Stand up or dump

[historicfirearms]

I have an order of powder coming from Smoke to do my first batch of PC. I have read through almost all the stickies to learn all I can before trying this. Smoke was also very helpful with some questions that I had. One thing that I am not sure about is, do I need to stand up all the boolits for baking or can I just dump them on a tray? If I dump them, do they have to be spread out so they aren't touching? My first batch will be 9mm pistol boolits if it makes a difference.

[Gunslinger1911]

I have read here of people having good luck with dumping, me-not so much.

I stand em up; 22 thru 500 Smith. Boy those little 22's are a pain !

I can get a tray ready to go in less time than it takes to bake, so it's not a big deal.

[gpidaho]

A lot of folks just dump them on a wire mesh and bake. I haven't heard of any one saying it's been a problem for them and I believe that would work (at least for pistol bullets) I'm just too OCD for that and always stand the bullets on a silicone baking mat or set in one of the honeycomb silicone pot holders (great for the 22 and 25cal. little pills). To my thinking if the PC'd bullets are laying on their side the coating will be thin on top and thick on the bottom. This, to me would throw the bullet out of round not to mention the marks left by the wire. Sizing may well take care of all this. Guess it's all up to what works best for you and how much of a hurry you are to get the job done. Gp

[Conditor22]

"Dumping" works great BUT only with certain powders and only IF you sift and tap OFF ALL the excess powder.

Some powders will stick like the dickens to each other.

For guaranteed best results spray or stand up the boolits to bake.

Make sure your boolits stay clean after you cast (don't quench until after you PC IF you feel you need to)
Make sure your oven is actually hitting the temperature you set it to, put an oven thermometer on the baking shelf and adjust the temperature until the thermometer reaches 400° (this will change with any change in the surrounding temperatures)

with ASBBDT, Clear PC goes on the best, light colors and translucent colors don't cover well with one coat, flat colors also don't cover well.

I haven't used smokes powders for a while now so can't help you with which work with the dump method, maybe smoke or others will chime in,

[charlie b]

There are several threads about this already. It is up to you which one you do.

[GregLaROCHE]

I drop most of my Boolits into CLEAN water and haven’t has any problems PCing them. I let them dry on a clean towel and when in a hurry have heated them in the oven. I avoid touching them with my fingers as well as anything that could get oil or grease on them.

I always stand up my 45 cal boolits. My 6.5mm were too hard for me to stand up successfully, so I tumble them with Alox. It seems to me, that if they are laying on their side, there will always be an imperfection where the touch. Will that cause leading or reduce accuracy? I don’t know, but a lot of people are doing it, so it must work for them.

[Dukeconnor]

I'm a dumper. if i get any that stick i just drop them on the garage floor and the come apart.

[bmortell]

im OCD and value quality/appearance more than quantity so i stand everything. even 220gr 30 cal gas check shank that requires steady hand to not tip. i reach in the bowl with scissors to grab one, tap scissors on the edge of the bowl and set it standing up on the the bake sheet. probably for a new person you should start like that and confirm you can make good ones before trying a bulk production method.

[Rcmaveric]

I prefer to stand them if I can. But if I am forced to dump like my 6.5m bullets and .270 bullets. I just try and scatter them so they don't touch. Works well for me.

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[Tonerboy]

Standing prevents imperfections on the sides of the bullets. Doesn't take much effort, and really not that much additional time. I do a couple hundred 9's at a time. Not super high production, but with a limited number of primers currently available, a couple hundred at a time is plenty.

[PJEagle]

Standing up works best for me. For 9MM, 38 Special and 357 I use large tweezers to remove the bullets from the plastic tub and place them nose down in the white plastic trays that come with 50 round boxes of 38 special ammo. Then I place the baking tray on top of the tray of bullets and turn it over. Since I am old and shake a lot, I wait until just before placing the tray in the toaster oven before removing the plastic ammo tray. That way I don't dump the tray of bullets all over the place on the way to the oven. Don't ask me how I know, but you need to remove the plastic tray before closing the oven door when baking a batch.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

I dump. They come out pretty dang good and most of the small imperfections get ironed out during sizing. I'm using an ebay clear PC and they barely stick all. I do shake them vigorously to remove excess powder.

I certainly wouldn't stand up 9mm boolits. My rifles easily do 1.5-2 MOA with dumped boolits. If I was chasing sub moa I might try standing them up, but I'm not.

[GregLaROCHE]

I prefer to stand them if I can. But if I am forced to dump like my 6.5m bullets and .270 bullets. I just try and scatter them so they don't touch. Works well for me.

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

Don’t you get significant imperfections at the spot that a little excess of melted powder meets where the boolit touches? Even lead showing sometimes?

[redhawk0]

First off....I don't PC anything smaller than 30 cal. I use the silicon 160 ice cube trays for 30-35 caliber tall boolits...and just stand up 35(pistol) and above calibers on their bases. I tried the dump method once...but I wasn't satisficed with the outcome.

redhawk

[Taterhead]

I definitely stand them. I haven't been satisfied with the dump method.

[mattw]

Standing up is the only way I go. If you take the time to make the best bullet you can, why would you introduce surface variances in your coating by laying them down. It is a PITA with 22's and long heavy 30's. The 30's always want to fall over. I get a couple of hundred to a tray with big 30's when the fall... think dominos!

[Idz]

the basket method is so easy I just give everything a second coat

[Mjdd23]

I stand all my boolits up. I takes more time but they look better. I have dumped several batches of hand gun boolits and they shot the same but didn't looks good! If I needed high volume I would probably dump them. Try it both ways and see which you prefer.
Mark

[DHDeal]

I don't cast what some consider high volume and will cull any obvious imperfections as I cast. With that theme in mind I stand them up when PCing. I've got my own system in use and it's not particularly slow. The little 32's can be a minor pain as they can slip through the cooling rack I pour the bullets on to separate the powder/BB's/bullets. The larger stuff is easy.

I'm about to go outside and cast now. A little cold (27°) but the heat from the burner and pot will keep me warm until the sun gets started. Big one's and little one's today (MP Ruger Only 45 and MP 314-640 HP's).

[Huskerguy]

I have tried both ways. The dump method worked fine, a few spots where they contacted wire.

Mostly I stand up. My "theory" is the paint flows when it gets warm. I want it to flow down the standing bullet and not to the side. Not that I could ever tell if it made a difference in accuracy. I am also bit picky.