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I've been casting since the 70's but have not PC'd any. I read a lot of articles but what I'm looking for may be well known and not discussed?
In the past when I cast my bullets they were over sized and then I sized / lubed them to my caliber. What I haven't read is optimum bullet size after sizing and what dimensions they are after coating them.
Cast them...don't handle them with bare hands & coat them...then size them.
Here's some information you might want to glean...
...The Devil's in the Details>>>>>PC Coatings<<<<<
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...lt-lt-lt-lt-lt
Wow, the sizing doesn't take the PC off? Are there special casting dies for .40 or can I use my Lee 6 cavity molds?Quote:
Originally Posted by OS OK
If you follow the mfgr's guidelines for heat and timing of the bake, that PC is there for the duration. Check your target butt, your backstop, you'll find them almost wholy still covered (excepting the damage of impact)...even in the lands and grooves.
Use any mould you like...Lee makes an affordable size die that can be smoothed some and enlarged depending on what your needs are.
NOE is a better choice as you can order the size bushings at whatever size you want without having to rework the Lee's & in the long run, for several calibers...NOE is cheaper and more efficient.
There is also something to consider when casting and coating & sizing...seldom do you find a cast or a sized cast that matches the diameter of the size die or the diameter of the mould...it all depends on your blend of boolit metal's contents.
Take note of this chart...
https://i.imgur.com/oDUFZOf.jpg
I cast, PC, and size......period. And.....NO.....if you did everything right, you will not remove any PC with sizing. It just makes it even smoother and shinier!
I have recovered spent boolits over the years and all still have the PC on them after hitting and going thru even tough targets. The best test to see if your PC job is right is the "hammer " test............pounding a boolit on a steel plate until it is a little cube. If the PC is still all there, you "dun goooood, my friend"!
I use all my standard molds for casting and then PC everything. I helped on this group to develop the techniques years ago and have done many thousands of boolits since. No need for special "NLG" molds. All your molds with lube grooves (if they worked for your guns B4) will work just fine and even BETTER with PC'ing.
Lots to learn by doing and not just reading. Just get out there and coat a bunch. You will learn very fast what works for your guns and how to do it.
banger
A basic tutorial with pictures :)
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...r-and-how-I-PC
1) check your oven with thermometer to make sure it's accurate
2) bake your PC to manufacturers specifications to get a full cure. the spec bake xx min at xxx° AFTER (a) the alloy reaches xxx° -or- (b) the PC flows. to get a FULL CURE! my testing has show that 21-23 minutes in an oven preheated to 400° meets all the manufacturers guidelines. so I go 25 minutes to be sure.
after the baked PC'd boolits have cooled smash one with a smooth face hammer on metal to 1/8 inch thick, there should be no flaking or chipping IF the coating was done properly
don't overload a non-convection type oven
close the PC container right after use to help keep it dry
sometimes prewarming the boolits (NO HOTTER than 150° F. where you can still touch them barehanded ) helps the coating stick better
IF the sizing die shaves PC off it could have a sharp edge. I polish the entrance to all my sizing die (and lately di a quick polish with fine compound of the inside of the die the diameter isn't increased and I found sizing to be much easier.
You can use spray type case lube to help make sizing easier (I use lanolin and red heet gas drier)
DO NOT QUENCH the boolits BEFORE PCing, it's too easy to contaminate the lead and PCing takes the hardness gain from quenching out of the boolit
Quenching AFTER PCing does help
https://i.imgur.com/uclR2g1.png
"In the past when I cast my bullets they were over sized and then I sized / lubed them to my caliber. What I haven't read is optimum bullet size after sizing and what dimensions they are after coating them."
PC adds .001 to .003 to a cast boolit. size them (after PCing) to the same dimensions you would a lubed boolit.
you can push PC'd boolits 1800 - 2000 fps without GC
PCed boolits size easily. Just don’t forget a little lube to make your life easier.
