a trick for tumble powder coating

[DerekP Houston]

Dont they bond to the hardware cloth?

That was my issue after a few batches. At first they dumped clean off the tray no problem, but after awhile the buildup started sticking and trashed my homemade tray.

[bangerjim]

Dont they bond to the hardware cloth?

There are those that coat-n-dump on HW cloth and say they get acceptable coats.

I have never had an acceptable coat just dumping them because of the lay marks, sticking, bare spots and all-around poor finishes. But.....I am a perfectionist! So my expectations are very high. ESPC (my standard method) is my benchmark for PC finish quality.

And, yes, it does stick and builds up each time until the wires are thick with PC. At lease from my many experiments. HW cloth works underneath NSAF for my dumping of 223's ONLY. Those little things are a PITA to mess with and I just recycle any bad ones.

banger

[kryogen]

So whats the deal with pc, ESPC and 1 by 1 picking is still the best?

How good is the tumbler method with BBs, drop all on a hardware cloth, shake, dump on NSAF and cook?

[bangerjim]

ESPC does NOT require any picking up at all. Just sit them on NSAF, spay, and bake. That's it.

That is the way I have always done it and I can get lots of perfect finish boolits very easily.

I BBDT, pick up with hemostats, and sit on NSAF for an almost 85% finish quality coat (but 100% coverage, unlike some I see on here).

[kryogen]

And not covering the base is not an issue?
That annoys me a bit..... Should we spray the sheet, place bullets, and then spray the bullets?

[bangerjim]

The base thing has been covered an infinite (!) number to times on here. The base does not need coverage. Does your grease offer base protection? I think not. Many styles of Cu jacketed boolits have bare lead bases. PC is just an clean (and fun!) alternative to grease. If you need gas cutting protection for the higher velocities, use a GC as normal.

Or coat your boolits nose down as I do with HP's....NOT to coat the bases, but to prevent powder build-ups in the HP's. Some stick the noses in old brass cases fastened to a rack.

banger

[ProfGAB101]

A few words about MEK.

From 2004-2008 I worked at a company that used MEK as a "soft tool". There was a one person workstation and the worker wore a special respirator, special gloves and the MEK dispenser limited each allotment to a few drops at a time and was mounted inside a laminar flow work box. Each employee was only allowed 1 30minute period at the MEK bench per week. Women pregnant, nursing, or attempting pregnancy were not allowed in the period rotations.

Like Det Cord, MEK is a fantastic tool for certain limited uses that there are few workable alternatives. It is also a tool which requires careful and precise usage and can be dangerous when not treated with proper respect of those dangers.

[kryogen]

I just bought a wilson combat rifled barrel, will see how it performs vs stock.

[BILLYBOB44]

Been casting/lubing for years-new to PC, and NO, I did not read all 37 pages here..

Do you size your as-cast bullets before+after the PC process?

I have a full line of RCBS, and Lyman Lubersizers+dies..They are now full of wax type lube. Should I boil out the lube+use these tools, or would it be better to buy the Lee pass-through size die kits for the diameters that I PC??==I really do NOT want to get paint all through my lubersizer dies, and make more of a mess?? I will still lube/size some calibers for Non-indoor range use.
If I go the Lee pass-through route, do the bullets need any type of lube to keep from sticking/galling the die? I understand that if ANY lube was used that the bullets would then need cleaned in Naphtha, or another strong de-greaser before I would attempt to get the PC to stick.

Thanks for the help to an Old Loader-New Powder Coater...Bill.

[62chevy]

Been casting/lubing for years-new to PC, and NO, I did not read all 37 pages here..

Do you size your as-cast bullets before+after the PC process?

I have a full line of RCBS, and Lyman Lubersizers+dies..They are now full of wax type lube. Should I boil out the lube+use these tools, or would it be better to buy the Lee pass-through size die kits for the diameters that I PC??==I really do NOT want to get paint all through my lubersizer dies, and make more of a mess?? I will still lube/size some calibers for Non-indoor range use.
If I go the Lee pass-through route, do the bullets need any type of lube to keep from sticking/galling the die? I understand that if ANY lube was used that the bullets would then need cleaned in Naphtha, or another strong de-greaser before I would attempt to get the PC to stick.

Thanks for the help to an Old Loader-New Powder Coater...Bill.

I don't size till after powder coating and don't use any extra lube. You may want the Lee dies so you don't have to degrease your other dies.

