MidSouth Shooters SupplyLoad DataRotoMetals2Lee Precision
WidenersRepackboxPBcastcoInline Fabrication
Titan Reloading Reloading Everything
Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 21 to 34 of 34

Thread: Any tricks for getting old PC too stick?

  1. #21
    Boolit Master
    Dragonheart's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Katy, Texas
    Posts
    2,705
    I put the plastic bags containing powder into glass jars that seal air tight and store them in the freezer of my garage frost free frig at a little over zero F. Just used some old green powder I purchased back in 2012 and it coated just fine. Many things will keep almost indefinitely below freezing and the below freezing air is about as dry as I will ever see it here. I figured I would try cold storage on powder, so far it works for me. The Humidity doesn't get much higher than here on the Gulf Coast.

    As already stated do a preheat on the bullets; I have never seen this not work, assuming your bullets are clean.

  2. #22
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    5,491
    Can I put my exist sting powder in the freezer to remover the moisture? And if so for how long? I would think when removing the PC from the freezer what ever it was in would frost up and get moisture from in it right away again?

  3. #23
    Boolit Master
    Dragonheart's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Katy, Texas
    Posts
    2,705
    What got me to thinking about freezing powder was if air/moisture is the enemy of powder; to eliminate moisture from compressor air, refrigeration is used to dry the air because cold air is dry air, so why not use the same concept to store the powder? I have been told plastic bags are not the best way to keep out air so I use plastic bags & glass. I just try to push out all the air possible before closing the plastic bag.

    When I get in new powder I do the above and store it immediately, so I don't know if a freezer would be the answer to remove moisture and restore powder, but if the powder isn't working anyway, why not try it?

    When I take a jar out of the frig moisture in the ambient air is will condense on the outside of the glass jar. I don't open the cold container immediately. I remove the jar first then get everything else set up to PC. I remove the powder I am going to use then reseal the bag and store. If I am spraying I just leave the left over powder in the gun's plastic bottle and place the bottle in the frig. So far spraying from the bottles at a later date hasn't been a problem. I haven't tried to make any storage comparisons (plastic bags vs plastic bottles vs glass jars, etc.) because what I first started doing works for me and that was 6 years ago.

  4. #24
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    SW Florida
    Posts
    716
    I guess I got lucky. I posted a thread on here quite some time ago about some free powder I got from a friend that was 10 years old or more and had been stored outside under a tarp. It went thru at least a couple of tropical storms and maybe even a hurricane or two, but still worked fine for me. crazy, I know.

  5. #25
    Boolit Mold
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Location
    CA
    Posts
    24
    I picked up a couple ounces of excess blue powder from a local painter and it worked about as well as one coat of Harbor Freight White I found that cleaning the bullets with Acetone first and preheating them to 100 degrees gave adequate coverage, I water quenched these bullets maybe I have bad water??. I typically use smokes powder and tumble with BB's, even after two years of his powder hanging out in the house they still coat like magic.

  6. #26
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Location
    Wilmington NC
    Posts
    1,437
    As I was reading the various responses in this thread, I was thinking that a lot of guys are making this harder than it needs to be.

    I previously recommended pre-warming.

    I realized that I had an opportunity to do a "quick & easy" demonstration that may get through to those reluctant to try pre-warming.

    I use HF red. I keep it in my garage & take no special efforts to keep it dry. I am about 25% into my second pound. Note that I also re-use the left over powder in my shaker container at the beginning of each session.

    We have had a very wet summer here in Wilmington NC. I can not even remember the last day when it did not rain. Between rains, water is oozing from everyone's yard and leaving puddles on the edges of the roads.

    I went out into the garage with a batch of Lee 44 cal SWCs. Turns out the batch was 285 boolits.

