First attempts at powder coating

[Mcliff1971]

Made first attempts at powder coating some bullets I cast over the weekend. I used the dry tumble method with some plastic beads in the container. Didn't sift the first five before they went into the oven to cure. Made sure to sift the larger batch. Still lots to learn for sure!

Suggestions and feedback always appreciated!

Mike

[MyFlatline]

Looks like they are fully coated and not lumpy, so I'd say you did fine..

[upnorthwis]

I do them in bigger batches.

[WebMonkey]

i'd shoot them!

[fredj338]

Well done! I was late to coating, old school lube was what I knew. I doubt now I go back to lubes. Plated performance at cast bullet prices, whether HT or PC coated.

[Walter Laich]

Well done!

do you monitor temp? Looks like you are right on the money with them

welcome to the world of PC

[murf205]

Man, those look like candy!
Don't forget to let us know how they shoot. Good work.

[bedbugbilly]

I've ever PC'd -l bought some from a vendor here for my .380s and have some for my 9mm - I'm not only old school but just plain "old" I like loading the PC and they shoot very well. I'd say from the looks of yours, you did a fantastic job on them! While I don't know if I will ever get in to the PC, I want to get some to try out of my 30-30. You got quite a batch of them done and you can be real proud of them! Thanks for sharing!

[Mcliff1971]

Thank you for the feedback everyone! Regarding the monitoring temp question. The counter top convection oven I am using only goes down to 200F. So I pre-heated the bullets at 200F for 5 minutes. Then took them out and did the tumble coating. Once I thought they looked "covered" - I tumbled them around on a sifter for a short time, then put them back in the oven at 400F for 20 minutes.

[Hossfly]

I tried pre heating at 140’ once to get powder to stick. It didn’t go well, the powder stuck but too thick, and in a basket at that. Now just use an old Lyman vibrating tub for 5 min. Cold and bake with monitored oven temp at 400’ for 20 min. All standing like little solders, come out perfect each and every time. Then size load and shoot or store for later. Which ever method you use, as long as it works for you, I’d keep doing that and try improving on that.

[Mjdd23]

They look pretty nice. Some colors don't cover as well as others for me, yellow always gives me problems but as long as the coverage is complete and they pass the smash test even the ugly ones shoot fine. The more you do the better you'll get and before you know it you will have em in all different flavors! Keep it up you're doing good.

[murf205]

I tried the pre-heat too, with a resulting mess. It made a way too thick wad of ALMOST melted powder and boolits. IMHO you are better to find a plastic tub/bowl with the #5 in a triangle stamped to the bottom of it. Swirl the airsoft BB's and 2-3 tablespoons of powder round and round and occasionally up and down for a few minutes and it will coat boolits with the static produced by the right tub and motion. Pick 'em out with needle nose pliers and you're ready to cook.

[Huskerguy]

What brand of PC did you use?

[Chad5005]

they look great,load them up and see how they shoot,are you sizing after pc,ive been using eastwood powders but ordering smokes to try out

[Oily]

Mcliff Great first time! You must have read the posts on this site because your boolits look great! The guys on this site have figured it out and imparted there knowledge to us. And it works! I read all the posts about PC and did my first ones and they didn't quite look like yours but my 2nd try was better. Now if you size them right you will not have leading and have a clean bore and accuracy to boot! Kudos to you. And PS you can't go wrong with Smokes powder,every powder he has will tumble and give great coverage. His clear is awesome and you will probably never go back to colors. Oily

[murf205]

What brand of PC did you use?

I started off my powder coating adventure with Harbor Freight powder and it worked ok but then I tried some of Smoke4320 ( a member here) powder and boy, does it make a difference. The shake and bake method I use gets a lot better coverage with Smoke's powder and he gives you enough to powder coat a zillion boolits.Attachment 226447 Here is a 270 gr 44 boolit with his Carolina Blue color. The powder that caused the mess was HF powder, but I cant blame the brand of powder for the mistake I made. Just had a brain fart and tried a pre-heating experiment that didn't work.

[Mcliff1971]

I started off my powder coating adventure with Harbor Freight powder and it worked ok but then I tried some of Smoke4320 ( a member here) powder and boy, does it make a difference. The shake and bake method I use gets a lot better coverage with Smoke's powder and he gives you enough to powder coat a zillion boolits.Attachment 226447 Here is a 270 gr 44 boolit with his Carolina Blue color. The powder that caused the mess was HF powder, but I cant blame the brand of powder for the mistake I made. Just had a brain fart and tried a pre-heating experiment that didn't work.

Looks great. I will have to reach out to Smoke for some more info on his powder!