So it begins powder coating first try

[horsemen61]

Alright guys harbor freight was down to the white so I got it I'm kinda impatient so they are in the toaster oven as we speak

 

[horsemen61]

Like Thomas Edison first attempt = failure I think I used to much mix and to big of a container to many bb's round two I feel will be better lot less bullets lot less bb's better looking coverage

 

[blarby]

Keep trying- and keep us posted !

 

[horsemen61]

Second attempt = failure again except this time to light of a coating any advice on how much to use ?

 

[tyeo098]

You can coat more than once ya know lol.

 

[myFRAGisFUBAR]

White is not a favored color for pc over on castboolits. If the members there do have it, they usually mix it with another color to use it. Black and red are what you want to try to get. Im not saying white wont work, but it is much tougher to use then the other colors.

 

[bockja]

If you are planning on continuing with the dry tumble method, the Harbor Freight Red is really the best choice. Do not get the black unless you want to use an ES spray gun. There are other options for getting powder coat but they are generally more expensive.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...List-What-powders-work-and-what-powders-don-t

Check out this thread to get some ideas. Some people have had some luck using the other HF colors when they mix it with the Red. Otherwise it will require two or three applications to get a proper coating. Hope this helps.

 

[Reefinmike]

I bought the last thing of black bb's off the shelf at walmart a couple days ago and yellow and black without reading too deep into the thread on castboolits. I go back to HF today and what do ya know, they had plenty of black, yellow and white but no red

and their price jumped from $3.99 to $5.49

The secret is out. Black was really bad for me, I didnt even bother throwin them in the oven. yellow got a decent even coat on most boolits but was still way too thin. after the second coat, there were still many thin spots. 4 coats might have gotten it, but thats a lot of time and tedious work to get out of having to buy a few thousand plated bullets a year.

I figure that once I find red and play around for a bit, if I can process 250+ an hour, I will continue to do so. otherwise Ill just buy pretty plated boolits

 

[horsemen61]

Yes I will keep hunting for the red for sure

 

[myFRAGisFUBAR]

Locally our HF is running a sale for 53.99 on the electrostatic coaters. I know that may not be an option for most people, but the overall finish is superb. With the red and black powders, I can easily coat over 450 bullets per hour in my toaster oven. I bake for about 15 minutes at 400. If those colors are not available locally, there is a guy over on castboolits selling powder in 1 lb bags for roughly 10 bucks each. It is more than HF, but he has all sorts of colors and they have been proven to work so far.

 

[tyeo098]

Your copy of American Rifleman from the NRA also has a 20% off coupon good for anything in the store each month

 

[horsemen61]

Update hf had two pounds of red I got it ran home they coated much better my first batch was coated in the white first but it also has the red on it as well now so we shall see in about 20 minutes

 

[Schwing]

I actually really like the Black HFPC with the shake and bake method. What I have found is that, while it doesn't cover very well on the first coat, multiple coats seem to exponentially stick better. I have done as many as 4 coats for giggles. It sounds ridiculous but, like many things we do, it isn't always about saving money or time, it is about the love of the project.

Recently, I have discovered that either letting my bullets sit in the sun for about 30 minutes or pre-heating them for a few minutes before tumbling them helps them coat great on the first try. You don't want them hot or the PC just melts in a big glob all over them.

 

[horsemen61]

Thanks for the tips

 

[horsemen61]

Sucess= Pink

 

[Reefinmike]

I called up a different HF and they had red in stock as well as a roll of nonstick foil(which I found first go around was a must). Black and yellow were a complete bust but I think Ill try mixing them a bit with the red for improved colors!

 

[tyeo098]

Red+Black is boss looking. Check out my thread on it!

Also, UPLOAD SOME PICS!!

 

[horsemen61]

Alright I will get some pics up

 

[Schwing]

I actually like the HF Black the best. It does require more than one coat and the first coat tends to look so bad that most people don't try a second.

A have a couple of molds that tend to drop on the undersized side and I have found that each coat adds about .001 to .002 so that is also a plus.

Here are some 44s I recently loaded up. I loaded them with 15 grains of blue dot and chrono them around 1400fps out of my super blackhawk. The shake and bake method I use leaves a little bit of a texture on them that would probably spell disaster in high velocity rifle rounds but, for hand gun calibers, it doesn't make any difference.

I have had some questions about why I am shooting cast iron bullets and where I am getting them from

 

[Reefinmike]

Well, Im back and it turns out that red coats much much much much better... infact, maybe too well.

I have a couple thousand unlubed 380 bullets (105gr lee .356 rn mold) laying around that were cast out of some mystery alloy. they dropped at 94 grains and .364. I sized the raw lead bullets down to .358 first and then coated 50 of them in just plain red. they came out back up at .361-.363 and were an absolute BEAR to size. Of 50, 18 were thrown in the scrap can due to exposed lead or phillips head hollow points from hammering them back out.

Then I took 110 and sized them down to .356 then tumbled them, this time adding about a teaspoon of black to the previous three teaspoons of red I threw in the container. This seemed to make them coat a little thinner and less clumpy than the red. After coating, they came out to .359-.360. I then gave them a quick toss in my case lube bag which really made sizing back down to .358 easy. Of the 110 I only culled three and the marks from picking them up were much less noticeable

Once I play around with techniques a little more, Ill have to judge their practicality over plain ol as cast alox lube bullets. One positive I noted right away when loading was the lack of nasty sticky alox on my fingers as I loaded up. keeps the cases pretty

 

[tyeo098]

Holy cow. These are turning our very sexy!

 

[horsemen61]

I am going to try and load them now

 

[horsemen61]

a lee 240 grain swc tumble lube that was first coated in the white then the red then baked me it came out great

 

[1KPerDay]

Has anyone thought about or determined whether the PC makes things more abrasive and accelerates wear?

 

[Steve2md]

Thus far, nobody running them has reported any unusual wear. I haven't shot enough of them to know yet, but if I notice anything out of the norm, I'll report it here