RepackboxTitan ReloadingRotoMetals2Inline Fabrication
Reloading EverythingWidenersMidSouth Shooters SupplyLoad Data
PBcastco Lee Precision
Page 1 of 15 1234567891011 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 289

Thread: Definitive List - What powders work and what powders don't

  1. #1
    Boolit Master prickett's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Middle Tennessee
    Posts
    805

    Definitive List - What powders work and what powders don't

    Guys, how about we create a sticky (if the thread gets big enough) of PC you've used that either work or don't work. Mention the color, place of purchase, cooking temp, number of coats, and method of application (and post a picture if you can).

    I'll start:
    In the photo, the boolits on the left
    Color: 1st coat Red, 2nd coat Yellow
    Num of Coats: 2
    PoP: Harbor Freight
    Temp: 400F for 20 minutes (oven NOT preheated)
    MoA: Dry Tumble (aka Shake and Bake)
    Comments: Finish not as smooth as those on the right. Probably due to shorter cook time.
    Prognosis: Works. The yellow isn't as opaque as the red is, though.

    In the photo, the boolits on the right
    Color: Red
    Num of Coats: 1
    PoP: Harbor Freight
    Temp: 400F for 30 minutes (oven NOT preheated)
    MoA: Dry Tumble (aka Shake and Bake)
    Prognosis: Works.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	P1000459-2.jpg 
Views:	1331 
Size:	26.9 KB 
ID:	93385
    Last edited by prickett; 01-13-2014 at 08:54 PM.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master prickett's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Middle Tennessee
    Posts
    805
    Color: Black
    Num of Coats: 2
    PoP: Harbor Freight
    Temp: 400F for 30 minutes (oven NOT preheated)
    MoA: Wet Tumble (aka Piglet) using Lacquer Thinner
    Prognosis: Works.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	P1000399-2.jpg 
Views:	1013 
Size:	78.5 KB 
ID:	93389

    Color: Black
    Num of Coats: 1
    PoP: Harbor Freight
    Temp: N/A
    MoA: Dry Tumble
    Prognosis: Black DOES NOT WORK for dry tumble.

    NO PHOTO

  3. #3
    Boolit Bub
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Posts
    32

    Definitive List - What powders work and what powders don't

    HF Red
    400 degrees 15 minutes
    MoA: ES


    HF Matte Black
    400 degrees 15 minutes
    MoA: ES


    Powder by the Pound
    Lime Green
    MoA: ES
    400 degrees 20 minutes


    I tried preheating and not preheating. It didn't seem to matter which way. Coating was very even either way. I have had great success with all three. Prior to shooting the PC bullets, I had a little lead build up still in my XD 9mm barrel. My barrel now is perfectly clean. I am not experiencing any build up issues with my 9mm, .380, or 40 S&W. I am moving forward with some rifle bullets this week for my .308. I have cast, coated and installed gas checks on some 170gn FN from a Lee mold that I will be starting with. These will be my first cast rifle bullets. Any pointers as I move on?
    Last edited by Mbedwell1971; 01-12-2014 at 10:53 PM.

  4. #4
    Boolit Master VHoward's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    North Bend, OR
    Posts
    1,780
    Virginia Tech Orange
    Powder By The Pound
    400 degrees for 20 minutes
    Dry tumble coated
    One coat
    Works well.



