Powder Coating Boolits

[Maximumbob54]

Squib,

That's the HF red, isn't it...? I had the same trouble. It WILL work if you put it on thin enough but it acts like two specs of dust too many and they look ugmo. Switch to the matte black and you won't have this problem. You still need to do two thin layers but they come out sooooo much better.

[Smoke4320]

Just got finished loading up this bullet for fireforming cases in a 30 herrett
thought I would share my results ..
Please keep in mind this is pistol shot at 50 yds
1st shot is the lowest and out of an oiled cold barrel
velocity is somewhere between 1500 to 1600 FPS right now ..
Bullet is seated to just cover the lube groove .. neck does not touch the first band .. and not crimped..
bullets were NOT separated by weight
plan to chrono after the first 50 have been fireformed..
I will be loading and trying to ladder up to 2000 FPS
So far I have tested this bullet with a 308, 300 blackout and a 30 Herrett .. I have gotten very good to great accuracy out of them all.. Pushing the 308 to 1978 FPS so far and no issues
lastly I want to test in a SKS


Attachment 85946

[popper]

30/30 testing today, PC of course. 50 yds: RD311175_0.311, PB pretty good, 1500, No GC bad, 1690. 100 yds: 31-165 _0.310, GC good @ 1630 & 1920 fps. LeverE powder. Alloy is same I drive to 2400 in 308. Left is 100, right 50.
Attachment 85964Attachment 85965
I think this gun is better off bags than on. 50 was off, 100 on. Oh, PB were fired first, cold bbl, no flyer!

[xyankeeworkshop]

QUESTIONS ABOUT CASTING AND COATING FOR AN AR-15

At long last, I'm finally getting around to building by first AR. I'm going for a lightweight, midlength build and really don't see a heck of a lot of occasion to stretch it out past 250yds. Little by little I'm getting the parts together, but I want to do a little planning around what I'm going to be feeding it in the future.

I've settled on Pigletcoating for 9mm, .45, and .380 and have been having great success with it even in a factory Glock barrel. But rifle - especially 5.56 - is altogether another animal for me as I've been content to merely lob my cast 8mm Mauser loads downrange over 19 grains of 2400. Pushing toward j-word velocity is another story. My questions span both casting itself as well as how to deal with where we are in best practices for coating rifle boolits.

I've used Lee six bangers for most everything so far, but that's not really an option for .224. Which mold designs want to work best for this application?

Is Pigletcoating appropriate or do I need to consider ES spraying and gas checking them to get better surface uniformity?

I've not yet bought a barrel to hang on the rifle. I imagine a 9 twist rather than a 7 on a 16" barrel will be the best bet. Melonite? Chrome lined?

Work up the loads with a powder like 4895 typical for j-word loadings or something else?

[xacex]

xyankeeworkshop, I tried piglet method on 225 boolits, and didn't like it at all. For me it was to clumpy for such a small boolit. I did do some with ES and those worked good, but I have not done much testing with them to build accuracy. I was hitting a 6" pate at 50 yards 100% of the time, but I didn't like what I saw on paper. There is a few boolits that seem like good candidates for this. I have the Mihec 225 65 that I am working with, there is also a 75 grain version that might work better due to a longer bearing surface. JT Knives has also produces a HM-2 223 mold in the appropriate weight class, and NOE also has one. I would choose a gas check design and try all the methods including not putting on a gas check to see what best suits you. I would not use a Lee Bator mold for this in an AR15. I had one, and sold it off.
H4895 seems to be a great powder for this, and one report with standard lube,mag primer, about 19 grains of H4895 produced small groups with the Mihec 225 65 5.56 boolit. It would probably do it just fine with PC as well at a little faster speed. All of my testing so far has been with H335, and BLC-2. All out of H4895 so I have not done a workup with it yet.

[dverna]

xyk

I have the same objective. I have been following all the threads for some time and here is my opinion. 4895 seems like a good powder and that is what I will start with. I have a lot of Varget so it will get a try as well.