[bangerjim]

Agree! Buy some new Lee dies and don't mess with those greasy/waxy ones.

No lube needed anywhere anyhow anyway anytime with PC!

bangerjim

[BILLYBOB44]

^^^Thanks for the help bang.
Just starting to put together the materials/tools for the powder coat operation.

When it warms up around here going to fire up the casting pot+run off a few K ..Bill.

[Chris24]

I think I finally got it worked out. I got an old toaster oven for $4 at the thrift store, and some HF red. I tried the shake method, but they were far too clumpy. I tried the piglet method, and those were even worse. It took me a while, but I found the black Airsoft pellets at Academy.

I melted my first batch of boolits down and cast some more. I then shook them up in a container with the black pellets and HF red. It made a nice thin coating, but still with a few holes. I did another coat and they look almost perfect.

I will definitely have to size them. They're .356 as cast, but coated, they're about .363. Another coat and I could use them unsized in a Makarov!

[bangerjim]

REALLYtoo thck! you should only see about 0.002 added to your boolits with PC. And one coat is all that is needed. If more, you are doing something different than most of us.

Do not preheat the boolits as that will make them very clumpy and thick.

Keep working on that 1 coat process. You will get it right!

bangerjim

[Walstr]

Greetings; Anyone care to comment on their experiences shooting PC'd .45-70-405 as discussed here? I intend launching them up to 1340fps out of my Marlin 1894SS Guide. This velocity should approximate the original design for this cartridge. [I'm enjoying this legacy cartridge.] I'm currently using 3031 & Unique, going to try IMR4198. Thanks all.

[Black Chrome]

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread. I am just looking at getting into casting. I was referred to this forum by a group on FB. Lots to learn but a great resource we all have here. I am looking forward to casting my first bullets and definitely will be powder coating as opposed to lubing.

Black Chrome

[DerekP Houston]

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread. I am just looking at getting into casting. I was referred to this forum by a group on FB. Lots to learn but a great resource we all have here. I am looking forward to casting my first bullets and definitely will be powder coating as opposed to lubing.

Black Chrome

Welcome! It's a bunch of fun and you get pretty bullets. I like the bright colors so I can tell different loads apart at a glance when at the range.

[fastdadio]

Checking in with my results. Here's the poop; Lee 170 flgc. HF red. A hand full of air soft bbs mixed colors I got from a friends son. Tupperware type shallow snap lid box approx 5x8". Toss in about 20 boolits. Shake and pick them out using spring loaded needle nose pliers. Lay them out beak to butt on parchment paper in a cheapo toaster oven pan. Bake for 20 min. and Bob's yer uncle! Pretty red boolits. Run them through the .309 Lee push through sizer. I have 20 loaded up over 5.5 grains Titegroup. Waiting for a range day. No problems found with laying and baking them on their sides on the paper. While not a perfectly even coating, I can't see any reason these won't fly well.

[62chevy]

Checking in with my results. Here's the poop; Lee 170 flgc. HF red. A hand full of air soft bbs mixed colors I got from a friends son. Tupperware type shallow snap lid box approx 5x8". Toss in about 20 boolits. Shake and pick them out using spring loaded needle nose pliers. Lay them out beak to butt on parchment paper in a cheapo toaster oven pan. Bake for 20 min. and Bob's yer uncle! Pretty red boolits. Run them through the .309 Lee push through sizer. I have 20 loaded up over 5.5 grains Titegroup. Waiting for a range day. No problems found with laying and baking them on their sides on the paper. While not a perfectly even coating, I can't see any reason these won't fly well.

Did mine the same and they shot just fine but used 1`0 grains of Unique. Let us know how the TiteGroup works for you.

[fastdadio]

Did mine the same and they shot just fine but used 1`0 grains of Unique. Let us know how the TiteGroup works for you.

I've launched about 120 rounds so far with 5.5 gr. TG. Loobed with my home recipe. Grouping bout 3" at 50yds. No recoil, just a fun load. I plan on bumping up to 6 grs. next. The data is from lever guns and says that should be about 1250 fps which is all I'm looking for. Once this experiment is complete, I'll be going for the 1800-2000fps range with gas checks and 4064 to see if I can come up with something suitable for corn crunchers. I failed to mention above that all this is being shot from a Win. Trapper with a red dot halo sight.