Double coat PC?

[gareth96]

I've seen people mention double coating their PC boolits.. What does double coating get you? I'm not having any leading issues though I do have some 'bare' spots on the boolits. However, the bare spots seem to have a clear coat on them like lacquer. Using Smokes JD green..

[tucumcari_kid]

I've seen people mention double coating their PC boolits.. What does double coating get you? I'm not having any leading issues though I do have some 'bare' spots on the boolits. However, the bare spots seem to have a clear coat on them like lacquer. Using Smokes JD green..

I double coat with some PC brands/colors because it doesn't coat well or evenly. It is difficult to know exactly what is covered completely. I also double coat if I want a thicker coat, for instance if the bullet is slightly undersized. In ordinary circumstances what I have seen is that it isn't necessary. For me it is more a matter of what is asthetically pleasing or "looks" fully covered. I trust that the bullets are often covered where there may appear to be a little or no coverage. But I want my bullets to look nice in case there are any super models at the range. I want my bullets to look their best.... LOL that last sentence was probably pointless to the discussion...

[Hossfly]

I’ve never double coated any on purpose. I think it would be just for looks, as it’s going to double the thickness and for me would make it harder to size. If the boolit needs to be bigger for better fit in barrel,it would be beneficial.

[bruce drake]

On some of my PC Bullets if I know I am going to be shooting for high velocity, I will do a 2nd coat over the gas checked bullet to ensure the check stays with the bullet during its flight and that there is plenty of PC on the bullet for the trip down the barrel.

Pistol bullets and plinking loads only get one coat and it works fine for that. I just consider it a second level of insurance for a lead bullet attempting to go faster that 2100fps.

[Dragonheart]

I doble coat rifle bullets to increase the thickness of the polymer. If I have a powder that will not tumble coat in a single coat I do a preheat to increase the coating bond & thickness. If I have a powder that will not give me a one coat coverage with a preheat I either throw the power away or use it to spray other items.

To double coat or multiple coats, do a "Partial Cure" on the first coat/s, meaning heat the powder to the point of a good flow, usually about 250 degrees F then stop the process and cool. Then do your 2nd or final coat and cure as normal. I usually do a color first coat on rifle bulets then spray a clear 2nd coat that seals/bonds the gas check. Using this process multiple coats flow and bond together.

[oconeedan]

Could be used for making undersized bullets fit oversize throats.

[Tonto]

I once tried double coating to use 9mm cast bullet in. 9mm Makarov and it worked...it was the LEE 90 gr made for the 380, for 7 yd shooting it worked great and no leading. Someone mentioned making your bullets look good, I'm with you, the entire loaded round should look good too, I'm proud of the work.

[Dragonheart]

Could be used for making undersized bullets fit oversize throats.

Indeed double coating works for this, but most importantly for me is building up a thicker jacket on rifle bullets so the hard and tough polymer jacket is engaging the rifling and resisting torque spinup. Most rifling is approximately .004" deep. A thicker jacket allows for a softer alloy core.

[Leadmad]

I doble coat rifle bullets to increase the thickness of the polymer. If I have a powder that will not tumble coat in a single coat I do a preheat to increase the coating bond & thickness. If I have a powder that will not give me a one coat coverage with a preheat I either throw the power away or use it to spray other items.

To double coat or multiple coats, do a "Partial Cure" on the first coat/s, meaning heat the powder to the point of a good flow, usually about 250 degrees F then stop the process and cool. Then do your 2nd or final coat and cure as normal. I usually do a color first coat on rifle bulets then spray a clear 2nd coat that seals/bonds the gas check. Using this process multiple coats flow and bond together.

Do you size between the first and second coat ? Thanks

[Dragonheart]

For rifle bullets I typically spray my first coat, partial cure, then size/seat the gas check. Then spray a clear coat and cure. I made a tray to hold the gas check base and keep the base clean so I don't have to fight to get the checks seated properly.

[Leadmad]

For rifle bullets I typically spray my first coat, partial cure, then size/seat the gas check. Then spray a clear coat and cure. I made a tray to hold the gas check base and keep the base clean so I don't have to fight to get the checks seated properly.

