My first try at powder coating cast boolits

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Palehorseman

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I put about 50 boolits in a clean coffee can and sprayed well with carb cleaner to clean, sloshed around for a bit and dumped out on paper towels to dry.

Using Harbor Freight red epoxy powder coat, ($3.99 lb) dry tumbled by hand for few minutes in plastic container, dumped boolits onto screen tray to sift out excess powder for reuse. Put screen tray into preheated toaster oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. After oven timed out, I immediately removed screen tray and gently shook by hand for a couple minutes to keep boolits separated and from sticking to wire screen. The screen mesh is small, about like window screen but more strongly made, Wife donated it from her BB'Q set.

Coated and baked only once, passed hammer test, one on front right I beat pretty good, epoxy coating split, but did not flake off

P10100492.jpg

P10100472.jpg
 
Nicely done but I think you will have a tough time loading the ones you smacked with the hammer. Did you use the Lee Truncated Cone mold? 9mm or 40 S&W?
 
I have a feeling that it will leave deposits in your barrel and be hardwr ro clean than lead is
 
Seems to be catching on with more and more people trying powder coat. Reports are favorable, at least with non-leading. I would worry about excess wear on the barrel.
 
Most powder coaters say they shoot clean.

It is encouraging that you were able to do it so simply.
I read of people buying the powder spray guns and building grounded spray racks.
Others dissolve up the powder in a witches brew of solvents for a dip or slip coat.
But just rolling them in powder is a lot more attractive.

What is in the coating to wear the barrel, flash? It is just plastic, isn't it?
 
flashhole said:
Nicely done but I think you will have a tough time loading the ones you smacked with the hammer. Did you use the Lee Truncated Cone mold? 9mm or 40 S&W?
Click to expand...
These were cast from Saeco Mold #131 45 Caliber (452 Diameter) 185 Grain Semi-Wadcutter Bevel Base
 
horsemen61 said:
I have a feeling that it will leave deposits in your barrel and be hardwr ro clean than lead is
Click to expand...
It leaves no deposits, that is one of it's merits, no leading, in short it turns a cast boolit into a jacketed bullet. There was some who were worried about the matte black powder coating being abrasive, but proved unfounded.

It also eliminates the need to lubricate cast boolits, for either sizing or shooting.

For more info on powder coating boolits:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forumdisplay.php?184-Coatings-and-Alternatives
 
Don't know enough about the hardness to be sure it wouldn't cause excessive wear. There is no carrier that evaporates off, just solids that cure hard.
 
Jim Watson said:
Most powder coaters say they shoot clean.

It is encouraging that you were able to do it so simply.
I read of people buying the powder spray guns and building grounded spray racks.
Others dissolve up the powder in a witches brew of solvents for a dip or slip coat.
But just rolling them in powder is a lot more attractive.

What is in the coating to wear the barrel, flash? It is just plastic, isn't it?
Click to expand...
The dry tumbling method has just recently come about and is hard to beat as to an inexpensive and easy no muss, no fuss way. Some volume casters use vibrating or rotating tumblers, but the hand tumbling suffices very well too. All needed is the powder and a cheap toaster oven.

Powder coating cast bullets is not just a passing fad. Shooters in Australia came up with it many years ago and is now just about the only way they shoot cast there. Then shooters in the EU followed suit, slow to change at first here in US, but now gaining adherents swiftly.

Some indoor shooting ranges do not allow conventional lubed cast bullets, but now some do allow the powder coated ones as there is no lube smoke or lead emissions to the atmosphere.

As I posted earlier, for more info on coated cast boolit shooting is found here: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forumdisplay.php?184-Coatings-and-Alternatives
 
Powder coating is the only way to go, no more nasty lube, no more nasty smoke.
I am coating seven calibers at the time with more to come--it is the Bomb!!
This will be the future in the cast bulet world I do believe.

The dry tumble method is great, however the PC gun is awesome:)

Used to be---Smokeyloads:)
 
flashhole said:
Seems to be catching on with more and more people trying powder coat. Reports are favorable, at least with non-leading. I would worry about excess wear on the barrel.
Click to expand...
A thin powder coating over soft lead isnt nearly as hard as FMJ ammo or even the solid copper stuff. no way will these cause more wear than "traditional" FMJ ammo.
 
grubbylabs said:
For 3.99 I might have to give it a try.

Has any one tried it in rifle bullets?
Click to expand...
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...ed-Rifle-Bullets-at-1800-fps-or-greater/page2

attachment.jpg

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...ed-Rifle-Bullets-at-1800-fps-or-greater/page4

attachment.php
 
grubbylabs said:
For 3.99 I might have to give it a try.

Has any one tried it in rifle bullets?
Click to expand...
I've heard of people pushing the PCed bullets up to 3200 fps. In the 300 blk community it is catching on quickly as it can pretty much eliminate lead buildup in cans not to mention seems to be the only way to print good groups with the subsonic cast bullets.
 
I had realized that I never did my, quite unscientific, melt test with my PC bullets. Now remember that the bases on mine are uncoated but I was surprised to see that it went before the cast bullet. Maybe the coating held in more heat than the naked one?

This is the hi TEK and cast

attachment.php


This is PC.

IMG_20140208_152242_528_zpsaf48fd6a.jpg
 
I thought heating from underneath, even on the aluminum plate. I may have skewed the results.

So I just tried it again heating the back of the plate from side to side, so there was no dwell in the center and put the PC bullet in the center.

Same results the PC bullet went first.

IMG_20140208_153658_676_zpse8f73560.jpg

Then the naked bullet went second. I removed it and kept the heat until the hi TEK bullet looked melted, then dropped it. Can't really see it in the photo but the result was somewhat like an eggshell.

IMG_20140208_154357_469_zps1af82c82.jpg
 
I'll admit I have been skeptical about PC'ing, but as more people try it and post results, I have yet to see anything negative, and the dry tumbling method seems pretty easy and convenient
They can be sized after coating? I think I'm going to try it myself.

I like that you have options for different colors. That will make it really easy to keep track of different loads.
 
No, powdered Molly is totally different.

Moly coating lead was the first thing I tried years ago and was a complete failer. They looked like black mirrors but left black spider webs in the barrel. I tumble coated moly in ceramic media. the process is really ment for jacketed bullets.
 
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