Noob questions

[wolfwing]

OK, I've read about PCing bullets until my eyes hurt. I need to get a few things clear before I jump in. I want to use the shake and bake PC method.
I will be curing in this or something similar: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Oster-Fre...bucket=__bkt__

I want to shoot the boolits in an AR or other gas gun. - Do I need to gas check them?? Do I gas check before or after PCing???

Do I size before or after PCing??? I have the Lyman 450, but can go with the Lee push thru method.

I am not going to cast for the 50 Beowulf, but I can buy cast boolits from a local supplier. That supplier will sell them to me "as cast" unsized and unlubed. I want to PC these for an AR. Will I have any issues?? If I set the "shaked" coated boolits on a tray, will the coating on the base turn out OK?? If not, will a second coat with the bullets set nose down on the tray save me from using a gas check?? Is a gas check a good thing to use in all gas guns anyway??

[slide]

Looks like a good oven. I would recommend a gas check. Powder coat will not take the place of a gas check.Some people gas check before coating and some gas check after coating. There again some people size before coating and some after. Now, you are going to get a lot of replys with I do this. Read them and if there is anything you can use go for it. The only way that you are going to learn to powder coat bullets is jump in the middle of and try different things. Don't be afraid of failure. With each failure you will learn. I probably messed up when I said powder coat will not take the place of a gas check. There will be some that claim they shoot full power loads without a gas check and can shoot cast bullets in their AR and put them in the same hole at a 1000 yards. The only advice I can offer is shake the powder off good and have some way to verify your temp.A lot of guys use oven thermometers,some have pid's on their ovens. I have a pid and use a thermouple bullet to monitor my bullet temp. I have found you can get by with pistol bullets but you better make sure that the powder coat is cured properly with rifle bullets.

[elginrunner]

i can't answer to the gas check thing, as I have yet to do it. I have however bought a oven from WW right after christmas. I was hoping for one similar to yours but all they had was a $44 unit. I forget the brand, but I bought it as it was a convection oven. The thermostat was not close, I adjusted with the use of a certified oven thermometer, and called it good. I've done thousands so far and am tickled to death over the results.... I will say this. Mine can only fit a 9" pan... yours may get a much larger pan in. However, i can get over 100 on mine, unless you plan on dumping them, standing more than 100 up on end can get a little tedious... just saying...

[Bad Ass Wallace]

I use the 'shake & bake' method, just lay out the boolits on a tray with non-stick baking powder. I size before PC'ng but fir gas checks after.

[AlHunt]

Use Smoke's powder and follow the exact method prescribed here. Gas check before or after PC. I do it after. For the record, I'm shooting PC and gas check through the ARs without issue, full load. 25ish grains of W748.

[Iwsbull]

Wow really nice oven, mine is a cheapest I could find. I would invest in a PID to be accurate on my temps or at least an oven thermometer. I gas check and size after I pc, though I have not tried it any other way so I would say dealers choice. The boolits that I have that are set up for gas checks (revolver) shot ok at 25 yards with certain loads but not as well as range increased.

[charlie b]

There are some cases where you will want to size before and after PC. Mainly if your bullets are a bit oversize. Easier to size before PC. Same with the gas check shank, if you use GC's. Some bullets have a shank diameter that is a bit large so easier to fit and crimp GC's before PC. On a Lee mold I had it was a bit undersize so I PC'd first, then fitted GC and sized.

[AlHunt]

There are some cases where you will want to size before and after PC. Mainly if your bullets are a bit oversize. Easier to size before PC. Same with the gas check shank, if you use GC's. Some bullets have a shank diameter that is a bit large so easier to fit and crimp GC's before PC. On a Lee mold I had it was a bit undersize so I PC'd first, then fitted GC and sized.

Sizing before coating is something I don't understand. You'd want to lube the naked bullets for sizing then have to get them squeaky clean to PC them, right? What's the process for getting them ready to PC?

[wolfwing]

Is the 450 OK for sizing after PC? Or will it damage the coating?

[AlHunt]

Is the 450 OK for sizing after PC? Or will it damage the coating?

If your PC is cured properly you can run them through any sizer without issue.