I am leaning more to elctrostatic coating. I am not willing to go through the pain of shake and bake three times to get a good coating.

I am in the GB for the 70 gr NATO bullets and that is what I will start with. But I am going to start with White Label Carnuba Red simply because if it works, I can size and lube in one operation and done with it. I do not need a max load but one that will cycle the gun and get me 2 MOA - that is enough for my needs for plinking/practice ammo.

[PointandClick]

Hello all! New here. I got interested in reloading and then casting a few years ago watching Iraqveteran8888's videos on Youtube. Got a Lee anniversary kit for Christmas a couple years ago and still haven't got around to setting it up. Would like to change that soon though.

This PC stuff is really interesting. I was looking to get into casting to save some money on plinking rounds for my milsurps. Has anyone tried PC any 8mm Mauser, 7.5 Swiss, or 7.62x54R? It would be interesting to see how close to full power loads one could get with PC.

I've been working my way through this thread, but only made it to page 51 so far. I've read that some have gotten PC loads in the 2800fps range, although those reports have been second hand and I haven't come across any of those loads in this thread yet.
What appears to be the upper limit for rifle loads, both GC and non GC, while maintaining some sense of accuracy?

[cstrickland]

Hooray! FedEx dropped off a nice powder coat system for me today! I didn't know if they would make it on Saturday or not.

I went right to it and got a couple of small batches coated. It will take a time or two to get the spray right. I've got to work out how I'm gonna coat my 30 caliber boolits, nose-up or nose-down. If I coat them nose-up, I can place a gas check on them when I run them through the sizer. If I coat them with the nose-down, I may not need a gas check, and I'll have a "soft-point" where the bullets goes into the holding fixture I made.

What do you guys think? These are the RCBS 200 grain Silhouette's. I'll probably run these as fast as I can get them, around 2,000fps in my 30-30 Contender. The gas check (or lack of one) will not be an issue in my 300 Whisper AR-15, won't be able to run them very fast anyway.

Also, I coated some 45 grain 22 calibers to try in my .223. Seems OK, I'm running about 3200+ with no issues so far. I may never buy jacketed bullets again!

could you please advise the barrel twist rate and what the groups looked like ?? from what I have seen no one has yet to be able to break the 2200 - 2300 fps with decent accuracy. good to hear you hit 3200

[Beetmagnet]

I've just read this 85 page thread. Lots of info to digest. I've silenty been learning from this site since April and just recently started casting. PC will save me from buying a lubesizer, so I'm ready to try this out.
I mentioned this to my wife, and as usual she couldn't care less. Mind you, she is a shooter ; she shoots IDPA with me. And then a funny thing happened. I showed her a picture of the pink bullet in this thread. She lost her mind. She demanded that I get on this immediately and get to producing them pink bullets immediately. So based on the pink bullet I have been given a pass to do as I wish. She even asked me to make some so she could give to her friend for Christmas. Whoever it was that posted the pink bulkets, thank you. Now where did you get the pink powder? I cant believe somebodies not selling these at a gun show.

[bangerjim]

I've just read this 85 page thread. Lots of info to digest. I've silenty been learning from this site since April and just recently started casting. PC will save me from buying a lubesizer, so I'm ready to try this out.
I mentioned this to my wife, and as usual she couldn't care less. Mind you, she is a shooter ; she shoots IDPA with me. And then a funny thing happened. I showed her a picture of the pink bullet in this thread. She lost her mind. She demanded that I get on this immediately and get to producing them pink bullets immediately. So based on the pink bullet I have been given a pass to do as I wish. She even asked me to make some so she could give to her friend for Christmas. Whoever it was that posted the pink bulkets, thank you. Now where did you get the pink powder? I cant believe somebodies not selling these at a gun show.

You can make pink by mixing the Harbor Freight red and white powders. Play with the ratios to get the color you want. Use a little black to tone it down if needed! It may not be "neon glow in the dark", but it is pink.........I have made some just messing around. I use the matte black for EVERYGHING.

Or spend a fortune thru the net with "powder by the pound"!

