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Thread: Any point to switching to PC

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
    selmerfan's Avatar
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    Any point to switching to PC

    So...I've been casting for about a decade now and have all the molds I NEED for my guns and a Lyman 4500 lubesizer. I've been researching this whole PC thing and wondering if it's worth switching methods for lube/leading prevention if I already have what I need and is working well. I'm shooting cast out of a .357 Max TC Encore 18" barrel, Smith K38, .260 Rem, and .30-40 Krag single-shot. All use Lotak Hard for lube and I have great results. Am I missing out on something by NOT using PC?
    God gave us music that we might pray without words

  2. #2
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    I'm in the same boat as you. Why fix it if it isn't broke?

  3. #3
    In Remembrance


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    I ask the same question - Do I need to switch to PC? I also have a `bunch` of molds for my weaponry and grease/size them all. I also paper patch for my favorite rifle calibers. To answer my own question my answer would be - Nope. I`ll stay doing things my old fashioned way!Robert

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    if it aint broke dont fix it. i cant see spending more money on more equipment when what i have and use alot works just fine. a buddy of mine does thr pc thing and it is just as messy as any other method

  5. #5
    Boolit Master
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    I also just purchased a Dillon 550C for loading my .38 Special so that I can keep up with my itchy trigger finger. So I have a while before that amortizes out. Unless I count my time. I just don't want to buy any more equipment. Between the 10 cavity H&G mold and my Lyman 4500 I can keep the K38 fed very nicely. Especially with my daughters enjoying sizing and lubing the bullets!
    God gave us music that we might pray without words

  6. #6
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    No there is no "need" I've become a huge preponderant of PC on all my boolits, love that I can color code them as to caliber and purpose and load love that I can shake and bake 100s in an hour complete with bake time, a suitable tray cool whip container and a toaster oven with good thermostat is all that's need besides some air soft BBs or a length of pvc with caps and some of Smokes high quality PC! Nothing wrong with tumble lube lube sizers pan lube or pc! If it works it works for me the pc works every time in every caliber any boolit shape or size and some weapons i.e. One of my 1911s, a 30/30 and my 1916 GEW 98 shoot better with pc, everything else shoots just as well or slightly better than other line types, leaves barrels very clean! Can't think of a reason not to pc. But I do really like knowing at a glance that by color I can tell special mid range and wild side 44 mag loads apart even with same boolit on top and my wives 357 and mine love a different load of same boolit, mine red hers John Deere green!
    Also on a personal note Selmerfan you were among the first to welcome me when I joined here and in helping hands you gave me a heavy 30 cal lee single cavity mold and I still have use it in my 03a3 and subsonic in my new 300 blackout, so once again thank you sir! And yes I did repay the kindness in helping hands!

  7. #7
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    I went to PC...never go back to my lubesizer...each to his own. It cost almost nothing to powder coat...$30 oven.

    I used conventional lube for YEARS...since my first batch of PC bullets...I have not conventionally lubed another bullet and never intend to, again. I have never liked the smoke nor handling the nasty bullets. I tumble the bullets in powder with no BB's, dump the bullets on a pan to bake and then size when they are cool enough to handle. I can coat and size 500 per hour big bore and 700 .357 because I can cook more of them at the time...that is enough for me.

    If you like what you are doing...keep on and more power to you.
    Last edited by shoot-n-lead; 03-02-2017 at 04:09 PM.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master


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    Quote Originally Posted by shoot-n-lead View Post
    I went to PC...never go back to my lubesizer...each to his own. It cost almost nothing to powder coat...$30 oven.
    Agree 100% but got a very nice oven at yard sale for 5 and spent another 8 on a good thermometer. Smokes powder is cheap and a pound will do , well I don't know cause I'm still on my first pounds of the various colors I bought from him 3 years ago!

  9. #9
    Boolit Master
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    The PC will guide your boolit to the 10 ring no matter how far your aim is off, if you use the proper colors.
    It is cleaner, and if your boolit is a bit undersized, it will make it .001 to .002 larger. I find Hi-Tek to be a bit faster than PC, but it has a steeper learning curve. I like and do both.
    There is no difference between communism and socialism, except in the means of achieving the same ultimate end: communism proposes to enslave men by force, socialism—by vote. It is merely the difference between murder and suicide. Ayn Rand

  10. #10
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    Just went to the barn to time my self; got the oven to temp and swirled 100 255grain 44s in gloss black and stuck them in to cook 16 minutes!

  11. #11
    Boolit Master NoAngel's Avatar
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    I tried powder coat when it was in it's infancy a few years back. Hardheaded and stubborn, I quickly wrote it off as 'dumb' and went back to my lube sizer.

    Last year I tried it again, as much from boredom as necessity. Only difference, I actually put forth the effort to do it right. I am so glad I did. I have VERY little traditional lube loads I shoot anymore and even went so far as to sell off all but one of my lube sizers.

    PC just flat out WORKS. I find I enjoy the process now that I know what I'm doing. It's also very nice to be able to several thousand bullets in the time it used to take me to lube size a thousand.
    When dealing with islam one should always ask themselves: "What would Leonidas do?"