TOTALLY depends on YOUR molds and YOUR dies and YOUR barrels, but after many thousands of PC'd boolits passed thru my many dies, I have never needed any lube on them at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by GregLaROCHE
Try some and see what YOU need to do. Again successful casting, coating, and loading is 95% doing and 5% reading!
banger
just my experience and my process. I cast the lee 356-120-TC for my 9mm. My lead is either COWW or ISO core. I also have a mixture of both I use
1- I cast all of my bullets and drop into water right out of the mold. I use room temp to chilled out of the tap water. I am not necessarily looking for the quench factor , but more so I can handle them immediately . My mold and lead drop that bullet at 0.358" . as long as you exercise some common sense and good practice there will be no contamination issues to worry about. PC is not that critical and does not have to be total sterile.
2- I have done both ASBB ( shake & Bake) and electrostatic powdercoating gun. I personally vastly prefer the powder coating gun. I use large 18 x 26 inch cookie sheet and some aluminum foil . I stand all my bullets up and spray on a nice even coat. I get about 500 bullets per tray . I am luck and have access to a industrial size cure oven . I preheat the oven to 400° and bake for 20 minutes, then again dump right into tap water in a 5 gallon bucket. Again I am not worried about the BHN as for shooting 9mm. I have never had a leading issue with a properly size and coated bullet at native COWW or ISO lead hardness. It is more so I can handle them immediately . I smash test 2-3 randomly picked bullets down to about 1/8" of an inch with a 16 ox ball peen hammer. I smash it repeatably. You should see no peeling or flaking . You may see some bare areas from impact of the hammer, but they will not be flaky
3- My bullets come out smooth and uniformly coated to 0.360", much more so than with the ASBB method. I then size all bullets to 0.356 in a lee size die. I use a classic lee turret for the work (have also used a lee hand press), and I have NEVER needed any lube . Not ever even remotely close to needing lube. The coated bullet slide right through. You will be able to see the contact area will be smooth and shiny
use the same over dimensions you use with regular lube and there should be no issues.
I will say I tried a couple of lubes when I first started, and to me PC is really the only way to go
Thanks all, I just got off the phone with Magma Engineering for sizing dies for my Star lubricator sizer. I was astonished to find not only do they have .40 sizing dies in stock but they have them without lubricating holes (so I do not have to purge the wax lube) AND they make one shorter in length specifically for PC bullets to help keep from deforming the bullet nose. The gal I spoke to was very hip to us casters and our needs. A refreshing change from the ex-burger flippers I've dealt with recently.
I also powered up my long disused furnace to maker certain it works before going much further, I ordered the Lee 6 cavity mold and will be shopping for a convection oven today. Since it's so hot in my garage, I may even buy a portable AC unit to cool down the area so I can start casting straightaway.
GOOD!
Just get out there (in the heat!) and cast and coat some....load them and try them. you will learn rapidly what works for your guns and what does not.
Here is AZ we are hitting 110 daily now that it is summer. Even though my shop is refrigeration air conditioned, I cast in front of it....but NOT in this heat. The EVAP cooler I have for out front does very little at 110F even with low RH's.....mabe a 20° F drop? Miserable.
I am not shooting much due to the China virus, so I have plenty of cast/coated slugs in 6 cals to load if I get the urge.
banger
I'll hold off on casting until fall.
I'm with bangerjim▲
in Houston, too hot/humid to cast and PC. Course I have plenty from the Spring so I'm good to go.
only shoot about 300 per month at cowboy shoots so I'll have plenty for quite a while.
There is a bit of "art" to PC and that comes from doing it. Remember any mistakes can be remelted to hide the evidence
Being in the near tropics I cast in the winter and have many, many thousands of .45, and 9mm bullets ready to go. I also just found today a couple of thousand wax lubed .40's, I can't think of a way to easily remove the lube so I'll just send them down range that is unless someone here has some way to get the wax cleanly off? Maybe boiling them? .
As far as baking goes, what I plan on doing is getting a stand alone AC unit and vent it in the dryer vent. Maybe that will help.
There is a current thread "Removing old lube" and the consensus is that boiling is the easiest way. May have to use detergent and boil twice if using PC.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...oving-old-lube