Copper plated CB question...

[NYBushBro]

My cousin has been copper plating cast bullets, and has gotten the technique down pretty well. I have been giving him some cast rifle bullets to plate, and he just puts on a very THIN skin of copper - they still go easily through a bullet sizer die - and are still lubed with Liquid ALOX.

MY QUESTION is: should I still seat them to just engrave the rifling, or should I back off a few thousandths (like jacketed bullets) off the lands - to avoid pressure problems?

I'm guessing that there is roughly a half-thousandth total of plating on the bullet (just enough to make them look pretty and - for longer term storage - enough to keep the lead from oxidizing.)

Your thoughts, gentlemen...

[44man]

If you break through the thin coating from the rifling, you will need some lube. But I don't think you need to change from where you seat with plain lead.
Sounds like something not needed. Pure oxidizes the most so if he is using pure lead, he still is shooting pure lead.

[fcvan]

After many years of wanting to electroplate cast boolits I finally started last week. I have read a great deal about this and tried several plating solutions and just plain tinkering. The results have been more than acceptable. I'm hoping to get some pictures posted of my results soon.

The idea of electroplating to stop lead oxidizing is a plus for long term storage. I would think that tumble lubing would take care of that by sealing the boolit. Although not as pretty as a copper projectile I'm sure it would work fine.

I always wanted to plate boolits to prove to myself I can do it. The two main boolits I'm plating right now are a Lee .450-200RN HP and a Lyman 225-415 and they sure look neat. They come out pretty and shiny but the copper plating oxidizes fast. Still tinkering to figure out how to plate them and keep them shiny.

I would like to tinker next with barrel electroplating and see if I can get the finish smoother and thicker. Right now, the plating is even and certainly more than just a copper wash. They sure look pretty, and the plating isn't flaking off. I have to scrape it with a file.

After much reading on the subject I have to agree that lower volts and amps is the key. I'm using a Radio Shack variable wall-wort that does 1.5 to 12v at 300ma, and that works very well. I am also tinkering with getting the right amount of juice from a solar panel. I have 2 little panels that are basically battery tenders. One is 12"x12" and the other is about 3"x9" I'm using a cigarette lighter styled power unit that steps it to 4.5v at 500ma. The little panel works best because it doesn't generate a lot of ma at 12v.

There is something geeky about casting your own boolits and using the sun to electroplate them. As green as they might seem I still don't think the tree huggers will embrace my hobby. Frank