About ready to do my first bach of PC boolits

[technojock]

I think I have all I need to get started but I have a question. I have a bowl with lid that's about 1/2 again bigger than a Coolwhip bowl and 2000 black airsoft BB's. About how much powder and BB's should I put in the bowl? I have about 3/4's of a pound of battleship gray powder and I can hardly wait to get started...

I figure I'll only coat 50 to 100 boolits to start. I'll probably do boolits from my Lee 311-100-2R mold first since they shoot so well from my .300 Blackout single shot. If these turn out I'll wast no time casting up boolits for the 2 .45-70's in my family...

Tony

[GregLaROCHE]

I can’t tell you exactly how much powder to use, but it should be the minimum amount to get good coverage. You can’t really save it unless you are in a super dry environment. Don’t ever put leftover powder back into your unused powder.
I tried adding bbs, but it didn’t seem to make a difference. Others swear by them. Hopefully someone will advise on how many to use.
Be sure to keep your powder dry. Double bag it with all the air squeezed out. Add some silica gel packs if you have them.
Good luck!

[pworley1]

I never use the BB's and have always had good coverage. You will only need about a level teaspoon or less of powder. Less is better than more, you can always add a little and shake again if you need to. Good luck with your coating.

[charlie b]

And I like using the black BB's. My bullets seem to not look as 'banged up' from the 'shaking'.

This is the best write up I've seen on S&B PC

https://www.mp-molds.com/tipstricks/powder-coating-lead-bullets-dry-tumble-dt-method/

[ChuckO]

I usually put few enough BB's in the bowl to make it between 2 and 3 layers deep. Any deeper does not seem to give an advantage.

[Finster101]

I no longer use the BBs. Just makes it a pain in the rear fishing the boolits out.

[technojock]

Thanks for the info guys. I would have used too much powder for sure if I hadn't asked. I hope to get to my first batch by the weekend if other things don't get in the way...

Tony

[Net]

Start with a small amount, if you didn't add enough you simply add a little more and shake it again. I also no longer use the bb's.

[Smoke4320]

For 50 to 100 bullets a 1/2 teaspoon is more than enough .. as said above too much powder can be more hurtful than not enough.
if ather shaking you open the lid and not good coverage close the lid and shake again and shake HARD. If Still not enough coverage add 1/4 teaspoon and shake HARD again

[MUSTANG]

It does not take much. Below pic is not great; but shows relationship. This is a plastic Cool Whip bowl I use for Shake and Bake coating. The bowl is at about a 30 degree angle with one side lifted up to corm the powder arc you see. The boolit is a 200 Grain RCBS .30 Sil. The bottom ring is Eastwood Green Powder coat. Rhat ring is about enough for coating 20 of the RCBS Boolits.

306355


Static charge is what causes the PC to stick to the boolit. If not getting a light coating on the boolits after shaking vigorously for a couple of minutes - Then rub the bowl (Top on securely) either back and forth or in a circle for a minute on a Man Made fiber carpet (not cotton or other materials). That should cause a charge to start forming - then do a minute or so vigorous shaking.

I do about 20 at a time using this method. Too much powder results in a thick coating, can cause one side to be thicker PC, and other less desirable characteristics - kind of too thick a coat of paint using a paint brush.

[fredj338]

I use a Ziplok container with lid, holds maybe 2cups? I put in about 1/2" deep BBs & 1tsp of powder. Throw in about 50 bullets & shake. 1tsp does about 200-300 9mm.

[Driz]

Don’t forget , all powders don’t work as well as others with shake n Bake. Certain ones coat fantastically while others are just so so like HF yellow. All I’ve ever used is a couple cottage cheese containers (tall ones harder to pick bullets up from ) and like 30 white airsoft bbs . The black ones went away and never came back around here. I just flip mine up and down till I guess the powder is spread some then swirl hell out of the tub 45 seconds to a minute to rev up some static electricity. Then I use my large tweezers to pluck them out set on their bases on a sheet of aluminum foil lining my pan and toss them in the oven. Mine come out more or less perfect using Smokes powders. His site does list which colors work best or just ok. The HF I have left kicking around is still is ok but not nearly so fully coated. Maybe doing them another coat but I’m not going to bother with all that. Most of the pick marks I’ve seen come from picking them up with my fingers which is why I use the big tweezers. The aluminum foil Keeps them from anchoring themselves to the pan.
I never sweat the how much powder thought. Too much is easily cured with tossing in some more bullets or a little more powder and swirling it up again just like mixing cement. When I’m done I just leave the leftover powder in the tub till next time. Easy peasey. I knock out 150 or so a run with a toaster oven which in plenty for my purposes. I tried laying them over and had less luck as they rolled into each other which did leave defects so I keep standing them on their tails.

[technojock]

My computer died during the week and dealing with it has eaten up a lot of time I needed for other things. It's likely I won't be able to get to this for another week. However by then, I just might cast up some slugs for the .45-70 to do the first batch... Hopefully the gifted 1/2 pound or so battle ship gray PC will stick to them...

Tony