Powder Coating Bullets Question

Stationary Smell said:

can I still powder coat them? If not, is there an easy way to remove LLA?

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No. Boil to remove the lube.I asked the question before! I have not tried myself yet. The Dolomite method is popular and easy.
http://www.300blktalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=86939
another one by the same guy
http://www.tngunowners.com/forums/topic/66713-powder-coating-the-easy-way

Boil off the lube then rinse with mineral spirits to get the rest off. The cheap way to powder coat is whet I use. Get a toaster oven for $5 at goodwill, get some red powder coat powder from harbor freight $7, grab a container of black air soft bb's from Walmart $8 and a roll of nonstick aluminum foil $3. Get it all home and acquire a glad/plastic bowl with a #5 in a triangle on the bottom.

Put about 2 layers of bb's in the bowl followed by 2-3 heaping spoonfuls of powder. Add in two good handfuls of bullets and snap the lid on. Swirl it and shake it kinda vigorously for 2 minutes. Line the pan for the oven with the nonstick foil. Either powder your fingers and grab the bullets n stand them up on the foil or use forceps or needle nosed pliers. Put the pan in a preheated 400* oven for 20 minutes and viola.

I coat the same method as bullseye with HF red paint. It works well. Ive never had good luck coating bullets that were once tumble lubed. Even cleaned very well, the coating didnt pass the "hammer test". I would just recast them. It doesn't take but an hour or so to cast 500 fresh bullets.

Here's a question -- does powder coating do away with the need for gas checks?

Vern Humphrey said:

Here's a question -- does powder coating do away with the need for gas checks?

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Yes it does

To remove either TL or traditional lube soak em' in white gas for 20 minutes, then rinse with hot soapy water.

Bullets that are gas check design don't work well with out a check.

CC

clearcut said:

Bullets that are gas check design don't work well with out a check.

CC

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But powder coating will block any problems associated with "no check on a gas check bullet". For anything anyone would want to know about coating bullets, go here; http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forumdisplay.php?184-Coatings-and-Alternatives

I am also hooked on Harbor Freight Red and tumble coating.
These 206 grain .45 ACP Mihec cast hollowpoints perform about as well as Speer Gold Dots when cast out of stick on wheelweights with about 2% tin added.

Vern Humphrey said:

Here's a question -- does powder coating do away with the need for gas checks?

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It can lessen the need for them with some loads, but it doesnt make them obsolete, particularly with rifle loads.

When you start to push over 1700 fps in gas guns, checks will help keep you from soldering your piston into the glass block or filling your gas tube with lead.

They're not absolutely needed for subsonic rifle loads, but checked bullets are usually more accurate for me.

Thanks -- I've been meaning to try coated bullets in several applications.

Thanks folks! I wanna try this!

neat

If you heat the bullets for just a few minutes, the powder sticks better

Those bullets turned out real good for your first time. The 2 biggest issues with PC is getting good coverage and heating for a long enough time to get good adherence between the lead and PC.

Vern Humphrey said:

Here's a question -- does powder coating do away with the need for gas checks?

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Yes.

I risked life and limb and used some old gasoline on my tumble lubed bullets. Soaked them in a jug. poured them out on a grate and allowed to air dry. They PC and shot without issue.

Powder coating does away with 100% of the leading that can be caused by pushing lead bullets beyond their pressure limit. It does not, however do anything for accuracy. A powder coated lead bullet is not going to be any more accurate than a non-powder coated bullet with the same charge.

Once you exceed that pressure limit, a gas check can still improve accuracy so... I would not go as far as to say gas checks are irrelevant with powder coated bullets.

In Wa lMart today I found a toaster oven for $18.00.

Those boolits are looking good. I don't bother with some of the tedious methods of powder coating. I use a cheap tumbler with about a spoonful of HF red powder and a few pounds of boolits in while the oven preheats, dump them all onto a mesh rack, and when they are done i drop them onto a metal tray to separate them. That way I don't have to deal with airsoft bbs or picking out each boolit and standing it up. they separate almost effortlessly while they are still warm and coverage is still great.

Looks like your getting the hang of it.

I look at it as a somewhat necessary evil. I use it for some of my upper end loads in.a.couple of calibers.

I usually only do a hundred or so at a time of a particular bullet. Once they are gone I'll do up another batch. I use several colors that I got from a fellow on Castboolit's that goes by Smoke4320. He has several powders that coat very well using the shake and bake method. You can get a couple color sample pack for pretty cheap. It's a finer powder than the HF powder and goes a long ways.

Look up the powder coating thread sticky over at CB' s and you'll find plenty of tips and info on it.

Great turnout for your first attempt. Glad I could be of help, but it really is a fairly simple process once you know the ins n outs. I need to get with smoke and get a few colors, thanks for the reminder.