Powder Coating Boolits

[NavyVet1959]

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item...d=231257333359
Red pc 50#s $52.50.. **** I didn't see he wants 60.00 to ship ********. Still a good price though that's a lot of bullets!!

$37.39 for shipping... But, he does state that local pickups are free... Maybe someone with some loose powder can do a quick experiment to see how much powder weighs per some quart (or some other volume measurement). That would allow us to calculate how many pounds could fit in a USPS large flat rate box.

[robertbank]

If this is in fact a powder that will work I will arrange to have it shipped to a friends home in Seattle for latter pick up. 50lb would last me a very long time.

Take Care

Bob

[lka]

Hmm, so a harbor freight container is 1lb, I also got my blue mailed in a thick envelope, I think I have some empty flat-rate boxes at home I'll do some measurements and see if I can get a rough number on how many lbs can fit into it. We use some chemical powders at work (not paint) and I buy #50 in a large "paint bucket" we're talking same size round but an extra 8" high if that makes sense. I guess I could compare the weight of that powder to the same mass of pc?

But yeah, 50lbs should last a very very long time lol.. I got my blue from him and it worked well, maybe I should contact him and try to get 1lb of this powder and do a quick test before someone ends up with 50lbs lol.

I ran my velocity tests between the pc/cast but my damn chrony printer cable was left at home :/

[robertbank]

I had a friend run a load over a Chrony using the same 9MM bullet, one lubed---one PC'd The results were identical. We will do more testing when the weather clears up the range but initial tests show there is not much difference to be seen.

Take Care

Bob

[sdcitizen]

I don't find the countertop ovens to be limiting in capacity whatsoever. I can get almost 500 per tray and it takes far longer to stack a tray full of boolits ready for baking than the baking cycle takes.

[oopso]

For pistol rounds glue together 4 plastic cartridge holders from factory ammo boxes. Drop the bullets in upside down place a cookie sheet on top and flip over. 200 rounds in perfect alignment for powder coating.

[lka]

I picked up an odd rack from wallyworld today, going to test it as a lube grove rack this week I'll video it, I made a video of the craftsman gun and it worked pretty good, better then the hf gun anyways.

[robertbank]

Well I got my foil over nuts working with 45 caliber bullets but I am still struggling with 9MM. I use 9MM cases pop riveted to do 357 sized bullets. For LSWC in 45 caliber and TC bullets for 40 cal I am going to do the same thing using 40 cal cases. I may chop up some 223 cases to do my 9MM TC bullets.

For me it is taking to long to load bullets on trays either directly on foil or on the nuts. Moving the oven closer to my paint bay helps but just when you think the stars are aligning Mr. Domino sets in. It can be very frustrating.

Take Care

Bob

[jkcerda]

Have been doing some "playing around" with the HF gun and system.

1st I bought a $5.00 air reg they sell and it is perfect for what this gun needs. See picture. I bought a couple 1/4" MNPT to plastic tubing barb adaptors at Lowe's and used aquarium tubing for the air line. Then "stuffed" the whole thing in some 1/2" black ribbed plastic wire surround. Taped the ends....and now have an "all-in-one" high voltage and air supply hose. I just hate having wires and hoses running around! You do NOT need a standard heavy big rubber 1/4" air line witn big brass disconnects on the ends to run this little dude. I put the disconnect ONLY on the REGULATOR. Air flow seems to be good to puff the powder out at a nice rate.....does not flood the boolits!

The little reg and the small tubing give more than enough air pressure/flow to "puff" the powder out of the gun. I have found if I gently tap the bottle against my hand B-4 pulling the trigger, it give a perfect flow and coverage.

Also do NOT screw the full bottle of poweder on the gun. That is why they give you 2 empty bottles with the gun. Put only about an inch of poweder in the empty bottle!

The coating is perfect, as seen by the red and black 45 cal slugs I coated this morning. Coat-bake-coat-bake is the perfect thickness. Sized perfectly.

See the "charpy" impact test on one of them. I hit that sucker hard several times from the top and the side with a 4# hammer and could not get the coating to crack or come off!

I have found my new "madness" !!!! BWAHH-HAAA-HAAA!

