My first PC attempt.

[sasquatch76]

Just got my powder today, HF black. Set up my HF PC system and jumped in feet first. Wasn't a complete failure, but not really good either. Out of 100 boolits I only got 53 that are coated correctly.

Here's the first completed batch.

You can see the ones up front didn't get a full coat....my fault completely. I obviously didn't get enough PC on them.

Here's a few of the failures. The tops coated fine but the bottom halves didn't get enough PC.


And here's the good ones.


I know I didn't get enough PC on the boolits, as stated, my fault. I know what to do different next time. Live and learn.

My question is, can I re-coat and re-bake those that didn't get a full coat?

[Garyshome]

Good Start. It's tough to get really good looking Boolits. The bad looking ones work very well! I would not double coat them, You should load them up and shoot them, then decide if they need more PC'ing.

[tiwimon]

Looks better than my first couple runs. I'd load and shoot the ones with the light coat on the tl grooves - I had some with a very light, semi sparse coat - about what yours look like on some of my 358 125 rf's and I decided to load up 10 of them and shoot them to see how they did - did just fine with no leading

[sasquatch76]

Thanks for the replies. I'll have to dig them out of my scrap box then and load a few of em'. I'm going to toss the cheap, flimsy, dollar store cookie sheets and get a couple pieces of aluminum plate. I think that was part of my problem. That and not making sure I sprayed them fully. I also need to calibrate the PC gun and air flow from my compressor I bet. Other than that, I'm using the techniques I read about here. Looking forward to the next batch, I bet they'll be a lot better.

[sasquatch76]

OK, loaded some of the flawed ones up. I'll shoot em' tomorrow.

[bangerjim]

You are setting them too close together. Allow about 1 inch between larger cal's. You will not enough powder down in there if they are that close.

You should NEVER need 2 spray/bakes! If everything is set up properly, a perfect even coat will be applied over the entire length of the boolits....all the way down to the bases!

You could respray those this time, but I have never given any more than one coat....except for that awful yellow stuff that will not cover! Do not use it anymore.

Nice 1st go at it. Try spacing wider and let us know!

bangerjim

[oldpapps]

Mr. 76,

My first attempt was with some 30 plus year old 30 cal bullets. I didn't think of trying to clean them. They came out terrible.
I switched to very freshly cast 429 bullets. Then 'shake-n-bake'. The problem came to light that the as dropped size was running .435 inches. Coated they cut into the driving bands, all the way into the lead, when sized to .430. Oh, my! I just coated them again and sized again and guess what? They sized correctly and shot great. I now size these bullets before coating, then a second time.
The 180 grain 30 cals, I'll drop them into the pot one of these day to recover the lead.

The point, ya got a poor coating the first time, spray again for a better second coat. So it took a second go around with the process. Big deal, the bullets weren't hurt.

Enjoy, that's what it is all about.

OSOK

[sasquatch76]

Thanks bangerjim, next time I'll definitely space them 1" instead of 1/2". I must have missed that somewhere in the PC101 thread. I rarely make the same mistakes twice, I bet my next batch will be good to go.

Oldpapps, I'm going to see how the partially coated boolits perform. I doubt I'll give them a second coat, not worth it for 40 some bullets, I'll just put em' in my scrap box.

[fcvan]

I space mine by putting the boolits in ammo trays, Styrofoam or plastic, and skip every other cavity. That keeps them evenly spaced and makes transport to my spray/coating area. I load the ammo tray, put a sheet metal (covered with ns foil) on the ammo tray and flip. I remove the ammo tray after I put it in my spray booth. Using trays helps keep 75 or 100 boolits per coating tray in place. I can arrange the boolits on the foil bare spots for subsequent coatings.

