Advantage of Powder Coating

[Bad Ass Wallace]

My PC coated boolits offer a number of advantages to conventionaly lubed boolits.

I am finding that grit and grime does not stick to the surface.

Boolits can now be seated just 0.010" off the rifling (see attached pic) regardless of where the crimp groove is located.

10 shot groups on an air pistol target are very good.

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

https://i.imgur.com/X4s77Sh.jpg

[remy3424]

Maybe after the the end of the year I will start down the road on 22 cal rifle casting (thinking to use a 222 Rem for the long neck), have everything except the time right now. That group should still be within a minute of a prairie dog at 150, maybe 200 yards, assuming that is your 100 yard efforts. Nice work! Are you heat treating after PC? What velocity?

[gnappi]

The advantages far outweigh the little extra effort over lubed bullets. I see powder coating as an upcoming replacement of lube. Maybe someday waxy lube will go the way of buggy whip manufacturing.

[Hossfly]

I treat pc’d boolits just like FMJ. Same speed and seating distance. As long as they continue to perform well when properly cured I see no difference. I do have a Lyman 450 that was gifted to me, but haven’t set it up to use and probably never will.

[white eagle]

like you all I use pc as a direct replacement to traditional lube process
keeps all things cleaner and not gunked up

[Yooper003]

I shoot Blackhorn 209 powder in my muzzle loader so I am PC ing my boolits for that, seems to be working well.

[TjB101]

I treat pc’d boolits just like FMJ. Same speed and seating distance. As long as they continue to perform well when properly cured I see no difference. I do have a Lyman 450 that was gifted to me, but haven’t set it up to use and probably never will.

Same here with 9, 357, 45, etc ... but nervous about 223 pushing at FMJ speed.

[6.5 mike]

I just started pc'ing for 38, 44, & 3 30 cal molds. Is for sure cleaner then lube, now to see if it works. Range day tuesday.

[gnappi]

I just started pc'ing for 38, 44, & 3 30 cal molds. Is for sure cleaner then lube, now to see if it works. Range day tuesday.

You are gonna love it. I started (and continue) PC'ing for several reasons.

1. I STILL believe the "myth" about lead bullets not being safe in polygonal rifling and I have Tanfoglio pistols.
2. Considering #1 above bullets in TMJ and FMJ in 9mm, .45, and .40/10mm to feed the Tanfo are unavailable
3. I have casting equipment and upgrades needed have been inexpensive.
4. My Tanfos love the PC'd bullets and them and my other pistols shoot them as accurately as TMJ/FMJ
5. I never liked quenching bullets, not wanting to dispose of waste water with even trace amounts of lead in it. PC bullets fixed that.
6. My pistol bores are spotless clean with only a bit of powder residue in them.
7. I never have to handle sticky lead again. Everything I do with the lead is with tweezers, pliers or a scoop till after they're PC'd.
8. What wax lube I have is now used as flux, when it's gone I'll look for something else.

Nuff said :-)

[GregLaROCHE]

PC is great stuff for many reasons.

[tankgunner59]

I switched to PC years ago and never looked back. I still keep my bullet lube for back up, but that's all.

[JWFilips]

I do Not Know how many of you guys ever did the egg experiment where you soak a raw egg in vinegar for a few days.
When the shell desolves, you are left wit a tough rubber like coating that covers the raw ( soft) egg inside.
Now you can drop that shell-less egg on a had surface and it bounces. That protective skin is pretty tough!
Fling it against a wall and it explodes!

Now let us take a 10 BHN alloy bullet and coat it with a PC skin which some say comes in at 32 BHN! That skin is similar to what is around that egg!
It does real well going down the rifling but at impact the 10 BHN alloy takes over!
So do you see the true usefulness of PC coating now?
It is an amazing gift to all of us

[Petander]

Shaking deforms the bullets , that's my only problem with these easy coatings.

[Conditor22]

petlander: I never shake when I PC I just swirl and get great results.

