Powder coating lead bullets from a company.

If you try and coat them with lube in them you will just end up with a mess... what is PC getting you at this stage.

You must definitely get rid of all traces of oils/lubes! Many people wear “surgically” clean gloves when handling the bullets they are going to powder coat!

I can’t offer any suggestions for the time element......but getting into casting is not expensive. The hardest part today, is finding good wheel weights for material! Likely you could get started for well under $300, possibly under $200. A mold, a cast iron pot, some flux material, a heat source, some gloves, a ladle, a largish spoon (or similar) to stir the pot when fluxing and remove the undesirable stuff on top after fluxing, a bullet sizing die......and you’re in business. You probably already have most of the stuff needed! I started @ 18 or 19 (many years ago), while raising a family on less than $100/wk income.

memtb

I'd try the bullets as they are and see how they work.

In order to powder coat you must get rid of all the lube and any traces of it. I think boiling the lube off and then rinsing with a cleaner such as acetone is the method I see mentioned most often.

You can do what you describe, but you'd need to completely remove every trace of lube prior to PCing . . and that's much harder than you think.

Shoot them, as is, for now. Experiment with acetone as a solvent if you insist on stripping lube.

reddog81 said:

I'd try the bullets as they are and see how they work.

In order to powder coat you must get rid of all the lube and any traces of it. I think boiling the lube off and then rinsing with a cleaner such as acetone is the method I see mentioned most often.

Click to expand...

This^^^^^^^^^. It is very time consuming trying to remove the lube for powder coating. My experience has shown me that it is best to just load them with the lube and shoot them, easier to clean the barrel, afterwards you can buy bullets without the lube and powder coat them yourself or buy them already with powder coating. I know that Missouri Bullet Company sells powder coated bullets but the founder died recently so I do not know if they are still in business.

I did 1000 of MBC 230 gr lubed lead bullets. Forget the boil method.

Put them in a old toaster over on some old towel or paper. Set the temps at around 250 degress . The lube will melt and smoke off. (do this outside)

After than wash in some solvent. (Coleman fuel works well) Let dry and you are all set to PC them

Yes, it is some work but OH so much fun!!

My guess......the IMR4227! I know I’d sure love to try some in my 460 S&W 460 with 400 grain cast! memtb

My experience in 4227 so far is in 308. I bought it for 357 and that's coming. It's nothing like I thought it's a tiny extrusion. I'll be grabbing more and reports I see say it's great in 44. It gets my vote.

Pat73 said:

Hi folks. It' my first post. So here i go.

I've bought 44 cal. 240 gr SWC DGR lead bullets. Because i don't have time and equipement to cast my own bullets, i would like to know if i can powder coat lead bullets from a company?

If so, should i get rid of the lube in the grease groove to provide better coverage of the powder?

I don't have the BHN for those bullets, but it's mention hard cast on the box.

I would like to use those bullets for white tail and blsck bear hunting from my Henry Big Boy.

Thank you everyone.

Click to expand...

For hunting it is not worth the trouble to try and powder coat your bullets. Heck just shoot them.
You do not know if you will have any leading, so just clean your rifle. Only thing is the regular lube smokes some. I still use regular lubed bullets in my revolvers as I have a bunch of them. I would rather have PC as it is less work to clean the guns. It's the lube that is a mess not the lead so much,

If you do powder coat already sized lead bullets, they will become larger due to the thickness of the powder coat. That could cause chambering problems. I did exactly that with some 0.356 conicals and they ended up around 0.359 and don't chamber in any of my 9's. I could use them as 38's or get them resized. I haven't done either yet.

BTW I removed the lube by boiling. Just let the water cool, and the lube harden, before you take them out. Simple and effective.

Laphroaig said:

If you do powder coat already sized lead bullets, they will become larger due to the thickness of the powder coat. That could cause chambering problems. I did exactly that with some 0.356 conicals and they ended up around 0.359 and don't chamber in any of my 9's. I could use them as 38's or get them resized. I haven't done either yet.

BTW I removed the lube by boiling. Just let the water cool, and the lube harden, before you take them out. Simple and effective.

Click to expand...

Yep you need to get a sizing die and resize the suckers, more of the fun involved!

ms6852 said:

This^^^^^^^^^. It is very time consuming trying to remove the lube for powder coating. My experience has shown me that it is best to just load them with the lube and shoot them, easier to clean the barrel, afterwards you can buy bullets without the lube and powder coat them yourself or buy them already with powder coating. I know that Missouri Bullet Company sells powder coated bullets but the founder died recently so I do not know if they are still in business.

Click to expand...

they are in business. like everybody else they have a delay in shipping about a couple of months.

roval said:

they are in business. like everybody else they have a delay in shipping about a couple of months.

Click to expand...

Thanks!

Next time if you want to PC lubed bullets, easy way is to get an empty, clean, metal can, pour in the bullets and cover them with Acetone. Swirl the can around to agitate the bullets, dip the bullets out with a slotted spoon or pour them out into a screen, catching the liquid. You may reserve the liquid for other use or disposal. You can wash them again with fresh Acetone if you wish.
If the bullets are truly hard cast and lubed they should easily do 1,200 fps without leading. The PC bullets will do 2,000 without leading, but your 44 Mag in a handgun will not do 2,000 fps with a 230g.
A standard magnum cast bullet load for the 230 in a 44 Mag can be made up using H-110/296, #9, 4227, Unique or 2400.