Powder Coating Commercial Bullets

[lafferdj]

I have a lot of 350g .458 Oregon Trail Bullets that I would like to use in a .458 Socom. They worked great in my 45/70 and thinking they would be great in the Socom. However, worried about the smoke from the lube fouling the gas tube. I was thinking of powder coating them. Maybe soak them in acetone to remove the lube, powder coat them and then resize back to .458. Has anyone had any success in doing that?

[nagantguy]

Yes , received some fantastic boolits from a member here in .32 caliber , for a sporterized Mauser my wife bought for me, and my Less pretty Lee boolits powder coated shot better so I soaked them in acetone and pc’d them- and they shot very well!

[derek45]

boil them in a pot of water, the wax lube will float, remove the heat and allow to cool. skim the wax lube off the top. dry, powder coat, and size.

[RKJ]

boil them in a pot of water, the wax lube will float, remove the heat and allow to cool. skim the wax lube off the top. dry, powder coat, and size.

That's how I did some I had. Worked fine and PC'd very good.

[kenton]

I got some old cast boolits with crumbling lube so I soaked them in acetone to remove the old lube, it did finally dissolve the lube but I think I spent more on acetone then the boolits were worth. I really like the idea of boiling them, if I ever run into that situation again I will have to try that.

[gnappi]

I had a lot of .45's that I did not want to use with the lube so I boiled them to remove the wax. The down side is not all the wax was removed and I boiled them again. Back then I did not know acetone would remove the excess but that in addition to boiling looks to be the best way to use less acetone and time to boil a second time.

[Conditor22]

Welcome to Cast Boolits lafferdj,

removing some lubes can prove difficult. I'd start by getting as much off by boiling the boolits, then if needed soak them in acetone.

If you strain your acetone through several coffee filters you can re-use it.

Having all the needed equipment I find it easier to just melt them down and re-cast them, most commercial boolits are a lot harder than they heed to be.

[RKJ]

I suppose I should have mentioned that I boil and pour off the water and add more water and boil again until all the wax is gone. Let them dry and PC. IIRC I had to warm the bullets after drying to get good PC coverage but others might not need to.

[Kraschenbirn]

I've salvaged two a couple lots of old commercial boolits by boiling and then rinsing in acetone after cooling but won't bother with it again. Much easier to just melt 'em down and recast.

Bill

[lafferdj]

Thanks for the help. Recasting is plan B. Need to get the equipment and it is a bit tough finding even the basic equipment. But starting casting is on the list of things to do.