1st stab at powder coating. Got questions.

[HollowPoint]

I'm sure this has been asked before. I know I made it a point to ask a guy on YouTube when he posted a vid on how he Powder Coated his pistol bullets.

I asked him if this Powder Coating process could be used on rifle bullets and if so, how fast could PC'd rifle bullets be pushed before Internal Ballistics problems were encountered. (leading, loss of accuracy, PC residue in barrel, the whole barrel twist Vs RPM debate most of us have read about )

He stated something to the effect that the higher velocities that cast rifles bullets were shot at were not as conducive to powder coating as the slower velocities that cast pistol bullets were shot at.

Knowing next to nothing about this subject, I wasn't sure if he was correct or not. I was just looking for some way to increase my cast rifle bullet velocities without running into the pitfalls of shooting lubed and naked cast rifle bullets to fast.

Generally speaking, how much faster can Powder Coated Rifle bullets be shot than a similar bullet without Powder Coating. I'm talking about an average 10 twist 30 caliber rifle with a 24 inch barrel.

I know there are alot of variables here. Too many variable to get any kind of definitive answer but, how much faster can such a Powder Coated Bullet be shot?

PS: Regardless of velocity, I think those Powder Coated bullets look cool as hell when done the way some of you more experienced Powder Coat guys have done.

HollowPoint

[Smoke4320]

I can answer only for myself and my testing (have not done much this summer .. too may family health issues) I treat Powdercoated Bullets just like plated bullets.. (PC harness is approx. 24-26 per manufacturer)
in rifles I have a load for my 6.5x55 going 1903 FPS (I believe it is a 145 Gr NOE Mold) that has killer sub MOA..
a 308 20" 1-10 twist, using Mil Hec 159 HP (actually weights 147-148) going over 1900 FPS again very accurately.. Both are 98/2 alloy .. I actually got to approx 2200 FPS before I started seeing wild groups.. More testing is needed before I know for sure what the limiting factor was here
have 45/70's and 458 socoms going over 1600 FPS again excellent accuracy .
Also these are all gas check bullets but I do NOT use gas checks .. recovered bullets show NO sign of any base coating burning off..so I see no need to use them .. at least at these speeds in MY guns

[Handloader109]

I'll say it again. If you read many of posts, a lot of problems with the HF Yellow and White and Black and only Red works. Well, the Red works, to a degree. It is **** compared to other quality PC powder. I have some black from an eBay source and it covers perfectly. Puts the HF red to shame. I would suggest spending a few $ on a powder that works all the time and not only when it is perfect conditions. The cost isn't that much more and would eliminate a lot of frustrations.

[fcvan]

MDI, I was able to ASBB tumble the other day when the fog was rolling into Crescent City and the powder stuck like crazy. I'd bought several different powders from Prismatic Powders over in White City and tried them out. Sparkle Pink and Ink Black took 2 coats and looked blotchy, but Fools Penny covered completely, 1 coat. I could vary the thickness with repeat ability and it came out smooth like ESPC.

I tumbled in the kitchen and baked outside but the powder stayed put. I'm sure everyone who has used HF Flat black has bumped their tray and watched the powder just fall off the boolits. I took to dumping out the boolits and ASBBs onto a cookie sheet and setting the boolits on foil with hemostats. Not one bit of powder came off nor any marks were left from handling. My primary method is still ESPC but it's nice to try out new things. ASBBTC sure is quick for coating a lot of pistol boolits.

[bangerjim]

The brand and quality of powder definitely makes a difference!

I have always used HF red because it is cheap and the store is 2 miles away. It works well with BBDT and ESPC.


But I bought some of Smoke's blue the other day and it REALLY sticks! I can drop the boolits after DT and the powder is still on there! HF will basically come off mostly. I have not tried any of his other colors yet, but it is a different formulation than HF and is VERY good.

bangerjim

[Beagle333]

Smoke's powders seem like they are finer and fluffier than others. They stick extremely well.
For ESPC, I can use whatever I have... and HF is my main powder for that, due to the price, but for tumbling I cannot beat Smoke's powders, thus far.

[ritepath]

Dry coating with red HF works just fine for me first coat. On my 124 9mm's. The problem I run into is when I try and use the lacquer thinner method. Always when they bake they'll bubble up in some areas and become way too rough in those areas for my tastes. Not sure if I'm letting them dry too long, not long enough, not enough tumble time or what....

[Beagle333]

I don't know why it does that. Mine bubble a little bit too, when using the Piglet method... but it's mostly down in the grooves and I don't sweat it. They shoot great.

These are baked...twice. The coating just makes them look wet. I like the look.

[1911KY]

Did these last night with Smoke's powder. My new go to powder. Humidity was up so I needed 2 coatings but it is much improved over the HF White that I did.

[bangerjim]

Remember........HF white and yellow are VERY poor at coverage. It is just like white paint over a dark surface, the pigment does not cover well.

The HF red covers extremely well! Try it. I also use Smoke's blue and love it.

All are only one coat for me! More is a waste of time and electricity. If it won't cover in one coat, find a different powder or a different method of putting it on.

banger

[1911KY]

Remember........HF white and yellow are VERY poor at coverage. It is just like white paint over a dark surface, the pigment does not cover well.

The HF red covers extremely well! Try it. I also use Smoke's blue and love it.

All are only one coat for me! More is a waste of time and electricity. If it won't cover in one coat, find a different powder or a different method of putting it on.

banger

Yea, I bought the HF white and black before I researched it thoroughly. I plan on getting an ES gun so I can spray the HF powder. But for DT I will go with the better powder.

