Is resizing a must?

[nevadabob]

My Winter project will be to Hi-Tek coat several 1,000 9's. I purchased the bullets and they are lubed. I'm going to boil off the lube. Since I don't own any casting equipment, is it a "must" to resize my finished product? And if so, how long does one wait to resize the coated bullets? I know you'd want to wait until the finish is completely hardened. Thanks for any help.

[Garyshome]

I re size them if they are to big, not if they are the correct size though. I would Re size then coat them.

[mdi]

Even if you don't want to get into casting and buy all the equipment, you should have a decent 0-1" micrometer. Only then will you know if your bullets grow .001" or .003" with coating...

[nevadabob]

Talked to Gateway this morning and was told my idea "won't work". Removing the lube from a bullet is not complete, there will always be residue that won't allow the coating to properly adhere. In addition, because the bullets have been previously resized by the manufacturer, this closes any pores that would aid in the adhering process.

[sparky45]

Maybe you aught to try PowderCoat? I usually cast mine, then size them, PC them, and resize them. Never have I had any problem with the "pores" being closed and PC'n staying on the bullet. Others on here have had NO problems removing the lube from bullets and then applying a PC'n to them. One caveat, they do use Acetone to slosh the bullets around in then dry them before PC'n.

[Sneakybuffalo]

Talked to Gateway this morning and was told my idea "won't work". Removing the lube from a bullet is not complete, there will always be residue that won't allow the coating to properly adhere. In addition, because the bullets have been previously resized by the manufacturer, this closes any pores that would aid in the adhering process.

There are enough success stories of doing just what you are trying to do that I wouldn't shy away from it. Although I'm not sure what the difference is between Hi-Tek and PC.

[nevadabob]

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to do some test rounds and just maybe it'll work.

[11B-101ABN]

I just finished doing almost 10k boolits that were cast in 1998, lubed, and stored because I knew I was moving and would not be able to cast for a while. Tried boiling for over an hour in a double boiler.....didn't work. The lube was Javelina mixed with moly powder and now hard as a rock. Put 1000 in a gallon jug covered with gasoline, left overnight. Next day shook real good for a few minutes, drained and dried lightly with shop towels. Next returned boolits to gallon jug, covered them with mineral spirits and shook vigorously for a few minutes, poured out and dried again. Next came acetone for a few minutes. (Same procedure as with min.spirits) poured out Acetone, wiped with shop rag and finally did the procedure again using simple green for 1/2 hour. Tumble in clean corn media for 1/2 hour...Done. They are clean, dry, and residue free. They took powder coat with no trouble. Some guys have used shorter versions of removing the old lube, but this worked well for me. Total time to clean about 8 hours for 10k boolits, and about 3 - 8 hour days to paint them all. They were not sized before cleaning due to being lubed in a star, but WERE sized after painting.

[Comrade Mike]

Explain to me why you're investing more effort into preparing bullets that are probably already ready to be loaded? I'm confused

[nevadabob]

With the coated bullets that I've already purchased, loaded, & shot, the accuracy is excellent. More so than the garden variety lead ones that I previously purchased.

[Ausglock]

HI-TEK will not work with your bullets, no matter how good you clean them. I have tested all manner of cleaning to get it to work. Nothing was 100% workable.
Coat then size. you can do 1 coat size and then do the 2nd coat. no worries. But do not size before the first coat.

[nevadabob]

Thanks for the heads up Ausglock. Seems like my Winter project is getting bigger: learning to cast my own bullets. That way the $20 + shipping I spent on the Hi-Tek powder won't go to waste!

[LAGS]

I have taken Lubed, Sized boolits and soaked them in acetone, then did a second soaking and they coated just fine.
But I cast my Boolits, size them in the Lee push thru sizer, then rinse them with Acetone and then coat them with PC.
After coating and cooling, I run them thru the sizer again.
Especially if I am using HF PC.
Resizing, smoothes out any Lumps in the coating, and knocks off any finning on the base edge of the boolit.

[11B-101ABN]

Comrade Mike: If your question of why invest more effort on prep for boolits already loadable, was directed at my rather lengthy description of cleaning previously lubed projectiles, I offer this: The 1998 boolits were originally sized at .356 which caused more leading than I liked, and the moly on some other loaded ammo I had assembled then shot recently exhibited green corrosion on the jacketed bullets, and a huge increase in split mouths on the brass. By cleaning the old lube off and PC'ing I was able to bring the diameter up to .357, (which stopped the leading) and eliminate the moly that I believe caused corrosion and splitting in previous ammo. Easier weapon cleanup and reduced smoke at the indoor range were just added benefits.

[mdi]

Explain to me why you're investing more effort into preparing bullets that are probably already ready to be loaded? I'm confused

It ain't about the money! How many fishermen would go to the market for fish rather than spend $$ for rods, reels, bait, lures, licenses, etc.? There's a lot more to making home made ammo than just stuffing a bullet into the case. Heck, if we were looking for a faster, easier, softer way there would be no Castboolits.com, we'd all just shoot jacketed, or easier yet, factory ammo...

[C. Latch]

Explain to me why you're investing more effort into preparing bullets that are probably already ready to be loaded? I'm confused

Exactly!

I love my ESPC bullets but there's no way in the world I'd remove lube from a ready-to-load bullet just to spray it with powder. I still use both methods.

[Avery Arms]

Rather than undoing work that is already done just sell them or offer them in trade for unsized bullets or ingots if you want to cast your own.

Cleaning cast bullets is possible but it's messy and time consuming so it's usually easier to just chuck them back in the pot and start over.