Anyone try Electroplating?

[kavemankel]

Has anyone tried electroplating their own bullets.
I have done it before with pretty good results using a good reliable variable voltage DC power source.
I sized them after plating with great results in 9mm and 40 cal.
Just did not develop it where I could do hundreds of them.

[charlie b]

I was going to until I saw that there is a velocity limit on plated bullets. Berry's and Rainier both limit velocity to 1500fps with their thick plating.

[jdfoxinc]

I'm going to convert one of my Frankfort rotary media separators into a barrel plater. I'm going to use copper acetate instead of copper sulfate and acid. I still need a rotissory set up. I have the power source, ss wire and range pickup jacketed bullets for one of my copper sources.

[Dragonheart]

I have played some with zinc plating some tools, but never considered bullets. The price of Berry plated bullets would make it hard to justify and would you end up wit as good a bullet?

[djryan13]

I got a cheap copper plating and silver plating kit to make “silver bullets”. Poor results using cast bullets but when I went straight to silver plating of FMJ bullets, it looked great. Can’t silver plate cast bullets. Need to copper plate first which was not great with the cheap systems.

[Dragonheart]

So far nothing comes close to equaling powder coating for creating a jacket.

[Mytmousemalibu]

I can tell you that you can push the Berry's thick plated a little bit harder than advertised if you are careful not to damage the plating. You'll see lead swirls on the targets if you shed plating

[Dragonheart]

Yes, I have shot Berry Bullets over 1400 fps without issue, but I wouldn't recommend going more that that. I know PC will go 3500+ fps without issue. My best 9mm Ransom Rest 5 shot 25 yard group with a 115 grain Berry bullet running at an average of 1170 fps. from a S&W 1911 Elite

[GregLaROCHE]

Has anyone compared the costs of plating to powder coating ?

[BrutalAB]

Lets see....
Powder coat setup cost:
30$ toaster oven
3$? Black airsoft bb
1$? Some trash #5 container

Recurring costs:
16$? Pound of powder. That will coat like 10000 boolits.

Pretty sure nothing is gonna come close $ wise.

One may have an argument if time is not discounted.

[PBaholic]

I tried small scale, wrapping each lead boolit in a copper wire and plating, it worked well.

I bought a barrel plater, and have not gotten it to work right. Either my solution or the voltage isn't right, as I was taking forever, and the coating was not durable. For now I've shelved the idea, but I just found out my cheap Harbor Freight Red isn't made anymore, so I might revisit this.

[Dragonheart]

Highly unlikely, but assuming I did everything right and got the DIY bullet plating to work and ended up with a bullet as good as Berry's plated bullets, I would still have a plated bullet and not a jacketed bullet. When I powder coat I have a jacketed bullet, that can be loaded to maxium, is faster, slicker and leaves my barrel without copper fouling, something a plated bullet cannot do.

[PBaholic]

Has anyone compared the costs of plating to powder coating ?

It ain't cheap. Barrel platers are expensive.

I recall seeing a video, where all they were using was a plastic tub being rotated by a BBQ rotisserie motor. Very simple, and it appeared to work.

[45Reverse]

Highly unlikely, but assuming I did everything right and got the DIY bullet plating to work and ended up with a bullet as good as Berry's plated bullets, I would still have a plated bullet and not a jacketed bullet. When I powder coat I have a jacketed bullet, that can be loaded to maxium, is faster, slicker and leaves my barrel without copper fouling, something a plated bullet cannot do.

I'm not dogging powder coating (I use it too) but this just isn't true...I recently finished casting and plating these 5.56 rounds and shot 10 of them into test media (box full of wet paper) at 3165 fps. I used published VV N530 load data for FMJs.


No leading, no copper fouling, no exploded or keyholed bullets.

It took this machine, a 30+ bhn alloy, and a very specific plating solution to do it. There is .011" of work hardened copper on these bullets. They dropped from the mold at .210. Repeated plating/sizing iterations make it possible to apply very heavy layers of plating.



Accuracy workups are next, but right here I have an AR-capable cast bullet that needs no GC, no lube, no reduced charge, no case fillers...nothing but FMJ load data

[Idz]

45R What is your plating solution? Why a 30Bhn alloy? What electrodes do you use?
I had thought of a similar system but using an aluminum screen rotating bucket (copper doesn't plate on it) for electrical contact and using plastic BBs as cushioning between the bullets. Never tried it out because PC was easy and worked fine for pistol rounds.

[45Reverse]

45R What is your plating solution? Why a 30Bhn alloy? What electrodes do you use?
I had thought of a similar system but using an aluminum screen rotating bucket (copper doesn't plate on it) for electrical contact and using plastic BBs as cushioning between the bullets. Never tried it out because PC was easy and worked fine for pistol rounds.

I use an alkaline based plating solution. Tried hard to make acid based solutions work but learned there is a fundamental chemical reaction that happens between lead and sulfuric acid that makes it extremely difficult to get decent molecular bonding of the plated copper.

The super hard alloy gives structural integrity to bullet. Normal FMJs have a soft lead core but their jacket metal is harder and thicker so they are strong enuf to survive a trip down the barrel at 3000 fps and bazillion rpms...Plated copper is softer and thinner than jacket metal so I make up for that difference using a very hard base alloy.

My anodes are just bent and flattened 1/2" OD copper pipe.

An aluminum basket would contaminate both acid based and alkaline based plating solutions. Don't use it Stick w/ plastic. I swiped mine out of a salad spinner, works great.

I don't think you'd need to add a cushioning agent (plastic BBs) unless you were casting very soft lead.

[edit]- Neat anecdote: The alloy is so hard and moving so fast it had some really interesting terminal ballistics. Got another thread going in the cast boolit forum about it.

[jdfoxinc]

I plan 9n using my Frank fort Arsenal media separator and a rotisserie motor. Hanging ss wires from the rotisserie axle. One onthe outside for electric contact, multiple inside basket touching bullets. Going to make copper acetate with equal parts white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide for the solution.

instructables.com/id/High-Quality-Copper-Plating/

[Dragonheart]

45Reverse, I applaud your efforts and by no means intend to minimize your accomplishments, but it would appear what you are doing is not a typically plated bullet and that is what my comments addressed. However, I assure you a copper coated or the best commercial copper jacketed bullet you can buy will leave a deposit of copper inside the barrel. Just because it is not visible to the eye does not mean it is not there. Regardless of how hard the copper is, it is softer that the barrel steel and deposits will be left. I don't see this as a problem any more that shooting commercial jacketed bullets.

I you are plating cast bullets I am curious as to what steps you have taken to insure your bullets concentric?

[45Reverse]

45Reverse, I applaud your efforts and by no means intend to minimize your accomplishments, but it would appear what you are doing is not a typically plated bullet and that is what my comments addressed. However, I assure you a copper coated or the best commercial copper jacketed bullet you can buy will leave a deposit of copper inside the barrel. Just because it is not visible to the eye does not mean it is not there. Regardless of how hard the copper is, it is softer that the barrel steel and deposits will be left. I don't see this as a problem any more that shooting commercial jacketed bullets.

I you are plating cast bullets I am curious as to what steps you have taken to insure your bullets concentric?

...and PC is harder than the barrel, so it won't leave invisible deposits? You are correct, it's no more a problem than any FMJ, HiTek, or PC bullet is.

Federal has had a plated 5.56 bullet out for years. Full velocity too.

Alkaline plating solutions are "typical"...and infinitely reusable. Buy once, use forever. They're also reasonably priced, you just have to know where to look.

I size my bullets to make sure they're concentric, the same as you and everybody else does I imagine (Y)

[edit]- To be clear, alkaline solutions are very tricky to make on your own. Basically impossible unless you have a really nice lab. Acid solutions are easily made at home, so in that sense one could argue alkaline isn't "typical"...but given you can readily buy it by the gallon online and it lasts forever, I call it "typical".

[45Reverse]

I would suggest you take advantage of my years of research and trial and error (first started this project in 2014)...Any acid based plating solution will produce poor adhesion on lead without some very noxious prep chemicals and super precise bath chemistry and even more precise current densities...But give it a shot if you want, I've never considered peroxide as an additive. Maybe it's a difference maker. If it works, do report back here cuz I'll be dying to learn more about it.