Am I not using enough powder

[Gunslinger]

I tried my luck with powder coating this week. I haven't had a chance to shoot them yet since it is terribly cold outside. I have a few questions in regards to the coverage, or lack thereof. I tried the wet tumble method with lacquer thinner - that did not work at all for me. I had more success with the dry tumble method. But It seems there are too many dry spots on the boolits, compared to some of the pictures I have seen here.

1st picture is from the first batch, where I only used a little powder.

2nd picture I used a little more powder.

3rd picture is 2 light coats and 2 bakes. These boolits have a rough feel to them, whereas the boolits in the first 2 pictures are more slick.

(Never mind the water mark, pictures are meant for my homepage)

What do you guys think? Am I using too little powder or is this sufficient coverage?? You should know I am not in this for the aesthetics... only the performance benefits.

[Mike Hughes]

looks like you need more powder. When dry tumbling, keep adding powder until boolits are completely covered.

[bangerjim]

Aesthetics = good looks = smooth finish = dynamic balance = good range performance.

Your call.

I use only ES gun PC................ and achieve ALL the above in one coat and one bake.

Good shooting!

banger

[VHoward]

What mike said. And it is being discovered that some powders don't wet tumble very well and some don't dry tumble very well. That green looks like it should do fine. It's trial and error. As long as the driving bands are covered, you are fine.

[prickett]

How much powder are you using for how many boolits? I use 2 or 3 tsp per 120 9mm boolits.

If not enough powder is a problem than you must not be using much at all, because it doesn't take much.

Do you have much powder left in the container when you dump the boolits out of it?

It might be the powder that you are using. Not all powder works equally well. I see you are from Denmark, so I guess you don't have access to HF Red powder - which is a really good starting powder since it is know to work well.

[nighthunter]

I start with not enough powder on purpose. After shaking the container with the bullets in the powder I open the container for a look. I then add a little more powder and repeat the shaking. I again open the container for another check of the application. If more powder is needed I add it if not I dump them out on the screen for cooking. I do it this way because it limits the overflow of unused powder that gets dumped out with the bullets. Shaking of the bullets in the powder only takes 30 or 40 seconds per application. I think some are over doing it with tumblers and such. I can only speak for my results and what works for me. I do reuse the extra powder that comes out of my container but I don't like having a lot of it. I try to use just enough powder to get a good 1 coat application. I've found that most brands of powders will work but its just like the molds and alloys we use. Each will let us know what it needs to give us the desired results. This powder coating is in its infancy and all of us are in a learning mode. I'm sure glad we have this place to share our results and ask questions and also to show off our rejects. Don't be afraid to alter your methods and see what results you get.

Nighthunter

[Gunslinger]

Thanks guys. It looks like I am not using enough powder then. Im no way near a tbl spoon for 120 boolits. Thankfully powder coating is so easy and fast to do I will do a batch later today and keep adding powder until the boolits are completely covered. Will post my results later this evening. I have acquired some Lee dippers, which will make it easier to duplicate the amount of powder used.
They boolits I am coating are made from pure (or close to it) can't wait to see how they shoot. The main reason I am into this powder coating is that I want to be able to use range lead and scrap lead so I do not have to stress about finding wheel weights.

[prickett]

Thanks guys. It looks like I am not using enough powder then. Im no way near a tbl spoon for 120 boolits. Thankfully powder coating is so easy and fast to do I will do a batch later today and keep adding powder until the boolits are completely covered. Will post my results later this evening. I have acquired some Lee dippers, which will make it easier to duplicate the amount of powder used.
They boolits I am coating are made from pure (or close to it) can't wait to see how they shoot. The main reason I am into this powder coating is that I want to be able to use range lead and scrap lead so I do not have to stress about finding wheel weights.

Don't be afraid to put too much paint in. Anything not sticking to the boolits can be put back in the container for use one your next batch of boolits. That is the real beauty of dry coat. There is no need to carefully measure out an exact amount or be concerned with using too much, because anything not used this batch can be used next batch.

Oh, and you might want to try really small batches initially - maybe just 10 boolits or so - to give you more opportunity to experiment, rather than coating them all at once.

[Gunslinger]

I tried adding more powder this weekend, but the results were the same as the 2nd picture above... it seems there is a limit as to how much powder will stick to the boolits. I tried test shooting all my 4 variations today. The all tumbled and the barrel was leaded after only 20 shots with each load.

[prickett]

Sounds like a powder failure. Maybe find a different powder/different manufacturer to use.

[nighthunter]

I have to agree that it must be a powder problem. Dealers of powder are quite numerous and easy to find with a web search. Try another brand.

[a.squibload]

I want to offer my limited experience ( a few batches of dry tumbling).
Had a lot of powder left over after tumbling, didn't seem to hurt anything.
If one or two boolits had a mark or blank spot I just pushed them into the
leftover powder to coat them. Removed excess powder by tapping the pickup tool
(hemostats) on the side of the can, the boolits retained a good even coating.
I tumble them in a "rock polisher" for about 10 minutes, that may be longer than needed.
Maybe you tumbled them too long?
Also noticed someone said he warms the boolits first, I tumbled mine right after casting
so they had not cooled very much. It's cold here too but not too bad yesterday, up to 50's F.
in the afternoon.

[prickett]

I didn't find heating the boolits first helped.

If you have some hairspray handy, someone did mention spraying them with hairspray first helped adhesion. I've never had to, so I can't vouch for this, but it might be worth a quick experiment before you buy new powder.

[Gunslinger]

I will try the hairspray suggestion and pick up another type of powder...

[Walter Laich]

let us know how it goes. we're all learning from each other.

[deadarrow]

I got some gloss black powder from all powder paints in Fla. About $20 bucks for 2 lbs. shipped. I found that your better off using more than enough to just coat the boolits. I put about 100+ boolits in a tupperware bowl. Add 3 tbsp of powder, turn on my oven and while it's pre-heating to 400 I roll the bowl in a circular motion to gently tumble the boolits. Open the lid and pick them out using a needle nose pliers. (Tedious part) Place them base down on parchment paper and bake for 10 min. Perfect smooth shiny coating every time. Air cool and run them through the sizer. They load nice and clean. Shot some 9's yesterday with good success. Accurate, no leading what so ever and best of all.... no smoke. They were LEE 125g TC with micro grooves. Sorry but I don't have any pic's.