Coating 6.8 SPC bullets?

[gun toting monkeyboy]

So I am new to powder coating. I have looked for answers on here, and found them for most of my questions. However, I couldn't find something specific on a few. One of the ones I am most curious about is powder coating bullets for a 6.8 SPC. I have a mold that throws 107 to 109 grain hollow point bullet, plus a gas check. I plan on coating them, then sizing the gas check on them afterwards with a Lee bullet sizing die. My question is how much does it matter what alloy I use? Do I need a hard alloy, as I would with regular lubed cast lead bullets? Or can I use a softer alloy because leading isn't an issue because of the powder coating and gas check? I still have a bunch of 20:1 in the pot from casting handgun bullets, and I ran a batch of these that look very nice. I would love to try them in my 6.8 guns.

-Mb

[gun toting monkeyboy]

Nobody has any idea on this one?

[slide]

This is something you are probably going to have to experiment with. Powder coat will allow you to shoot a slightly softer bullet if the coating is properly cured. Jump right in the middle of it and see how your accuracy is. With my rifle (AR 223) I have found that around 15 to 18 bhn gives me the best accuracy but, I still have a lot of testing to do.

[gun toting monkeyboy]

Is that a 15-18 WITH a coating? Or just in general? And do you get any leading if it is coated? Or does the coating prevent that? Are you using it at regular .223 velocities?

[Conditor22]

using a gas check will in itself let you use a softer alloy
PCing the boolit will also help in using a softer alloy.

this depends on how fast you plan on pushing the boolit and will require some experimenting to see what your gun likes best


**wrapping a brass cleaning brush with strands from a Chore Boy Copper Scouring Pad will remove leading fast *****

the only true test is to try a few

[slide]

That is 15-18 bhn in an ar platform. The load is running around 2500 fps. The rounds are powder coated and gas checked. No leading. One thing about the powder coat. It has to be cured properly.

[Tonto]

Sequence is everything. If you powder coat before seating the gas check you might have trouble depending on the gas check heel dimensions after coating. Sounds like you will need an additional step or two but your plan should work. One thing to watch out for is increased nose diameter that may interfere with chambering depending on the bullet profile. Powder coated gas checked bullets work in most if not all of the AR platforms. You might try the coated bullets without the check too to see how that works.

[mrmachinist]

Let me know what you figure out. I’m working on a 6.8 subsonic round. I’m going to pc the bullets 214gr. I’m most worried about the feeding in the ar with a soft alloy. But I’m wanting soft for expansion at subsonic velocity.


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