Where do you buy Mica powder?

[jcadwell]

I'm having a hard time finding mica locally, or even online. Any suggestions about where it is commonly found? Does powdered graphite work if I am trying to dust bullets treated with Lee's Tumble Alox?

Thanks.

[44man]

Here you go. www.ballisticproducts.com It is called Mica wad slick. Same thing as Motor Mica.

[buck1]

www.midwayusa.com
.............Buck

[Hip's Ax]

Yep, bought mine at Midway. Got the 4 oz jar, man, thats a lot of mica. Darn near the same size jar as a pound of bearing grease.

[REDTAIL]

44MAN thanks for the web site for the motor mica its cheaper than midway usa they want $23.00 for a lb can, in which ballistic products charges $8.00 for a 8 oz can, thanks again

[Rottweiler]

Bought a pound on ebay about a year ago. Was cheaper too.

Did a search for it and found it listed under cosmetics. The seller claimed this was much finer than the stuff used as a lube. I couldn't tell the difference. It works the same

[grumman581]

Is the "motor mica" the same thing as just graphite? One of the sites that I read seem to imply that it is the same thing. I was looking at one of the ebay seller sites and saw one seller that sold a lot of powdered metals and such. Even powdered copper. That would be kind of funny... Cast a bullet, coat it with alox, then shake it with copper to keep it from being sticky... :)

Instead of "copper jacketed" you would have "copper powdered" bullets...

[Wayne Smith]

No, mica and graphite are two different rocks.

[Cadillo]

Interesting read for those using mica.

http://www.hillbrothers.com/msds/pdf/n/mica-325-mesh.pdf

[Wayne Smith]

"May cause eye and skin irritation" but a primary use is eye and skin makeup! If your wife's makeup sparkles it has mica in it.

[popper]

I believe that sparkle in makeup is actually fish scales.

[Goatwhiskers]

Instead of mica I use cornstarch. Dust it on an old T-shirt, kinda like back when your mom used to lay out a floured cloth when making biscuits or bread, roll the lubed bullets across it and presto, no sticky. Goatwhiskers

[Gohon]

Instead of mica I use cornstarch. Dust it on an old T-shirt, kinda like back when your mom used to lay out a floured cloth when making biscuits or bread, roll the lubed bullets across it and presto, no sticky. Goatwhiskers

Ditto...........just dump them in a plastic tub, throw in a teaspoon of corn starch, put lid on tub and swirl them around to coat the casts. I then dump the bullets out on a screen strainer and blow off the excess with a air hose.

[John Guedry]

I've heard talcum powder works too.

[miestro_jerry]

I use the Mica that Midway sells as dusted coating on my TL bullets, plus I use Xlox instead of the Lee Alox. I double dip the bullets in Xlox, do the first dip, then let harden, then dip again and let harden, then dust the bullets with Mica.

My bullets work very well with this method.

Jerry

[zxcvbob]

Talcum powder is about the same thing as mica. Not all baby powder is talc, some of it is cornstarch. I would look some that specifically said talc and try that.

[evan price]

There's sellers that sell bulk mica on eBay. I was thinking about buying a 40-pound sack and parcelling it out group-buy style in one-pound cans. Any interest?

I found that I can get powdered graphite cheap through the farm supply store where it is used to lubricate seed meters for planters.
Otherwise the micro-fine graphite or mica works fine. That tiny jar you get from Midway is expensive!!!

[cajun shooter]

I have Mica on my loading bench and have used it for years. My use has been to lube the inside of case mouths after trimming and sizing. I make my lube and have no sticky.

[grumman581]

There's sellers that sell bulk mica on eBay. I was thinking about buying a 40-pound sack and parcelling it out group-buy style in one-pound cans. Any interest?

I found that I can get powdered graphite cheap through the farm supply store where it is used to lubricate seed meters for planters.
Otherwise the micro-fine graphite or mica works fine. That tiny jar you get from Midway is expensive!!!