I could have went one coating on the blue but I managed to scrape a little off while placing them on the baking sheet which made some bare spots on the driving bands, so I went ahead and gave them a second coat. Only added another 20 minutes, so no big deal for me. The HF white is useable after 2 coats, but like you said one coat is the way to go.

I don't much care for the color red or else I would buy some.

I am learning thanks to everyone on here.

[Smoke4320]

1911KY I would suggest you try the Green, Orange or Purple for great 1 coat coverage

Also I have found on pistol bullets the small section you may scrape off from handling with needle nose pliers usually makes no difference in performance (IE no leading)

[1911KY]

1911KY I would suggest you try the Green, Orange or Purple for great 1 coat coverage

Also I have found on pistol bullets the small section you may scrape off from handling with needle nose pliers usually makes no difference in performance (IE no leading)

I am more than happy with the blue! That is my preferred color. I plan to start spraying at some point so that should solve any of my shortcomings.

I tried a latex glove on my second coating and I think that may be what I use from now on. It doesn't completely remove the powder like pliers.

Good to know that I can still load them if they have voids.

[HollowPoint]

I picked up my Powder Coating gun from Harbor Freight yesterday and I Powder Coated a small number of 200 grain Lyman Devastators and some Hollow Pointed Lee 380 caliber bullets this afternoon. I think I did OK for my first time around. I used the Harbor Freight Red powder and it seemed to go on quite well. It was my inexperience that caused the few small mishaps I had.

I kept forgetting to press the foot-pedal when I sprayed the powder. I tipped over two batches of freshly coated bullets before making it all the way to the oven. Other than that, I considered my first Powder Coating session a success; and with very little powder wasted. If I get a chance, I'm going back tomorrow and picking up some white powder.

I think I got carried away because midway through the session, I decided to powder some of my 22 caliber 14 grain pellets just to see how much weight one coat of powder would add to them. It added .3 grains. I was hoping to get them up to an even 15 grains but I was short by .4 grains. Another coat might have gotten me there but I didn't want to increase the diameter to much.

Although I only used the HF red powder, I didn't see any of the problems that some of you guys have eluded to. Maybe I was just lucky.

Now I'll have to see if there's any difference in accuracy or leading. My beloved Kimber Custom Classic has been a tack driver right out of the box but, I've never shot any size, alloy or velocity that didn't leave some leading. Same with my 380 pocket pistol. If this Powder Coating will bring an end to the lead in my barrels, I'll be a happy camper.

HollowPoint

[el34]

I picked up my Powder Coating gun from Harbor Freight yesterday and I Powder Coated a small number of 200 grain Lyman Devastators and some Hollow Pointed Lee 380 caliber bullets this afternoon.

Congrats! And welcome!

An improvement is to unscrew that yellow diffuser at the front end. It'll give you much more spraying control.

I kept forgetting to press the foot-pedal when I sprayed the powder.

That pedal hides sometimes! And the other thing is forgetting to hook up the ground clip.

Although I only used the HF red powder, I didn't see any of the problems that some of you guys have eluded to. Maybe I was just lucky.

HollowPoint

I don't think anybody has trouble with red, it's the white and yellow. But frankly I did fine with both of those also.

[HollowPoint]

The powder isn't that expensive. I might get all the colors and try mixing them together to make like a sissy pink color or an orange shade.

There was one picture posted somewhere on here that a guy got a nice looking grey color by mixing white and black.

I'll just have to experiment.

HollowPoint

[Beagle333]

Smoke sells pink and orange all ready to go (if you didn't know). He'll even sell you a half pound of each, or 1/4 pound each of 4 colors.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...raying-bullets

[el34]

My first powdercoating was with the HF gun. I bought red, white, and yellow powder at the same time as the gun. Don't know why, the white and yellow worked for me as well as the red. My first ever ESPC pic, no yellow though, just red and white-

[HollowPoint]

I think that the reason some folks are having issues with the lighter colored Harbor Freight powders may stem from the fact that they are spraying a lighter color over the darker base color of the lead cast bullets.

Generally speaking, in order to completely cover over a darker base color with a lighter top cover, it has to be applied thick enough so as to not allow any of the thinner sections of our powder application to cure so that those light spots appear to be flaws in the powder coat. This applies not only to powder coating but, to most painting in general. I'm sure most of you guys already know this. I'm not sure why I rambled on.

I've heard nothing but good things about Smoke's product line. I just like to experiment. If I can make it pink or grey or orange by mixing what I have on hand, I'll generally try that first before spending any more money.

By the way; a couple of days ago I posted an inquiry about the possibility of having my initial coat of powder acting as a non-conductive layer that would prevent the application of a secondary coat of powder coat. The answer that Smoke4320 gave me made sense but I tried it any way just out of curiosity.

I coated and cured the noses of my bullets with the bullets sitting on their bases. Then I turned the bullets around and coated the bases with the bullets sitting on their noses. I was afraid that the electrical charge might not make it through the initial powder coat but, it seemed to work just fine.

The only down side was the extra time it took and when I pulled the cured bullets off of the tray, the thin section around the rim of the hollow point mouths tended to pull off of the bullets in some cases.

HollowPoint

[prs]

I am more than happy with the blue! That is my preferred color. I plan to start spraying at some point so that should solve any of my shortcomings.

I tried a latex glove on my second coating and I think that may be what I use from now on. It doesn't completely remove the powder like pliers.

Good to know that I can still load them if they have voids.

Ha! Danged Kentuck blue anyways. Hey Smoke, next time he orders send him that nice North Carolina blue instead. lol

Kidding aside, try NITRILE gloves instead of latex. Get the gloved fingers well powdered with the paint and when you pick-up the boolits the gloves will fill in the voids almost every time.

prs