Powder coat 38 wadcutter

Just got a Lee 38 wadcutter tumble lube mold. Considering powder coating and or tumble lube. Has anyone experimented with PCd wadcutters? How have they shot? As good as lubed?

Any details will be appreciated.

Thanks,

Rosewood

If you are not powder coating already, you should start with the tumble lube and see how the bullets shoot. If you already have the equipment to powder coat (mainly a heating source) make up a batch of both and see how they compare.

+1 on what Sasquatch said. Before I began powder-coating, I cast and shot (literally!) thousands of tumble-lubed 148 gr. WCs at 'mid-range' velocities without any appreciable lead fouling. Now that I'm no longer shooting competition, I've standardized on a powder-coated 150 gr. SWC for all my .38s and, truth be told, can't see any real difference in performance.

Bill

I already do both and have found PC is much cleaner, just more labor to produce.

Thanks!

Hey Rosewood, I have that Lee t.l. mold. It shoots equally well powder coated or tumble lubed for me. I prefer powder coat though for indoor ranges, way less smoke. I load them flush over 2.7 of Bullseye or Titegroup. Or 2.8 Winchester Super Target. My son and I have shot thousands of them.

Have shot 1000’s of the Lee TL WC with powder coat. Very accurate out of any of my 38 or 357 revolvers. Though with my old eyes and iron sights I can’t go much past 15 or 20 yards though.

Thanks guys. Now gotta get out and cast some..

If your going to keep these bullets at wadcutter velocities, there would be no need to ever powder coat the bullets. Tumble lube will be more than enough.

Powder coating cuts down on lube and powder residue. Helps to identify different loadings. I use powder coated 148gr Lee wadcutters to identify my heavy +P loads for carry in my Taurus 856. They run just over 800fps. Still accurate and shoot near POA/POA.

What alloy are u guys using? I have lots of coww, but just got some range scrap which is mostly jacketed bullets so assuming they are closer to pure lead. Will that work well in wadcutter?

You may want a little tin for fill out? I think range lead should work at standard velocities, provided it is powder coated. I don't powder coat yet, so I use a 10 bhn alloy, and use a RCBS lubricizor and TAC 1. hc18flyer

I've begun powder coating the Lee tumble lube wad cutter for my rifle and they shoot as good if not better than the lubed ones.

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