Getting after the pistol bullets

[Apple Man]

After a 30 some year hiatus, back at the pistol bullets.

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[jdgabbard]

Very nice. Looks like you did quite a bit of casting there. Now to update your kit! A plastic folgers can with some airsoft BBs, a pound of powdercoating powder (not Harbor Freight's), and a toaster oven...along with some lee push through sizing dies. Then you'll be able to get rid of the lube for the pistol bullets. Trust me, it is worth it in the end.

[jsizemore]

Still lube my 45acp. It ain't broke so no need to fix it. And it takes less time to size/lube then coat, bake and size.

[lar45]

Hi Apple Man, welcome back to the insanity.
What caliber are you loading? Looks like some big fat meplats.
Love your setup, except your bench needs more projects/junk on it, lol

[dverna]

It can be an addiction. I have not needed to cast a bullet for a while as I have 10's of thousands put up years ago and then got heavily into Trap shooting. But I am coming back to it. Trap shooting is one of the most expensive games to play if one wants to be serious about it and I cannot afford it now.

I think I am down to 2-3k 9mm's. Have a new to me mold for the Master Caster to play with.

It is a strange "habit" for me. I do not really enjoy it, but once I get on a roll, I can spend hours at it. Seeing all those shinny bullets being made is additive. When things are humming along it is difficult to stop.

BTW, powder coating is just a passing fad...LOL. Been using lubed bullets for over 50 years and do not see the need to change for my needs. Lots of people PC'ing, some using HiTek. If you have been away from the hobby a while, do a search on BLL (Bens Liquid Lube). My goal is to be able to cast bullets that do not need sizing and use BLL. Nothing will be easier or faster IMO.

[G W Wade]

Have to agree with Jsizemore. Just started PC for some special firearms but takes too long for the 1000's of pistol boolits I do. GW

[Apple Man]

Very nice. Looks like you did quite a bit of casting there. Now to update your kit! A plastic folgers can with some airsoft BBs, a pound of powdercoating powder (not Harbor Freight's), and a toaster oven...along with some lee push through sizing dies. Then you'll be able to get rid of the lube for the pistol bullets. Trust me, it is worth it in the end.


Still lube my 45acp. It ain't broke so no need to fix it. And it takes less time to size/lube then coat, bake and size.

I've been reading about the powder coating and for the life of me it sure sounds like a hassle.

I got a bunch of white label, BAC for the new Lyman 450. I have mixed feeling, it is nice in that it is not sticky when handling but needs a little heat and then it flows very well. My loading room is attached to the garage and I leave the door open all Winter so the furnace in the garage doesn't run, consequently it is cool in there. Without heat at 55 degrees it takes a lot of pressure to get it to move.

I've got 50/50 in the real old Lyman and the temp does not affect it.

[jdgabbard]

I've been reading about the powder coating and for the life of me it sure sounds like a hassle.

I got a bunch of white label, BAC for the new Lyman 450. I have mixed feeling, it is nice in that it is not sticky when handling but needs a little heat and then it flows very well. My loading room is attached to the garage and I leave the door open all Winter so the furnace in the garage doesn't run, consequently it is cool in there. Without heat at 55 degrees it takes a lot of pressure to get it to move.

I've got 50/50 in the real old Lyman and the temp does not affect it.

Honestly, it does take a small fraction of time longer - enough time to shake them around in the can, stand them up, and heat them at 415F for about 40mins. But I prefer it over lubing now. A BIG advantage is I'm handling less bare lead... Being coated I am not touching lead when I go to grab a handful of bullets to load up. This doesn't mean I eat with fingers while doing it. But being coated, it's a barrier between me and the lead. And firing mostly at an indoor range for pistol stuff I prefer it. I just figure it's that much less exposure that I am subjected to while at the range.

I still own a lubesizer. I just don't really use it much these days.

[Apple Man]

Hi Apple Man, welcome back to the insanity.
What caliber are you loading? Looks like some big fat meplats.
Love your setup, except your bench needs more projects/junk on it, lol

For me this is super messy.:bigsmyl2:

Pictured is loaded 40 S&W on the left. Then 40's, 38s in 155SWC and 150WC. The 2nd pic is 45s.

