$10 epoxy coat can it be done? lets find out

[StratsMan]

OK, I'm game...

I grabbed a can of carb cleaner and put some HF white in there (only color I have).... swooshed some boolits in there (hint for next time: don't use hollow points) The powder dissolved pretty readily in the cleaner, so it coated the boolits... as the cleaner evaporated, there was a sticky mess on the boolits... first coat is pretty splotchy... personally, I don't like this coat/bake/coat/bake/coat/bake process.... They're in the oven now... looks like I didn't wait long enough for all the solvents to flash off before I put them in the oven... I have bubbles PC...

The slurry sticks to the side of the bucket, too... not like using Lacquer Thinner...

I'm open to suggestions, but so far I haven't found a tumble-coat method that I'm happy with...

[bangerjim]

I , like all of you on here, do like to experiment, but guys......let's face reality.

The amount of time coating and baking and sitting (over & over!) it takes to coat our 'lil guys with VHT paint/epoxy is faaaar to extensive.........when just one (1) coat of HF (or other) powder baked ONE TIME at 400F for 10 min give a perfect coat that is hard........immediately!

But.......no one can EVER say we have closed minds on new ideas!!!!!!!!!!

bangerjim

[possom813]

I gave this a shot today, out of boredom, on some 160gr .309 boolits.

I washed the boolits with dish soap and water and then dried them in my little toaster oven at 200 degrees for about 20 minutes or so.

I then painted a light coat, waited 20 minutes, another light coat, another 20 minutes and a medium coat and waited 20 minutes and then into the toaster oven at 250 degrees for 20 minutes.

I painted them standing up, and after cooking and cooling, I can scrape off the epoxy with a dull knife.

I ran a couple through a lee sizing die, and it scratched off.

I don't know if I did something wrong in the method or not, but powder coating is starting to look much more appealing at this point.

[bangerjim]

Just finished sizing the last batch of ES gun-coated boolits tonite. I did 500 rounds in a little over 1 hour spraying and baking ONE time at 400F for 10 min. I load around 250 (38's) on 4 racks in the toaster oven at a time, so baking goes fast. I have 4 more racks I load up while those are baking/cooling. You can make extra racks from sheet aluminum or steel....you don't need the wire racks that ovens come with. That way you can have a lot of spares to fill.

All.......repeat.......ALL 500 slugs were perfectly, smoothly coated and are hard and dry when removed from the 10 min bake. The coating will NOT scrape off and I DO size after coating. I can pound them flat with no flaking.

bangerjim

[sirAIG]

Just an update. I have shot ~600 boolits coated with VHT in the past week. All but 100 of them were shot within 24 hours of coating and baking. The boolits shot "fresh" did leave a tiny bit of epoxy paint residue in the barrel, which easily cleaned out with a brush. The 100 shot after curing for a week, showed no sign of residue other than gunpowder. This is a great alternative to lubing boolits... but for the price, I only get ~ 500 boolits from a can of VHT. Next paycheck I am going to invest in a powdercoating setup. I hate dealing with cleaning lube off of boolits - so I definitally will be coating them one way or another.

No problems at all with the coated boolits as far as accuracy, loading, or feeding. Great alternative for those who want to tinker, or interetested in trying coated boolits themselve before investing in a PC setup.

[cstrickland]

ok has anyone actually got to put an of the VHT or other epoxy coated 223 through a gun yet ?? I see several people mentioning it but did not see any results yet.

thanks

[sirAIG]

I See no reason as to why it wouldn't work. Give it a shot and let us know!!

[WILCO]

Figures I'd see this thread after tossing a perfectly good toaster oven.
It only sat around for several years, completely ignored.

[35 shooter]

ok has anyone actually got to put an of the VHT or other epoxy coated 223 through a gun yet ?? I see several people mentioning it but did not see any results yet.

thanks

So far i haven't gotten the epoxy to set up hard enough to try thru rifle but i haven't water dropped it yet.
However i did try the vht ceramic and cooked it at the temps on the can except i did'nt go all the way to 600 degrees which was suggested on the can. I did cook it on 250 then 400 then 475 and it set up hard. I tried a hammer test the next morning against a piece of steel and nothing came off the hammered side although the steel was rough and cut it on the other side. I took one of them and re-heated to 465 degrees for one hour and water dropped into tap water and hammer tested it 3 hours later. I've never done any of this before but it seemed to pass a hammer test.
I will be trying the water dropped ceramic for sure but in the mean time i couldn't wait and tried the original non water dropped ones. Didn't figure it would work but had to try.
At 1800 fps it put the first the first 5 shots into about a half inch at 100 yards then the 6th shot went one inch low then the 7th went another inch low and i figured it was leading. It was but it more like a lead dust with very minute pieces of lead mixed in and cleaned out easily but i could see it wasn't going to work in a rifle.
The rifle was a 35 whelen and i do still have hope the water dropped type will work because that should be heat treating the boolit too and the paint DID set ,up hard using that process.
I'm going to try them at about 2200 fps this week.

