ok, I did my first couple batches

[Lloyd Smale]

using smokes black pc. Seem to have turned out right. Nice glossy black bullets that I tried the hammer test on and the stuff stays on. I did some 501 lfns. I gas checked some and ran them through the 501 sizer the coated and ran them back through when done and also just coated some without the checks and ran them through the star sizer after they were done. I look at the bullet and where the die made contact I looks a bit thing. Its still black but for lack of better words a see through black. Is this ok? I have to size this bullet at the end of the process because its a tight fit in the beo.

[jcren]

Yep, the pigment doesn't do a thing. The clear resin is the important part and it should be plenty thick.

[Spector]

Seems like sizing after powder coating really smooths out the PC coating. As long as you see gloss on the boolit everywhere it will contact your bore after sizing you should be fine.

The pigments in the polyester actually seem to make it more difficult for me to see if the boolit is evenly coated. The clear PC ended that problem for me in determining if I have complete coverage.

I'd say shoot what you've coated and see if they perform how you hoped they would........both on the target and and how they leave your bore looking after firing. I would use a bronze phosphor brush and a carbon remover to clean the bore.

I would shoot those that were gas checked and then coated first. Save your targets and clean the bore. Then shoot the unchecked boolits. Compare the targets against the first batch you fired and then see if the bore cleans up as easily as the first batch.

Hopefully both batches will perform to your standards. If not post what the problems you encountered are and we'll post probable solutions to get you where you want to be.

There are lots of people here who I believe are smarter than me and who I know have more practical experience than me in the PC process and at the range.

I suspect you will get this process to work for you in very short order. I also suspect that you will sit down and smile as you write us of your successes.

A man with a foot in both the PC group and the conventional lube group may be able to help us to just become ''one'' big group seeing value in the efforts going on by those who consider themselves presently to be in just one group or the other.

Lets just get you where you want to be performance wise with PC and the big tent philosophy may appeal to others.

Mike

[Lloyd Smale]

well I dug around and couldn't find a single piece of Beowulf brass that wasn't loaded so I too a box of 50 and shot them out the back door of the barn into the pond to get some brass. There in the tumbler right now. I have to finish up my 9mm loading as I do it on the 550 and that's the press I use for the beo. Maybe next week Ill get a chance to fool with it.

[Spector]

Now that is funny. The range is just 3.8 miles from my house, but I have gone there and just unloaded brass in order to move on to some load I am convinced will perform better.

Mike

[popper]

You will have to try them to see but I recycle those that are thin on the bands. My testing with Smoke's black indicate that a 0.002-3" thick coating leaves no lead showing. Let your sizer float a little loose or it may scrape some coating off, usually on the base band.

[Lloyd Smale]

cant do much about that. I'm sizing with my star. I wouldn't have to thing that if the sizing die scrapes off this coating that theres not much chance it would hold up to being slammed into the rifling and pushed down a steel barrel with rifling at 1800 fps. If my smooth sizer scraped it off the the first inch of my rifle barrel would eat it all away. Looking at my bullets there is a translucent shinny black coating over them. Kind of like someone light sprayed them black and clear coated over it. .
You will have to try them to see but I recycle those that are thin on the bands. My testing with Smoke's black indicate that a 0.002-3" thick coating leaves no lead showing. Let your sizer float a little loose or it may scrape some coating off, usually on the base band.