I picked up three of the Lee six cavity molds, two 45s SWC, one with BB and the other flat base. I am not wild about the BB so I got the second one.

My 38 molds are ones I have had forever, both 4 cavity, a Lyman and a Saeco. The Saeco is very nice.

The Lee make a LOT of bullets quickly.

[fredj338]

Still lube my 45acp. It ain't broke so no need to fix it. And it takes less time to size/lube then coat, bake and size.

I used to think that but once you start shooting cleaner coated bullets, you wont want to go back. I still have my Star sizer but it never gets used.

[Mr Peabody]

Still lube my 45acp. It ain't broke so no need to fix it. And it takes less time to size/lube then coat, bake and size.

I've gone back to the lube and size too

[AndyC]

I still have my Star sizer but it never gets used.
I use mine for sizing the PC'd boolits.

With that said, the final product is personal preference - so welcome back to the fold, Apple Man!

[LenH]

Apple Man - Welcome back. It sure looks like you have been busy.

I have tried the powder coating thing. I am too old school and went back to using lube. But to each his own. I have a Magma Star lube sizer and can size and lube
about a thousand in an hour.

I went so far as to buy the wife a new toaster oven and took the old one and hooked it up to a PID and got powder from Smoke here in the vendor section.
I played with the stuff off and on for a couple of years and went back to sizing and lube. I don't necessarily think it is for every one.

[gunseller]

Yes welcome back to the madness. I have powder coated bullets in the past but it is way faster to size and lube them. They need sized any way. I still powder coat rifle bullets inside of gas checking them. I like a sticky lube. I make my own it is an old sutzen formula. Works in rifles and pistols. I still size and lube the rifle bullets.

[BJung]

Don't cast bullets look like a work of art?

[Apple Man]

Don't cast bullets look like a work of art?

The full wadcutters look like shiny silver garbage cans.

[Soundguy]

Fun hobby..and a good skill to have. never know when it might be a key to survival...

[jsizemore]

I do PC my 9mm and a couple of bullets that I load for the 38sp that I use with the speed loader. The PC no lube groove bullets work real good. The H&G #50 and #68 work better lubed than PCed in their guns. The PC bullets work better in their guns too or I'd do something else. Ain't no need to fix what ain't broke.

I size both the conventional lube and PC through my star lube sizers. PC adds about an hour to it's process since I do 700-800 bullets after a single casting session.

[41mag]

Nice pile there Apple Man, looks like time well spent.

As to conventional lube - vs - PC, well I have to say I use twice as much lube than I do the powder. Yes I have a dedicated little oven and yes I DO use some bullets where the PC is a bit more useful, but mostly for rifle. I had the oldest grandson coat up a bunch of handgun bullets a while back. We ran then side by side in calibers ranging form 38 up to 454, the end result was the lubed bullets shot better groups through all but one load.

I usually pour up an amount similar to what you have there on the bench. A tub of around 15-20# will last me a while in most cases. I simply box em up and set them on the shelf until needed. I load mostly for hunting, but that takes practice shooting, so a hundred or so every couple of months just to keep the muscle memory going. It only takes me about 15-20 minutes to run them through the lubesizer and be done. I usually keep the most used dies installed and the units, so it only need to be warmed or pressured up. I use Carnuba red or blue depending on what is getting lubed and rock on from there.

[Apple Man]

@41mag,

I have mixed thoughts on the new luber I brought into the process. It has the White Label BAC, the luber must be warmed up some, a 100 light bulb with a metal shade gets it moving nicely in 15 min. or so. It runs real easy once warm and sizes easily and is not sticky. BUT it has to be warmed up to flow.

The 50/50 flows easily but is sticky and nasty.

[lightman]

Welcome Back! It looks like you have been busy!

[Beast of Burden]

Yes, your workspace is waaaay too organized! :) I lube some and PC some, just depends on how I am feeling. I bought the cheapo Harbor Freight PC gun which actually works pretty well. As mentioned before, if you try PC, use a better quality powder than what HF offers.

