Powder Coat PITA

[dverna]

I've been sizing and loobing my cast bullets for more than 50 years and at 72 years of age I determined that I do not, repeat, do not find nor feel a need to reinvent my particular wheel. It looks nice as a finished product but so far I haven't seen a color that will induce me to go to the extreme of PCing; either as in powder coating or politically correcting........

Yep...I feel the same way. Yet, for something like 9mm or .40 that are prone to lead, it may be worth it for some. And it could be useful for some rifle applications.

But like you, I have not found a need to even try it. Nothing is faster than the old Star and for smaller quantities there is BLL and push through dies.

I might do it when the granddaughter is old enough to shoot. Pretty might matter to her.

[Motor]

I don't bake in my house. Doesn't it stink up the entire house? I don't think the fumes are very healthy either.

BTW: I feel your pain but PC is just to good for me to EVER go back to lube.

Motor

[sparky45]

I've been sizing and loobing my cast bullets for more than 50 years and at 72 years of age I determined that I do not, repeat, do not find nor feel a need to reinvent my particular wheel. It looks nice as a finished product but so far I haven't seen a color that will induce me to go to the extreme of PCing; either as in powder coating or politically correcting........

I'm 72 and PC EVERYTHING I shoot; from 380 to 458 . I have a Lubesizer and I used it until I became one of the enlightened. Obviously PC'n isn't for everyone, but it's right for me.

[Motor]

I'm 72 and PC EVERYTHING I shoot; from 380 to 458 . I have a Lubesizer and I used it until I became one of the enlightened. Obviously PC'n isn't for everyone, but it's right for me.

I think it also has to do with what you used to lube with. I used to tumble lube. Everything that came into contact from ammo boxes to reloading dies had A-Lox stuck on it. There was so much of it in some of my seating dies that it would effect seating depth !!!

After trying PC and seeing how well it worked I dissembled all of my dies and cleaned all of the "pig snot" out of them and will never go back. All of my equipment including my guns stay as clean as if I was shooting J-word bullets. Plus as mentioned in other threads I'm casting one alloy and that is 12BHN (It can vary a little, I won't reject up to 14BHN) made with lead and Linotype. This alloy with PC is working for all of my needs from mouse farts to 500 S&W mag without gas checks in pistol. I am just getting ready to test super sonic rifle loads without gas checks. I've been shooting the sub-sonic rifle without gas checks even with the A-Lox.

This post is not a negative post about A-Lox as far as it's performance goes. It worked fine although some loads required a harder alloy. It's just the mess this type of lubing leaves behind and of course the smoke which really isn't bad if shooting out doors. Unless the wind is in your face.

I can see if you were using a lube system that only lubed the grooves the benefits of PC may not be enough to get you to change. I get it.

Motor

[farmerjim]

I was a grain inspector for 25 years. For each sample you handle 1,000 kernels of grain individually with a pair of forceps. I am still good with forceps and can stand them up good and fast. I PC andHi-Tek.
Hi-Tek is faster, PC is easier. I like both.

[fredj338]

One of the guys here showed us a fast & neat way by using factory ammo trays. It is faster to drop bullets in nose first & then invert a tray over 2-3 of them & flip them onto their bases. Perfectly standing bullets, way faster than picking them out & standing them up. I can get 100 per my wire baskets, 4 baskets at a time in the pizza oven. Beats standing them up & spraying.

[marek313]

Thank you for all your great suggestions. Keep them coming.
I dont see myself switching now from PC to anything else because I do like my PCed boolits. I might have to give wire basket another try. Since I normally do everything in my man cave (basement) which is freezing cold now I'm trying to figure out if I can move this operation to my recliner upstairs. Makes things little more complicated because I bake in the basement next to open window with a fan because there is little bit of smell coming off when you bake PC. That means that I would have to walk downstairs but as long as its only 9s and 45s i should be fine since they wont fall over the place like my Lee 312-155 normally would. Either way I'm sticking with PC. Works great so if its not broken ..... you know ....

[David2011]

For me the ergonomics have to be right or I find placing the coated boolits on the baking sheet to be tiring and painful. The more I have to lift my arms, the worse it is, getting a deep burn between my shoulders. I like to get the freshly coated boolits and the baking tray as low as possible, just above the level of my legs. I move the boolits from the "dump" tray to the baking tray and stand them up with a pair of Harbor Freight hemostats with a minimum of motion and a minimum of raising my hands and arms. I can go several hours with good ergonomics; poop out in an hour or two if not.

[marek313]

For me the ergonomics have to be right or I find placing the coated boolits on the baking sheet to be tiring and painful. The more I have to lift my arms, the worse it is, getting a deep burn between my shoulders. I like to get the freshly coated boolits and the baking tray as low as possible, just above the level of my legs. I move the boolits from the "dump" tray to the baking tray and stand them up with a pair of Harbor Freight hemostats with a minimum of motion and a minimum of raising my hands and arms. I can go several hours with good ergonomics; poop out in an hour or two if not.

Oh man i feel like we are exactly in the same boat. That deep burn kills me to the point where I'm on the floor rolling around because as you all know I had to finish that batch right ?
So last night I took all my stuff upstairs and parked it in front of my recliner on a small stool which is just above my knees in hight when I'm sitting down. I did 3 trays (over 500 boolits) and even sized half of those before it got too late and I had to wrap things up. But guess what? NO PAIN AT ALL
I could have kept going all night probably. I always knew good ergonomics are important but this was really night and day difference.
I have bad disks in my neck and lower back so certain motions cause that deep burn David was talking about after many repetitions. Every now and then I find motions that trigger that burn so I have to find alternative and sometimes creative ways of getting things done.
I'm happy I found painless way of PCing now lets see what my wife says when I shake, shake, shake .... shake those boolits .... in front of the TV next to her. I can tell you my daughter was not a fan and complained but she was quickly over ruled. My wife will be a different story though as i know she'll put up a fight but thats what I love about her. Our relationship is anything but boring lol. Even when we fight its never that serious and always end the same way at the end of the day. Its either make up sex or angry sex so hey its a win - win for me

[David2011]

That's awesome news. Glad it helped.

David

[Jayhawkhuntclub]

Give me tumble lube, or give me death! Maybe some day I will get bored enough to try it.
But what ever works for you!

[fastdadio]

For picking out the boolits, I use a pair of spring loaded pliers. Very easy to use, like these;
https://www.amazon.com/TEKTON-3504-5...le+nose+pliers

[CASTER OF LEAD]

I dump them from the shake container into a little pan to separate the powder and BB's.
then from that into another container I pick them out of and stand up.
I hold the container down lower and move the bullets up onto the tray from there.
it is about work ergonomics.

boring is one thing boring and painful is something else.

I have to agree with your sentiments fiver. Took me a bit of trial and painful error to get my set up worker friendly. - CASTER