Goofed up with some ‘ Gun metal ‘ i did on some 230 gr RN. Igot the gunmetal hitek in an exchange. First two lots came out great, albeit a bit darker. But shiny and slippery. Acetone rub and smash all good , sized after 2 coats. Got a bit carried away, sized the next lot after 1 coat, then coat and dry for 30min on top of the little oven until hot to touch, bake.
2nd bake shows leprous splotches on the body...
"...Some days its rocket science, and some days it just zinc..."
Were the spots like burst bubble which I believe are caused but moisture being trapped under the coat when it is dried as you say, it then bursts when baked, I much prefer to let my coating dry over night. If the spots were just light spots it could be from not shaking the coating enough or coating becoming chilled when shaken, in the cooler weather I find the cast do chill when tumbled and seem to attract moisture and leave little white spots which seem to remain when baked if not let dry overnight. I always size after my final coat which is generally 3 coats for rifle and 2 pistol. Regards Stephen
Do you do this to be able to form the case neck of the .357 mag cases? Do you need to anneal the brass first to get it to form without wrinkling?
One day i'd like to build a rifle, but not sure i'd trust myself enough to go for something out of the ordinary, as cases can be hard to get, yet if you can re-form a popular case like .357 mag, you'll never have issues getting brass.
We’re going thru a bit of wet here. And it’s cold. 6 deg at night in my shed. There are no bubbles or marks. More like a white patch. Could be a combination of improper drying and the drop in temps ? If they pass crush and acetone rub, will use them in the .45. Else remelt. But the first 2 batches came out perfect. Lesson learnt. Size after 2!coats. Because I do about 80-100 of the .45 a go, I stand em up to dry and bake and have found better results. At least to my eye. Can’t do that with a heap of itty bitty .225 RCBS! Those do just fine all scattered and spread out in the normal manner. The .223 are sized and GCd after first coat, 2 more coats of Texas tea. and pass all tests. Can’t wait to try them with 24.5gr of 06.
"...Some days its rocket science, and some days it just zinc..."
Let us know how you go with the 223 and 24.5 of 06, I have never tried that calibre with cast. Regards Stephen
You might have introduced contaminants when sizing so the coating didn't stick right?
I am due to cast more projies soon unless I go back to shooting 357 sig. Almost out of 9mm.
Gave the white Patch projjies an acetone rub. Good as new, no rub off, crush done. Now to load...whatever the gremlins were, seem to be minor. The technique and solution were unchanged. Let’s see how they do with 5.6gr AP70. Yup, Steve, I’ll defini share the .223 cast results. Have cast them hard. About BHN 18. And sized using Hitek’s aqualube
"...Some days its rocket science, and some days it just zinc..."
PS Dan- I’ll clean the sizing die again with metho/ acetone. The whitish flecks were just that, didn’t need even a rub with the acetone soaked cloth!
I don’t use wax lubes and did about 250 in 3 colours in that same die before this lot of 120. wonder what caused it... all seems well, now to change colours - the cherry red and black have arrived
"...Some days its rocket science, and some days it just zinc..."
Yes to annealing , If you want 357 cases, pop down to SPIC on a Sunday morning, take as much 357 brass as you want... And 9mm and 357 Sig... Making the trigger mechanism for the Bullpup Martini is pretty easy, the Stock takes a bit in timber, I'm going to machine a stock from Aluminium on the next one..
Never been to SPIC, a mad made was a member down there i believe, his uncle was a member there so it was easier for him to start out, he has since transferred to up here, as he lives up here.
OOH, an aluminium stock would be very interesting, i'd like to see that, I sure hope you have a CNC mill for that, free hand would take quite a while, i sure hope you share pics of it when you do, i do like seeing what people end up with after turning a big piece of metal into a smaller piece.
Im doing another batch of Omark/Sportco 44 stocks soon , As soon as I'm finished those, I will work out A Bullpup Aluminum Martini stock.. I love the Martinis, Great little rifle.. I love Bullpups too....
Actually prototyping on a manual mill/Lathe is easier, but yeah, when you want to crank out a few, CNC is king...
I cant wait to make a copy of that barrel, but in 1-10 twist and see how that goes in my 2011 in Supercomp
Last edited by M.A.D; 05-07-2019 at 06:19 PM.
Sadly, i haven't had the time to get into rifles, one day i hope to actually sit down and get something and tune it to be spot on, to be able to reach out and touch things at stupid distances. A mad mate got a neglected rifle that couldn't shoot for dog poop, he spent some time tuning it and he could then consistently hit the 12" metal plate at 500m.
The schuemann barrel was deadly accurate out to 200m on our pistol range. Pretty sure i didn't even need a hold over to knock the steel silhouette plates over. I always ran 125 conicals, it ran great. I can't remember if the faster twist was better for heavier projectiles or not. The one i have is a 1:32, so a fairly slow twist. Some go as fast as 1:16"
Tazza get an Omark mod 44 and you can touch things at crazy distances all day for cheap, mine shoots 1/2 moa all day. As a young lad I shot big bore in my home town and was nominated to shoot in the 72 Olympics, but sickness put me in hospital instead. Regards Stephen
I may need to look at this when i get some free time
Talking of swaging and Hi-Tek, long dormant plan to Swage some projjies for .404 using .40 cal pistol cases, coat with Hi-Tek and see how they do. Can any of you flick me a dozen empties to 3809? Am happy to send across a 6 pack
"...Some days its rocket science, and some days it just zinc..."
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 |