Cleaning bullets with phosphoric acid

[Thomas918]

I want to acid wash my bullets so my coatings bond better. I had some phosphoric acid on hand. Is it safe to use? After washing how do I clean and neutralize the acid?

[rancher1913]

you are way overthinking things. all you need to remove prior to coating is any oil and dirt, dawn dish soap will work just fine, let dry and your good to go.

[wilecoyote]

if overzealous, a double bath in separated glass jars filled with acetone will do the job without fiddling with acids, rinsing, etc._
clean disposable gloves to handle the bullets, of course.

[jsizemore]

Member Petander has done acid wash to get his PC and Hitek to stick to his contaminated alloys with really great results. You may want to do a search of his threads especially in the coatings and alternatives section.

[Thomas918]

Member Petander has done acid wash to get his PC and Hitek to stick to his contaminated alloys with really great results. You may want to do a search of his threads especially in the coatings and alternatives section.

Thank you that is exactly the member I saw doing this, except with a different acid. I was having problems with Hitek coating bonding completely with my casts.

[414gates]

if overzealous, a double bath in separated glass jars filled with acetone will do the job without fiddling with acids, rinsing, etc._

+1

Acetone is all you need to rinse the bullets in. Spread them out on newspaper to dry. If they are not completely dry, the powder coat may not stick very well.

I found that not all colors of PC from the same supplier work the same. Best coverage for me is a mix of 1 part yellow and 3 parts red, then only red. Yellow on it's own is not great, and black is useless.

[rancher1913]

hes using hitek, i was thinking pc as well until he clarified what it was for and with hitek you do have to prep the boolits a little better

[GregLaROCHE]

You shouldn’t need it, as others have said, you need to remove any grease or oils from them. I doubt if phosphoric acid would etch lead.

[fastdadio]

OR, find the source of contamination that occurs between dropping from the mold and applying the powder, and eliminate it. Too much handling with bare hands? Dirty, oily work area? Dunno. I never have to clean my boolits to get my Harbor Fake powder to stick.
My process goes like this;
Mold > clean towel to cool > scooped up with clean spoon > into clean plastic container > from clean container into shake N bake tub > picked out of powder tub with clean pliers > into the oven. I never touch them, and they always come out pretty nice.

[dverna]

OR, find the source of contamination that occurs between dropping from the mold and applying the powder, and eliminate it. Too much handling with bare hands? Dirty, oily work area? Dunno. I never have to clean my boolits to get my Harbor Fake powder to stick.
My process goes like this;
Mold > clean towel to cool > scooped up with clean spoon > into clean plastic container > from clean container into shake N bake tub > picked out of powder tub with clean pliers > into the oven. I never touch them, and they always come out pretty nice.

This is good advice. Find out why the coating is not sticking.

If you have to wash bullets in acetone or acid to make a coating work, you have to wonder if the journey is worth the destination.

[rancher1913]

some people dont cast there own, instead they buy cast boolits and they usually come prelubed, the lube has to go before you can coat them. they give up one step but gain another.

[fastdadio]

some people dont cast there own, instead they buy cast boolits and they usually come prelubed, the lube has to go before you can coat them. they give up one step but gain another.

I've heard of this being done. The thing to do for those that don't cast, is to simply buy powder coated bullets. They are commonly being sold now.

[farmerjim]

I have cast many thousands of boolits. I both powder coat and hi-tek all of them. I have never had to wash any before coating. I never touch any of them with my hands till they are coated.

[ioon44]

I have cast many thousands of boolits. I both powder coat and hi-tek all of them. I have never had to wash any before coating. I never touch any of them with my hands till they are coated.

This has been my experience also; I have been Hi-tek coating for around 8 years and never touch any of them with my hands till they are coated.

[jsizemore]

Petander is in Finland. He has found a way to make his salvaged alloy work even if it isn't ideal. Cold weather with high humidity adds to the problem with evaporation of solvents to "clean" the bullets prior to coating. I've had issues with coating when the humidity is high. I could be wrong (usually am) but I believe Petander does PC too. Anyway he has had great success and has pushed the bullets hard. You could do a bunch of reading or contact him by PM to see if he'll share his method.

[gwpercle]

Rather than acid wash ... increase you temperature untill the boolits begin to drop with a "frosty" surface . Hold the temperature where they drop with a lightly frosted surface .
Let them air cool , pick up the clean frosty boolits and powder coat them ...
the frosty surface holds onto the coating and you don't have to do a seperate acid wash , rinse and dry steps ... saves you a lot of time and there is nothing wrong with lightly frosted boolits ... that's how I cast all mine ... they fill out better .
Gary

[georgerkahn]

Rather than acid wash ... increase you temperature untill the boolits begin to drop with a "frosty" surface . Hold the temperature where they drop with a lightly frosted surface .
Let them air cool , pick up the clean frosty boolits and powder coat them ...
the frosty surface holds onto the coating and you don't have to do a seperate acid wash , rinse and dry steps ... saves you a lot of time and there is nothing wrong with lightly frosted boolits ... that's how I cast all mine ... they fill out better .
Gary

An ingenious (imho) approach -- I LIKE it and will try this. Thank you, Gary!

An added note is no one has yet mentioned the need to use chemicals -- e.g. acetone, etc. -- OUTDOORS! Someone I know who very much resembles me a while back tried some de-greasing -- I believe I -- oops, "he" -- was using brake cleaner aerosol in basement reloading room -- and got so "overcome" from the fumes could barely make it upstairs... 'Nough said?
geo

[Hick]

If anyone really wants to try a solution of phosphoric acid in water, you may already have it around the house-- its called Coca Cola

[Rickf1985]

I think the humongous amount of sugar mixed in with the acid in Coke may kind of negate what he is trying to do. I think a good wash in strong soapy water would do just as well, much safer also and no acid neutralization to worry about.

[Thomas918]

Thanks for responses guys. I just want to reiterate that I am using HiTek coating that was not bonding 100 percent. It would completely encapsulate the bullet but would scratch off a little. I ran a few through the barrel by hand and had some that the coat didn't work very well. I am handling the bullets by hand so I will just degrease them with iso or acetone to see if that makes a difference