    Almost looks as good as ES gun coating

  5. #5
    Boolit Bub
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Cedar Rapids IA
    Posts
    58
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	1389649190415.jpg 
Views:	727 
Size:	46.8 KB 
ID:	93471

    My first attempt:
    Harbor freight red
    400 preheated 15 mins
    Very good looking but a little thin around the bases user problem I'm sure
    electrostatic with Harbor kit 25psi

  6. #6
    Boolit Buddy
    legend 550's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    NW Ohio
    Posts
    114
    Bengal Black 95% gloss
    Tiger Dry Lac pn 49/88888
    Pendry coatings via ebay
    400 for 10 min
    Tumbled 1 coat

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	WP_20140112_007.jpg 
Views:	971 
Size:	24.0 KB 
ID:	93473

  7. #7
    Boolit Master
    Freightman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Canyon, Texas
    Posts
    3,401
    This is becoming a revolution, find myself "having" to cast so I can see what color I come up with
    Frank G.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Can't-Wait-To-Leave NJ
    Posts
    529
    I would suggest that the first post of this thread contains 2 columns. 1. Works. 2. Doesn't Work. Of course someone would have to be granted editing permissions to keep up with it. This would be so much easier and time efficient than having to weed through a gazillion pages.

  9. #9
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Houston TX
    Posts
    761

    Powder Coat Material

    All of these bullets were coated with polyester powder coat from Powder Buy The Pound.

    Cooked at 400 degrees for 20 minutes in a counter top convection oven purchased at TARGET, made by GE.

    Gas checks made from cola cans are installed on all powder coated bullets, just the way I do it.

    The gas checks can be deleted but I put them on to insure the barrel is kept very clean with many rounds fired at the same time at the range.

  10. #10
    Boolit Man
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Posts
    95
    First attempt. Not too bad. Harbor Freight red. Shake and bake. 400 half preheat for 15 then turned off and left them in the oven (baby woke up and had to abort). Look good though.
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	uploadfromtaptalk1390831922701.jpg 
Views:	875 
Size:	23.2 KB 
ID:	94762

  11. #11
    Boolit Grand Master

    Beagle333's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Back in the woods a piece, just outside Auburn, AL.
    Posts
    5,499
    The other colors are fun, but I think HF red applied ES is going to be my "go to" coating.
    I preheat to 400 and bake for 20 mins and then usually let it sit til I remember to take em out.
    Last edited by Beagle333; 01-27-2014 at 01:03 PM.
    KE4GWE - - - - - - Colt 1860, it just feels right.

  12. #12
    Boolit Man
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Posts
    95
    First actually ready to test...


  13. #13
    Boolit Buddy res45's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    China Grove,NC
    Posts
    432
    First attempt today using the HF gun and HF,Yellow and Red and a OD Green powder from a local PC business. One coat applied to all bullets and baked for 20 min. at 400 degrees. Gas checks were applied to some and left off the others for future testing. I PC'ed a Lee 124 gr. TLTC bullet that tumbles about 75% of the time in my 9mm to see if it eliminates the issue.

  14. #14
    Boolit Buddy Liberty'sSon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    American by birth, Southern by the Grace of God
    Posts
    183
    PBTP lime green, dry tumbled, baked 400F 20 min, two coats. Looks good, hope to get to range soon to see how they shoot. Will update.

  15. #15
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Posts
    251
    Quote Originally Posted by Liberty'sSon View Post
    PBTP lime green, dry tumbled, baked 400F 20 min, two coats. Looks good, hope to get to range soon to see how they shoot. Will update.
    Wow those look great! I have been hankering for green!

  16. #16
    Boolit Master
    garym1a2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Green Cove springs Florida
    Posts
    2,015
    Here are some pictures of my process. I tried 3 different paints, the first two Powder by Pound. I will add picture and test data once shot. Plus I will dig some out of my dirt hill.

    1. Powder by pound RAL 5011 STEELE BLUE . Very good
    2. Powder by pound RAL 6010 GRASS GREEN. Great
    3. Harbor freight Red. Did not work for me.

    See #160 for details
    http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...-coating/page8

  17. #17
    Boolit Buddy Danderdude's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    Central Texas
    Posts
    173
    HF Red is working for me right now. I'm on course to have 1 lb cover about 2500 mixed 9mm and .45 bullets.

