One note I forgot to add- do NOT try moving the tile when hot. If you want to WD or do multiple batches, use a metal plate which can easily be moved with 2 pliers. You DON'T want a bunch of hot boolits and tile in unfortunate places - brittle tile. I did try a metal cover over the H.P., too much trouble and it didn't really help anything. When I cast some more I'll try using HiTek powder as DT and cook - no drying needed?. ESPC the HiTek powder worked fine.
Whatever!
I didn't use BBs. I have the HF ES machine, but wanted to try out the new powders before I cleaned up the gun. I had never tried the shake and bake method, but I loaded up two #5 containers with each powder and 5 bullets and shook them both the same amount of time. The gray turned out the best.
I did ES some black today and they turned out great too.
Don't mind the lint that can really be seen on the black.
Poly coated with a coat of Eastwood White then a 2nd of Black. Both provided good coverage but the first time I laid them down on the pan and I didn't like the flat spot on the bullets left by the hardened PC so I gave them another coat after I seated a gascheck on the bullets and sized them to .309. The second coat of Black Poly coat bumped the size back up to .311" So off they went to be loaded up for a test shoot tomorrow.
I Cast my Boolits, Therefore I am Happy.
Bona Fide member of the Jeff Brown Hunt Club
I personally thought that article did a major disservice to PCing Boolits and I will tell them so at SHOT in a few weeks.
Why would you put a picture of poorly coated boolits on the Cover????? Nobody is going to get interested seeing that !!!
Friends of mine from my Club were calling me all day yesterday wondering how these made the cover?
He did the bare minimum to get some PC on some boolits. He also didn't even stand them up when he cooked them which shows he wasn't trying very hard to make a decent looking product. Complained about the extra time it took and said he would keep using the Lubrisizer. Too much effort to do it right.
Making Ammunition requires "Attention to Detail" and "Personal Responsibility," these are the two components of Craftsmanship.
No Craftsmanship whatsoever displayed in this article and as a result I have no use for it. Many here have heard me say many times, that if you don't give a ship about what you do I got no use for you. Well here's a perfect example of just that.
In my opinion this was a half assed attempt at PCing, and most people here do better on their first attempt, I know I did. This is what happens when a writer gets and assignment he doesn't want to do. I already bitched to some of the staff last Friday and plan on calling them back tomorrow.
He also only mentioned in passing that using a $70 PC gun, which actually does a decent job the very first time you use it, was an option. Oh **** you've got to have an Air Compressor and a regulator. News Flash: Most people that have any mechanical skills at all have Air Compressors in their garages now. You can buy one to blow up your tires for $80 at HF!
I wanted to write that article but I knew they would have rejected it no matter how well it was written, mainly because they wouldn't even have looked at it! And that is because I am not on their list of staff writers. Already tried going down that road but got nothing but NO and lack of interest, and NO cuz your not a "Journalist!"
Pretty disappointed really. They could have had these on the cover.See Pic
Sorry for the rant but I see this magazine deteriorating rapidly and it bothers me This issue had 66 pages! And readership is declining rapidly. That is why I stopped advertising my Hand Press there.
Randy
Last edited by W.R.Buchanan; 01-07-2018 at 03:21 PM.
"It's not how well you do what you know how to do,,,It's how well you do what you DON'T know how to do!"
www.buchananprecisionmachine.com
Thanks Buchanan for the rant...I completely agree and wanted to write the same thing you did about the half-baked attempt and choice of procedure but thought I better not as I'm skating on thin ice around here as it is...thought it may construed as 'trolling' or something else.
I'm so disgusted with Handloader Magazine for all the regurgitated articles they've done in the past I gave all mine to albunaito over in Hawaii and they will never get another nickel out of me ever again. I've seen many a post right here in forum that has put more effort into an article!
So...when you give them the 'What For' give them a big 'What For' for me too!
c h a r l i e
a m e r i c a n p r a v d a
Be a Patriot . . . expose their lies!
“In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” G. Orwell
that half *** attempt at powder coating is evident in the
article itself ...mediocre at best
Hit em'hard
hit em'often
Half ***** or is that Half Baked? I read the article with some excitement that they showcased the same thing that i have been doing for a few years. I think the writer is a "beginner" to the process and in a few months will get better at it. I found the information good, with the differences between "p.c" and non "p.c" interesting. When I tell others of my process with casting and "coating" i find it helpful to refer to the article. I also think that as this process goes mainstream we will find more people in the shooting arena also becoming casters. I say this could only help everyone.
So just how bad is the odor when baking the pc boolits?
I notice some odor with some colors not so much with others my nose is not that great, My wife has a nose that will pick up anything and she has not complained about the smell out in the shop but heck I am out in the shop. To me the odor is no big deal.
Reloading to save money I am sure the saving is going to start soon
Thanks fellas. I've got about 750 Hornady hbwc that came undersized at .356 and an SP 101 with .359 throats so I thought I'd wash off the dry lube and see if I can bump up the size by pc them.
Cosmic Charlie-easier to just shoot the HBWC- they are designed to obturate and seal the bore. Lot of work involved in cleaning commercial lube off well enough to PC.
Loren
Just ordered 3lbs of Eastwood Powder that were on clearance and with shipping it came at just $31. I should be set for a while.
1lb of Primer Black, I'll probably add that into my gloss black/gloss white mix as it currently looks a great grey when applied but turns into a speckled glossy off-white once its cured and I prefer a darker bullet than the pure white.
1lb of Architectural Bronze. price was too low to look away from and maybe it will make the bullets look FMJ or somesuch. If not, it will go into the porridge-grey mix already described.
1lb of V-Twin Orange - Going for some bright to make them contrast with the brass cartridges in my rifle bullets so I can mark them as my high velocity loads in the future. And the price was great.
I Cast my Boolits, Therefore I am Happy.
Bona Fide member of the Jeff Brown Hunt Club
I thought that pic was awful, even my first batch looked better than that.
Article was not written with an open mind.
It was a non useful article very disappointing learnt nothing .
Amen! I use Smoke's Signal Blue, and Flame Red with good success.
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 |