I fail to see where shaking builds static faster than swirling. Plus I've never destroyed a container or had to chase run away boolits when the lid pops or bowl breaks by swirling

[slim1836]

It's another tool in the trade, I tried it and liked it. Never again an oxidized boolit, great for long term storage.

I'll still use other methods for my own reasons.

Slim

[Bazoo]

I'd like to know what Elmer Keith would think about this PC revolution.

I haven't tried powder coating yet but I have a starter kit given to me by a generous member. I have tried a few PCd bullets but I wasn't impressed.

I honestly don't think I'll give up my lube and Lyman 450. I don't care for the PC bullets I've seen where the crimp grooves are nearly filled and noses are fat. Nor do I care for the colors as I don't make ammo for the social media glory.

Yep, PC is a bandaid on a gun that otherwise would lead, just like a jacketed bullet. So there is a place.

[405grain]

I like that powder coating allows me to color code my loads. If I have 7.62x39 cartridges with different boolits or powder types, not only are the containers marked with the loads, but the different loads have different color bullets. Also, (and shamefully I've done this), I can powder coat 44 SWC boolits yellow, then take a black sharpie and draw smiley faces on the meplats. It adds character to 44 mag cartridges. ;)

[Handloader109]

Speed? I've a 22tcm that I've pushed to about 2200 with pc coated 37 grain NOE cast. PC stays on, and no leading. good stuff.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

[Petander]

petlander: I never shake when I PC I just swirl and get great results.

.

Yeah my coating results are great,too. But "great" is relative, I handle my soft 470 grain 45-70 bullets with extreme care,one at a time, when I'm making 300 meter bullets to break claybirds.

Swirled & coated just won't make the same accuracy for me , not with my abilities- other than that I do love coated 45-70, I can shoot a 325 RCBS @ 2000 fps all day,clean Marlin barrel. I prefer Hi Tek for the fast loads... but they are often 2 moa at best.

I have a couple of true 1/4 moa rifles, I'm coming from jacketed br world...

[Big Boomer]

Just shot last Wednesday an enhanced Sig in .40 S&W with p/c 193 gr. boolits (RCBS 180 gr. mold using 2 to 1 clip on to stick-on wheel weights with tin added for fillout) using 5.4 gr. of Long Shot powder. Velocity was like 925 fps average with an extreme spread of 9. Only slight fouling in barrel that came out with one pass of a barrel brush. My only use for boolit lube now is to run a little around the entrance of the boolit sizer die in my Star sizers now and then to ease passage of hard boolits through the luber since I drop my powder coated boolits into a tub of water right out of the convection oven. BTW, gnappi, I regularly use a Lee 230 gr. boolit powder coated pushed to the limits in a Glock. Nary a problem. Big Boomer

[metalman21]

Beginning here to cast bullets and have questions.
Is the powder application like when they do parts with the dust gun and +- charges?
Or is it done otherwise? Do the boolits need to be sized prior to loading.
Where do you get the supplies.

[RP]

Two main ways to apply one is with a gun and charge the other is call shake and bake will find that information here as well. Bullets need to be sized after PC and you can find the powder for sell in the S&S section as well as on the internet you may live in a area that you can pick up local. Just takes some looking to find which method will fill your needs.

[remy3424]

I see fellas are putting away their 450s, I PC all my hangun boolits now, but they still go throught the 450 afterward...the same day. I just have no need to add or apply any lube to theses now. I didn't even clean the lube out, it will be ready to lube again if I have the need to. I have no desire to buy push-through sizers at this point with the 450 still on the benchtop.

[kevin c]

I need lots of pistol bullets that don't smoke and will land in a 6" X 11" max scoring zone at 5 to 25 yards. A plus is ease of handling and reduced lead exposure. Coated does that for me.

I agree with Petander that the shake and bake technique, which is what I do for my casts and which I think is the most common approach used in commercial production, probably beats up the boolits more than a precision long distance shooter would accept, but it's fine for my application.

[markmars]

Same here with 9, 357, 45, etc ... but nervous about 223 pushing at FMJ speed.

I reload 5.56 55 grain military pulldown bullets at 3200 FPS. I'd like to start casting .224 rounds, but it looks like the maximum velocity is 2200 FPS. So what is the maximum velocity for a PC cast .224?