In the meantime i'll water drop some epoxy ones too and try them at the same time if they do as good as the ceramic when water dropped. Sorry i couldn't tell you exactly what you asked about but i am working with this stuff in a rifle. If it works out i'm going to keep taking the speed up till it says "calf rope".
I was surprised by the potential accurracy part of it tho. I'm going to play with this for awhile before dropping more bucks on powder coating. I've only seen a couple of good reports on rifle accurracy with any of these coatings yet but it does seem to have potential.

I'll post back on it this weekend good or bad.

[cstrickland]

So far i haven't gotten the epoxy to set up hard enough to try thru rifle but i haven't water dropped it yet.
However i did try the vht ceramic and cooked it at the temps on the can except i did'nt go all the way to 600 degrees which was suggested on the can. I did cook it on 250 then 400 then 475 and it set up hard. I tried a hammer test the next morning against a piece of steel and nothing came off the hammered side although the steel was rough and cut it on the other side. I took one of them and re-heated to 465 degrees for one hour and water dropped into tap water and hammer tested it 3 hours later. I've never done any of this before but it seemed to pass a hammer test.
I will be trying the water dropped ceramic for sure but in the mean time i couldn't wait and tried the original non water dropped ones. Didn't figure it would work but had to try.
At 1800 fps it put the first the first 5 shots into about a half inch at 100 yards then the 6th shot went one inch low then the 7th went another inch low and i figured it was leading. It was but it more like a lead dust with very minute pieces of lead mixed in and cleaned out easily but i could see it wasn't going to work in a rifle.
The rifle was a 35 whelen and i do still have hope the water dropped type will work because that should be heat treating the boolit too and the paint DID set ,up hard using that process.
I'm going to try them at about 2200 fps this week.

In the meantime i'll water drop some epoxy ones too and try them at the same time if they do as good as the ceramic when water dropped. Sorry i couldn't tell you exactly what you asked about but i am working with this stuff in a rifle. If it works out i'm going to keep taking the speed up till it says "calf rope".
I was surprised by the potential accuracy part of it tho. I'm going to play with this for awhile before dropping more bucks on powder coating. I've only seen a couple of good reports on rifle accuracy with any of these coatings yet but it does seem to have potential.

I'll post back on it this weekend good or bad.

35s thanks for the feedback. I am trying to get everything set up so I can do some through a 223. would like to see about 2500 - 2700 fps and 1.5 - 2 MOA would be acceptable . unfortunately I will not have things set up for another month or so , but until then I will be watching this thread.

thanks agin I appreciate the feedback

[35 shooter]

cstrickland i also meant to mention the reason the vht epoxy didn't 'set up' for me is because i simply used too much paint because others here have evidently already made it work. Anyway i think it will work if done right
i just got too heavy handed on the spray nozzle. I'm new to any kind of coating process and probably just have to get a FEEL for how much is enough. The ceramic goes on lightly easily but may not work in the long run.
I certainly haven't seen or heard of anyone trying the ceramic but that stuff is supposed to be flame resistant to 2000 degrees. That's what made me want to try it. That and the fact i haven't done anything stupid in a long time, so i was overdue,but who knows it MAY work.

[35 shooter]

Just a follow up to post 152. Tonight i tried the fingernail test on one of the epoxy coated boolits that i had cured at 250 degrees 5 days ago for 10 minutes. It was a bit harder but would still scratch off.
I stuck it back in the oven on 475 degrees for 1 hour and water dropped in tap water, let cool, then tried it again.
It did not scratch off. I'll try a hammer test in the morning. It seems like the epoxy IS going to set up hard enough for rifle vel. I know better than to count chickens right now, but the egg is looking good.

I'll be shooting both the epoxy and the ceramic heat treated boolits this weekend at about 2200 fps. If that works it's on to 2400 and 2500 fps.

