Powder Coating 101 - Electrostatic Method

[fps_bill]

Finally got around to casting more boolits, spent Sunday powder coating. Carying a 3/16" plate full of 500gr boolits across the garage to my oven is a lesson in concentration. Turning the the air pressure down helped a lot, thanks for the help guys. For some reason my gun had trouble pumping powder, then it'd spray a nice cloud for a little, then nothing, then a bunch of powder would fall out of the gun. I guess ill just have to mess with it a little more.

[alfloyd]

You can Dry Tumble with air Soft BB's and it will coat the complete boolit.
Set them base down on parchment paper and bake.
This coats the base of the boolits.

OR:
you can set them on Non-stick foil over nuts glued to a tray and then
spray them with a powder coat gun, but this leaves the base not coated.
The sides are the only part that needs to be coated to prevent leading.

I did them this way ( powder coat gun spray ) for my Taurus PT92 to stop the leading.
I now dry tumble them with air-soft BB's now.

Lafaun

[MostlyOnThePaper]

I haven't used dry tumble, but if I we're looking into it like you are I'd try that first, all you need is airsoft bb's, doesn't get any cheaper. Remember to get a dedicated oven, be it new or used, don't use one that you want to use for food. If you decide you want prettier as well as functional later you can buy a gun. I have the harbor freight one and like it ok.

[robertbank]

Sorry if this has already been asked, but how do you coat the bases of non hollow pointed bullets? Do they even need to be coated, or is the coating on the sides enough to prevent any leading issues?

I have a 9mm that will not shoot lead without leaving a lot of it in the barrel. I'm thinking of trying powder coating to stop that, and I cant decide between this method or one of the tumble methods.

I made trays for my oven and pop riveted 9MM cases onto the trays. Each tray holds 96 bullets. I place the bullets nose down into the case. The case mouth stops the bullet at the driving band. When coated the bullet's base along with the dreiving bands are coated. This method is fast, you don't have bullets falling over and playing dominoes.

I size the case removing the spent primer. I than drill out the primer pocket with a 1/8th drill bit and pop rivet the case on the trays using 1/8th pop rivets. Tor the tray I made a paper grid with one inch spacing. I then center punched the tray before drilling the hole at the intersection of each square. Using this methid I have 12 x 8 coverage or 96 spots for cases.

I shoot a lot of 9mm and 38spl every year in cimpetition and this sytem has worked wonders for me. I use 40cal cases the same way for 40cal and 45 Colt bullets. For 45acp (200gr and 230 gr) I just place them on nuts glued to a tray spaced one inch apart. I cover the nuts with none stick foil. The 45acp bullets are not as tall relative to their diameter and have less tendency to tip over. I don;t have the concerns you do relative to coating the bases. If I did I would use the 40 cal cases to coat the 45acp bullets as well.


Take Care

Bob

[Beagle333]

Sorry if this has already been asked, but how do you coat the bases of non hollow pointed bullets? Do they even need to be coated, or is the coating on the sides enough to prevent any leading issues?

They don't need to be coated. They aren't coated when you lube a boolit the traditional way.

[bangerjim]

Beagle is right on. Don't worry about the bases. If you are shooting heavy sonic loads, you need gas checks anyway......PC does NOT replace the need for checks for preventing gas cutting.

Leading occurs from the grease groove tops (ie. driving bands) leaving their "calling cards" behind in your barrel due to lack of/poor lube and/or poor barrel fit. PC eliminates leading in every one of the many cal's I cast/coat/shoot. I use Cu GC's on my cast full rifle loads.

Like said above, you can coat nose down. The nose coat does nothing but add pretty colors and bragging rights to your lead.

Have fun!

banger-j

[texaswoodworker]

You can Dry Tumble with air Soft BB's and it will coat the complete boolit.
Set them base down on parchment paper and bake.
This coats the base of the boolits.

