Size before PC

[Walks]

Has anyone tried sizing before Powder Coating ?

I have a Lee #45-255-RF that drops from the mold at .454dia cast from straight COWW.

After PC'ing, I tried sizing .452dia in a Lee size die. It scrapped off half the PC.

The Eastwood gray was well cured. I use a 1 1/2 lb sledge to test the first batch. No flaking off at all.
Cured at 425degress for 20min.

Going to try a Lyman Lube-Sizer next. If I can find the Top Punch. Maybe a bit of lube will help from scraping the PC off.

[Lakehouse2012]

Has anyone tried sizing before Powder Coating ?

I have a Lee #45-255-RF that drops from the mold at .454dia cast from straight COWW.

After PC'ing, I tried sizing .452dia in a Lee size die. It scrapped off half the PC.

The Eastwood gray was well cured. I use a 1 1/2 lb sledge to test the first batch. No flaking off at all.
Cured at 425degress for 20min.

Going to try a Lyman Lube-Sizer next. If I can find the Top Punch. Maybe a bit of lube will help from scraping the PC off.

The problem with any type of coating after you size is that the boolit surface has been smoothed and you loose surface roughness that is needed, to get the coating to stick as well. It can be done, and some will tell you it's possible but the coating wont lock onto the boolit as well as a raw.

[PoisonIvyMagnet]

I cast for my 30-30, dropping boolits that need a gas check. I size mine to crimp on the gas check before coating, then again after. The checks are already a tight fit, and impossible to pop on if I PC first. The boolits go in a bowl and get wet down with some rubbing alcohol (70% isopropyl) before I run them through the sizing die the first time. Helps them slip through the sizer better, and won't leave any residue to interfere with the powder coating step once they dry.

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[CASTER OF LEAD]

I have sized before PC and it has absolutely never presented me any issues. I use SMOKES clear gloss and it adheres without fail. I have used a .454 round nose mold resized to .452 then pc'd for my .45 ACP with tremendous success. Try sizing some to .452 and PC. I rerun them through the push through after PC just to dress up any non smooth spots on the drive bands and to dress up the bases.
As far as lubsizing after PC..... Why not just lube size as cast? Just wondering. PC can be finicky ,but once you figure out a system it is a great way to build bulk boolits for storage without worrying about lubes melting, drying out, or not staying in the grooves. Hope i helped ya.- Caster

[Forrest r]

I don't like to size anything over 3/1000th's with 1 pull of the handle. It's nothing to size a bullet then pc it and re-size it again. Today I sized & gc'd a couple hundred of the lee soup can bullets for the 308w. They still need pc'd then re-sized. Going to do ladder tests with them in the 2600fps+ range.

[Taterhead]

I size prior to PC when I use gas checks. They get seated prior to PC, then sized again post PC.

[mdi]

I can only say I have not had that problem when sizing .002"-.003" on a PCed bullet. I may not have known better but I sized all my bullets post PCing, no shaving...

[Conditor22]

The problem isn't the PC or the sizing. It's because the sizing dies has a sharp edge. Sand and polish the entry to the sizer and the shaving will go away.

I size down PC'd boolits .004 all the time with no problem.

Yes, case lube will help with sizing but won't stop the die from scraping PC.

[bmortell]

is the sizing die new untouched? mine I lapped with 3 micron diamond paste on paper wrapped around a rod and pushing boolits through feels way smoother now. mine I actually needed to go about half thou larger for size purposes but you could do a small amount of polishing without really changing size. took me like half an hour to go .0006 larger and that's spinning in a drill for a while then pushing a boolit through to mic over and over.

[jcren]

I size that same mold to .452, just polish the inside of the die with some fine wet/dry (I think I used 400) paper wrapped loosly around a rod and spun with a drill. The inside is a bit rough and scrapes the pc.

[Walks]

Thanks Guys.

Should have figured out I would have to polish the Lee size dies.

I have to polish every sprue plate of every Lee mold I've ever got. Except for those 1st 3 .44 molds My DAD bought used at a Gun Show over 30yrs ago.

I think the 400grit sand paper I use for the sprue plates should work just fine.

Again, Thanks to all.

[Conditor22]

I use a cone-shaped felt polishing bit on a Dremel, wrap some sandpaper into a funnel stick the polishing bit in it and spin until everything looks smooth. then I put polishing compound (fitz) on the tip and polish the die until it's shooth as a ----

[stubshaft]

I have never had my PC scrape off on anything I size. I will admit that a few of my push thru dies are polished by that is simply the byproduct of opening up the ID.

[Hick]

size, then PC, then final size

[44Blam]

I do not size before PC-ing. Main reason is that I PC most boolits and I pass them through lee pass through dies. Then I put some bens red on an occasional boolit to make sure that there is some lube in the die so things go smoothly. But I also don't resize more than about 0.003" at a time.

[Conditor22]

I find that coating adheres better to unsized boolits

[upnorthwis]

For my 9MM Luger, I let the taper crimp die do the sizing on PC'd boolits.

[waksupi]

I install gas checks and size before powder coat, and then may size them again afterwards, depending on the gun. If you are water quenching bullets, they may be harder than you want to run through a lubrisizer if you wait more than a day.