First attempt at powder coating

[Bad Ass Wallace]

First batch of boolits started to flow from the toaster oven today. I bought 3 bags of powder but I'm supprised how far a little bit goes. A tablespoon of coating powder is enough to do 60-70 boolits.

First mistake was to allow them to touch on the baking tray. Second was to unload the "hot" boolits too early, the coating is still quite pliable when hot and placing them together risks them sticking together.

https://i.imgur.com/vhvAUeY.jpg

[NC_JEFF]

Nice work, I'd be happy with them all

[cwlongshot]

Quite a GC shank on those!!

Are they a copy of a Lyman 311284?


Coating looks good! Nice esp for the first try!!

My "first" melted!! [smilie=l::bigsmyl2: Cause my oven altho set on 400.... Baked them at closer to 550!!!

A good thermo is REQUIRED!!

CW

[Conditor22]

good job for the first time around

I find that a tablespoon is way too much powder for 60-70 boolits, try 1/2 that or even less next time
check out http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?309398-Standing-Tall-Boolits

[bangerjim]

Once you get the techniques down, PC'ing is fast and easy.

And yes, "a little dab will do 'ya".....like the old BrillCreme ads used to say back in the days of greasy hair.

[cwlongshot]

First batch of boolits started to flow from the toaster oven today. I bought 3 bags of powder but I'm supprised how far a little bit goes. A tablespoon of coating powder is enough to do 60-70 boolits.

First mistake was to allow them to touch on the baking tray. Second was to unload the "hot" boolits too early, the coating is still quite pliable when hot and placing them together risks them sticking together.

https://i.imgur.com/vhvAUeY.jpg

If your interested in another video opinion.... Some folks asked me to make a video on what I do. I posted it last night.

CW

[GregLaROCHE]

They look good to shoot.

[psychodad]

If your interested in another video opinion.... Some folks asked me to make a video on what I do. I posted it last night.

CW

Thanks for the video. Not sure how many videos I've watched but always like to see how other people do it.

[gpidaho]

Good coverage B.A.W Another convert into the fold. I love being away from the mess of bullet lube. Gp

[fredj338]

They look great!
FWIW, depending on size of bullets, I can get about 300 from a tsp of powder shake & bake. So you may be using too much?

[Bad Ass Wallace]

I did a little experiment, scraping some powder off to leave shiny lead exposed. During the curing process this powder seems to 'migrate' and close the gap. Also found the best finish is obtained by lining the metal tray with 'non-stick' baking paper. Does not leave any non coated surface.

I only handle the roar coated boolits with a pair of fine tweesers.

[cwlongshot]

Many use tweezers. I like Hemostats. The scissor like round holes give me greater control.

CW

[Bad Ass Wallace]

Spent most of the day loading and chronographing coated and gas checked 224 boolits in my 223 Remington. I must stress these cast boolits are made of very hard alloy, powder coated then a gas check fitted using an 0.225 sizer.

After each 3 shots, I put a clean dry patch through the bore, and after 20 rounds, I cleaned with a brush and patches. I found no trace of leading or fouling of any kind. Next step is to reload and bench test for accuracy.

Picked a starting load of 17.5gn 2206 (equivilant to Dupont 3031)which showed 1746fps (3 shot average)

Next 18.0gn - 1817fps

Then 19.0gn - 2363 fps

Then 20.0gn - 2487fps

Finally 20.5gn - 2604fps

https://i.imgur.com/Gc8Va4u.jpg

I am pretty pleased with the results so far. If a cast boolit can be driven to 2600fps with no leading and good accuracy, My shooting will be 99% covered without buying expensive copper jacketted boolits.

Over coming weeks I want to experiment with similar boolits in .243, 25, 270, 7mm, 303, 8mm etc. Including the cost of gas checks, powder coating and propane gas, these are costing me about $8.00/100.

[JoeJames]

Wow, they look good! thanks for the post. I am considering getting into that, but still on the sidelines.

[Dragonheart]

Looks good, glad to have another convert.

[Tripplebeards]

Good job on the first round of PC. My first time turned out horrible because if used harbor freight powder and melted them as well trying to get the HF paint to flow. I ordered some of smokes and round two looked like I sprayed them when I tumble coated.

[cstrickland]

Second was to unload the "hot" boolits too early, the coating is still quite pliable when hot and placing them together risks them sticking together.

https://i.imgur.com/vhvAUeY.jpg

This is the reason I quench after powder coating . I bump my tray and dump in a 5gallon bucket of water . Cooled and quench I can handle immediately
I also quench after casting as I do not like waiting for them to air cool .

Agreed with others nice job for first go !!

[cwlongshot]

I mix/use the alloy I want/need for use intended. I only quench out of mold when I need a harder bullet. But I ALWAYS quench from PC oven as not to LOOSE hardness of my alloy.

Not much better ways to temper out Hardness than 20/400 and air cool...

[Tripplebeards]

I immediately stick my cast boolits in front of a fan right out of the oven. I then normally wait about a half minute and knock the boolits over when the bases start to stick to the mesh bottom tray that I stand them up on. I want what ever alloy I chose to use as soft as possible to get expansion for thin skinned game hunting.

[Conditor22]

Quenching when casting is a good way to contaminate boolits (IF your nor really careful) and cause problems with PC adhesion plus you lose most of the hardness you gained from quenching when you bake the boolits PCing them.

https://i.imgur.com/uclR2g1.png

[Dragonheart]

Quenching when casting is a good way to contaminate boolits (IF your nor really careful) and cause problems with PC adhesion plus you lose most of the hardness you gained from quenching when you bake the boolits PCing them.

https://i.imgur.com/uclR2g1.png

Ditto!

[Tripplebeards]

Yep, I water quenched some COWW boolits in Ice water. Dropped them right out of the mold. They measured 33 BH. I then PC’d them baking the PC at 400 degrees for 20 minutes and WQ’d in ice water again immediately like when they dropped out of mold. The 33 BH boolits ended up at 16 BH. When I did the same alloy and air cooled after casting and PCing they were 14.5 BH so I only gained 1.5 BH with WQing. All to hard for my hunting purposes now anyways. I like 7.8 to 10.4 for all my applications now.

[cwlongshot]

They will also SPIKE hardness if measured RIGHT OUTTA the water... they will drop hardness before they start to "harden" again as days and weeks pass...

Time and time again testing mine I GAIN just a small amount (with stabilization time) when air dropped and water quenched out of PC oven. BUT if I air cool Both I loose good percentage if hardness.

CW