Powder Coat?

[sashultz]

Been discussed alot but like to see what the latest is. Powder coating or painting lead? Is it worth the hassle? And is this a good process if your main source of lead is soft lead?

[noisewaterphd]

IMO it depends on your end goal, and whether or not you have the facilities to bake your bullets.

I do not think that powder, or polymer coating will save you from pure lead though.

The benefits really are:

no, or greatly reduced smoke
easy handling


I powder coat still sometimes, and polymer coat. But I have a few "pet" tumble lubes I'm experimenting with right now that have the same benefits, with less hassle (so far, at relatively low velocities anyway).

[jcren]

I pc every lead bullet I cast, from 380 to 30-06. It is cheap, clean and easy enough I can con the kids into helping. Plus, the wife and girls find it more interesting so they shoot more. I cast 50/50 coww and soft for everything from plinkers to +p and up to 14-1600fps for the 06

[dahermit]

I cast 50/50 coww and... "coww"? I get the ww= wheel weights, but what is "co"?

[jcren]

Sorry, "clip-on" as opposed to stick-on. Clip-on have more antimony and are harder than nearly pure stick-on.

[OS OK]

"coww"? I get the ww= wheel weights, but what is "co"?

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?107406-Abbreviations-Acronyms-As-Used-on-This-Forum >>> Dictionary of acronyms

'clip on'

[Tenbender]

PC takes lots of time. If your into casting you must have lots of time ? Go for it !

[Dragonheart]

Powder coating is a terrific lubricant, but so much more. Powder coating is hard, but more than hard it is tough. A bullet alloy can be hard, but lacks toughness and with the increase of alloy hardness other problems increase, like brittleness. We believe, (when I say we I am referring to a physicist friend of mine who is testing my PC bullets) it is the toughness of this coating that allows PC bullets to be driven at pressures far greater that the lubed bullet alloy alone. There are posters on this site that have coated and fired PC pure lead without leading.

Most powder coaters are getting a 3+ thousands coating on their bullets and the depth of most rifling is 4 thousands or less. The PC bullet is riding on this tough coating resisting the shear force that that tears at standard lubed bullet alloy. This is evident on recovered bullets showing the PC completely intact after traveling through the barrel. This same tough coating also resists flow back at greater velocities. If you have ever recovered a copper plated bullet fired at higher velocities you will see the soft copper jacket, which lacks toughness, has flowed to the rear of the bullet creating a ragged bottom. So if you have soft lead PC is the best way to go.

[BILLYBOB44]

" We believe, (when I say we I am referring to a physicist friend of mine who is testing my PC bullets) "


^^^And WHO says it's NOT Rocket Science??..HA HA HA...Bill.:lol:

[richhodg66]

I have never powder coated and doubt I will anytime soon, but a question for you who do; how do those bullets melt back down once powder coated? If you decided to throw them back in the pot and cast something else from the lead, does the powder coating cause any concerns?

I use a lot of range salvage I dig from our pistol range and with the increasing popularity of powder coating, this is bound to present itself eventually.

[jcren]

Powder burns to ash in the smelt. I reclaim some of mine in every batch I melt.

[noisewaterphd]

I have never powder coated and doubt I will anytime soon, but a question for you who do; how do those bullets melt back down once powder coated? If you decided to throw them back in the pot and cast something else from the lead, does the powder coating cause any concerns?

I use a lot of range salvage I dig from our pistol range and with the increasing popularity of powder coating, this is bound to present itself eventually.

Entirely off-topic, but you, sir, are shooting my favorite model of rifle in your avatar.

[richhodg66]

Yep, I love 'em. I have several, that one is a 99E, pretty much the least desirable one, but it's a good hunting rifle.

[Dragonheart]

" We believe, (when I say we I am referring to a physicist friend of mine who is testing my PC bullets) "


^^^And WHO says it's NOT Rocket Science??..HA HA HA...Bill.:lol:

Yes, we are looking at powder coating in a whole new light. When I first started PC, like most it was just to replace that sticky mess, but the more I got into it I started to see a lot more positives to PC than just a lube. When I introduced PC to a scientist friend, who's has a love for guns and shooting, he was even more excited about PC.

[popper]

PC is not a lube in the normal sense. It is a slick, tough coating like on M&Ms. Like LLA, it coats the entire contact area, doesn't need 'pumping' or melting to work. It abrades in the barrel, it's dust is like burnt powder - goes out the barrel on the next shot but doesn't smell nasty. What is on the boolit stays there to the target - no lube boogers. Coating isn't much messier than lubing but storage and loading is CLEAN. Higher pressure loads need thicker coating as friction effect (wear) is greater with higher pressure/fps. IMHO it works as well as copper jacket but much cheaper.

[RP]

And its KOOL everyone keep forgetting that part :Fire:

[Dragonheart]

Definitely cool, just take a few different colored bullets with you to the range and show them to a fellow shooter. You will have a conversation for the next half hour, especially if she is good looking, and may make a new shooting buddy.

[RP]

Now that's a angle Dragonheart lol are you a Player keep in mind those gals have a gun in their hands.

[Dragonheart]

Worse yet, my wife can shoot better than I can!

[vrh]

Told a few friends about coating, once they asked how I got different color of bullets and why. Now they want me to make some up for them. Told them that they should come over a learn how to do it. Hate to share my pretty bullets. LOL

[Dragonheart]

Told a few friends about coating, once they asked how I got different color of bullets and why. Now they want me to make some up for them. Told them that they should come over a learn how to do it. Hate to share my pretty bullets. LOL

I think we all have friends like that. Actually , I don't call them friends, I refer to them as associates.