my copper plated boolits go through lyman sizer MUCH easier then lead.

[gunlovingsob]

I just cast 500 lyman-#356637 147gr bullets, ---sizing to .357"

ive been doing some home copper electroplating on them, ive discover something about how much of a difference there is between these boolits.

When i run a copper plated bullet through the .357" die it goes right through! even if it's a fatty!
my little work table flexes when im lube sizing, and if the bullet was on the big side i thought i should put a better top on my small work bench, when im sizing the copper plated one's, my table does not bend, they just size!

very little plating comes off during sizing, so im thinking these are going down the barrel much better Than i first imagined.

[birddog1148]

cool

[BNE]

How are you plating them?

[gunlovingsob]

watch this guy, i met him on youtube a few years ago, im now reading about better ways to do it but you need to heat it with sulphuric acid and ethylene glycol, but for now i think this should prove intersting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KM_hr5eCNo

[spfd1903]

Thanks for the post. My reloading/shooting partner and I just built a set up and plated some Lee TL-356-124-TC's (a dozen) to see how the process worked. Pretty simple for materials. Had copper deposits after a few minutes. I need to get off my butt , size and load. Our real purpose is to see how fast we could push some 55 grain .224 cast.

[runfiverun]

naked cast will go on up into the 28-2900 area without too much trouble, and will hold accuracy, littlegirl runs her ar in the 27-2750 range with full functioning and holds 1-1/2-2" accuracy.
bullshop broke 3-k with accuracy a while back, but i don't remember the case he used.

adding a copper coating won't change what's necessary for accuracy with the little guy's.

[spfd1903]

Thanks. We will conduct our own experiment and see what transpires.

[Capt. Methane]

I would imagine that the copper plating would have less drag on the die than the lead does. How that translates going through the barrel I'm not sure. Have you tried them with and without lube? That would be interesting...

[303Guy]

In a way it's not surprising the plated boolits sized easier - the plating is rough, maybe even porous so it will hold lube. I suppose too that lubed copper has a lower coefficient of friction than lead alloy. Not sure. Is it possible to try some unsized plated boolits as a comparison? Maybe size before plating?

[gunlovingsob]

303guy, actualy, they are not rough at all, they feel soft like they where spray painted with flat paint, and i sized them dry, the copper looks like gilding metal, cant ask for more considering it is home electroplating

[Lefty SRH]

Cool but how are you plating them?

[gunlovingsob]

watch this guy, i met him on youtube a few years ago, im now reading about better ways to do it but you need to heat it with sulphuric acid and ethylene glycol, but for now i think this should prove intersting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KM_hr5eCNo

[303Guy]

Ah, dry sized. Well, I checked the coefficients of friction and copper on steel is 0.8 while lead on steel is 1.4 so copper has almost half the friction of lead. That's interesting. Straight away there appears to be a benefit for copper plating. Add lube and they'll just glide through the bore. I'd say they would also resist flame cutting that much better too. So, you should be able to get at least a small gain in velocity although others have not found it to be so. Perhaps somewhere along the way you could ask them what they did do so you can try something different just to see.

[leadman]

I have already hit 3,465fps with a cast 45grs Lyman RN coated with Red Copper Hi-Tek. First shooting at this velocity was 1.8" at 100 yards. This was in my Contender 23" 223 Rem barrel. My son's AR was about 400 to 500 fps slower, has a 16" or 18" barrel. I was using H4895 and could not get any more powder in the case so next time I will load TAC and try that.
Be interesting to see what you are able to do with the copper plating.

[gunlovingsob]

leadman, im shooting a 5" 92fs at subsonic speeds, i dont care much about speed, im trying to keep the leading down, i know my sizer die is not a gun barrel but after pushing the bullet through, i cant imagine that this bullet will not out perform a lead boolit in a few ways, my real problem is the fact that im in IL, i like to shoot outdoors like a human, not paying $35.00 bucks to stand in a closet and shoot at things out of my printer, my friend owns a farm but i dont get to shoot outside for free too much.