The only other thing I'm working on is a down draft table with filtration to control and reclaim over-spray. I am currently coating outdoors but breezy weather makes things a challenge. If I can construct a downdraft table with variable airflow I will be able to coat indoors with less mess and waste. Having a neighbor who specializes in commercial heating/air conditioning ain't a bad thing! I've got an old range hood and an oven rack, we are just working on the flue control and the right type of filter for reclamation. The range hood when flipped over is a good size for this project. I will post pictures when I'm functional.

[sasquatch76]

Well, I shot the partially coated ones. No good, they left a significant amount of lead in my barrel.
I decided to load up some of the fully coated ones. Had problems with headspacing, they wouldn't chamber correctly. Then I got to thinking, (palm slap to the forehead), the powdercoating increased their diameter. I measured and sure enough they were at .454", I should've check that first, doh! So I put them through my .452 sizing die, loaded them up and.....perfect headspacing.

I shot 9 of them out of my 1911 at 15yds.

Awesome group, much better than anything I've been able to get out of regular lubed boolits.
Also, no lead, or anything else left in my barrel.

Since I have to size them anyways, I've decided to re-coat the ones I messed up.

[bangerjim]

I won't say it.......oh, what the heck.........told 'ya so! HA...ha


Seriously.....if you can SEE the lead, so can the barrel. Never load & shoot a PC'd boolit where you can see any bare lead on the TOPS of the grease grooves. You are asking for a mining session in your barrels if there is very much visible.

Hope you get everything dug out and cleaned up.

Most of us always size after PC'ing. I do it after casting also just to bring any "out-layers" into size B4 coating. Some ask why.........I like to take the little extra time to insure ALL my slugs are close to where I "think" they are!

Have fun out there!

bangerjim

[sasquatch76]

Yeah, won't be doing that again. After a good scrubbing with some bore cleaner and a brush I got the lead out of my barrel.

You're right banger, sizing is the way to go. I'll be sizing all mine before and after coating from now on, best way to make sure all the boolits are uniform and it removes the filet of PC at the base that some of them get after coating.

[Hang Fire]

Just my opine, but I have had such rotten results with hit or miss HF black will no longer even try with it. HF red never fails to shake and bake correctly, so will stay with that so long as available.

[KYShooter73]

You have to space them well, I also put one of the little HF regulators right on my gun, low psi, 2" of powder in the cup. Polish your push through die well, 800 grit paper on a cleaning rod makes that easy. I size the boolit as cast, then coat, then size again. Not alway necessary, but if my boolit is .002 oversize before coating, it makes final size much easier. I usually have to seat just a hair deeper using PC, depending on the nose profile.

[bangerjim]

Just my opine, but I have had such rotten results with hit or miss HF black will no longer even try with it. HF red never fails to shake and bake correctly, so will stay with that so long as available.

If you are trying to get HF matte black to work with DT.....it won't! It only works with ESPC, the way all powders are engineered to be applied. We are most fortunate that the red and other misc colors DO stick fairly well with only a cheap scrap Coolwhip bowl and a little swirling elbow grease!

I ESPC many many boolits (in all colors) from 223 all the way thru 45's and they all come out PERFECT every time, as long as you follow the simple rules of air pressure, powder flow, spacing, etc.

But matte black will NOT "shake and bake". Actually......."shaking" had been found NOT to work nearly as well as swirling gently around in the container, as the static generates faster and there are minimum collision divots from the boolits banging together.

Have fun!

banger

[sasquatch76]

It was nice outside today so I set up my PC stuff and re-coated the boolits I messed up the first time. They turned out great! So I coated 200 more 230gr TC, also great. It was definitely easier the second time around.

[Beagle333]

Looks like you got it down now!

[sasquatch76]

Coated some of the 230gr RN today. Turned out great.

[Beagle333]

They sure did!

[sasquatch76]

Also made the mistake of touching the charge rod on my gun. I wasn't thinking and went to knock some powder build up off it, and....BZZZAAAAP! Gave me a pretty good jolt. That'll make you feel alive....but...I don't recommend it.