Ok I went and did it

[colt 357]

OK nobody buggy whip me now but I just had to try this out and had some really good preliminary results. I seen a video on youtube about how to copper plate cast boolits and I just had to try it out. So after getting some copper sulfate crystals (zep root kill for drains) and at about 10 o'clock saturday nite I decided to give it a go.
nothin fansy just tossed it together quick. bottom off of a old laundry soap bottle some 10-2 and 14-2 house wire from the garage and a old modelrailrod transformer and i was ready to plate some bullets. and was surprized at the results I got.
Now have any of you guys did this and what do ypou guys think of this pros and cons of it.
I told a friend at work and showed him the bullets that i plated and the only concern he had and I think is a very valid on is sizing the bullet after plating in the forum of do you size it 1 to 2 thousands bigger like a cast bullet of sized it down more to the size or smaller then the bore.
I did some 158 gr 357 mag cast lee TC bullets I want to shoot the thought a bore that slug .3565 now would I sized them to .356 or .358 most concerning pressure with the copper plating.
Now with that said are these now j-word bullets or they j-word "boolits" since i made them my self.
now I not going into prduction of them but maybe make some zinger round to shoot every once in a while .
OK her is the link case some one hasn't seen it this is the first part of 4

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Copper+Plating+Cast+Bullets+P t&oq=copper&gs_l=youtube.1.0.35i39l2j0l8.1620.4233.0.7408.6.6. 0.0.0.0.140.672.0j6.6.0...0.0...1ac.1.94leut1A0qo

[375RUGER]

so lets see some pics.
How thick is the coating?

[colt 357]

sorry they were sized to .358 before plating mic out at .361 to.363 then sized back down to .358. sorry I dont as of yet have a way or place to upload pics.

[runfiverun]

just treat them as cast boolits.
size like normal and you'll be fine.

[fcvan]

I followed the same YouTube video, as well as reading everything I could find, and made some pretty plated Lyman 225-415 boolits. I also did some 35, 40, and 45 cal boolits. I need to get a variable output power supply to try that out. Some of the prettiest boolits I did we're powered by a small solar panel just to go green :)

My next endeavor will be a small barrel electroplating station. I have the basic plan in mind, I just need to acquire and assemble the parts I need for the project. My goal is to plate 100-150 225-415 boolits at a time. I shot some of the plated boolits through an AR platform without checks and some with. They still need checks, accuracy was non-existent. I have a 22 CheckMaker ordered for when Pat adds them to the production. Good fun, purty copper boolits!

[leftiye]

Texas Platers has some stuff to pickle the lead with prior to plating (may only be necessary in acid plating processes though). They also have manuals, and books for sale on the subject, as well as equipment and materials. Not disparaging anyone's effort, just in case someone is interested.

[fcvan]

All input is appreciated. Resources shared are also appreciated. I've found plating to be fun and interesting. The only down side has been the cost of the donor copper and that hasn't been much. Frank

[41 mag fan]

Sounds like it put a good amount of plating on it if it went from .358 sized to .361 to .363.
Does resizing them back down take the plating off?

[fcvan]

Mine sized down ok. I did some 45 boolits that were so thick (I fell asleep) that they were rough and crusty on the outside. I threw them in the pot and melted the lead out. Once empty, I couldn't crush them with my fingers. I cut one open and it was about .020 thick. Oops, my bad :)

[blackthorn]

Sounds like this process could be used as a sort of a premium "beagel" in a pinch!

[colt 357]

It doesnt seem to take the plating off but they size really nice. dont want to leave them in to long or they are a little hard to resize. I think you would want to size before plating to make resizing them easier I got 30 loading up and going to shoot this weekend and well report back my results. I also want to pick up a small bottle of muratic acid and see if that cleans the boolits faster for plating.