Anyone powder coating?

[gnappi]

It's cool to see so many are PC'ing their bullets. I even bought a .223 mold for when I run out of bullets to PC.

 

[Targa]

I was very, very reluctant to powder coat. Traditional lubing is obviously the tried and proven method and still is today. With that said, I gave powder coating a try about a month ago and if it proves to be as reliable of a coating method as traditional lubing (haven't made it to the range yet to try the PC bullets) my bullets lube grooves will not see lube again......

 

[Riomouse911]

I’ve been shooting coated bullets for a while, as was written earlier the lack of smoke when shooting at the indoor range is achuge reason why.



I have a few boxes of .358 125 gr TCFP lead bullets that have a real brittle Mickey Mouse lube on them. I’ll be cleaning the lube off, buying a cheap toaster oven and baking a few batches soon.

Stay safe.

 

[35 Whelen]

Weekendreloader...
I already had two Star sizers, but got a third so I do not have to switch out caliber dies.

I'm not trying to dog on you, but am I to understand you're using $900 worth (3 x $300) of Star lubrisizers, which ironically are the fastest way to lube and size a cast bullet, to size PC'ed bullets?

Why not sell them and just buy cheap Lee presses and cheap Lee sizer dies? Inquiring minds want to know!

35W

 

[jmorris]

Why not sell them and just buy cheap Lee presses and cheap Lee sizer dies? Inquiring minds want to know!

That’s kind of what I did, the casting/cooling speed of the machine I built makes it so I don’t need a super fast sizing machine to keep up and I coat between shuffling between the two.

 

[no.5enfield]

Jmorris, that's impressive!

 

[jmorris]

Thank you, lots of hours in the setup even if it didn’t cost much.

 

[forrest r]

Never noticed any wear in any of the firearms I've shot pc'd bullets in. What the throat of a 308w bbl looked like after 1000 rounds of 30,000psi+ loads.


500 round+ range session with a 1911 chambered in 9mm using 125gr cast/pc'd bullets with a 25,000psi load.


Took the bbl off to clean, shined a light in the dirty bbl pictured above.


1 wet patch with hoppe's #9 and 1 dry patch. No need for a bore brush. The 1911/9mm bbl is clean after that 500+ round range session.


What a 686 looks like after a 200 round range session


I know what it takes to wear a bbl out. This 586 bbl had +/- 275,000 rounds thru it. At the 100,000 round count sent it back to s&w and had the timing redone and the bbl set back/recut forcing cone. Same thing @ the 200,000 round count. It never made it to 300,000. If you look at the lands you can see the non drive sides of them are still sharp/crisp. The drive side, not so much (rounded) along with the typical flame cutting on the face of the forcing cone at 12 o-clock.

 

[gnappi]

I'm not trying to dog on you, but am I to understand you're using $900 worth (3 x $300) of Star lubrisizers, which ironically are the fastest way to lube and size a cast bullet, to size PC'ed bullets?

Why not sell them and just buy cheap Lee presses and cheap Lee sizer dies? Inquiring minds want to know!

35W

Actually it's a LOT more $$ than the cost of three sizers. I have a heated base, and noted below a host of other stuff for Star. The aluminum plate alone I had made for me cost more than all of what I'd need to use any other brand.

Changing over is not my style, if I actually had a style. I had custom dies made specifically for PC bullets. They're shorter and have no lube rings. There's nothing better than the Star for PC or lubed bullets and they're worth every cent. Lee stuff is, well Lee, not my cup o tea. Your Q is like telling a Dillon owner (I have three 450,+ 2x550) to sell them for Lee, not gonna happen.

Anyway...

A. They're paid for and not eating anything.
B. I have scads of Star dies, some custom made.
C. I don't need to change my setup

I had an aluminum plate made for my three sizers and it works for me. Can you REALLY see me or anyone else with even a bit of grey matter changing over to... LEE???
Anyway, truthfully if someone gave me a grand AND all brand new Lee stuff (or any other brand for that matter) to change over I'd not do it, it's NOT about the money.

FWIW, I feel the same about Hellman's mayonnaise and Heinz Ketchup not gonna change

 

[35 Whelen]

Can you REALLY see me or anyone else with even a bit of grey matter changing over to... LEE???

View attachment 970419

LOL....ironically, my Star lubrisizer is the main reason I've never messed with PC.

I'm not a big fan of Lee at all and use very, very few of their products. But push-thru bullet sizing dies are pretty hard to mess up; all one has to do is drill a round hole of a specific size through a piece of soft steel with 7/8-14 threads.

Anyhow, enjoy those Star sizers!

