To stand or not to stand the bullets for the curing process?

[Phantom30]

It you are doing pistol bullets for use under 15 yards it does not matter a lot. However, for rifle bullets it matters. Concentricity is important
see this link for specifics examples for accuracy casting and coating.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...urate-Load-pt1

[DHDeal]

Like others, I am a stand up only guy. I don't load blasting close range handgun ammo, and while it may not make a difference in accuracy, I'll never know. I also uniform and clean primer pockets, keep brass trimmed, seat and crimp using different dies, and clean my guns after they are fired. I enjoy the whole process and that is what matters to me.

[Handloader109]

I've PC'd my 9mm bullets and my .223 bullets for a while. My little 22 tcm (37gr .223 bullet) I tumbled and tossed on a mat. Just tumble with no BBs. Works well. Did a few of my new NOE 230 gr .300 Blackout and I ended up laying on mat as they are tall and tipped too easily. So far, at 30yds, no issues with accuracy. but I can't stand the flats either. So I'm most probably just tumble lubing the rest with Ben's Red as they are subsonic. (no leading after a box or so) Just too easy and load easier than PCd.

[res45]

I stand mine up as well, I like the results. After I get the first 100 bullets or so in the oven I can have another 100 coated and placed on the tray easily before the first batch is done.

[P Flados]

I used to stand them up individually on a cooking sheet covered with NSAF.

I have moved on.

But they still end up cooking while standing.

My post from another thread (topic was humidity):

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I live in a location with lots of humidity (Southeast NC, ~ 5 miles from the Atlantic as the crow flies).

I use mostly the early standard approach, black ASBBs, a #5 plastic container and HF Red.

At times I really struggled with boolits needing L O N G shake/swirl sessions and still not getting good coverage.

I tried pre-warming boolits one humid day based on a suggestion from the forum. It worked.

Next few sessions were less humid & I skipped the pre-warm and got away with it. I kind of forgot about it until I had a few more sessions where getting the powder to stick was a pain.

Since then, I pre-warm most every time unless it is cool and real dry.

Preheating the boolits until very warm (120 °F to 140 °F) works for me every time. The first batch coats real good and real fast while they are still warm. Later in the same overall coating session, the boolits still coat good after they have cooled off. I think that getting them warm eliminates any hint of condensation or dampness on the boolits that kills the static buildup.

The only other improvements from the early days are in how I process the boolits from the powder to the cooking tray. I use forceps to toss the boolits upside down into the plastic trays that come with factory ammo boxes. I then flip the tray over onto a ~3" X ~7" piece of sheet metal covered with cloth & then slide the tray onto the aluminum cooking sheet. This wipes the powder off of the base and eliminates the need to use anti stick foil or parchment. It also lets me work faster & I can get 500 in one batch.

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[bruce drake]

first coat rifle bullets I coat and dump out onto the pan. Second coat of PC on the rifle bullet goes on after I put a gas check on and size I stand up for a smooth overcoat. Pistol bullets I stand up on first coat and don't bother with a second coat since my 9mm, 40 and 45 caliber pistol bullets are quite stable on their bases and they coat good enough for 25 yard line shooting.

[Smoke4320]

my bullets and the National Anthem are treated the same way

any found laying down on the job are SHOT !!!

[Schrag4]

I cast and coat for 9mm and I must stand them, too. I, personally, find that I can do it faster and easier by dropping them nose down into plastic ammo trays and then flipping them over onto the baking tray, as has been mentioned. If you haven’t tried it yet, you should give it a go to see if you like it. Major benefits include:
- know how many you’ve processed (50 per ammo tray)
- easier to drop nose down than to stand up
- easy to space densely on the baking tray
- if you only have one baking tray like me, it lets me keep loading ammo trays while the baking tray is cooking, which doubles throughput
These are not trivial, and there’s no downside that I can see.

[CASTER OF LEAD]

I have to stand mine all up.
I cannot stand to see a bare spot where powder is supposed to be.
I don't care if it works okay or not, I'm not doing it.

I agree 100% RFR. It just bothers me to no end seeing that little bare spot.- CASTER

[mozeppa]

it's like the national anthem ... they look better when they stand up.

[Plate plinker]

Schrag4 that’s genius. If I mill off the bottom from a factory ammo box I would have to even flip them boolits.

[Schrag4]

I can’t take credit, but I’m happy to pass it along.

[fredj338]

I cast and coat for 9mm and I must stand them, too. I, personally, find that I can do it faster and easier by dropping them nose down into plastic ammo trays and then flipping them over onto the baking tray, as has been mentioned. If you haven’t tried it yet, you should give it a go to see if you like it. Major benefits include:
- know how many you’ve processed (50 per ammo tray)
- easier to drop nose down than to stand up
- easy to space densely on the baking tray
- if you only have one baking tray like me, it lets me keep loading ammo trays while the baking tray is cooking, which doubles throughput
These are not trivial, and there’s no downside that I can see.

I read here about using ammo trays as jigs & it works great. I melted two together & flip 100 at a time. My wire baskets will hold 100+ this way & I can bake 4 trays at a pop. So it makes short work out of the shake & bake PC process.

[Wolftracker]

I use the shake and bake method and stand them up on a silicone mat using the nitrile gloves. Same for pistol bullets except I put them on parchment paper. The 176 grain rifle bullets in 308 (sized to .309) are getting 1.25" groups at 100 yds with 30 grains of IMR 3031. Pretty acceptable for me as an inexpensive practice round. They average between 1800 and 2000 fps. This is with alloy I'd fingernail guess to be around 16 bhn. It's possible I could up the velocity if I harden them more and get similar or better accuracy. I cast them in a Lee mold, size them to 308 and apply the gas check, then square up that gas check and slightly change the nose profile in a Corbin 6 Ogive point former swage die. Then I coat them and size again through a .309 Lee push through sizer. Good thing I'm not trying to make a living at this!

[RP]

Instead of using ammo trays loaded nose first then flipping I used to old wood loading trays I built a frame around to hold them together same thing just spacing is a little better for me.

[Lloyd Smale]

I dump them on parchment paper or non stick aluminum foil. they come out just fine.

[rsrocket1]

I've now dropped them into ammo trays then do the flip thing. Ammo trays are free and allow me to stand the bullets up about as dense as I'd like. 200 bullets per sheet for 9/38/40 and 150 per sheet with 45. I'm now loading up a sheet faster than I can bake them so I went to the Goodwill outlet store and picked up another Black and Decker toaster oven for $1.49/lb or about $3.50. This also has heat shields over and under the heating elements so the bullets/powder does not get a direct IR view of the heating elements.

[Dragonheart]

I found a brand new B&D toaster oven at the Goodwill and it is useless. The temp varies 50+ degrees, not worth the cost, time & effort to install a PID. I would suggest getting a Taylor Oven Guide thermometer and make a couple of test runs monitoring the temp before using it.

[Nines&Twos]

I stand all mine up. No coating on the base means nothing. Inconsistent coats on the side does.

Plus, if I’m spending my time to load something it will look flawless when I’m done or I’ll melt and recast. Anal & OCD? Maybe, but I only load to please myself so...

[Vern Humphrey]

I use a non-stick sheet and simply move the bullets around with nitrile gloves on -- to be sure none are touching. They all come out evenly coated.