To the wife was said a few years ago: "This reloading hobby will save us hundreds of dollars!"...........(it is now costing us thousands!).

bangerjim

Attachment 73134Attachment 73135Attachment 73136Attachment 73137Attachment 73138

page 52 ,,,,lots of reading

[Caladin]

See this is why we need a cheap way to get into space. Just coat them and let them float through the toaster oven!!! Hahaha

[vmathias]

http://youtu.be/GEtwXmSVKjk

[lka]

Pc slugs lol

[rcarter9578]

What do y'all think about this method of powder coating?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irF984ukYsI

[bangerjim]

Old news. Tried it months ago. Actually wears lead off the boolits and darkens the PC!!!!!

Not a good method at all.


Stick with what many of us have developed over the past year or so that REALLY works.

bnager-j

[rcarter9578]

Sounds good. Thanks for the response!

[calmex]

Fess up - who else is doing it? I have been playing with it a little and just went on a casting marathon last week so I'd have plenty to coat. From my understanding you do not need lube when you powder coat your boolits as the powder (in it's cured state of course) on the boolit provides a barrier from the lead to the bore as a copper jacket does.

I've shot several 300 Blackout boolits that were coated with no ill effects (bore is clean afterwards, certainly no leading!) But several questions remain:

1. Size before or after coating? My thought; size before so the coating provides that barrier and seals the bore better.

2. If no lube is needed, then are lube *grooves* needed? Essentially you are putting on a polymer jacket at that point; are we just conditioned that we need these grooves or could they be removed for powder coated boolits? (i.e. paper patch boolit designs?) These things are pretty slick, and glide right through the sizer as if they were lubed (and lubed very well!)

3. Are gas checks necessary? Will the powder coat serve to eliminate gas cutting at higher speeds? - which brings me to the last question:

4. What's the fastest speed you can send one of these pills down the bore? From what little I've seen most (if not all) people are running these in handguns at or near subsonic speeds. I've been shooting them (I've shot maybe 50-75) at subsonic speeds through my 300 Blackout.

Having said all that - my method so far seems to be working, one of the tricks I'm using is to actually coat the aluminum foil with a fairly dense coat BEFORE I place the boolits on; that way the bottom of the boolit gets coated AND it creates a sort of aluminum foil "gas check" at the same time; meaning there's no exposed lead. I'm still trying to perfect that process though as they're difficult to remove from the foil and when I run them through the sizer, it just makes a collar below the boolit's bottom that I have to pick off with my fingernails. Might have to make a simple trimmer for it.

Here's some 300 Blackout rounds I did a while back for a visual reference:



I cast some 9mm and 45's that I'm coating this week as tests, too. Waiting on brass to come in before I can load them though!

Those look fantastic. I'm just getting into this process myself. What make/color did you use to get the copper jacket color? I'd like to duplicate that myself. Perhaps it has been mentioned already in the thread but look as I could I did not find an exact mention of which company and color it was and I would sure love to know.

Thanks!

[NavyVet1959]

Just for curiosity the other day, I took one of my tumbled powdercoated 405 gr .45-70 bullets and resized it with the Lee resizing die to .452" to see if I could perhaps use it for a Ruger Blackhawk .45LC that I recently bought. Powder stayed on and it resized without too much effort. Haven't decided yet whether I will try to find a load for a 405 gr bullet in the .45LC though.

[RugerFanOH]

Technical question:

Which powders are thermoset vs. thermoplastic?

Thanks

[popper]

thermoplastic as thermoset would break when sizing. They get gooey when reheated.

[mathewinfl]

Ok so I do not yet reload or cast yet (I am shooting to start over summer). I've been wondering how to make reloading 9mm for a glock cheap as possible, since you can't shoot lead out of them. Then I happened upon this thread a few days ago. I'm reading it on my breaks at work and on my phone, so its taking me a while (only to page 50). However I wanted to ask a question or two before I have a chance to forget. Number one is for the two saw blades in the groove idea. Would it be possible to have the bullets placed upside down in a row (just drill holes in a board or something). Have one side of the blade on a hinge, and the other side can lock it closed? If all bullets are standing in a row you could line up the blades and close, locking in all the bullets at once instead of trying to insert one at a time.
Next question, is it possible to take a piece of say welding wire and insert it into the mold (to where one end is in the top of the bullet, and several inches stick out the bottom? Or get a drill press and drill a hole the size of the wire (or.001-.002 smaller). If it's possible you could cast the wire directly into the bullet. It would give you a wire to hang the bullet from while coating and baking. A quick snip would leave you with a beautiful fully coated bullet, with only one little spot showing otherwise.