Tried Tumble PC for the first time

[Boolit_Head]

Look around the big box stores. I think I have seen them at Wally world or Ace hardware those sort of stores.

[Motor]

Guys which black air soft BBs are you using. Are they the .25gram Super Heavy? Wal-Mart $16.58 for 5000.

They were out of stock. Supposed to re-stock within the next couple weeks. I picked up 5000 .20gram white on clearance. I may end up trying them first.

Motor

[Dragonheart]

Ok what stores actually have these silicon baking mats in stock.

Motor

I bought mine at Costco, but haven't seen then lately. Try Amazon: Silicone Baking Mat 2-Pk - Fits Half Sheets - Blue, Red colors - Bonus Cookbook, Lifetime Guarantee $11.99


by ChicoChef.

[ombesb]

2 more cents to chew on. I do not use the Cool Whip containers but rather the screw lids . [ they stay on better ] Put a death swirl on them. Thanks Banger. I find using less bullets per coating session leaves less bang marks on the bullets. I have to swirl 3 or 4 times to get the number of bullets for a bake. Just to be clear, the swirl and shake is not to be left to an 8 yr old girl, it is a quick arm workout. I like to pick them out of the tub with little tongs that just fit the lube groove. No coating in there is not a problem. It all does not come together at once, you keep figuring a piece at a time.

[Motor]

Tried the HF red shake and bake for the first time tonight. I had to use .20 gram white air soft BBs.

My first batch was 30, 440gr .501" Lee boolits. (I did modify this mold to add material mass using aluminum blocks. Nothing massive just brought it up to about the same as the older style. I believe it did help to keep the mold temperature more stable. )

I then did some of each, 160gr TL 2R .313" , .358 158gr SWC, .410, 210gr TL and some 250gr REAL 50cal. (I use these in the 500 S&W also.)

I used non-stick aluminum foil. I baked the first batch standing (the 440gr) and baked all the others together but with some standing some laying on their side.

I preheated the toaster oven, this one has temperature settings on the dial, to 400 degrees then put the tray in and started the 20 minute timer. I checked them around the 15 minute mark and all were wet looking so I figured from what I've read on this forum that they would be good when the timer timed out.

Everything actually went well. I separated the ones that were touching (second batch) while they were still hot. After all had cooled I sized them all installing gas checks on the rifle boolits. The .410" 210gr actually touched the size die. This mold like my other newest Lee mold drops on the small side. The other, the 440gr .501" still has to be used with 600 mph tape on it.

I guess now I have some load testing to do.

Thanks to all of you fine folks for getting an older dog to try a new trick.

Motor

[Dragonheart]

Tried the HF red shake and bake for the first time tonight. I had to use .20 gram white air soft BBs.

My first batch was 30, 440gr .501" Lee boolits. (I did modify this mold to add material mass using aluminum blocks. Nothing massive just brought it up to about the same as the older style. I believe it did help to keep the mold temperature more stable. )

I then did some of each, 160gr TL 2R .313" , .358 158gr SWC, .410, 210gr TL and some 250gr REAL 50cal. (I use these in the 500 S&W also.)

I used non-stick aluminum foil. I baked the first batch standing (the 440gr) and baked all the others together but with some standing some laying on their side.

I preheated the toaster oven, this one has temperature settings on the dial, to 400 degrees then put the tray in and started the 20 minute timer. I checked them around the 15 minute mark and all were wet looking so I figured from what I've read on this forum that they would be good when the timer timed out.

Everything actually went well. I separated the ones that were touching (second batch) while they were still hot. After all had cooled I sized them all installing gas checks on the rifle boolits. The .410" 210gr actually touched the size die. This mold like my other newest Lee mold drops on the small side. The other, the 440gr .501" still has to be used with 600 mph tape on it.

I guess now I have some load testing to do.

Thanks to all of you fine folks for getting an older dog to try a new trick.

Motor

MOTOR; I would suggest getting a Taylor glass oven thermometer and place it in your oven to monitor the temperature as the toaster oven's dial thermostat may or may not be accurate and the powder needs 1o minutes at 400 degrees for a proper cure. Glad you were able to make it happen.

[Motor]

My rifle boolits were 12bhn when cast. After PC I installed gas checks during sizing. Concidering they are now both PC and gas checked do you think it would be ok to skip the neck expander / mouth flair?

