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Thread: Work for any???

  1. #1
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Work for any???

    I've only started doing powder coat.
    I like it.
    Only loaded 30 Carbine so far.
    Are there any boolets/loads/calibers, that don't like PC????

  2. #2
    Boolit Master

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    Just got started here, too, and can't offer any suggestions on loads as yet. Started with 9mm, .45 ACP, .41 Mag. and .223. Have the boolits powder coated and ready to go but haven't gotten around to do the testing yet. Have non-powder coated loads (with regular lube in lube grooves), powder coated plus lube in the lube grooves, and just powder coated (without conventional lube in lube grooves) to test. Boolit sizing is by way of a Star lubesizer. Want to see what each will do on the target and in the barrel of each firearm. My reasoning is this should tell me all I need to know regarding the viability of powder coating. Using Smoke's clear with black BBs he sells and applying powder by way of a 2 lb gunpowder cannister (with # 2 in a triangle on the base of the container) in my air-conditioned, de-humidified basement. No problems at all getting the powder to stick. Pre-heating convection oven to 400 degrees before placing boolits in oven and cooking for 15 minutes at that temperature outside. Alloy is clip-on wheel weight with tin added for good fill-out of boolits in the moulds and water dropped from the moulds. Also water drop after powder coat curing in the oven. Boolits come apart from each other with little to no difficulty. Do not stand up boolits for heat curing. Dump coated boolits onto stainless mesh tray and shake excess powder and BBs onto piece of cardboard. Smash tests have proven powder coating is adhering as it should. Only thing remaining now is to do the testing. Will get to that as soon as I can. Wife had spinal surgery on 7/23/18 and is still in rehab so my get-away time is nearly non-existent, though it does allow me to run to the basement and powder coat and prepare another caliber for later. Big Boomer

  3. #3
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Majority of my shooting is rifle.
    Gas checked, long boolets.
    Standing them up just makes me feel better.
    So far, I'm liking PC boolets.

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    I'm PCing the RCBS 30-180-SP for military bolt matches (dressed wt is 187 gr). Rifle is an as issued 03-A3 (CMP issue) that has over 6K rounds of nothing but cast through it. PC is Smoke's clear and Gator checked. Boolit is loaded over 22.0/IMR4227 in LCNM 78 cases that have in excess of 25 loadings. These cases are well cared for and dedicated only to that particular rifle and only for the military bolt match. Last match a couple weeks ago I shot a 293-11X/300 on SR-21 at 100 yards - not a match winner, but not bad either (considering my eyesight at 68). My third score target was a 99-6X with a 9-shot group ~1.3", tenth shot was my fault - in the 9 ring. No need to hot rod this load as all targets are shot at 100 yds. I see great potential. If my other two score targets were like the third (which I've done before when eyesight was better), it would have won the match.

    Oh, one other thing. I weight sort these boolits to cull light weights and heavy weights. Match boolits are center of the bell curve, usually about +/- 0.05 gr. Seems to reduce flyers significantly. Culls are used for barrel warmers or recycled.

    I've also been playing around with the RCBS 7.62-123-SPL in 7.62x39 and 300 BO, both in ARs. Loads are adequate to insure consistent feed and function in each and accuracy is acceptable enough to warrant further workups. These boolits were PC'd with Smoke's blue, GC'd and sized accordingly.
    It ain't rocket science, it's boolit science.

  5. #5
    Boolit Master
    Dragonheart's Avatar
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    All handgun calibers work well with PC bullets. The problems show up with cast rifle bullets, but it is not the powder coating it is the fact that a cast bullet comes out of the mold lopsided. Meaning it is not a concentric bullet, so loading full power PC loads, accuracy drops off significantly past 50 yards as with all as cast bullets. Some have had great success getting past this handicap, but for that information you need to read some old posts.

  6. #6
    Boolit Grand Master
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    I size they before PCing.
    Then size again after.
    Is it the coating the makes it lopsided????
    So far I've only done .30 carbine.
    Short and light.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master

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    I haven't found any calibers that don't like PC. BUT>>>I have found some bullets that don't like it. The ones that I'm talking about are the long nosed bore riders. They are often just a bit too big if you coat them. Then you need to have a nose sizer for the front end of the bullet as well as the main body.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by abunaitoo View Post
    I size they before PCing.
    Then size again after.
    Is it the coating the makes it lopsided????
    So far I've only done .30 carbine.
    Short and light.
    No the coating doesn't have anything to do with it. It is just the physics of casting. Take a cast rifle bullet, since they are longer, and roll it on a concentricity gauge if you have one and watch the dial caliper move several thousands meaning the bullet is not concentric (lopsided). When a non-concentric bullet is fired at a point it is going to start to wobble. Once the wobble starts it is only going to get worse and there in lies the problem. Now compare with a jacketed match bullet; You will find it is about as concentric as it gets.

    When you size no matter how many times you do it, you are only sizing the bands, not the entire bullet.
    Last edited by Dragonheart; 09-19-2018 at 10:16 AM.

  9. #9
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by jimb16 View Post
    I haven't found any calibers that don't like PC. BUT>>>I have found some bullets that don't like it. The ones that I'm talking about are the long nosed bore riders. They are often just a bit too big if you coat them. Then you need to have a nose sizer for the front end of the bullet as well as the main body.
    I would suggest you read some of the old posts, mainly, "Accuracy at 350 yards" where this is discussed. Actually it is the bore rider design that has proven to be the most accurate, but sizing a lopsided bullet is not a simple task.

  10. #10
    Boolit Master

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    My point was that the round may not chamber due to getting oversized by the PC. It has nothing to do with the long nose design or not being concentric. We all know that inherently bore riders are among the most accurate bullets.

  11. #11
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by jimb16 View Post
    My point was that the round may not chamber due to getting oversized by the PC. It has nothing to do with the long nose design or not being concentric. We all know that inherently bore riders are among the most accurate bullets.
    Yes, your point is well taken, the coating will most definitely increase the diameter of a bullet and a bore rider design is more problematic. This is the reason sizing is so important, but a two step sizing process still leaves you with a non-concentric bullet. This is the reason I believe swaging is the answer to full power accuracy.

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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