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Thread: Advantage of Powder Coating

  1. #1
    Boolit Master Bad Ass Wallace's Avatar
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    Advantage of Powder Coating

    My PC coated boolits offer a number of advantages to conventionaly lubed boolits.

    I am finding that grit and grime does not stick to the surface.

    Boolits can now be seated just 0.010" off the rifling (see attached pic) regardless of where the crimp groove is located.

    10 shot groups on an air pistol target are very good.



    Hold Still Varmint; while I plugs Yer!

  2. #2
    Boolit Master
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    Maybe after the the end of the year I will start down the road on 22 cal rifle casting (thinking to use a 222 Rem for the long neck), have everything except the time right now. That group should still be within a minute of a prairie dog at 150, maybe 200 yards, assuming that is your 100 yard efforts. Nice work! Are you heat treating after PC? What velocity?
    Take a kid to the range, you'll both be glad you did.

  3. #3
    Boolit Buddy gnappi's Avatar
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    The advantages far outweigh the little extra effort over lubed bullets. I see powder coating as an upcoming replacement of lube. Maybe someday waxy lube will go the way of buggy whip manufacturing.
    Regards,

    Gary

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    I treat pc’d boolits just like FMJ. Same speed and seating distance. As long as they continue to perform well when properly cured I see no difference. I do have a Lyman 450 that was gifted to me, but haven’t set it up to use and probably never will.

  5. #5
    Boolit Grand Master
    white eagle's Avatar
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    like you all I use pc as a direct replacement to traditional lube process
    keeps all things cleaner and not gunked up
    Hit em'hard
    hit em'often

  6. #6
    Boolit Buddy
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    I shoot Blackhorn 209 powder in my muzzle loader so I am PC ing my boolits for that, seems to be working well.

  7. #7
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hossfly View Post
    I treat pc’d boolits just like FMJ. Same speed and seating distance. As long as they continue to perform well when properly cured I see no difference. I do have a Lyman 450 that was gifted to me, but haven’t set it up to use and probably never will.
    Same here with 9, 357, 45, etc ... but nervous about 223 pushing at FMJ speed.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master

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    I just started pc'ing for 38, 44, & 3 30 cal molds. Is for sure cleaner then lube, now to see if it works. Range day tuesday.
    Gun control 1ST ROUND ON TARGET.

  9. #9
    Boolit Buddy gnappi's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 6.5 mike View Post
    I just started pc'ing for 38, 44, & 3 30 cal molds. Is for sure cleaner then lube, now to see if it works. Range day tuesday.
    You are gonna love it. I started (and continue) PC'ing for several reasons.

    1. I STILL believe the "myth" about lead bullets not being safe in polygonal rifling and I have Tanfoglio pistols.
    2. Considering #1 above bullets in TMJ and FMJ in 9mm, .45, and .40/10mm to feed the Tanfo are unavailable
    3. I have casting equipment and upgrades needed have been inexpensive.
    4. My Tanfos love the PC'd bullets and them and my other pistols shoot them as accurately as TMJ/FMJ
    5. I never liked quenching bullets, not wanting to dispose of waste water with even trace amounts of lead in it. PC bullets fixed that.
    6. My pistol bores are spotless clean with only a bit of powder residue in them.
    7. I never have to handle sticky lead again. Everything I do with the lead is with tweezers, pliers or a scoop till after they're PC'd.
    8. What wax lube I have is now used as flux, when it's gone I'll look for something else.

    Nuff said
    Regards,

    Gary

  10. #10
    Boolit Grand Master


    GregLaROCHE's Avatar
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    PC is great stuff for many reasons.

  11. #11
    Banned


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    I switched to PC years ago and never looked back. I still keep my bullet lube for back up, but that's all.

  12. #12
    Boolit Master
    JWFilips's Avatar
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    I do Not Know how many of you guys ever did the egg experiment where you soak a raw egg in vinegar for a few days.
    When the shell desolves, you are left wit a tough rubber like coating that covers the raw ( soft) egg inside.
    Now you can drop that shell-less egg on a had surface and it bounces. That protective skin is pretty tough!
    Fling it against a wall and it explodes!

    Now let us take a 10 BHN alloy bullet and coat it with a PC skin which some say comes in at 32 BHN! That skin is similar to what is around that egg!
    It does real well going down the rifling but at impact the 10 BHN alloy takes over!
    So do you see the true usefulness of PC coating now?
    It is an amazing gift to all of us
    " Associate with men of good quality, if you esteem your own reputation: for it is better to be alone than in bad company. " George Washington

  13. #13
    Boolit Master
    Petander's Avatar
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    Shaking deforms the bullets , that's my only problem with these easy coatings.

  14. #14
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    petlander: I never shake when I PC I just swirl and get great results.

    I fail to see where shaking builds static faster than swirling. Plus I've never destroyed a container or had to chase run away boolits when the lid pops or bowl breaks by swirling

  15. #15
    Boolit Master slim1836's Avatar
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    It's another tool in the trade, I tried it and liked it. Never again an oxidized boolit, great for long term storage.

    I'll still use other methods for my own reasons.

    Slim
    JUST GOTTA LOVE THIS JOINT.

  16. #16
    Boolit Grand Master Bazoo's Avatar
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    I'd like to know what Elmer Keith would think about this PC revolution.

    I haven't tried powder coating yet but I have a starter kit given to me by a generous member. I have tried a few PCd bullets but I wasn't impressed.

    I honestly don't think I'll give up my lube and Lyman 450. I don't care for the PC bullets I've seen where the crimp grooves are nearly filled and noses are fat. Nor do I care for the colors as I don't make ammo for the social media glory.

    Yep, PC is a bandaid on a gun that otherwise would lead, just like a jacketed bullet. So there is a place.

  17. #17
    Boolit Master
    405grain's Avatar
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    I like that powder coating allows me to color code my loads. If I have 7.62x39 cartridges with different boolits or powder types, not only are the containers marked with the loads, but the different loads have different color bullets. Also, (and shamefully I've done this), I can powder coat 44 SWC boolits yellow, then take a black sharpie and draw smiley faces on the meplats. It adds character to 44 mag cartridges.

  18. #18
    Boolit Master Handloader109's Avatar
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    Speed? I've a 22tcm that I've pushed to about 2200 with pc coated 37 grain NOE cast. PC stays on, and no leading. good stuff.

    Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

  19. #19
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Conditor22 View Post
    petlander: I never shake when I PC I just swirl and get great results.
    .

    Yeah my coating results are great,too. But "great" is relative, I handle my soft 470 grain 45-70 bullets with extreme care,one at a time, when I'm making 300 meter bullets to break claybirds.

    Swirled & coated just won't make the same accuracy for me , not with my abilities- other than that I do love coated 45-70, I can shoot a 325 RCBS @ 2000 fps all day,clean Marlin barrel. I prefer Hi Tek for the fast loads... but they are often 2 moa at best.

    I have a couple of true 1/4 moa rifles, I'm coming from jacketed br world...

  20. #20
    Boolit Master

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    Just shot last Wednesday an enhanced Sig in .40 S&W with p/c 193 gr. boolits (RCBS 180 gr. mold using 2 to 1 clip on to stick-on wheel weights with tin added for fillout) using 5.4 gr. of Long Shot powder. Velocity was like 925 fps average with an extreme spread of 9. Only slight fouling in barrel that came out with one pass of a barrel brush. My only use for boolit lube now is to run a little around the entrance of the boolit sizer die in my Star sizers now and then to ease passage of hard boolits through the luber since I drop my powder coated boolits into a tub of water right out of the convection oven. BTW, gnappi, I regularly use a Lee 230 gr. boolit powder coated pushed to the limits in a Glock. Nary a problem. Big Boomer

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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