[Smoke4320]

I always add gas check before coating. This absolutely locks check to the bullet. No chance it will come off in my suppressor or during shooting if unsuppressed
Use non stick aluminum foil and let the bullets FULLY cool. they will fall right over with just a touch.
Bases will be totally covered and the foil reusable many many times

I have shot many many gas check bullets without a check and no leading.
After about 1900 fps a check will improve accuracy

[Conditor22]

IF you choose to add a gas check before coating. Make sure the sizing die is 100% clean of ANY LUBE or your powder won't stick

[bangerjim]

I check B4 coating. I check after coating. I don't check at all. Just depends on the boolit and the gun. There are no set rules here. Try it and see what happens with your boolits and barrels.

Nice oven. Glad a few are listening and not buying $5 pieces of carp and the goodwill someone gave away for "a reason"! That should give you even temps, but it would be wise to check it anyway with a good oven thermometer to see how close the dial setting is to the temp you want.

And as said, clean out your sizing equipment VERY thoroughly to remove ANY bit of old greasy lube.

[BentSprings]

I prefer to size plainbased after coating if I can. I like to do gaschecked boolits before coating. Some gas check shanks simply demand you seat the checks before the pc is on there anyway. Push through dies are almost always a more accurate way to size in my experience. I sold all of my in and out lyman type sizers after comparing group sizes. The longer and skinnier the bullet the more that rang true. Bent bullets simply do not shoot all that great.

I run gas checked and pc'ed Lee 55's in a 16" 9 twist AR15 223Wylde with normal 223 powders and at near normal speeds with no issues. Polishing Lee sizing dies is almost always needed for naked bullet sing and gas check seating. Their final finish is a bad joke and not what I would call polished by any means. Once polished you can size the bullets naked with no issues.

[charlie b]

I started PC with one of those $5 ovens, a Black and Decker. Once I decided to stick with PC I bought a good convection oven. Funny part is the thermostat knob on the cheap oven was a perfect calibration. 400F on it was 400F on the oven thermometer and thermocouple. The much more expensive convection oven the knob is almost 50 deg off at the top end (400 is actually 450) and is about 25 deg off at 200F (200 on the knob is actually 225).

I do like the bigger oven since I can do all my PC in one or two batches instead of 6 or more.

[popper]

Yes, you can shoot PCd from an AR., as to GC, depends on the fps/pressure. I shoot the ar10 with GC but BO sometimes PB. I assume 223 so yes, GC them. Use a GOOD PC, dump in basket to shake off excess PC. Smoke's red flows good - very important. No, you probably won't get 3k fps and accuracy.

[wolfwing]

I like the logic behind PCing AFTER the GC is seated, I'll go that way. The 2 cals I'm interested in doing first are 50 Beowulf (1900 fps with lightest bullet) and 450 Bushmaster (2200 with lightest bullet). Eventually I'd like to try it in a 35 HRT (6.8 necked up), but I don't know the vel yet with 180 and 200gr bullets. Hell, I don't even have the barrel chamber reamed yet!!

Yesterday I dropped off a donation at the Re-Store and noticed they had electric ranges/ovens for $50. Other than the size, is this an acceptable way to go?? More space - I can PC a rifle barrel in it. I already have several 240v lines in my garage for welders. I'm guessing it will spin my electric meter faster than a small convection oven. What say you!

[charlie b]

Depends on how many bullets you plan on cooking at a time. I am happy with the table top oven I have since I rarely do more than a couple hundred bullets at a time. If I were to do batches of 1000 I'd want a full size oven.

If you plan on powder coating other stuff that needs that kind of space then it is a decent reason to buy one. As you stated, it will make the meter spin fast

[Tonerboy]

Here is a LEE 300 Grain RF for my 450 Bushmaster, GC after PC, was a job getting the GC's on. The next batch I will try GCing first. They shoot good in my Bolt Action, not sure if they will feed well in an AR style gun.

[oley55]

I PC'd and then GC'd a good number of 44mag rounds and it was a big mistake. I seated the checks on press and with a seating stud and had 10 out of 125 total failures (completely off center). Then I looked them all over and realized many were sitting crooked on the base. Then I got the really stupid idea to give them a good brisk bump on a heavy duty arbor press and they squared up nicely. Then the light came on and I realized I had bumped them fatter. So I sized them all and then measured for length and they were all over the place! I re-bumped them on the arbor press with a steel stop so I would at least have consistent lengths for bullet seating purposes and depth into the brass.

I lot of work to end up with a bunch of bullets that can never be duplicated and are at best plinking/blasting ammo. The worst part is gas checks aren't cheap and I pretty much wasted 125 of them. You can reprocess the lead, but not the checks.

Note to self and anyone thinking about it, just Don't do it.