Powder coating bullets

[BWS]

I've been shooting stupid high velocity rifle cast now for several years. There's a few GLARING issues,or hurdles that have come to light,that fly in the face of decades of information,spread in loading manuals and web based info.

Don't need to go into too much but,one "biggy" is how typical thoughts on lube is,or are....

I'm NOT gonna say "wrong" as there's just too many variables. Misleading however is a good word. "Less is more" means,it takes LESS lube,the faster you go. Obviously,if you don't have your ducks in a row towards the 1/2 dz uber critical litany,of other requirements,lube quantity ain't gonna make much of a difference. A fully lubed cast bullet,at starting JB velocity out of anything under .30 bore,and you're going to be spraying lube out the barrel faster than a cheap Harbor freight spraygun. I know it's counterintuitive.....

Part of lube,or PC for that matter's job, is to make up for other aspects of the equation.

Good luck with your shooting.

 

[Pottimus]

What seems to be the comfort level of reducing antimony/hardness for powder coated? I try for a Lyman #2 mix on all my bullets, lately I am thinking I might be fine with less super hard in the mix...but I have yet to shake and bake anything. All set to go, but I seem to be stuck admiring my sight picture...

 

[jmorris]

I used traditional lube, dip/tumble lube, powder coat, copper plating and hi-tek, so far.

Hi-tek finally made me stop looking for something better.

 

[GoldieMI]

I'm a Hi-Tek and Powder coat work flow...just depends on the time of year, time of day, and what I'm feeling like lol.

got plenty of time and it's in the garage- go with HI-Tek as the acetone smell is there and real. Plus I like 2-3 coats of Hi-Tek so it definitely takes longer to make them for me.
early morning/trying to be quiet or when I can't open the garage door- go with powder coating
in a rush- powder coating 1 pass
want copper red colour- Hi-Tek
want blue colour- Powder coating

 

[scott1970]

Minus shotguns, if I shoot it I cast it, and if I cast it I powder coat it. Eastwood's Ford light blue is my favorite.

 

[derek45]

 

[GoldieMI]

@derek45
Love the DIY tabs. And bigger than the 1050 ones

 

[gnappi]

View attachment 1009932 View attachment 1009932

I only PC for 9mm. Not worth the hassle for anything else.

Wow! That's a surprise. How are you powder coating?

I'm just the opposite, all of my "9mm" bullets are heavier 139 and 150 gn for the super and Sig.

I powder coat and no longer quench after the baking process. I can only speak for myself and you will have to try it out for yourself but try to simply let the bullets cool down without quenching to see if it makes a difference. I simply let the bullets air cool and put them into a box for sizing and experience no difference in performance.

You're probably right about no performance change, and technically speaking quenching over longer air cooling time doesn't really offer any hardness benefit.

Initially I was air cooling, but running two 20 pound furnaces and four six cavity molds runs out of bullet cooling space real quick, so now I quench.

 

[Crosshair]

I look into it every now and then, but it's just too much extra work and hassle vs just tumble lubing.

 

[blue32]

How are you powder coating?.

Shake n bake about 80 - 120 at a time using gutter guard folded into a tray. Eastwood green and purple for the coating. Bullets 4 minutes on warm / shake with coating / bake at 400 F for 20 minutes. I don't like that I have to size after all of that when with traditional lubing I size and lube in the same step. If I could get a hold of a powder thru expander that opened up the case enough for .358 cast bullets I would drop PC in a minute. PC gives me the one advantage of being able to seat a .358" bullet in an otherwise (undersized for my needs) 9mm case and it not size down the bullet, or at least not enough that the PC doesn't protect against leading.

 

[jmorris]

I look into it every now and then, but it's just too much extra work and hassle vs just tumble lubing.

Everything about cast bullets is more work and tumble lubing is about as easy as it gets, at least until you are done shooting.

I have my setup so it’s a concurrent operation vs a sequential one. Doesn’t make any step faster but if you are doing them all at the same time vs one after another, you are spending less time getting bullets ready to load.

 

[Armorer 101]

I powder coat my cast rifle bullets, this works real good in the two AR-15s in 358 MGP at 2,600 fps and .4 inches at 100. Makes a real hog sledge hammer with the 200g RCBS flat base when PCed then baked point down in a hardware cloth box. I size them to grove diameter with case lube.
The 358 MGP is pretty close to a rimless 357 Harrett based on the 6.8 SPC, necked up, trimmed and fire formed. It makes a fine 35 cast AR cartridge with 1680.