smooth out PC by tumbling?

[hitfar1]

Good day, has anyone out there found any advantage of tumbling your pc`d boolits for a short time, say, no more than 5 minutes in a dry tumble, just to smooth off any small dust bits or in my case sometimes a small ring of cured pc as I place mine in a square piece of aluminum with holes in it nose down. My accuracy is not too bad, but as most everyone is trying to wring out every bit of accuracy they can.
Any thoughts?

[mehavey]

I doubt tumbling in (dry) media is going to rub off much of what
by design is supposed to survive a nasty trip down a rifle barrel.
(Other thoughts?)

[charlie b]

I do try to get the most accuracy I can. MOA or less at hundreds of yards is my goal.

First, I would not coat them nose down. I stand them on the base. The final sizing after PC removes any 'ring' from left over PC at the base.

I have tried putting small holes in an Al plate so the GC shank just fits. Then seat GC and size after PC. That works but to me is more cumbersome and difficult to get just right. If I were spray coating that is the way I would proceed.

If using short, fat bullets (pistol) and spraying then small 'stands' can be made for the bullets (eg, a small nut that is less than bullet dia). HP bullets you can put nails in a board that fit up into the HP.

The proof is in the results. If you get the accuracy you want then leave it as is. If you want better accuracy you need to change something.

FWIW, I have tumbled bullets prior to PC. It leaves the surfaces with a very slight dimple pattern. I can't say it makes accuracy worse, but, it doesn't improve it either. Some will use a tumbler to apply the powder (shake and bake).

[cwlongshot]

Are you spraying the PC? Is that tge reason for the nose down application?

If no, I agree just stand up on bases and then size last. Zero issues.

CW

[hitfar1]

Great advice, thank`s folks! Going to do a little revision to the bake cycle. No more nose down! I really like the simple idea of giving the boolits a little help to stand up. Using a FLAT base to stand them up on is a good start instead of a bent up thin gauge piece of sheet metal! Yup, sometimes I`m about as bright as a five watt bulb. I`m pretty surprised at the results I was getting considering the way I could be doing things. Patience and details, patience and details.

[charlie b]

These are SnB. .308 210gn on left 6mm 106gn on right



Note: none are touching the grid. It basically keeps any that fall over from causing a chain reaction. Once in the oven I push up the 2 or 3 that have tipped during handling

[hitfar1]

Thanks charlie, that`s pretty much the set up I`m looking to do!

[cwlongshot]

OK. Now I see.

Order your self some silicone mini ice cube trays. They are 144 individual cubes and work wonderfully when bullets are too "tippy" to be stood up. They work wonderfully you will love them. Anything under 30 cal goes in them For me.

[hitfar1]

Thanks cw, great tip! I pretty much stick with .30 cal and .35 win. for rifle and pistol boolits. .9/40/45.

[Dancing Bear]

OK. Now I see.

Order your self some silicone mini ice cube trays. They are 144 individual cubes and work wonderfully when bullets are too "tippy" to be stood up. They work wonderfully you will love them. Anything under 30 cal goes in them For me.

These are what I used for my .224 Bator bullets. Worked great.
And I agree with mehavey, pc is very tough so tumbling would probably not work. Beside if you're sizing the bullets the critical diameter will be smooth from that step.

[BJung]

I've seen cast hollow points baked nose down over a nail board (nail in the hp)