35W

 

[gnappi]

LOL....ironically, my Star lubrisizer is the main reason I've never messed with PC.
>>SNIP<<
35W

Wow! Visit castboolits. The Star is the "Star" of the "coatings and alternative" crowd there. You'll never use wax based lube again, trust me.

 

[35 Whelen]

Wow! Visit castboolits. The Star is the "Star" of the "coatings and alternative" crowd there. You'll never use wax based lube again, trust me.

Been a member for over there for 14 years.

Naaa... traditionally lubed/sized bullets have served me well and I can turn them out at a much higher rate than PC, which means more time shooting.

Someone here mentioned that PC gives off less smoke at indoor ranges. I can count on one hand the number of times I've shot at an indoor range, but every time I did, there was an exhaust system that whisked smoke away quickly. Are there indoor ranges out there that don't have ventilation/exhaust systems? If so, I'd be far more worried about the effects of lead from primers than from smoke from lube.

35W

 

[gnappi]

Being retired, to me production is nearly meaningless. I generally only go to the range once or twice a month, once a week at most and then maybe 200 rounds per trip. I can and often do easily make several times that amount in a month. When I can cast faster than I consume I'm GTG. You read right the PC bullets do not smoke, only the powder does, ranges have sufficient ventilation but despite that, I've had to stop shooting momentarily due to the lube cloud.

Anyway, I've been casting some 40 years all that while with lube (nevermore), and only recently joined castboolits and then because I wanted to PC. I use the same user name across the web, CU over at castboolits.

 

[jmorris]

But push-thru bullet sizing dies are pretty hard to mess up; all one has to do is drill a round hole of a specific size through a piece of soft steel with 7/8-14 threads.

Really don’t even need that. My first sizing setup, that I still use for 45 bullets is a piece of stainless steel I reamed out with a taper reamer for the lead and ID for diameter. Held to the bottom of the plate with a set collar. Then all you need is a ram that will push it straight down the hole.

 

[35 Whelen]

Being retired, to me production is nearly meaningless. I generally only go to the range once or twice a month, once a week at most and then maybe 200 rounds per trip. I can and often do easily make several times that amount in a month. When I can cast faster than I consume I'm GTG. You read right the PC bullets do not smoke, only the powder does, ranges have sufficient ventilation but despite that, I've had to stop shooting momentarily due to the lube cloud.

Anyway, I've been casting some 40 years all that while with lube (nevermore), and only recently joined castboolits and then because I wanted to PC. I use the same user name across the web, CU over at castboolits.

I understand. My range is about 100' from my reloading/casting area, so production is important!

35W

 

[Crosshair]

I disagree completely with this. Have you looking into the cost of a lube/sizer?

I've never used one. I tumble lube and use Lee push through dies.

As for how to recommend it to new casters? Easy, they made it that damn far to have been able to cast a good bullet. It’s not rocket science.

It's labor intense and slow. Your average newbie isn't going to tolerate that nonsense when they can tumble lube and leave it on a pan for a week.

Powder coating is as cheap as it gets.
I started with a free toaster oven, a plastic container saved from sour cream, a $6 bottle of Harbor Freight powder, and a piece of parchment paper from the kitchen drawer. Other than maybe buying a funnel, it was the least expensive thing in my reloading hobby I ever did.

One pound of Eastwood powder will coat thousands of bullets. I have used and recommend: Eastwood's Mirror blue, Mirror Red, Lime Green. Recently purchased Eastwood's copper Penny (tried a sample batch and it looks pretty good), Mirror Black (have not tried yet) and Clear (have not tried yet).

I just received my LEE 356-125-2R 6-cavity mold in the mail yesterday. Hoping to get a semi-warm day soon so I can cast a bunch and try out my new powders.

That's not what I said.

Powder coating is expensive in terms of your TIME.

How long do you have to work to lube/coat 1k bullets? Not counting Lee sizing. From bucket of cast to bucket of lubed?

I've never timed it, but I could get 1k of a 38 Special/357 Mag boolit lubed and on the pan to dry in under an hour. I only need to go outside in the winter cold to dump them onto the pan. Then come back in a week.

I have zero problem with leading with my lube formula. (Johnson's paste wax, a little Vaseline, and a touch of Allox) Accuracy is always what fails first. Usually at pressure/velocity I shouldn't be running in the first place.

In the end all that matters is how it shoots. I’m not casting an reload to save time lol

Most of us are though. Reloading saves money, which is what we get in wages for selling our time.

Instead of spending time at a job to earn money to buy ammunition, we are spending time at the reloading bench and earning amunition.

 

[Barbaroja]

I've never used one. I tumble lube and use Lee push through dies.


It's labor intense and slow. Your average newbie isn't going to tolerate that nonsense when they can tumble lube and leave it on a pan for a week.


That's not what I said.