[Huvius]

Anything new to report from anybody?
This all got me to thinking...and we all know where that can lead...
Two thoughts:
First, I know most expert casters reject frosted lead bullets. I shoot them anyway and they smooth out when sizing. But I was thinking, wouldnt a frosty bullet hold the PC or spray/tumble paint better than a smooth or resized bullet helping form a more uniform coat?
And, has anybody tried a paper patch (smooth side) type bullet bore sized with black powder? Seems like a "modern" version of a paper patch bullet as long as the coating can stay adhered while the bullet bumps up upon firing.

[bangerjim]

Anything new to report from anybody?
This all got me to thinking...and we all know where that can lead...
Two thoughts:
First, I know most expert casters reject frosted lead bullets. I shoot them anyway and they smooth out when sizing. But I was thinking, wouldnt a frosty bullet hold the PC or spray/tumble paint better than a smooth or resized bullet helping form a more uniform coat?
And, has anybody tried a paper patch (smooth side) type bullet bore sized with black powder? Seems like a "modern" version of a paper patch bullet as long as the coating can stay adhered while the bullet bumps up upon firing.

I am happy and actually try for slightly frosted slugs to allow the ES PC to stick even better. But the ES PC'ing sticks VERY well to right shiny slugs too!

ES PC with a gun is the only way to turn out accurate, smooth, well-coated boolits every time with no drips, no runs, or no errors. So.........PLAY BALL!




bangerjim

[Huvius]

I think I will do just that - PC them.
I stopped at Harbor Freight to take a look and they do have the spray gun for $60 and the flat black, yellow, red and white powders were all $6 per container.
Cheap enough that I could go red and mix up some pink for the girls...

Just for kicks, I did get a can of VHT black and sprayed some PP bullets which were sized to .451".
Once dry, I will bake them and resize them back to .451" again or maybe mic them and see what they measure out at and leave them alone. I washed them in acetone before spraying and they sure look purty.
I have a stainless Ruger No.1 in .458 Lott which I could try with BP if I can get enough neck tension on the bullets. Figured I would try that before using them in my better guns.

[Shotgundrums]

I tried vht. Coated twice and baked each at 300 for 15 mins. Coating was hard. But, didn't want to go through the sizer without a fight. Even lubed them. Coating ends up thick. I think 1 coat and baked for 38spl type loads will work for this..

[bangerjim]

I tried vht. Coated twice and baked each at 300 for 15 mins. Coating was hard. But, didn't want to go through the sizer without a fight. Even lubed them. Coating ends up thick. I think 1 coat and baked for 38spl type loads will work for this..

The 100 or so I have done with the sprayed-on epoxy were only sprayed with ONE (1) coat and baked. They are now hard (after 2 weeks!)but I have not shot any of them. They DID make it thru the sizer with no probems.

But........I feel that anymore than ONE coat is a big overkill and will make the coating waaaaaaay to thick and will come off in the sizer, let alone in your barrel....exposing lead bigtime.

If you absolutely must use the really expensive and VERY time-consuming VHT epoxy spray coating, stick to one coat. Mine seem OK, but shooting will tell the story in about a week.

I will stick to ES PC coatings.

bangerjim

[Freightman]

I have used VKT, the piglet method, tumbling PC now am going to try the right way PC. The question is can I use my shop compressor by turning the regulator to the right pressure?
PS: I have shot my 30-06 with PC to 2400fps no lead or paint PC, then made my GC 200gr mold PB and shot 50 rds. 2000fps no GC, no lead, no paint. Also shot my 45/70 with BP worked fine. This was with PC haven't tried with the VKT yet.

[popper]

Yes, turn the pressure down as low as you can get to provide a 'puff' of powder. You probably need a secondary regulator, the primary will determine when the motor runs. The HF gun has a valve, not regulator, which has worked good for me. I run the compressor <25psi and use the valve a bit. Others regulate to 15 or so psi. Other thing I found was you have to run it higher if the powder gets damp, I bang the jar a lot to keep it 'powdery'.

[bangerjim]

Well, for you guys that want to have copper slugs, you can take a standard ES PC'd boolits coated with HF matte black, bake them as usual at 400F for 10 minutes, take them out when they cool to 250, spray with VHT Burnt Copper Hi temp paint, and then rebake at 250 for 20 minutes.

Makes some really nice copper-look slugs.

Attachment 82060


The matte black allows the paint to really stick. With the PC as a base, you still have all the protection. These have cooled and have been sized with NO loss of coating. I doubt the copper does anything, but is makes things interesting! And I doubt it will stick to any of the gloss PC either. Just another reason to use HF matte balck for everything and save your money and not buy those expensive powers by the pound!

These are 230g RN TL boolits for my 45 long colts.

And, no......................I do NOT coat the bottoms of my sub-sonic, so don't even ask!


bangerjim