Welcome to the madness!



banger

[MJohnston]

I liked the "glowing" pink better. The pink I use I bought off ebay and was called telemagenta and ran about $20 per pound shipped. A little cheaper than powder by the pound and I have had no problems out of it. I have actually had an easier time getting complete coverage spraying that than the harbor freight powder.

[Beagle333]

I'll probably switch the the wiser economics and functionality of the matte black HF powder, after I wear out the novelty of having em pretty and functional.

(Blue with some leftover Moto-cycle green in the can)

[xyankeeworkshop]

Beagle, those look just too darn purty to load into a nasty old brass case and shoot into the dirt.

[KYShooter73]

I'm working up my first gas check rifle loads. Lee 312-155 ES powder coat in 300 Blackout. Average is 1815fps with a spread of +/- 9fps. Can't hit nothing with my current set up. I have been sizing .309, but have a .311 sizer on the way. Slugging my barrel as measured with a caliper (don't have a micrometer) I get .307. I'm also coating after installing the check because the check won't fit the shank after PC.

How are you folks installing your checks after powder coating? Due to the leading I'm seeing on my comp and my poor accuracy, I think I'm getting some blow by and having PC on check can't be helping the situation.

[xacex]

I took off my flashhider and use a thread protector on the 300 blk. I was having the same issue with lead buildup and accuracy issues with it on. It is fine now. My jig hold the shank of the boolit so no powder coat gets on it, and I have been sizing .310 with a bored out .308 sizer I had around. You may have an issue with the .311 sizer being to big for consistent chambering. I have one blackout that is ok with that size, and another one that wont take them. I size those after P/C to put the check on. No issues now, and I can work on a good load during winter after the elk season is over. No, I am not using a blackout for elk, although at the ranges I hunt in here I could. The 50 Beowulf with P/C .502 lee 440's will be accompanying me on my hunt this year.

[Echd]

NOE 230gr .45 HPs fired from a Sig 220 in front of a decently respectable load of 7625. ES PC with HF matte black. Alloy is straight COWW water dropped with a touch of linotype for flavor.



Good function, good accuracy, good retention, good expansion. These were recovered from dirt (mud actually) in a backstop after passing through hanging paper targets. The second from the left hit a rock and broke up. The ones that did not entirely expand were pretty much completely gunked up with dirt and mud when I found them.

[xyankeeworkshop]

xacex,

All things being equal, which caliber out of an AR will be a better solution for powdercoated cast boolits in your opinion- 5.56 or .300 Blk? Assume no need for anything outside of 300 yds.

As I slowly piece together this AR, I'm finding myself going back and forth between the two.

[Smoke4320]

Blkout all the way..
being able to shoot true subsonic and it function your AR plus anything from 110 grn to 247 gr makes it the sure choice..
plinking, self defense to hunting its a winner

[xacex]

Blkout all the way..
being able to shoot true subsonic and it function your AR plus anything from 110 grn to 247 gr makes it the sure choice..
plinking, self defense to hunting its a winner

^^ What smoke said^^ Why you ask? Well, you can push a cast 300 blackout the same speed as you would jacketed without loosing anything. You just cant do that with the 223. Plus, P/C or lubing and gas checking .223 boolits is a pain because they are so small. 300blk will do 300 yards, but it is up to the shooter to decide if they are as capable as the weapons system.
I find loading 300 blackout as easy as loading 45ACP if you have good cases. The best thing between the two calibers in an AR platform if how little powder you use in comparison to a 223. You use about the same amount as a 45 ACP for subs, and about 16 grains depending on powder and boolit for supers. That is 10 grains less than a regular 223 load.You may use more lead, but what is easier to find lead, or powder? If you are making your own cases from 223 cases pay special attention to case forming and trimming to attain the best accuracy. Get yourself a Wilson case gauge, or better yet a Sheridan gauge.

[xyankeeworkshop]

I was afraid you guys were going to say that.

Who builds a .300 Blk as their first (and maybe only) AR?

Apparently I do. Just doesn't seem right.