[jsizemore]

White Label BAC and Carnuba Red both require some heat. I got a 1" slab of aluminum under each sizer with a cartridge heater and PID for control. Thermocouple is on the other side of the sizer from the heater. Still takes some time to to heat soak the the sizer itself so I use a hair dryer to speed the process. PID temp readout lets me know when it's warm enough.

[Apple Man]

White Label BAC and Carnuba Red both require some heat. I got a 1" slab of aluminum under each sizer with a cartridge heater and PID for control. Thermocouple is on the other side of the sizer from the heater. Still takes some time to to heat soak the the sizer itself so I use a hair dryer to speed the process. PID temp readout lets me know when it's warm enough.

Could you elaborate more on the cartridge heater and PID controller. I have never heard of these before.

[jsizemore]

I use a 30watt version of this:

https://www.omega.com/en-us/resources/cartridge-heaters

You can go to the Stickys in the Casting Equipment Forum and find bunches of stuff about PID controllers. It's basically a digital temp controller with the ability to learn the bestest way to to keep whatever at the temp you want. I used a REX-C100 with relay output to send power directly to the cartridge heater. I used an old computer power supply box for the build. Ive got maybe $25 into the whole build. I've got another that controls my PC convection oven. And another that controls my bottom pour lead pots for casting. I bought the stuff for that one from Auber's. Still using the same thermocouple I got from them too. Good Stuff!

[Apple Man]

I use a 30watt version of this:

https://www.omega.com/en-us/resources/cartridge-heaters

You can go to the Stickys in the Casting Equipment Forum and find bunches of stuff about PID controllers. It's basically a digital temp controller with the ability to learn the bestest way to to keep whatever at the temp you want. I used a REX-C100 with relay output to send power directly to the cartridge heater. I used an old computer power supply box for the build. Ive got maybe $25 into the whole build. I've got another that controls my PC convection oven. And another that controls my bottom pour lead pots for casting. I bought the stuff for that one from Auber's. Still using the same thermocouple I got from them too. Good Stuff!

Thank You but that seems to be more complicated than I want to get into. I've been placing a 100 Watt light with a metal shade against the luber for 20 min and it really warms it up well. The luber as all of my presses/lubers are on steel plates and that also holds some heat. I can get a good 200 bullets lubed before you can feel the heat going away but can get 300 done at a time.

The BAC lube works well doesn't seem to smoke so much for pistol boolits paired with Clays powder. It is not stick when handling which I like.

[sutherpride59]

I know the feeling, I'm slowly dipping my toe back into the waters of bullet casting again. I made 500 45 acp boolits last week and I plan to make more this week. I did go to the dark side and start to PC my boolits so I suppose the ole star sizer is soon to be on the chopping block.

[THE_ANTIDOTE]

Nooo, keep your STAR sizer. I was just about to sell mine some time ago and now that I powder coat my bullets it has become my dedicated sizer. I ordered the STAR bushing adapter and a mess of bushings for all my calibers from NOE BULLET MOLDS and could not be any happier. I have 4 different size bushings for my 45-70's and will make 100 bullets, size 25 to one size, 25 to another, and so on all in one sitting with minimal work and tools. It really changes things if you no longer need it to lube...you can skip that and just use it as a push through.

[Apple Man]

Well after reading all the hype here, I ordered a new MP mold yesterday. 4 cavity brass in 452-200 based on the Hensley and Gibb #68.

Every body says brass really throws good boolits.

[jsizemore]

Hensley & Gibbs doesn't do too bad either.

The Star lubesizer does fine just sizing PC. I had to increase my bake time to 30 minutes to make sure the coating was dry before sizing. I size not long after they come out of the oven, about time they are easy to handle barehanded. Slip on through the sizing die with little effort or strain on equipment. Feels like sizing 22 Hornet brass in a Rock Chucker.

[Walter Laich]

as far as PCing bullets

living in Houston in the summer can make a mess of even the hard lube on bullets

couple of observations about it

something new for me to learn--find it to be fun
I don't individually place PCed bullets on a tray--I just dump a single layer on my mesh trays and then dump them into a metal pan after cooking. give them about a minute to cool then rock the pans to keep bullets from sticking together

I did lube in the old days (1960s) but I like this

VERY HAPPY OTHER LIKE TO LUBE--whatever floats your boat