Powder Coating 101 - Electrostatic Method

[pacomdiver]

texasaggie, you actually got those lee tl 124s to shoot decently? I never could and heard a lot of others couldn't either. what recipe and gun are you shooting them thru?

[TexasAggie06]

CMMG 300 BLK medium taper stainless barrel with 1:7 twist.

Bullet sized to .311 and gas checked, then powdercoated twice. Loaded up with 16.4g of IMR 4227. Best grouping so far @100 yards, decent results overall.

[iMigraine]

Between electrostatic method using a powdercoat gun versus plastic BB's for rifle boolits, is there a difference in accuracy? Are they both just plinking ammo?

[BulletFactory]

Plastic BBS? I've made bullets out of hot glue just for fun. Those are great with 1 grain of powder. As far as powder coated accuracy, I got my best pistol target with powder coated rounds.

[iMigraine]

Plastic BBS? I've made bullets out of hot glue just for fun. Those are great with 1 grain of powder. As far as powder coated accuracy, I got my best pistol target with powder coated rounds.

For pistol boolits, I'm really happy with the BB method. Just wondering for rifle boolits.

[bangerjim]

For pistol boolits, I'm really happy with the BB method. Just wondering for rifle boolits.

Why not? Boolits are boolits! I coat everything from 223 to 45Colt. At least 4 cal's of rifle boolits in there. Using BBDT. No problems. The style of the gun makes no difference to the powder application method.

As with everything else in this voodoo hobby of BBDT.......just do it and find out for yourself!

banger

[Whizzer]

Plastic BBS? I've made bullets out of hot glue just for fun. Those are great with 1 grain of powder. As far as powder coated accuracy, I got my best pistol target with powder coated rounds.

BulletFactory, I believe you may have misunderstood the plastic BB's question. I believe iMigraine was asking for an accuracy comparison between RIFLE boolits with powdercoating applied by:

1) tumbling in a cool whip bowl containing Airsoft Plastic BB's (BBDT or ASBBDT)
and
2) the Electrostatic Method.

I'd like to RE-state that valid question to you people beginning to approach MOA with powdercoated cast boolits. I only use the Air Soft BB's Dry Tumbing method so far.

[iMigraine]

Thanks Whizzer for clarifying my question.

[bangerjim]

ESPC will give you (technically) more even repeatable coats than BBDT. I have seen it. I use both methods interchangeably.

BBDT has way too many variables that can influence coating thickness and lop-sidedness and cause boolits to wander just a tad. You will only probably see that if you are trying to split a cat's whisker at 1K yards! I never really see any major accuracy differences to speak of, but I never worry about uber-accurate shooting at long distances either. 50-75 yards is my normal range.

[Todd S]

I've been having decent success with PC tumbling pistol boolits. I picked up an HF PC gun. I want to start doing rifle boolits. I bought an NOE 311-188-FN PB. I want to start with non gas checked, then maybe experiment with a Pat Marlins PB gas check. My question is how are you guys standing your PB rifle boolits up? I've seen the trick using washers. I don't want to use them because I want to PC all the way to the base of the boolit. I also want to avoid the flashing that builds on the base, that I've seen some guys get. Any ideas?

Todd

[popper]

This is how I do it now. Simple, easy fast and I wipe the PC off the base before cooking. Use hemostat to handle them. I got NOE GC expander I will use so the GC can go on last, for now I install during sizing, then spray & cook. I cook on a hot plate and with the nose uncoated I can WD.
Attachment 184751http://vid1078.photobucket.com/album...psh34xzttj.mp4

[Todd S]

Thanks, Popper. Let me know if I have this correct. You put them on the plate, with the nose holes drilled out, upside down. Then transfer them to the baking plate, flipping them nose up? Do you spray them before flipping nose up? On the pic above, are you curing them on a hotplate?

Todd

[popper]

Nose down in the plate ( I use a tile to square up the bases - else when you flip some tip over), spray, place tile on bases & flip the rig over. Knocks excess off. Cardboard/plastic square to push out of the plate (they stick sometimes). Pick up with hemos, wipe the base (damp paper towel) and onto ceramic tile on the hot plate. As I WD after cooking, bare nose keeps goey PC off the hemos. That vid came out fast, don't know why but you can pause to see what is going on. I can get 80 or so on the tile to cook, about as many as my oven would hold and no domino effect. My h.p. won't slump my alloy, be sure to check yours. I use the tie as they are $0.50 ea. vs ~$5.00 for the steel plate. With my plate spacing I get ~ 20/spray but it goes fast. I do the 145gr BO, 170 &185 gr 30/30 boolits using the same rig. If you don't wipe the base you need to use the NSAF on the tile.

[white eagle]

Whoa, it's just a test popper, relax. There aren't enough toxic fumes to hurt anyone. I've got a bit of polymeric chemistry education behind me. Now the over-spray on her cookie sheet could get me killed.

Just a side note, my wife is pretty accustomed to me. Many years ago ('74) I was baking the wrinkle paint finish on to a Harley engine case half. Wet paint+gas stove=door blown off hinges. Yup, she's beautiful and still married to me. Ask her about me passivating stainless steel scooter parts in the kitchen around the same year as the oven door mishap.

No offense but that there is funny

[BlackoutBuilder]

I got some blue powder coat a little while ago but it was too close to the color the police use so I dumped it all in the backyard

[AKholicBubba]

I was thinking of es gun. I have several items i need to Pc black. After reading through this, I'm ready to get myself set up.

[bangerjim]

I was thinking of es gun. I have several items i need to Pc black. After reading through this, I'm ready to get myself set up.

I ESPC lots of tools and stuff around the house and shop. As long as it fits in my large Oster oven, I will probably spray it.

PC is good for a whole lot more than just cast projectiles! Those uses outweight the cost of the ES gun many times over.

[lokepup]

Had to go to the electrostatic method. Tumbling would not work for me. Looks like they are .460ish wondering if i need to resize if I am shooting them through a slugged barrel of .458.

Any thoughts?

also, need to find a better way of distributing the powder with the gun. (it's an HF system) but far and away better than the shake and bake method.

[MyFlatline]

Looks good,,.02 , you should be fine. That is my normal.

[Taylor]

I tried my HF gun for the first time to day. I like the outcome, but uses lots of powder. Definitely more so than shake and bake.