Powder coating is expensive in terms of your TIME.

How long do you have to work to lube/coat 1k bullets? Not counting Lee sizing. From bucket of cast to bucket of lubed?

I've never timed it, but I could get 1k of a 38 Special/357 Mag boolit lubed and on the pan to dry in under an hour. I only need to go outside in the winter cold to dump them onto the pan. Then come back in a week.

I have zero problem with leading with my lube formula. (Johnson's paste wax, a little Vaseline, and a touch of Allox) Accuracy is always what fails first. Usually at pressure/velocity I shouldn't be running in the first place.



Most of us are though. Reloading saves money, which is what we get in wages for selling our time.

Instead of spending time at a job to earn money to buy ammunition, we are spending time at the reloading bench and earning amunition.

1st: I AM your average new caster. Doing it about 2 years now, I find powder coating to be worth the the minimal amount of time it (may)take over tumbling.
By the way when one of your steps is “ wait a week” then you have no ground to stand on when your talking about saving 20 mins of baking time.
2nd: tumble lube leaves a tacky surface that gums up seating dies and attracts dirt so I don’t use the that method anymore

I disagree with your “time is money” thing. most people don’t count their labor hours into their hobby’s or free time.
If you weren’t casting or reloading would you otherwise be at work? Unless your missing shifts to cast and reloading it doesn’t matter.
If time is a major concern than prehaps you should just buy ammo.

maybe you should try it out before you knock it

 

[WeekendReloader]

200 LEE 356-125-2R coated with Eastwood Copper Penny. Fresh out of the toaster oven.

 

[Targa]

Thanks for posting this, I was just asking about a good powder for that plated look at castboolits and was directed to your post WeekendReloader. Those look great.

 

[AJC1]

200 LEE 356-125-2R coated with Eastwood Copper Penny. Fresh out of the toaster oven.
View attachment 971354

I see you also stand them all up... several peoples testing says the basket method works functionally just as good but I dont like the blemishes where they stick together. It's worth the extra effort to make them beautiful....

 

[Barbaroja]

I see you also stand them all up... several peoples testing says the basket method works functionally just as good but I dont like the blemishes where they stick together. It's worth the extra effort to make them beautiful....

I’m with you. I’ve tried using a basket but didn’t like problems it caused. The only ones that are a pain to stand in end are the rifle bullets. I’d rather take the extra few mins to have them come out without blemishes.

 

[WeekendReloader]

I see you also stand them all up... several peoples testing says the basket method works functionally just as good but I dont like the blemishes where they stick together. It's worth the extra effort to make them beautiful....

I stand them up for a few reasons:

1. I wanted a nice smooth finish and didn't want them sticking together.
2. It's the first way I tried and it worked. I like the results.
3. Shaking them and dumping them on a screen and shaking them again. Handling the waste powder and dumping it back into the bowl. What a mess. I use a sour cream container and shake about 40 - 50 at a time. Pop off the lid and use needle nose pliers to pick them out and stand them up. I can do this without making a mess and getting powder all over the place.
4. I don't shoot thousands of rounds a week so a few extra minutes is fine with me.

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeasy.

I cast about 700-800 of these on Saturday afternoon, taking breaks when I refilled the lead pot to watch football while it heated back up. Then coated 200 of them to test at the range later this week. It's a hobby and I enjoyed my time while making these.

I recently purchased a Lyman lead thermometer. That was a great addition to my casting tools. It is nice to be able to see the temperature and keep it constant while casting. It looks like I got consistent results throughout the day. I ended up with a very small amount of castings that were culled, and those few were mainly because something got onto the mold face and the two halves didn't close perfectly together flush a couple of times.

 

[gnappi]

I’m with you. I’ve tried using a basket but didn’t like problems it caused. The only ones that are a pain to stand in end are the rifle bullets. I’d rather take the extra few mins to have them come out without blemishes.

Try standing them up in silicone ice cube trays.

 

[MEHavey]

Parchment paper here. and yes I stand them up individually*
A no-brainier (a good thing thereto...)



*
BTW: These spring-loaded pliers make grabbing/handling those bullets coming out of the shaking-tub/bb's quite simple

 

[Erief0g]

It's labor intense and slow. Your average newbie isn't going to tolerate that nonsense when they can tumble lube and leave it on a pan for a week.

I'm a new caster.
So new in under 2000 bullets cast. My research and using wax lubed bullets from others turned me off to using traditional waxes. Smoke can be excessive and I shot at an indoor range. Noticeable even with state of the art filtration running. As previously mentioned the sticky on my dies added to cleanup also.

I've already coated with hitek and found it rather simple. Got a nice toaster oven for free.

I wouldn't surmise what the average new caster will or won't due in pursuit of their hobby.