    Gear:
    Applied via HF Electrostatic gun
    Bullets stood up on Reynolds Wrap Non-Stick Foil on baking sheets
    Oster convection toaster oven
    Lee tumble lube 124gr round nose .356

    Test Gun:
    CZ 75BD Police 9mm, bore slugged at .356

    1 ES coat of HF Red
    Baked 4 mins @375F, 3 mins @400F
    12 BHN
    Sized down from .360 to .357

    9mm: 4.1 gr Unique, OAL 1.088, Tulammo SP primers

    I had hell getting 9mm to work in anything. I was ending up with leading every time I turned around. Magma lube didn't fix it. 50/50 didn't fix it. Ben's Red didn't fix it. ALOX didn't fix it. 45-45-10 didn't fix it. .358 boolits didn't fix it. Extra hard didn't fix it. Extra soft didn't fix it. I was near giving up.

    It was then that you 21st Century pioneers showed me the way. Not only are these boolits accurate, not only are they pretty, not only do they minimize lead exposure, but they shoot CLEAN. My first experiments yesterday landed 16/16 shots on steel and the barrel looked like it'd just been cleaned. 12 mags later, and only minor powder fouling is present in the bore.

  18. #18
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Posts
    744
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Black1.jpg 
Views:	950 
Size:	40.5 KB 
ID:	96168Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Green2.jpg 
Views:	808 
Size:	75.5 KB 
ID:	96169Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Red1.jpg 
Views:	710 
Size:	56.3 KB 
ID:	96170

    I tested three powders today. Super Durable Wet Black, Blood Red and Bright Green Splash. All from Powder By the Pound.

    Testing was the tumble method.

    First, the best. It's by far the SDWB. One coat gave me perfect coverage. It's very uniform and looks as smooth as glass. Going through the sizer it doesn't rub off any of the coat. I think this powder lives up to it's name and will be my go to powder. These things are so beautiful. You can see my reflection in them if you look close.

    The Red didn't cover as well but gets second place. This one I didn't feel comfortable with only one coat so I opted for a second. After the second coverage is quite good but it's not as uniform as the SDWB. Going through the sizer some did rub off, but not much. I expect this one to shoot well, but it's not as pretty.

    The green, don't bother. Won't stick worth a damn, but I did mix in some black then gave it two coats. It has the worst coverage on the nose area but the Lee tumble design held enough in the groves to make it functional. Like the red, some did get removed with sizing, but not a lot.

    Smash tests will happen tomorrow when the lady isn't sleeping.

  19. #19
    Boolit Buddy Liberty'sSon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    American by birth, Southern by the Grace of God
    Posts
    183
    SSS, while the SDB is absolutely beautiful, the others look quite acceptable to me too. I just don't think a bullet or a Boolit for that matter has to look as shiny and smooth as a Corvette sitting on the showroom floor. I really like the ease of the dry tumble PC method. As to the shaving of the coating, if you are using Lee push through dies, try polishing the inside of the die with some 600 or higher grit sandpaper around a wooden dowel rod. Take care not to enlarge the opening too much. Leadman suggested I do that as my dies were removing the Hi Tek coating I was using. I did it and it worked like a charm.

  20. #20
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Posts
    744
    Quote Originally Posted by Liberty'sSon View Post
    SSS, while the SDB is absolutely beautiful, the others look quite acceptable to me too. I just don't think a bullet or a Boolit for that matter has to look as shiny and smooth as a Corvette sitting on the showroom floor. I really like the ease of the dry tumble PC method. As to the shaving of the coating, if you are using Lee push through dies, try polishing the inside of the die with some 600 or higher grit sandpaper around a wooden dowel rod. Take care not to enlarge the opening too much. Leadman suggested I do that as my dies were removing the Hi Tek coating I was using. I did it and it worked like a charm.
    You're right, it doesn't have to be pretty, but the SDWB was the only one that gave good coverage with one coat.

    The lazy man in me wins out.

    There is a Super Durable Wet Blue that I'd like to try in the future.

Page 1 of 15 1234567891011 ... LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check