Update:

I just did an experiment and found that while not having any shaving issues I did get slightly over .001" (measured with 0-1 micrometer) reduction in diameter on the driving bands and just under .001" even on the gas checked diameter.

So it looks like neck expansion is still in order. I think with harder boolits it may work ok but can't see wasting the linotype. Plus I wanted to keep these around 12bhn so that I may get some expansion from them on deer. I normally cast these to around 16bhn. I'm hoping with PC that 12bhn will work. The velocity is high teens. ( I still need to get chronograph readings. )

Motor

[Dragonheart]

I would still use the expander, since shaving can be an issue even with plated bullets.

After retrieving a number of powder coated bullets, the powder remains completely intact on the bullet until the bullet hits something to deform the bullet; the coating just stretches where the rifling cuts into the bullet, but the coating is still intact. So I can see no reason for not softening the lead for a good expansion. As with any bullet you will need to work up a good powder/bullet/gun load for the best accuracy.

[Motor]

I hope to do some range testing real soon. The 440gr 500's is going to be an interesting test. The load is 27.5gr of Lil-gun (very close to starting charge in Lyman book). This load was very accurate but the boolits were hard cast. I am trying them now at 12bhn but with PC. If they perform good with this load I'll know my 13gr Unique load will be fine.

Obviously I am new to this but considering how the PC has stood up to handling and sizing plus test seating, I'm fairly certain that the power was baked sufficiently. Even the REAL looked like there was still PC on the tops of the bands and they go from like .506"+ down to .501" when sized.

Motor

[Dragonheart]

I hope to do some range testing real soon. The 440gr 500's is going to be an interesting test. The load is 27.5gr of Lil-gun (very close to starting charge in Lyman book). This load was very accurate but the boolits were hard cast. I am trying them now at 12bhn but with PC. If they perform good with this load I'll know my 13gr Unique load will be fine.

Obviously I am new to this but considering how the PC has stood up to handling and sizing plus test seating, I'm fairly certain that the power was baked sufficiently. Even the REAL looked like there was still PC on the tops of the bands and they go from like .506"+ down to .501" when sized.

Motor

Powder coating is amazing, I wouldn't be casting now if it weren't for powder coating. The reason I quit casting years ago was because of the gooey mess of using lube. When you consider all the benefits of powder coating I can't understand why anyone would stick with lube. I have heard some say lube is faster, but when you factor everything in like cleaning the dies, lead from the barrels, etc. I don't see any time saved. Some say lube is more accurate, but so far I don't see that one either. Additionally, you can shoot PC bullets in polygonal barrels like Glock's without leading the barrels or having to buy a conventional barrel just for lead.

[Pumpkinheaver]

I finally tried my hand at powder coating bullets this week. I have been reading about it for a month or so on here and decided to give it a go searching for a cost effective source of bullets for my Glocks. My first batch were 230gr .45s. I cast them and coated them the same day with the shake and bake method, dumping them directly on to hardware cloth then into the oven. These weren't pretty but I loaded them and fired 100 rounds loaded with them and had zero issues with leading. My second batch were 180 TC 10MM bullets. I used the shake and bake method on these as well but instead of dumping them on hardware cloth I plucked them out of the coating vessel one at a time and placed them on partchment paper base down. These looked much better then the .45s. Hopefully they shoot as well as the rough looking .45s. I don't care about looks, I care about results.

10MMs look great.

[Dragonheart]

I finally tried my hand at powder coating bullets this week. I have been reading about it for a month or so on here and decided to give it a go searching for a cost effective source of bullets for my Glocks. My first batch were 230gr .45s. I cast them and coated them the same day with the shake and bake method, dumping them directly on to hardware cloth then into the oven. These weren't pretty but I loaded them and fired 100 rounds loaded with them and had zero issues with leading. My second batch were 180 TC 10MM bullets. I used the shake and bake method on these as well but instead of dumping them on hardware cloth I plucked them out of the coating vessel one at a time and placed them on partchment paper base down. These looked much better then the .45s. Hopefully they shoot as well as the rough looking .45s. I don't care about looks, I care about results.

10MMs look great.