I saw the 5 lb bags on eBay, but not the 40 lb bags... Got a link?

[robert6715]

Go to the hardware store,right next to the graphite you will see "White powdered lubricant".That stuff is motor mica. If the tiny little hardware store here in small town Alaska sells it I would think you could find it anywhere.I have to drive 80 miles to buy white socks,but I can buy Mica.

[GuyKickinit]

Reviving an old thread maybe to refresh resources or take it on another tangent. I looked at the balistics site and they still sell the powder. Midway does not, or I can't find it. I looked on amazon and ebay and due to the arts and craft world I found many colors of mica.
You can get 12 colors from ...sh, china, for under 5 bucks.
It would be a kin to powder coating...lol. Then talking to my wife she brings a container of purple powder mica from her make up.
I just happen to need to make some new 303brit. May have to try it. and it was free!!!

[oley55]

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item/00070011341-012/case-neck-graphiter-motor-mica it says in stock. And yes Midway carries the applicator with motor mica but has discontinued the refills. No doubt the Forster price is probably a gazillion times more than other bulk sources, but we need so little.

edit: it seems Midway sells the Frankfort brand: https://www.midwayusa.com/product/2124290522/ (OOPS discontinued as well).

I also found links to a Lyman Motor Mica. I think my search parameter was "motor mica dry lubricant". That seemed to eliminate the makeup mica results. I got no idea if the makeup stuff is the same or not.

[dale2242]

It is available on E Bay.

[GregLaROCHE]

Dust alox boolits with PC powder! Just kidding.

[Shiloh]

Motor Mica.
Brownells or Midway.

Shiloh

[Winger Ed.]

Motor Mica.
Brownells

I dust my lubed boolits with it, and was getting low awhile back.
I couldn't find it either, except from Brownell's.

I didn't read the fine print before I ordered it and for about $5.oo bucks or so,
I got this little bag about the size of a postage stamp that looked like a single dose of crack cocaine.

[tward]

Talcum powder works great and smells nice too. I think years ago I ordered a 1ounce sample for free from a cosmetic company, l’m still using it 40 years later! Tim

[Winger Ed.]

Talcum powder works great and smells nice too.

Sounds like you're not using enough to matter, but I'd read somewhere it
can be mildly abrasive.

I always wondered if corn starch would be OK and do the job we use mica for.

[GuyKickinit]

Well, It took me a year to get back around to this. I did load a bunch of 303 brit. hard cast after using my wife's purple powder that said it was mica. Just a light coat after TLing and it did help with keeping my seating die clean. As for any change in ballistics? Well, it went bang, and it's my wife's favorite gun so, all is well. The powder did help with the tackiness, and after a while of drying it didn't leave my fingers glittery.

[John Guedry]

When I bought my first mold (Lee t.l.) I bought a container of powderd mica. 30 years later still have most left.

[Nick Quick]

Boy this is quite an old thread. I do have many jars with mica powder but they are all for coloring the plastisol when I make soft baits. Not sure if is the same mica powder you guys use though.

[Shiloh]

Midway or Brownells.

Shiloh

[dondiego]

Got mine from Midway years ago and then I realized that I was using way too much liquid Alox on the boolits. After diluting the Alox with 50% mineral spirits, I understood liquid Alox.

[GuyKickinit]

Boy this is quite an old thread.
Old threads are packed with info. Why re-invent the wheel. Besides I notice when someone asks a question that was answered in an older thread, the old one gets linked to. I'd rather keep a convo going.

I had to dilute my LLA just to get it workable. Now it's like syrup and just a little drizzle will do a couple hundred.

[Kenstone]

MICROLUBROL 1 oz Hexagonal Boron Nitride hBN Powder Ultra FINE 0.5 µ Micron

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N4CSJCB/?coliid=I1XYMY2VGI5YFZ&colid=6T86R8UM8FZ3&psc=1&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it
.