    I tossed the boolits into a metal tray and put them in my oven. I left it on for 1.5 minutes (readout was 150°F at this point) and then turned off power to the heating element. The readout slowly went up to 200 °F after I secured power and then started coming back down. I left the boolits in the oven for 3 additional minutes with no power. I tried to measure boolit temp and estimated it at 117 °F

    I put a handfull in the shaker container with my black airsoft BBs and old powder. I would normally have added some more powder as there was not a lot left, but I did not just to see what would happen. I did a 15 seconds "swirl" and then did an up and down shake. I found the coverage "ok".

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	IMG_20180802_193754043.jpg 
Views:	27 
Size:	80.6 KB 
ID:	224898

    I tossed the boolits nose down into one of the trays that come with factory ammo (a range pickup, I never buy ammo). I do this as quick as I can with no special efforts of any kind. I then invert the tray with a "cover plate" and slide them off on the the cook tray covered with parchment paper (it works much better for me than the NSAF did)

    I did another two rounds in the shaker container with the old powder and then added powder. With added powder, the coverage was great with a 15 second swirl. Here is the second round with the added powder.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	IMG_20180802_194902415.jpg 
Views:	32 
Size:	62.5 KB 
ID:	224899

    I finshed out the full batch. Here they are ready to load into the oven.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	IMG_20180802_195923092.jpg 
Views:	30 
Size:	67.1 KB 
ID:	224900

    I did my normal "cook for 15 minutes after the readout reaches 350°F" and then secure power. I left them in the over for an additional 3 minutes, then took them out. Scooped them off the cook tray and here is the result:

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	IMG_20180802_202524438.jpg 
Views:	40 
Size:	90.0 KB 
ID:	224901
    Last edited by P Flados; 08-02-2018 at 10:23 PM.

  7. #27
    Banned
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Posts
    2,725
    Quote Originally Posted by P Flados View Post
    As I was reading the various responses in this thread, I was thinking that a lot of guys are making this harder than it needs to be.

    I previously recommended pre-warming.

    I realized that I had an opportunity to do a "quick & easy" demonstration that may get through to those reluctant to try pre-warming.

    I use HF red. I keep it in my garage & take no special efforts to keep it dry. I am about 25% into my second pound. Note that I also re-use the left over powder in my shaker container at the beginning of each session.

    We have had a very wet summer here in Wilmington NC. I can not even remember the last day when it did not rain. Between rains, water is oozing from everyone's yard and leaving puddles on the edges of the roads.

    I went out into the garage with a batch of Lee 44 cal SWCs. Turns out the batch was 285 boolits.

    I tossed the boolits into a metal tray and put them in my oven. I left it on for 1.5 minutes (readout was 150°F at this point) and then turned off power to the heating element. The readout slowly went up to 200 °F after I secured power and then started coming back down. I left the boolits in the oven for 3 additional minutes with no power. I tried to measure boolit temp and estimated it at 117 °F

    I put a handfull in the shaker container with my black airsoft BBs and old powder. I would normally have added some more powder as there was not a lot left, but I did not just to see what would happen. I did a 15 seconds "swirl" and then did an up and down shake. I found the coverage "ok".

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	IMG_20180802_193754043.jpg 
Views:	27 
Size:	80.6 KB 
ID:	224898

    I tossed the boolits nose down into one of the trays that come with factory ammo (a range pickup, I never buy ammo). I do this as quick as I can with no special efforts of any kind. I then invert the tray with a "cover plate" and slide them off on the the cook tray covered with parchment paper (it works much better for me than the NSAF did)

    I did another two rounds in the shaker container with the old powder and then added powder. With added powder, the coverage was great with a 15 second swirl. Here is the second round with the added powder.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	IMG_20180802_194902415.jpg 
Views:	32 
Size:	62.5 KB 
ID:	224899

    I finshed out the full batch. Here they are ready to load into the oven.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	IMG_20180802_195923092.jpg 
Views:	30 
Size:	67.1 KB 
ID:	224900

    I did my normal "cook for 15 minutes after the readout reaches 350°F" and then secure power. I left them in the over for an additional 3 minutes, then took them out. Scooped them off the cook tray and here is the result:

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	IMG_20180802_202524438.jpg 
Views:	40 
Size:	90.0 KB 
ID:	224901
    That is exactly how easy it works for me here in Wisconsin...IN THE WINTER!!!!. But in the Summer... barely get a bit of a pink coat, no matter what I do. Must be more than just humidity causing the lack of static buildup.

