Tried the shake and bake method and I'm not impressed , or I'm doing it wrong . Defiantly like the way my coating comes out when I stand each boolit upright .
Tried the shake and bake method and I'm not impressed , or I'm doing it wrong . Defiantly like the way my coating comes out when I stand each boolit upright .
I think the powder you use may make a difference. I have some candy blue I really like the coverage. Then I have some gloss black that doesn't seem to cover as well. But I think the coverage is good but the pigment is a bit spotty. Because there is clear everywhere. And you can always stand them on their base if you want to. Just use nitrel gloves and get a little powder on your fingers. Might give it a couple of tries.
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Don't give up yet. I've only done a half dozen sessions of shake n bake so far, but have been really happy with my results. I have been standing my bullets up and am too pleased to give the dump and bake a try, but I will eventually I suppose. I read, prepared and watched a bunch of videos for at least two months before I finally jumped in. The blue speckled are my first batches, followed by the granite and my last was the clear with a pinch of black. If I can do it, most anybody can. But then again, I haven't done enough to have encountered a problem to overcome.
There are a bunch of really experienced PC folks here that can help you out, but I'm sure they will need more details about your process and specific results.
Last edited by oley55; 03-09-2021 at 12:01 AM.
“Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem.” Ronald Reagan
What's the problem?
I use shake and bake and stand up all my bullets... For any sort of guidance we'd need to know what you are doing and what the problems are. Shake and bake is simple if you have the right components. You need the correct container, some powders work much better than others, the right kind of BB's can help, humidity can wreak havoc on some powders, baking at the correct temp is necessary. There are other problems a person can have but those are the main ones.
The main problem is the sticking together . I have good coverage and the stand up one look awesome , but the shake and bakes I don't like the way they turn out . LOL Using Eastwood powder , got a over thermometer so I know it's at 400 and again it might be timing droping them in water .
If you are referring to baking and then dumping on hardware cloth dump so they are spread out not piled on top of each other and as soon as baking is done pull and shake them off or dump them if they set for a minute or more as temperature drops they will be stuck together , one other thing in doing the them that way with success is to shake excess powder off .
I find that perfect is picking each one and standing upright , but you can shake in your container and dump in a colander or other tub with holes to let airsoft bbs out and swirl shake and toss till excess powder is off and as long as they coated good to begin with they seem to bake just fine as long as they are quickly removed and dumped from trays and I do not have any sticking bullets done that way , then I check for missed bbs in hollow points as while they are still hot they are no problem to remove , then I shift them to another tray to check for sticking and to assist in cooling quicker .
But if it works better for you by standing them up then do it however it works best for you , I have done both and find I can shake dump and bake a lot more in less time and I am still getting coverage that is consistent and without issues , but use whatever method or way works best as only you through trying different things can decide what works best and meets your needs .
I have found that some powders work far better than others. Smokes clear and silver are almost impossible to mess up. You can shake and bake this stuff in a rainstorm and it flat works. The black shades require a little more love.
If you are not liking the surface finish due to wire mesh marks or bullets sticking together, I doubt they will have any noticeable difference on pistol bullet performance.
Flintandfire gave good advice.
Don Verna
Yeah, they have a few lumps and bruises when baked in a pile. Once in a while, I'll recycle one just because the imperfections are on the driving bands. But they shoot fine.
The key for me is to have a big cardboard box ready when I take the pile out of the oven and SLAM it into the box. Then break them up with a plastic screwdriver handle. It gets most of them. The rest I separate on the reloading bench by laying a towel over them and tapping with a plastic ...something. Whatever is close at hand. The towel keeps them from skittering across the room.
If I were doing a couple hundred larger rifle bullets, I'd probably stand them up just because they looks so nice. Pistol bullets by the thousands? Pile and slam.
I do not find I have to slam them , I remove as soon as oven stops and with gloves on I turn racks straight over onto pans and they fall out I am filling hardware cloth completely full trying to maintain single layer without having very many laying on top of others , I have been distracted and oven ended and then I have had bullets stuck together .
I am finding that it is hard to see any difference between batch done this way and standing each one up , my racks measure 13x15 and that was bigger then my pans with silicone sheets , shake all excess powder off , I am using smokes powders different colors and I do believe that keeping bullets spread on racks not piled up is keeping this as good as it is doing .
When I allowed them to cool a little some were bonded together in groups of 2 -3 or 4 I shook them out and the ones that did not separate easily I tried smacking them , bad idea put dents or marks , those went back into pot to be recast .
I have done large sessions of powder coating , standing them up and as they bake start standing others up in trays , after 3 coffee cans full of bullets 9mm size it was a literal pain in the neck , so I tried the shake and bake dump on cloth method and I am enjoying it a lot more , and having done a trade with a guy where I made 120 lbs of bullets split between 9mm and 357 in a 2 day cast and coat I did not have any stuck together or having issues .
You doingbv the shake n bake in a pile or stand up on thier own.
I have acceptable results with bake in pile.
I have great results with standing.
I have fantaistc result with espc. So its really up to you.
Since i just do pistol bullets and i basicly shoot steel or paper. I dont care how ugly they look as long as i dont get leading im happy.
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Sounds like my timing is off as to getting the boolets out of the oven when the timer goes off . LOL Get busy doing other stuff and the hearing ain't so good any more so I miss the ding . LOL
You and me both I am so deaf I have to watch timer or be real close , and then my issue was getting on here and going oh crap and it was to late , just try it single layer and right out of oven dump on flat tray or I put my 4 baking trays tight together , let us know if it helps or if it does not . Best of luck
It's all about what powder you use and removing all the excess powder.
some powders the coat excellent ASBBDT standing up will stick like the dickens with shake and bake.
I have some powders that coat great/easy and rarely stick S&B and others that you need a pneumatic chisel to separate
I haven't found that baking too long is a problem, just too short or at too low a temperature.
I found these timers to be plenty loud https://www.amazon.com/Blossmfree-Ki...-garden&sr=1-6
Don't look like earth quake timers to me LOL Hard of hearing and tones play a big part of what I hear anymore , wife get ticked at time having to repeat herself with some words . hehe
Pull them out hot they separate a lot easier with few to no imperfections , or mine do with smokes powders . Have had no reason to buy any others as 8 lbs last a long time and the poor loading benches are held solid by all the ready to load bullets .
Last edited by AndyC; 03-11-2021 at 08:48 PM.
Last edited by AndyC; 03-13-2021 at 05:16 PM.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |