Casting 22 rimfire bullets

[uscra112]

Variation in thickness of powder coat will leave the bullet unbalanced, just as air voids do. Accuracy will suffer. This error source doesn't show up much in pistol calibers, but those tiny .22 beasties will likely go all over the place.

[Traffer]

I have used another method which is to swage to exact shape but .0015" undersized BEFORE powder coating...then powder coating ...then swaging again. However the variation of the thickness of powdercoat still affects the performance..."This error source doesn't show up much in pistol calibers, but those tiny .22 beasties will likely go all over the place. "
Right you are uscra112. Because the powder coat potentially varies by an amazing .0003" The bullets actually fly sideways. Some even go around corners. It's really bad...Accuracy is no good even a mere 3' from the muzzle. I get groups of about 12" shooting at a distance of less than 5'. It's awful.

[uscra112]

I have used another method which is to swage to exact shape but .00015" undersized BEFORE powder coating...then powder coating ...then swaging again. However the variation of the thickness of powdercoat still affects the performance..."This error source doesn't show up much in pistol calibers, but those tiny .22 beasties will likely go all over the place. "
Right you are uscra112. Because the powder coat potentially varies by an amazing .0003" The bullets actually fly sideways. Some even go around corners. It's really bad...Accuracy is no good even a mere 3' from the muzzle. I get groups of about 12" shooting at a distance of less than 5'. It's awful.

Braggart.

[Jim22]

I would think the boolits would need lubrication to prevent leading. A thinned down version of Lee Liquid Alox should serve. They would be lubed about how factory .22 LR boolits are.

[303Guy]

I have a few old cast boolit lying around that got wet and formed a black coating on them. I fired a few through my hornet and the black coating remained intact. I see that some 22lr cartridge makers also have a black coated boolit and the coating also remains intact but that's in a 22 barrel. The hornet bore is rough. Maybe the same coating could be the answer? I think it's a black oxide but it's possible that something else got dissolved in the water causing the black coating. A chemist would be able to tell us what it is and how to achieve it.

Just a thought.

[dimaprok]

Try Hi-Tech coating instead of powder coat, it's much more uniform and thinner.

[303Guy]

Try Hi-Tech coating instead of powder coat, it's much more uniform and thinner.

Is it easier to apply? I can't see PC being easy to apply on a 22lr boolit for the reasons mentioned. A small variation isn't so small on an equally small boolit.

Regarding the black coating on boolits, I've found that black lead oxide is a thing; PbO2. Haven't found how to form it yet. That should be easy to make uniform. It's a very thin coating for starters.

[Traffer]

Is it easier to apply? I can't see PC being easy to apply on a 22lr boolit for the reasons mentioned. A small variation isn't so small on an equally small boolit.

Regarding the black coating on boolits, I've found that black lead oxide is a thing; PbO2. Haven't found how to form it yet. That should be easy to make uniform. It's a very thin coating for starters.

[dimaprok]

Is it easier to apply? I can't see PC being easy to apply on a 22lr boolit for the reasons mentioned. A small variation isn't so small on an equally small boolit.

Regarding the black coating on boolits, I've found that black lead oxide is a thing; PbO2. Haven't found how to form it yet. That should be easy to make uniform. It's a very thin coating for starters.

Well... it's more time consuming because you have to do minimum 2 coats, but you don't have to worry about bullets sticking so you don't have to worry about putting them on bases because there is no marks left from the tray. It goes on very uniform and thin. It's picky about temperature, you need to reach 400F and I learned so much when I picked up oven thermometer, like the fact that when my oven beeps that it's done preheating and it's 50F in garage the actual temperature is 50-70 degrees below preset! It doesn't leave any traces of paint on the tray or in the oven. You can easily do multiple colors with one tray without ever cross contaminating. I've baked probably 100lb of bullets and my tray is still original color without a spec of hi-tech on it and of course same goes for oven.

[Gray Fox]

I just put my email on the list for notification from the brass place. Have to wait and see. Will ffffg powder work, or will fffg? How about tumbling the boolits in the blue moly that I have sitting on a shelf from years ago when it was the latest and greatest? Are any of you folks going to make and sell a set of dies for us non-machinists to use? I just checked Old West and he gets $135 for a 2 cav 40 grain mold. Does anyone else make a similar heeled mold? Thanks, GF.