrate a ballistic vest. Can't remember much more about them but liberal snowflakes cried about "Cop Killer" bullets like the Black Talon "murder bullets", so the ammo mfgs. stopped making them.

I've PCed about 1500 bullets for my handguns and rifles, both dry tumble and spraying. The main advantage is the PCed bullets are clean to handle and clean to shoot. Works OK, is fun to shoot "lipstick bullets", and seemed to work fine in my Lee Enfield, Mosin Nagant and my Garand. Velocities can be pushed a bit higher, but I've found no real need. My cast lead nekkid bullets don't lead my guns much anymore and if I need high velocities, I just go with a jacketed bullet. About the best place to find info on PCing/Coating is castboolits.com; http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forumdi ... ternatives

[Griff]

Possibly this might work to keep leading down in rifle rounds but for cast handgun bullets, whats wrong with good old Liquid Alox or just plain old sizing lube. I'd rather be shooting them not looking at them, my plain shiny cast bullets are good enough for me, although winter is long and a guy needs something to do to keep boredom away. I guess I could also see this for load development or to maybe keep hotter loaded rounds separate from the others, which could possibly lead to suites or riots and protests from other bullets that don't want to be segregated.

Can't use it for my BP rounds, as those need LUBE to keep the fouling soft in the bore. But, for other rounds, reducing the amount of lead I contact, every time I load a magazine, fill a clip, or drop 'em in the chambers of a sixgun, would seem to be a "good thing". But... in actuality, I ain't worried about that, so much as lube and lead fouling the gas ports of my auto-loaders. Plus, and this might be a reason for others to consider; Ranges around here sometimes prohibit FMJ rounds, and gun games that use steel targets frown on FMJ or sometimes even partially jacketed rounds. I still need to coat the rifle rounds I want, and then do some range testing... A couple of guys I'm shooting against are testing 'em also... so far all indications are they do not degrade accuracy... IF the powder coat is applied smoothly and consistently, much like any other coated bullet.

[JB]

I did a lot of reading over on castboolits about powder coating. I never did se the point in it for the most part. One thing that did look like it would work took me back in time when you could buy NYCLAD ammo. Nyclad was a dead soft lead bullet coated in some kind of plastic type coating. The advantage was that the bullet could be driven fast, you got no leading, and great expansion.

I still have some Nyclad 38's in my stash. I use to carry them in my 642.

[3leggedturtle]

I read and/or thought Nyclads were "bad" because supposedly they couldnt trace any rifling off the recovered bullets back to a the pistol that shot them. Political gun control stuff or something like that like that. Todd/3leg

[gundownunder]

I read a bit about this PC coating and gave it up as too much mucking about.
I now use Hitek, it's a lot easier. 5 pounds of bullets, 1 teaspoon of coating, shake for 30 sec, dump on a tray and bake at 400f for 10 minutes. Allow enough time to cool and then repeat.
A pound of Hitek should do about 20 - 40 thousand bullets depending on how many coats you apply. I do 3 coats because I like to drive my bullets hard, commercial bullet makers only do two coats here in Oz.
If bullets need sizing that gets done after the coating. The coating makes them slide through the sizing die like gas through a funnel.
If I cast while my coatings are in the oven I can easily coat and cast over 2000 bullets in a day.
The Hitek coating method is actually quicker than lubing and it sure is a whole lot cleaner.

[Griff]

Bob, sure sounds like what I'm doin' with the powder coating... shake for 30 seconds, the bake at 400, but it takes 20 minutes in my oven... I used a tablespoon... couldn't remember, I could've done 10 times the number of bullets I actually completed. My next go, I'm trying some .308 rifle bullets for the 30WCF and .30-06. I just made it sound a lot harder than it actually was... If it hadn't been below freezing out in the shop, I woulda spend several more days refining my methodology!

[1894c]

I like the color... :)

[Les Staley]

I powder coated these RCBS 45-500 BPS for my Shilo Hartford in 45-70. One coat of Harbor Freight red and sized at 459 after PC these are holding 1 MOA out to 300 yds. I picked a few brains for come ups over on Shilo forums and have a 1000 yd range ready to try when the weather moderates.

[Griff]

Les, do you have any plans to use over BP? If so are you still gonna lube? I've had suggestions that if I use BP, I should still use a BP lube.

[Les Staley]

Griff, no immediate plans for Holy Black. It's on my bucket list to do, but one thing at a time. I'm using 26.5 gr 5744 for 1473fps (average of five shots). Very low extreme spreads, less than 10 fps. It would be easy to add lube to the bullet and a grease cookie, (maybe don't even need PC). Have shot some great 100 yd groups with this bullet lubed with 50/50 liquid alox and Johnson's liquid one step floor wax. (5744). No PC. These are straight COWW.