PC came off boolit when slugging...should I be alarmed?

[Tripplebeards]

I just slugged my barrel with a PC'd boolit. It was not pure lead, it was 50/50 ACCOWW and pure with 2% pewter added. I PC'd them a week ago. 355 degrees for 20 min so I know the PC should be cured.

Would the tapping of the boolit through the barrel cause it to scrape off or is my PC defective?

[IMG]image by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/105966338@N06/]

[Steelshooter]

You did not say what powder you are using. Your temperature is on the low side for curing, I put the boolits in the oven at 385 degrees for 30 minutes to cure. It gets the boolits up to temperature and cures the powder. Do the hammer test on one of your boolits to test if they are cured correctly. Smoke sells really good powder on this site.

[Tripplebeards]

It's smokes... I thought I baked them at 455 degrees and that's a typo...maybe I screwed up and DID bake them at 355?

I think I'll throw them back in the oven at 400 degrees for another 20 min?

I have recovered a lot of his PC coved boolits I've shot and the PC never comes off. I am wondering what I did wrong here.

[Tripplebeards]

Before I get all riled up and started baking them again I did a pound test and gave one about 10 good hits with a hammer. PC is good. All were pc at the same time at the same temp. When I slugged it through the barrel I tapped it a good 15 plus times. I wonder if the uneven pressure caused the scraping. I'm not going to re bake them at this time. I think the uneven force when pounding the slug caused something to happen? I use a long screw driver, make sure it's centered, and slowly and lightly tap the slug through it with a hammer. The boolit was sized at .451 before I slugged it in my barrel. The slug size is .4505 so there wasn't a lot of restriction. Open to answers. Anyone else ever slug with a PC boolit with the same results? It's a brand new ruger vaquero that's been shot a dozen times with blacks lead boolit ammo. Could the bore be ruff?

I just did a visual inspection of the bore with a craftsman scope. It looks smooth as far as I can see. I also cleaned the barrel since it hadn't been cleaned after the dozen cast black hills ammo was fired through it. I didn't see any leading but there was just a little carbon build up I cleaned out of the outside forcing cone ring.

So another question where dose the shaved lead go after sizing? This boolit pushes neatly through my cylinder. I would assume it blows out between the forcing cone and cylinder?


[IMG]image by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/105966338@N06/]

[williamwaco]

IMHO.

It doesn't matter if it came off during slugging. What matters is what happens when the hammer drops.

Recover a couple. I bet they are fine..

[popper]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/atta...8&d=1508513083
308 HF red PC hit a steel plate @ 1370 fps, PC still there.
Yes, sometimes there isn't much left on the boolit.

[Tom Myers]

So another question where dose the shaved lead go after sizing? This boolit pushes neatly through my cylinder. I would assume it blows out between the forcing cone and cylinder?

When the bullet is sized, the excess diameter of the bullet does not get "shaved off". The bullet is swaged or squeezed down to the smaller diameter and become slightly longer in the process.

[Grmps]

Smokes powder bakes for 15 min in a preheated 400* oven.
Make sure your oven actually is getting to 400* almost all countertop ovens are off up to 70+*

the primary cause of failure is improper heat.
I will get 2 cheap kitchen thermometers < $3 ea, and set them in the middle of the shelf I bake on.
The adjust the oven temperature until both ovens read 400* (I'm not sure where BJ got 450)
Then mark the oven dial or oven where the temp needs to be set to obtain 400*
You can cover the bottom of your oven with heat retaining material to help the oven return to temperature faster, I use ceramic BBQ briquettes, others use firebrick, pieces of metal or ?
I've had good luck (most PC manufacturers recommend) 15 min @ 400* (you could go 10 min after the PC (powder coat) melts.
After the baked boolits have cooled do the smash test, the boolit should flatten or cube without chipping.

[DougGuy]

Why are you slugging with an alloy boolit anyway, let alone a coated one? This serves no purpose for measuring. You should only slug for measurement or see if the slug fits in the throats by using a dead soft lead ball or an egg sinker.

[Tripplebeards]

IMHO.

It doesn't matter if it came off during slugging. What matters is what happens when the hammer drops.

Recover a couple. I bet they are fine..

I agree, I think the PC just crapped off with the uneven tapping through the barrel.

Why did I do this? I just got done sizing it to .451 and after I tested all my cylinder throats with it( it passes through all of them with a firm press of my finger BTW) and thought I'd give it a try. Guess I was kinda courious on how the boolit would look slugged since the last time i made a slug it measured .4505...and second guessing my first measurement. I wanted to make sure my bore is smaller than my cylinder throats( it definitely is). It's not, nor ever will be a normal practice for me.

I usually fill a same for caliber casing up with pure lead, tap it out with my bullet puller, and use it for a slug.

I forgot when I loaded my first PC boolits this year I had to file my seater plug flat because it scraped some lead off the edge of my Lee 310. I'm sure that's what happened here as well. Smokes PC has been boolit proof for me.


I keep thinking my purple smash test looks like the Grimis had issues.