  8. #28
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    5,491
    I'm thinking my contaminated PC I have will dry out and work fine once it gets to single digits in a few months. I'll just make sure I store it in some of my canning jars when there's snow on the ground. I'm getting coverage close to the Hf red above now...that's not great coverage. I can see dark lead through it.


    You can see some of PC boolits on my home page I tumbled when it's dry in my house with 30 seconds of tumbling they look like a show car. Nice thick even coverage. It's just too humid here in Wisconsin right now. I just went out for 15 minutes To do some yard work and it looked like I took a bath being its so humid.
    Last edited by Tripplebeards; 08-04-2018 at 01:13 PM.

  9. #29
    Boolit Mold
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    SW FL
    Posts
    22
    No idea if these ideas would work, but I'd try them with my own powder if I needed to dry it out.

    #1) Put powder in shallow dish like a pie pan, place in oven, turn on oven light, and let sit overnight. I'd try with a small sample first just in case it turns into a lump.

    #2) Use a food dehydrator/brass dryer.

    Swamp

  10. #30
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    5,491
    Fresh powder arrived the other day. I was afraid to use it since its been so humid. I immediately put it in a canning jar intact in its original bags. Yesterday I was brave enough to try the clear. I had the ac on and it still was very humid in my house. I was even sweating with the temp at 78 because of the present humidity.

    The clear went on a little clumpy but baked on smooth as glass. I did 11lbs and 11 oz of boolits with no issues other than I will be baking them on my mesh trays from now on. There was a little lip of excess PC around the bases that didn't like my GC to go over. My boolits always get banged up when tumbling as you can see but the clear fills in all the scratches and makes them smooth as glass. I had a good day of casting. 9lbs 6 oz of these hp weighed from 257.0 gr to 258.0gr...within 1 grain. I have so many that were close in weight I think I'm going to divide them into .5 gr increments and test my most accurate load to see if it tightens up my group.





    Last edited by Tripplebeards; 08-06-2018 at 04:49 PM.

  11. #31
    Boolit Master
    Dragonheart's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Katy, Texas
    Posts
    2,705
    When I do hollow points I spray them for a PC finish about as good as it gets. I just set the bullets on my "Bed of Nails" to spray. I made the tray from some scrap sheet steel and some nails inserted through predrilled holes then tack welded on the back side. A sheet of aluminum foil pushed down over the nails before spraying allows the tray to go directly into the oven. After cooking just discard the foil. This process also keeps the powder from building up in the HP cavity.
    Attachment 225112Attachment 225113

  12. #32
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    5,491
    I like the set up! Going to have to invest in a sprayer and air compressor some day. It will save the dings and dents from tumbling.

  13. #33
    Boolit Master
    Dragonheart's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Katy, Texas
    Posts
    2,705
    You don't need much of an air compressor to deliver a constant 20 psi for the gun. When it comes to an inexpensive PC gun I recommend the Eastwood Dual Voltage Gun and a bunch of extra bottles. The Harbor Freight gun is cheaper, but for a little more the Eastwood is much better way to go.

  14. #34
    Boolit Master rsrocket1's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    DFW, TX
    Posts
    1,178
    Since the powder is already contaminated with moisture and you have nothing to lose, try this:

    Get a ziplock bag and put a half cup of powder into it.

    Grab a handful of white rice and put it in the bag. Mix well.

    After a week or 2, try powder coating some bullets with it. You don't even have to sift out the rice, the powder will either stick to the bullets or not.

Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check