Turn the air flow valve on the handle down a bit so powder just puffs out.
Turn the air flow valve on the handle down a bit so powder just puffs out.
Whatever!
I changed the valve to a gauge, not sure it was worth the trouble...it's a cheap one.
Pro Patria-Ne Desit Virtus
" I used to think the scary part about getting older was dying. And it turns out that the scary part of getting older is young people. It's like we're the Indians and they're the white settlers. And they keep coming and they take all our resources, and all we're left with is diseased blankets."
-Pamela Adlon
I have a question. Why NOT use electrostatic??
We hobbiests have no qualms about spending money on tools in our quest to "SAVE" money and have fun; believe me, I know! So I really don't see "cost of equipment" as an answer to this question.
And I don't think there can be much doubt that ESPC will give more consistent results, and also that it is the way it is engineered to be applied. Consistency is paramount in all aspects of reloading.
So why DO the majority of people by far, "Shake and Bake"??
Thanks,
Vettepilot
"Those who sacrifice freedom for security, have neither."
Benjamin Franklin. (A very wise man!)
I use electrostatic. It makes perfect boolits every time. With the amount of boolits that one can coat with a pound of powder, even if you were to "waste" half of it by spraying it on the tray, the cost per boolit goes from way below negligible to um...... still negligible. But to each his own..... if they like shaking..... by all means, shake!
KE4GWE - - - - - - Colt 1860, it just feels right.
I did ESPC, now just shake & bake. I get same results on target from both. S&B is just less trouble. Near MOA @ 200 with 308 & same with BO PB, both fast loads.
Whatever!
I have been doing this method but I place the naked bullets in the oven at 350 degrees for five minutes.
Take them out,spray them and back into the oven.
Results are perfect.
Great thread guys!
I've asked myself the same question. I only use electrostatic. If I'm going to go through the effort to coat my bullets, I want them to look the best they can. Let's face it, the only reason to "paint" these is for the look. Otherwise its just as easy to lube them in a lubrisizer IMO. I never tumble lubed my projectiles because of the looks and I don't see myself Shake-N-Bakin' for the same reason. I will say I've seen some really nice looking work by some with that method, but for me spraying puts down a nice even coat that bakes on and covers really nice. Even with bright colors like yellow. I don't see the cost as a factor. The powder runs $25+ per pound. A gun runs under $100 if you time it right a HF. Liquid Alox TL is $5 and uses the same tubs as the Shake-N-Bakers. So if cost is the factor liquid Alox would be the cheapest route to go. So honestly we are really back to the looks factor for doing this. So a little additional setup time is worth the increase in the final results I can produce.
How do you coat the bottoms or prevent "flashing" when you ESPC?
On pistol bullets I dont worry about the bottoms,I get great accuracy so its no big deal.
What do you me flashing?
The reports indicate that if the powder coat is cured properly, that the gun powder won't attack the coating. However, if the boolit bases are not coated, the gun powder CAN'T attack it. That's a plus in my mind...
(I don't worry about degradation of the PC on the base of the boolits; I worry about the concomitant degradation of the gun powder, of which there HAVE been reports.)
Vettepilot
"Those who sacrifice freedom for security, have neither."
Benjamin Franklin. (A very wise man!)
Flashing = PC that lays on the foil and sticks to the boolit base. I haven't ESPC yet and was curious.
degradation of the PC won't occur IF you bake the PC to manufacturers specifications. Bake XX min at XXX degrees AFTER a certain condition is met either the PC starts to flow / or / the boolit reaches XXX degrees depending on the manufacturer.
Have you taken properly cured bullets, and buried them in high nitro gun powder for a year to test them and the powder?
Vettepilot
"Those who sacrifice freedom for security, have neither."
Benjamin Franklin. (A very wise man!)
It's on my list of projects to do.
Many of us stand each bullet on a nut, or a bolt head (I do this) and then usually there is no flashing and a bit of powder even sticks to the bottom edges of the bullet. I have a pic of my tray, I’ll see if I can find it... -Brad
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...72#post2613272
Last edited by birdadly; 05-21-2019 at 05:55 PM.
I am looking for some kind of tacky substance that's heat resistant and conducts electricity to temporarily stick the boolit to a 1/8 in pin for the spray and bake cycle the wipe off maybe with acetone or?
Does anyone know of such a substance? Please PM me if you do.
Ok after hearing all the rave about shake and bake,I did 500 bullets this way.
I used a cool whip container,black airsoft bb's and heated the bullets in a 400 degree oven for one minute.
It worked but not as well as ESPC.
They will work.
BUT it isnt faster,maybe a little cleaner.
Small batches would be ok this way,but with ESPC method I can coat and bake 400 to 500 bullets in alot less time and better results!
I am using a regular kitchen oven out in my shop.
If all you have is a toaster over,then I could see doing the shake and bake method.
YMMV!!!!!
Going ESPC is how I am going to get into powdercoating. It was an easy decision for me as I also play around with cars and motorcycles. After reading some bad reviews of Princess Auto guns ( Canadian equivalent to Harbour Freight ) I went with an Eastwood . Today will be my first Crack at powdercoating, motorcycle parts not bullets , but boolits will be soon
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 |