PC with nose up or nose down?

[Daekar]

I'm trying to determine best practice for PC on boolits for my 357s. So far I have been placing the boolits on the baking sheet with the base down for stability, but this means that the base usually ends up with significantly less PC on it after the baking process is complete, whereas the nose has consistent coverage. It has occurred to me that it might be better the other way despite possible stability issues. Does anybody do it religiously one way or the other?

In a sort of related area, does anybody feel like plain base vs beveled base generally works best for PC?

[Hick]

I'll be watching for other opinions-- but I do base down and think its the right thing to do because the PC takes the place of lube-- not needed on the base.

[jcren]

Agreed, not needed on the base anyway. Personally I prefer bevel base molds, because it gives a bit of pc flash somewhere to go and reduces the likelyhood of shaving pc starting buets.

[pergoman]

My personal experimentation has shown no significant accuracy difference between boolits dumped on a sheet or stood on their bases for baking. This is for pistol use with the knowledge that I am not able to shoot groups as small offhand as I can get off the bags or from the Ransom rest. Even off a rest, the miniscule group size difference isn't worth the extra effort needed to stand them up.

[dverna]

My personal experimentation has shown no significant accuracy difference between boolits dumped on a sheet or stood on their bases for baking. This is for pistol use with the knowledge that I am not able to shoot groups as small offhand as I can get off the bags or from the Ransom rest. Even off a rest, the miniscule group size difference isn't worth the extra effort needed to stand them up.

What range did you do your accuracy testing at?

[Daekar]

My personal experimentation has shown no significant accuracy difference between boolits dumped on a sheet or stood on their bases for baking. This is for pistol use with the knowledge that I am not able to shoot groups as small offhand as I can get off the bags or from the Ransom rest. Even off a rest, the miniscule group size difference isn't worth the extra effort needed to stand them up.

That's fascinating, because when I tried the dump method, the results were terrible. Some wouldn't even pass through the sizing die, let alone perform properly. Maybe my PC doesn't behave the same as some other brands.

[Dom]

I have used dump & stand up . My preference is , stand up. It seems I get a better more even distribution of coating this way. Also standing up I can get "significantly" more bullets baked at one time than dumping. Also so by standing up , no bullets touching. With the bullets standing after baking I slide the tray out of the oven to let cool. No bullets touching, no problem with bullets sticking together. I can then slide another tray of bullets directly into an all ready hot oven.

[downzero]

I don't stand up my bullets and I've never had issues. If you want more perfect powdercoating to make sure any spots where the screen is touching them, do a second coat. If your bullets won't fit through the sizing die, it's because you put too much powder on. I heat mine to about 120 degrees, so they're hot to hold onto but not unbearable. Then I tumble them in a small container and bake at 300 for 20 minutes.

[Daekar]

I don't stand up my bullets and I've never had issues. If you want more perfect powdercoating to make sure any spots where the screen is touching them, do a second coat. If your bullets won't fit through the sizing die, it's because you put too much powder on. I heat mine to about 120 degrees, so they're hot to hold onto but not unbearable. Then I tumble them in a small container and bake at 300 for 20 minutes.

I think my first batch was over-powdered, but not subsequent ones. My standard procedure is to do the shake and bake with plastic BBs, and then I use a pair of medical forceps to grab them and then tap the forceps against the container to remove any excess powder. I don't have any scientific evidence to quantify how much powder is left, but it isn't usually a whole lot. It's enough to cover, but barely. I have never seen a need to do a second coat because... well, I guess I never noticed any deficiency in performance with only a single coat.

I think it's interesting that you're able to bake yours at only 300°F... my PC calls for 400°F.

[Conditor22]

The industrial chemists that developed PC determined that you need to Bake PC for XX minutes at XXX° AFTER one of 2 conditions is met (1) the PC starts to flow (2) the substrate reaches XXX° to achieve a FULL CURE of the PC

I have found that baking PC for 25 minutes in a preheated oven (that's been tested to reach 400°) meets or exceeds all manufacturers' specifications. Baking for 25-35 minutes with heavier boolits can give you prettier results.

IF the PC is not fully cured, it can be affected by some smokeless powders.

YES, remove ALL excess PC before you bake the boolits.

with some PC powders, you can get away with baking your PC'd boolits in a pile and get little to no sticking, with other powders you can get a mess.

does anybody feel like plain base vs beveled base generally works best for PC? Plain base stand up better, bevel-base load easier. both shoot great IF you cast them with clean/filled out bases, remove all excess pc so you don't get "flashing" from the excess PC.

For handgun boolits for close-range shooting flaws in the casting/PC aren't that critical. I do try to cast/coat the best boolits I can, I feel like they will shoot better (but with my eyesight and shaky hands I don't think it makes any difference LOL)

Use a non-stick sheet of something under your boolits to prevent any sticking/PC loss -- silicone bake sheet, other non-stick bake sheets, parchment paper, non-stick foil, ----

boolit bases don't need to be covered (they don't get covered when you spray PC and many jacketed bullets have exposed lead basses).

[cwlongshot]

100%. The problems you describe are a direct result if too much powder and or not enough "sifting off" excess powder!

Also proper baking! Lil longer is FAR BETTER then not enough. I have PC'd countless thousands both standing or basket baking. If you powder is flowi g enough to gathwr at the base or aide YOU HAVE TOO MUCH APPLIED!!!

CW

[OS OK]

Ditto pretty much all of what Conditor22 said...

I like them stood up on parchment...



I never have any base coverage issues...

[FredBuddy]

As to 'flat base vs bevel base', I am getting better
accuracy at 50 yds with flat base, powder coated
boolits in my .357 carbine, as well as with 2 30-30's.

All three of these have micro-groove rifling, and
velocity is about 1800 fps. No 5 cent gas checks--
I'm Happy.

[Smoke4320]

Knockoff any excess powder before baking and you will NOT have any flashing on the bases. I shoot mostly rifles and am an accuracy FREAK. Have zero issues with accuracy or leading standing my rifle bullets up to heat in oven.
Early on I made trays with hex nuts glued to the tray then covered with nonstick foil. Then poked holes thru to the hex nuts to put bullets in nose down to ES spray. after much testing I only do shake and bake now.. nose and base are covered

[GregLaROCHE]

I’ve heard people say they place boolits nose down, on a metal sheet with holes drilled in it. They say it’s easier to keep long narrow boolits standing up that way. Any imperfections left in the nose, never touch the bore.

[charlie b]

I am another who stands the bullets up on a tray. Even my 210gn .308 bullets.

Never had any problem with flashing on the base unless I have too much powder on the bullet. Shake and bake works great, especially with Smoke's powders.