OR:
you can set them on Non-stick foil over nuts glued to a tray and then
spray them with a powder coat gun, but this leaves the base not coated.
The sides are the only part that needs to be coated to prevent leading.

I did them this way ( powder coat gun spray ) for my Taurus PT92 to stop the leading.
I now dry tumble them with air-soft BB's now.

Lafaun

I haven't used dry tumble, but if I we're looking into it like you are I'd try that first, all you need is airsoft bb's, doesn't get any cheaper. Remember to get a dedicated oven, be it new or used, don't use one that you want to use for food. If you decide you want prettier as well as functional later you can buy a gun. I have the harbor freight one and like it ok.

How do you dry tumble? Do you just throw a scoop of powder in with the airsoft bbs and bullet and shake?

I was planning on getting a cheap wally world oven and a thermometer for it since they can be a bit off.

Thanks guys.

I made trays for my oven and pop riveted 9MM cases onto the trays. Each tray holds 96 bullets. I place the bullets nose down into the case. The case mouth stops the bullet at the driving band. When coated the bullet's base along with the dreiving bands are coated. This method is fast, you don't have bullets falling over and playing dominoes.

I size the case removing the spent primer. I than drill out the primer pocket with a 1/8th drill bit and pop rivet the case on the trays using 1/8th pop rivets. Tor the tray I made a paper grid with one inch spacing. I then center punched the tray before drilling the hole at the intersection of each square. Using this methid I have 12 x 8 coverage or 96 spots for cases.

I shoot a lot of 9mm and 38spl every year in cimpetition and this sytem has worked wonders for me. I use 40cal cases the same way for 40cal and 45 Colt bullets. For 45acp (200gr and 230 gr) I just place them on nuts glued to a tray spaced one inch apart. I cover the nuts with none stick foil. The 45acp bullets are not as tall relative to their diameter and have less tendency to tip over. I don;t have the concerns you do relative to coating the bases. If I did I would use the 40 cal cases to coat the 45acp bullets as well.


Take Care

Bob

Thanks for the tip.

They don't need to be coated. They aren't coated when you lube a boolit the traditional way.

Beagle is right on. Don't worry about the bases. If you are shooting heavy sonic loads, you need gas checks anyway......PC does NOT replace the need for checks for preventing gas cutting.

Leading occurs from the grease groove tops (ie. driving bands) leaving their "calling cards" behind in your barrel due to lack of/poor lube and/or poor barrel fit. PC eliminates leading in every one of the many cal's I cast/coat/shoot. I use Cu GC's on my cast full rifle loads.

Like said above, you can coat nose down. The nose coat does nothing but add pretty colors and bragging rights to your lead.

Have fun!

banger-j

I plan on just loading to standard 9mm velocities, so a gas check should not be needed. I don't know why this gun likes to lead. Every other gun I have can shoot lead all day long without an issue.

Thanks everyone for the advice.

[MostlyOnThePaper]

That's essentially how the bb's work, there's a tutorial in one of the other threads, might have been smoke4320's sale thread because he also sells the bb's now. Also as I understand it some powders work better than others for that method. He has a lot of colors and is a nice guy, you could do worse than to order the stuff from him. If you tell him what you are doing he can probably suggest a powder that lends itself to that technique.
I have one of the larger convection toaster ovens, got it a Wal-Mart for about $50

[bangerjim]

"I plan on just loading to standard 9mm velocities, so a gas check should not be needed. I don't know why this gun likes to lead. Every other gun I have can shoot lead all day long without an issue. "


Have you slugged the barrel????????????? Remember every gun is different. You could have an off-sized barrel that is causing the leading. PC'ing will help, but having the right size boolit to start really helps! In the old days, hardness was all the rage. Today we know "fit is king" and will help minimize leading.

There are some EXCELLENT threads on BBDT'ing on here!!! And yes, there is a lot of reading! So sit down and grab a pot of coffee or a 6 pak and have at it. A LOT of us on here have worked very hard for over a year and a half developing coating techniques such as ESPC and BBDT for use with boolits. It's not just a "one post covers all" thing. This technique was a team effort with input and ideas from all corners of the map. And it is still evolving!

Vast amounts of knowledge are at your fingertips......just for the reading.

banger-j

[texaswoodworker]

"I plan on just loading to standard 9mm velocities, so a gas check should not be needed. I don't know why this gun likes to lead. Every other gun I have can shoot lead all day long without an issue. "


Have you slugged the barrel????????????? Remember every gun is different. You could have an off-sized barrel that is causing the leading. PC'ing will help, but having the right size boolit to start really helps! In the old days, hardness was all the rage. Today we know "fit is king" and will help minimize leading.

There are some EXCELLENT threads on BBDT'ing on here!!! And yes, there is a lot of reading! So sit down and grab a pot of coffee or a 6 pak and have at it. A LOT of us on here have worked very hard for over a year and a half developing coating techniques such as ESPC and BBDT for use with boolits. It's not just a "one post covers all" thing. This technique was a team effort with input and ideas from all corners of the map. And it is still evolving!

Vast amounts of knowledge are at your fingertips......just for the reading.

banger-j

The barrel is .357". My bullets were .358". I've tried really hard cast, soft cast, lee tumble lube, and my own homemade rifle lube that works perfectly well in my rifles. Nothing seems to work, so I think I'll save up and get everything I need for powder coating.

[robertbank]

You didn;t mention the make of your pistol. What gun is it?

Take Care

Bob

[texaswoodworker]

Its a Taurus PT92AF

[alfloyd]

"Its a Taurus PT92AF"

The ONLY way I could get my PT92AF to stop leading was to powder coat the slugs.
I tried everything there was for lead boolits and they still leaded.
After powder coating them I have shot hundreds of them with NO leading.
I started with the Acetone wet method, then the Powder coat gun spray and finely the dry tumble with plastic BB's.
I now use the dry tumble method almost all the time.

Lafaun

[texaswoodworker]

"Its a Taurus PT92AF"

The ONLY way I could get my PT92AF to stop leading was to powder coat the slugs.
I tried everything there was for lead boolits and they still leaded.
After powder coating them I have shot hundreds of them with NO leading.
I started with the Acetone wet method, then the Powder coat gun stray and finely the dry tumble with plastic BB's.
I now use the dry tumble method almost all the time.

Lafaun

I wonder why they lead like that.

Looks like I'm going to try powder coating.

[bangerjim]

I wonder why they lead like that.

Looks like I'm going to try powder coating.

Hope it solves your leading problem. I feel it will!

Good luck and keep us informed!

banger-j

[coffeeguy]

I shoot PC out of my 92AF, pushing pretty good too. They get sized to .358 and the barrel stays clean as a whistle. Taurus's are great guns, but the tolerances sometimes vary a bit. Best of luck

[robertbank]

OK went to the range today as the weather has turned nice. Fired 100 rounds through my CZ 75 Shadowline. Accuracy excellent leading, the worse I have ever experienced!

I tried PBTP Turquoise Blue and a Red. Bullets were each inspected prior to loading. They seem to survive the smash test though once I got them fairly flat I saw separation. I use a convection oven and heat for 10 minutes at 400F.

Would it hurt to place bullets in the oven again and rehat and cook them for another 10 minutes at 400F? Disappointed but undeterred.

Take Care

Bob

[Springfield0612]

Bob, not sure if the powder is the same as the harbor freight. The HF powder says to bake for 20 minutes. Maybe need a bit longer bake?

[robertbank]

I was wondering if I can place the bullets back in the oven and cook for say 15 minutes or so. Would this finish the process or just leave as is. I guess I willnot know until I try it. We have a week of nasty weather before us so I will have time to do it in the garage.

Thanks for the reply.

Bob

[RP]

Maybe I missed what bullet are you shooting in the 9mm is it the lee TL swc bullet ? Those have a history of giving problems.
?