  12. #12
    Boolit Grand Master OS OK's Avatar
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    Remember the kick you'd get when opening a box of 500 plated rounds back in the day...well, it's a bigger kick to open those same boxes now and be reminded..."I made those purdy little buggers!"
    a m e r i c a n p r a v d a

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  13. #13
    Boolit Master




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    Just started casting this year. Powder coat and Hi-Tek is all I've done. I went with a NOE push through sizing die for sizing. Both work quite well. I can't ever see myself with a lube sizer unless I can talk my buddy out of his Star. Then I'll use the NOE adaptor for it and just use it for sizing.
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    Currently casting for .223, .308, .30-06, .30-40 Krag, 9mm, .38/.357, 10mm, 44 Mag and 45 ACP.

    I like strange looking boolits!

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  14. #14
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    If it works to put a possum in the pot for dinner or a bullet through the 10 ring... it is never a bad thing. I think in gas operated guns where lube can clog ports and jamb pistons PC makes a whole lot of sense. And as already pointed out it can help make a snugger fit for some of those oversized bores (cough*Enfield*cough). They can be fun, daughter and one grandson like the box of Skittles in 38 special. Stepson and his boys (plus wife) get a grin out of his die hard U of M fan self getting bullets in Michigan State colors.

    For places with temperature extremes of where people may hunt with same bullet in the desert and up in the cooler mountains PC is not as temperature sensitive as lube can be.

    All that said if you have good lube and sizing equipment, and a lube you find works well it ain't broke so you can't fix it. You might still find it worth the cost of a garage sale or thrift store toaster oven a bit of powder and BB's from smoke to just try out powder coating. Maybe you shoot indoor range sometimes? No lube smoke might be a plus there.
    Scrap.... because all the really pithy and emphatic four letter words were taken and we had to describe this source of casting material somehow so we added an "S" to what non casters and wives call what we collect.

    Kind of hard to claim to love America while one is hating half the Americans that disagree with you. One nation indivisible requires work.

    Feedback page http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...light=RogerDat

  15. #15
    Boolit Buddy Phantom30's Avatar
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    Welcome to the future. Try it you'll like it.
    Last edited by Phantom30; 03-05-2017 at 04:07 PM. Reason: reduced data

  16. #16
    Boolit Grand Master OS OK's Avatar
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    I think we're developing a fetish over 'little, short, colorful, round things'!
    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

  17. #17
    Boolit Master


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    I like to try new things--some worked and some were less than satisfying.

    PC was one of the better efforts on my part. Was a learning curve but all I had to do was look at others' successes and know it could be done.

    also like the fact that the PC doesn't melt off the bullets in our hot Houston summers.

    Guess it all depends if you want to try something new, have to try something else and/or have the time to do so.

    People tend to do what makes them happy--so do what does that for you
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  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by OS OK View Post
    I think we're developing a fetish over 'little, short, colorful, round things'!
    Next to "dude you know bringing a knife to a gun fight means you win second place?" I dream of pointing a 357 magnum full of bright pastel bullets at some butt head that deserves it and asking "do you want to taste the rainbow?"

    Now if I could just come up with one for the red, white and blue ones....
    Scrap.... because all the really pithy and emphatic four letter words were taken and we had to describe this source of casting material somehow so we added an "S" to what non casters and wives call what we collect.

    Kind of hard to claim to love America while one is hating half the Americans that disagree with you. One nation indivisible requires work.

    Feedback page http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...light=RogerDat

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by OS OK View Post
    I think we're developing a fetish over 'little, short, colorful, round things'!
    What he said...^^^^^

  20. #20
    Boolit Master


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    Quote Originally Posted by RogerDat View Post
    If it works to put a possum in the pot for dinner or a bullet through the 10 ring... it is never a bad thing. I think in gas operated guns where lube can clog ports and jamb pistons PC makes a whole lot of sense. And as already pointed out it can help make a snugger fit for some of those oversized bores (cough*Enfield*cough). They can be fun, daughter and one grandson like the box of Skittles in 38 special. Stepson and his boys (plus wife) get a grin out of his die hard U of M fan self getting bullets in Michigan State colors.

    For places with temperature extremes of where people may hunt with same bullet in the desert and up in the cooler mountains PC is not as temperature sensitive as lube can be.

    All that said if you have good lube and sizing equipment, and a lube you find works well it ain't broke so you can't fix it. You might still find it worth the cost of a garage sale or thrift store toaster oven a bit of powder and BB's from smoke to just try out powder coating. Maybe you shoot indoor range sometimes? No lube smoke might be a plus there.
    several more good points sir! I forgot about getting to TN a few years ago in August with my boolits in the bed of my truck, sticky lube mess, and no smoke indoors is big! And the kids in the family love the colors and anything to get them involved is good, picture setting a 10 year old girl in front of a lube sized and say do this bucket of 500 and than I'll take you shooting!

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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
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LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
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