[Bad Ass Wallace]

I've chronographed 55gn .224 boolits in my .223 Remington to 2,818fps average and a little 40 gn plain base in my Hornet to 2382fps then accuracy failed

https://i.imgur.com/UP949Kam.jpg

[TjB101]

I've chronographed 55gn .224 boolits in my .223 Remington to 2,818fps average and a little 40 gn plain base in my Hornet to 2382fps then accuracy failed

https://i.imgur.com/UP949Kam.jpg

All my lead 224 rounds have been pushed with Unique, 2400, etc at pretty slow speeds ... are you running low end rifle powder loads? Recipe?

[markmars]

I've chronographed 55gn .224 boolits in my .223 Remington to 2,818fps average and a little 40 gn plain base in my Hornet to 2382fps then accuracy failed

https://i.imgur.com/UP949Kam.jpg

That's a could velocity for cast what powder coat and gun powder are you using? How many grains of Powder?

[Dragonheart]

Same here with 9, 357, 45, etc ... but nervous about 223 pushing at FMJ speed.

I have fired full power properly coated & cured PC bullets in my 22-250 at 3500+ fps with no leading; full power loads in 30/06, 7x57, 762x39, M1-Carbine, 45 acp, 44 mag, 357, 38, 9mm & 380. Speed is not an issue for me because I don't have anything faster. The limitation of full power loads with PC bullets is accuracy at distance. The inaccuracy is not due to the polymer jacket.
The inaccuracy is caused by the fact that all cast bullets are non-concentric (lopsided).

[TjB101]

I have fired full power properly coated & cured PC bullets in my 22-250 at 3500+ fps with no leading; full power loads in 30/06, 7x57, 762x39, M1-Carbine, 45 acp, 44 mag, 357, 38, 9mm & 380. Speed is not an issue for me because I don't have anything faster. The limitation of full power loads with PC bullets is accuracy at distance. The inaccuracy is not due to the polymer jacket.
The inaccuracy is caused by the fact that all cast bullets are non-concentric (lopsided).

I’m gonna need to up my game a little with my GC cast 224. I’ve got 8 lbs of CFE223 ... gonna try a few at the low end and see how they perform. I’ve pushed my cast 358’s pretty fast with no issues to my lever gun.

[fredj338]

You can get details on other threads about PC. All you really need is an oven of some type, #5 grade plastic container with lid, some airsoft BB & powder. Something to put them in/on like a tray or silicone mat or I use a small gage wire baskets. Then size after coating with cheap Lee bullet sizing dies in your press. Cost can be as little as $100 total.

[Dragonheart]

I’m gonna need to up my game a little with my GC cast 224. I’ve got 8 lbs of CFE223 ... gonna try a few at the low end and see how they perform. I’ve pushed my cast 358’s pretty fast with no issues to my lever gun.

The only way to get full power accuracy is with a bore rider design bullet with bands sized to fit the barrel grooves and the nose portion sized to fit the lands and with a perfectly fitted gas check. I only know of one person "Bama" who has done this achieving MOA accuracy out to 350 yards with full power PC cast bore rider bullets. His bullets are the most perfect cast & coated bullets I have ever seen and his checks are completely flat and perpendicular. He proved PC cast bullets can rival commercial jacketed bullets, but not as they come out of the mold like almost everyone is using.

Other bullet designs like the "Spitzer" just will not work as the nose of the bullets remains lopsided. PC even though the polymer jacket will withstand the full power of torque spin-up and stabilize the bullet out of the barrel the lopsided bullet at some point will start to wobble and once the wobble starts it only gets worse. Most will find good full power accuracy out to 50 yards then the wobble begins.

I have been acquiring some tooling and materials to attempt making swaging dies to reform other PC bullet designs like the Spitzer to correct the non-concentric flaw. Swaging in theory makes sense to me, but the proof is can I get it to work. The limitation I have are the tools/mini-lathe, not known for the greatest accuracy and accurate re-alignment is a must.