I've used BLL in my rifle for a few years to good effect. I started shooting PC'd boolits in it a couple months ago. Neither style fouls the barrel; but the PC'd boolits put a high shine in the bore. You suppose it's a mild abrasive?
I've used BLL in my rifle for a few years to good effect. I started shooting PC'd boolits in it a couple months ago. Neither style fouls the barrel; but the PC'd boolits put a high shine in the bore. You suppose it's a mild abrasive?
I don't know, but I think that it contains Titanium Dioxide as an ingredient which certainly is. Take a PC bullet and rub it hard on a soup can...does it scratch it?
MANY MANY thousands of us shoot PC'd boolits in everything but the kitchen sink. There are only a very very few reports of abrasiveness causing problems. And even those were extremely questionable!!!!!
Only powders I have found that are ONLY very mildly abrasive are the flatte and matte finishes. All others are shiny and smooth.
I sure would not concern yourself with "wearing out your barrel" with PC.
banger
It really depends on the powder coat paint, I have read Harbor Freight may have harmful ingredients. Still, the jury is out, but I started with HF flat black with ESPC. Now, I use Prismatic Powder exclusively. Smoke sells powder here and I have heard nothing but praise for his stuff.
There is an entire section dedicated to Coatings and Alternatives on this website. That is where I learned to ASBBPC, and of course the new acronyms. Electrostatic Powder Coating (ESPC) and Airsoft BB PC (ASBBPC) are a few. Heck, I even posted on my efforts to Copper Electroplate boolits using solar power. I wanted to build a electroplating barrel but ditched that after ASBBPC proved so successful.
Common sense Gun Safety . . .
Is taught at the Range!
Banger; I'm not worried in the least about wearing out a barrel. It was just something to consider.
Would be interesting to see the comparison of the abrasive qualities of various PC and the papers used to paper patch bullets.
I will tell you Smoke's Clear is as slippery as snot and It is even hard to pick up the bullets after coating Yes it may be tough but not as much as Copper clad
Doubt it is wearing barrel metal
" 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
At my age I'm not worried about wearing out a barrel.
If you are worried about it don't use it.
What about the possibility of the PC coating the barrel and imparting the shine?
If you are going to make a hole in something. MAKE IT A BIG ONE!
There is another thread on here where somebody had PC coating in his barrel. He admits his bake temp was off and PC did stick to the barrel bore.
After many thousands of rounds (cured properly!) I have never found a trace of PC in any of my many barrels used with PC'd slugs.
Could it happen? YES. Has it happened to me or anyone I know? NO.
banger
If propery heated, they are not abrasive. They are in effect plastic encased.
The solid soft lead bullet is undoubtably the best and most satisfactory expanding bullet that has ever been designed. It invariably mushrooms perfectly, and never breaks up. With the metal base that is essential for velocities of 2000 f.s. and upwards to protect the naked base, these metal-based soft lead bullets are splendid.
John Taylor - "African Rifles and Cartridges"
Forget everything you know about loading jacketed bullets. This is a whole new ball game!
like was said copper is harder then any pc so its going to wear a barrel faster then a pc'd cast bullet or for that matter any cast bullet. Then factor in the sks and aks and ars that are fed a diet of steal jacketed bullets. Pc is a non issue.
What if an abrasive was desired? Would it not be possible to mix in a dry abrasive compound into powder prior to spraying or tumbling creating another lapping option?
I didnt like HF black when it was available because it felt like 180 grit sandpaper. I never did fire any of those. Smokes powder is nice and slick.
I am no expert on the PC, But as I understand it, correctly applied PC is super slippery, more so than Lube.
I'm just thinking out loud here, but you don't mention cleaning the barrel.
Maybe the residual waxes from BLL are being polished into the steel by your PC'd boolits.
OR
If you clean and oil your barrel, Maybe the PC'd boolits are burnishing the oil onto the steel, giving it a sheen?
That's my 2˘
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun.”
― The Dalai Lama, Seattle Times, May 2001
Titanium dioxide is a pigment in hundreds of thousands of coatings. Its in food products too.
Let me preface this by saying I make no claims to be a powder coating expert. But I have a good friend who is in the powder coating business near me. I spoke to him about these coatings because I'm considering giving PC a try on a limited basis. He told me that most powders are polyester based. This should not cause anybody any problems. But he cautioned that some powders include some ceramic. I would think that ceramic based powders could indeed be abrasive.
As I said. I'm no expert. This is only what I was told.
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 |