Ok thanks will try that on my next batch 30/30 pills

Cheers

[Lloyd Smale]

one coat is all you need if you have quality pc and do it right. I use smokes powder and have recovered hundreds of bullets shot into the snow some at up to 2800 fps. Some that even had splotchy look pc and NONE of them ever showed bare lead in where the rifling engaged the pc. I do my coating mostly in a tumbler and also have in a plastic container. I know abosulutely nothing about the spray applications but if your doing it the tumbling way and need more then one coat then your just not tumbling or shaking enough or your using inferior paint.

[Baltimoreed]

Can you do a double coat with pc shake and bake or is it only a spray operation only? I have an old .450 pistol mould [I don’t know how large the boolits will actually cast out as] that I want to try with the idea of pc’in them to make them bigger.

[popper]

Yes ed, cook to just get flow then recoat (after cooling) will give thicker coat. Depends on your load and alloy as to it working in your pistol.

[rcslotcar]

Double coat with different colors for effects.

[Conditor22]

Guys, don't get hung up on just one color.
most of the times mixing a good coating PC with a not so good one will help the not so good one and give you an interesting color (this does not include HF PC).

Most whites and light colors need 2 coats ASBBDT to get a good appearance but are fully protected and will shoot without leading with one coat.

[Lloyd Smale]

ya I mix smokes mustard and black to get od green. the mustard holds up to high velocity better then the black and if I mix them 5050 they hold up and I like the green.

[Willbird]

ya I mix smokes mustard and black to get od green. the mustard holds up to high velocity better then the black and if I mix them 5050 they hold up and I like the green.

Does anybody have any definitive testing on the Smoke PC colors that shows one color working better than another once applied ??

Not calling anybody out .....just curious.

I got the Bacon Grease on my first buy because folks claim it is better, but will do some testing later with color being the only change and see if I can honestly see any truth to that.

Bill

[gareth96]

I'd like to see the results of that..

Also was wondering.. on the double coat.. what about sizing between coats? Just get flow, let cool, size, recoat? (I see someone asked this above, but no answers).

[Dragonheart]

Instead of speculating I would suggest going to the source. Maybe Smoke can give you the specs on his powders. I was originally told by a PhD polymer chemist that the solid color polyesters should should give me what I was looking for and I should look for 2H or harder in the specs.

I realize some have had success in mixing powders for PC bullets, but I only tried it once and I ended up with coating that was softer than either of the individual polymers. The smash test only demonstrates the bond and the elasticity of the coating, it does not indicate the hardness. Use the scrape test to check the hardness. BTW: Charles Darnall the FreeChex man came up with the scrape test, simple and it works.

Yes, as single PC bonds protects and lubricates, but the reason I was told .003" build out was for a thicker coat to form a stable polymer jacket for higher velocity rifle bullets. Think about it, copper plating vs a copper jacket. I was asking about resisting the force of torque spin-up of a 30/06 with 50K chamber pressure. When you consider rifling is approximately .004" it seemed logical to me. I don't shoot a lot of rifle anymore, but when I do I am not interested in shooting at low velocity and short ranges. My goal was to make an accurate PC rifle bullet capable of full power velocities. The PC worked, but the non-concentric cast bullets are the problem.

I only do a single coat for all my handgun and carbine bullets, but it is a good single coat and I have not had any problems. You can indeed do a partial cure tumble coating, especially if you do a pre-heat.

The reason I spray GC bullets is the tray you see in my photo has holes reamed to size to accecpt the gas check bullets base, so the the bullets are held upright with the base in a hole, so the check area is masked off and left bare. To do this I have to spray the first coat, but can tumble the second coat. I have never felt the need to size between coats as this only increased the chance of contamination.

Also you need to understand that PC bullets is still new ground and even more so when I started in 2012. I was addressing my questions to highly qualified individuals about the use of polymers, there was no testing and certainly no data about coating bullets. The answers I received were based on their knowledge of the polymer's properties and is their speculations of what they believed the polymer was capable of for coating bullets. However, with their knowledge of polymers and the physics of ballistics I believed then their best guess was a whole lot better than mine. What experience I have had with PC bullets over the years proves out what they told me works.

To my knowledge there is still no bullet PC test data out there, not to say it doesn't exist, since Federal introduced their successful line of PC bullets. However, I doubt Federal is going to post anything to encourage individual PC of bullets. So we are left with exchanging information among ourselves, but that seems to be working.