Contamination questions.

I haven't ever PCed, but I'm fixing to. I have some bullets that are undersized and I am planning to PC them. Well, at first I was going to just remelt them. They have been setting in my room, open, in a flat rate box (on edge) for a year or two now. I imagine they probably got some dust and maybe an errant mist of gun oil on them. Not like a spritz, but maybe a couple of those tiny splatters that goes everywhere. I don't know that they do, but I'm using my imagination.

My question is, can I PC them without having to clean and dry them? Will it just mess up the whole batch if there is a speck or two of oil on some?

What about if I had residual oil on my fingers and touched one and threw it back? is that enough to cause issues with the whole batch? or will it just ruin the coating on that bullet?

I’d say that the process is not expensive or time consuming, so try them as they are. Worst case you remelt. I’ve had zero luck cleaning bullets before PCing, and some folks say not to even water drop them.

You don’t want any oil on them for best results. A rinse in acetone and drying with a clean paper towel should work. I’ve picked up boolits to PC with dry oil free fingers, but I suggest you avoid it for your first attempt, just to be sure. Besides oil contamination, be very sure your powder doesn’t get contaminated by moisture. Never put left over powder back in with unused powder. Double bag it, squeezing all the excess out, before you store un used powder

I clean most of mine before PC. Just rinse in some acetone.

Even when I thought I had clean sizing dies I had contamination issues at times. Or just from handling them too much.

Others claim to evenly coat what I would call 'dirty' bullets with no problems. I have not been that lucky.

Thanks for all the replies.

I think I'll try rincing them before I give it a go. Does lacquer thinner work okay? I have much more of that than acetone.

I would Wet PC them. A micture of PC, acetone, and PVC Pipe cleaner. Try 10 grams of powder 20 ml of acetone and 20 ml of PVC pipe cleaner. Mix this up and let it get well desolved (min of 2 hrs). Take about 15 bullets and 1/4 teaspoon of solution into plastic bowl swirl arround like they are circle track racing in the bowl until it hits the flash off point (begin to get a stickyness to them) dump them on a screen and let the rest of the acetone mix flash off and dry 15 min. with a fan on. Then Bake to cure. Do this 2 more times. wet tumble does not go on as thick but has far better accuracy. If they get boiles the acetone was still present.
Hopefully they have no lube in the grooves. If they are lubed Remelt them. Good luck, on my 45 cal 230gr bullet I use 1 TBLS per 100 bullets and 300 of them at a time. That will cover the button of a 5 gal pale.
Shot into sand and captured.
Attachment 314202
Attachment 314203

being lazy, I would try a few in a small, disposable #5 tub.

that way you may save yourself time and if not, not have a lot to remelt

First you want to start with a good powder coat powder, they are not all created equal. Eastwood ford blue is a simple one as well as their clear coat. All you need is a butter tub and an small convection oven. Pony beads help build up static in the powder to aid in clinging to the boolit.

I tweezer them out of the tub and line them up, once in a while one will fall over and I have to pick them up with my bare fingers (no problems yet)

In my experience, PC is so simple when you have quality products.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bazoo

Thanks for all the replies.

I think I'll try rincing them before I give it a go. Does lacquer thinner work okay? I have much more of that than acetone.

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Probably does. Denatured or isopropyl alcohol probably work as well. Anything that cuts grease and leaves no residue behind. I use acetone cause I have it for other stuff as well.

I tried wet pc and did not work well for me. But, you can try that too.

This is all about trying what you want to see if it works.

The note about quality PC is probably the best advice. Eastwood Ford Light Blue has proven to be one of the easiest ones to get right. Or, just send Smoke a message and see which one of his is best.

I have an unknown black that i'll probably try first. It came out of the swap box that went around 3-4 years back. Guess we'll see how it does.

I don't have any interest in complicating the process further by doing wet PC. Or by doing more than one coating.

Thanks for all the responces.

Black typically doesn't do well. But try without cleaning. Swirl and shake a lot till most look covered, Pick out the good ones, melt the bad ones. Bring up the cooking heat rather slow - PC will flow before curing and give decent coverage. Do good smash test on a few to insure cured properly. Unless pushed hard, won't make much difference.

Unless you know where the powder came from I'd wager it is harbor freight. Not good.

If you want to try out the process with it go ahead, just be aware that it probably won't turn out well. I messed around with some HF white just to see if I liked the process. Horrible results, but, I didn't mind the process so I bought some Eastwood Ford Light Blue. First time with it was near perfect.

Preciate the advice all.

The last time i used my black PC powder (SMOKES), my bullets didn't get the usual nice cover ?? If i got some moisture in my powder, what is the best way to dry it out? It is still in the double bags sent from SMOKES.

coffee's ready, Hootmix.

Google:
< USPak 2 Gram Pack of 100 Silica Gel Desiccant Packets Drying Agent Moisture Absorber Dehumidifiers >

And remember that you can reuse the desiccant packets by drying them out in an oven.

Thank's guys, been tied up w/ trk. trans, but will get some.

coffee's ready, Hootmix.

I found some old 330 gn 44 boolits stashed away, sized & lubed. Heated enough to make the lube soft,
(edit: maybe boiled in water, can't remember)
dropped em in a plastic screw top container with a drop or two of dish soap and some warm water.
Swirled around, rinsed, dried. Heated boolits before dropping into powder, not too hot to touch.
They turned out great.
I have used HF white, the preheat makes it stick to the boolits better.
(I mix the yellow with the red, orange is OK but not gonna mix the white with red!)
I have fancy powder too but will not discard the bottles of HF powder, it works just fine.