They look great, job well done, and like any bullet/powder/gun combination you will have to find your best load, but so far based on tests using my Ransom Rest the accuracy of powder coated bullets has been outstanding. I haven't purchased any handgun bullets in over a year, but I have added several more bullet molds to my collection and a bunch on new powder colors.

[Motor]

What other powders work well with the shake and bake method? This HF red will probably go bad before I use it up but knowing other options is always a good thing.

All I've ever used was A-Lox and performance wise have no complaints. One thing I'm hoping PC helps with is the lead spray I get in my 500's muzzle brake. Another nice thing will be no gooey boolit tips and lube build up in the seating die.

One big dilemma I have is all the boolits I already have on the shelf lubed with A-Lox. The only way I know of removing A-Lox efficiency is the melting pot. None have gas checks so melting is on the table.

Motor

[Dragonheart]

I use Prismatic solid color powders, which you can buy online by the pound. Once I started powder coating I had several thousand bullets that were lubed. I found a light soak in gasoline with a little acetone to finish up, a quick way to remove the lube and they coated just fine. You are also going to notice no burning lube making smoke as another benefit. Basically its like shooting plated bullets for very little cost other than your time.

[bangerjim]

What other powders work well with the shake and bake method? This HF red will probably go bad before I use it up but knowing other options is always a good thing.

All I've ever used was A-Lox and performance wise have no complaints. One thing I'm hoping PC helps with is the lead spray I get in my 500's muzzle brake. Another nice thing will be no gooey boolit tips and lube build up in the seating die.

One big dilemma I have is all the boolits I already have on the shelf lubed with A-Lox. The only way I know of removing A-Lox efficiency is the melting pot. None have gas checks so melting is on the table.

Motor

You can remove ANY lube by doing the following:

Soak in Laq Thinner overnight
Dump & save for next batch
Rinse in fresh laq thinner
Save for next batch
Rinse in VERY HOT water + Simple Green
Rinse in VERY hot water.

I have removed old dirty grease lubes and new ALOX this way from many many hundreds of boolits. all PC'd perfectly....ESPC or BBDT.

For other powders lookup Smoke on here. Do a search. He sells excellent powders in a bunch of colors.

banger

[Motor]

bangerjim thanks for the tip. As it turns out Xylol, Xylene don't take all night. It only takes about 10 minutes to wash away A-Lox. Even year old A-Lox. Looks like I have a lot of powder coating on the schedule.

Motor

[bangerjim]

bangerjim thanks for the tip. As it turns out Xylol, Xylene don't take all night. It only takes about 10 minutes to wash away A-Lox. Even year old A-Lox. Looks like I have a lot of powder coating on the schedule.

Motor

Laq thinner does not either. I just do it that way. In no hurry on this end! Old dried caked dirty grease takes a LOT longer than 10 minutes!!!!!!!!!!

Depending on the brand of laq thinner, it will be made of a blend of acetone and various VOC's which may include Xylol and or Xylene. Thinner is just easier to find for most people in big box stores. And is safer. The pure "X's" are extremely hazardous to your health in concentrated quantities.

[Motor]

I noticed while doing some 9mm that it seemed to be on the thin side. When getting to the bottom of the bowl I also noticed that there wasn't much powder on the bottom. I'm kind of using this as a gage now. Like if there isn't any extra then maybe add some more.

Can you do the same boolits twice?

Motor

[Dragonheart]

Yes, some colors like "Yellow" I have had to do two coats to get good coverage, so I don't do yellow any more. High humidity can create coverage problems, even with a color that usually works well. When the humidity is high, most of the time here on the Gulf Coast, I preheat my bullets to 200 degrees then tumble. Just don't go much over 200 or the powder will start to melt and you will have a mess. Preheating will give you better coverage, you just don't want to cake on so much powder that you end up with sizing problems.

[Motor]

Thanks for the tip. I have a heat gun so pre-heating would be easy. I may give it a try.

The powder coating must be pretty resilient. I did some hard cast 440s that were already sized to .501" after powder coating I ran them back through the size die and could tell by the force required that it felt like the boolits were being resized under the PC.

I just finished doing a lot of boolits that were previously lubed and sized and could tell the difference between the ones that were 10 to 12bhn and the ones that are 15bhn or harder when sizing after PC.This is telling me the boolits are being sized under the PC.

Motor