Cast Bullet ####

Ok I'm new to casting where do you get the Powder Coat paint from and why would you PC your bullets

Try finding a local powder coating and ask for scrap powder (i have yet to try that) or various websites like powder365 is where I've gotten all mine from.

Powder coating is a new form of bullet lube, it's far less messy, works as good as plated bullets if not jacketed, looks cool, and has a fairly low start up cost. Lots of info on cast boolits forum and some threads in this section of the forum.
 
Try finding a local powder coating and ask for scrap powder (i have yet to try that) or various websites like powder365 is where I've gotten all mine from.

Powder coating is a new form of bullet lube, it's far less messy, works as good as plated bullets if not jacketed, looks cool, and has a fairly low start up cost. Lots of info on cast boolits forum and some threads in this section of the forum.

Thanks for the info.
 
I actually find PC'ing more messy than tumble lubing with something like Lee Alox. Unless you are just talking about the reloading dies and not the process as a whole; in that case PC'ing is cleaner.
I PC for only a couple problematic rifles to prevent leading. I tumble lube for most things still since it's a lot less work. Cleaning the seating stem on my dies once every 50ish rounds is a lot less work than the extra steps and time involved in PC'ing.

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Finally tried my black powder loads with PC'ed bullets in my 45-70. This is one of my rifles that has issues with leading.

340gr .457" PC'ed up to .459"
32ACP case of melted SPG
fibre wad
50gr of FFg (lightly compressed load)

Patterned about 20" @ 50yds. My paper patched also did poorly but more like 4-5" @ 50yds. Will play around with the paper patched loads more, giving up on PC'ed bullets with holy black for now.
 
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After a year of collecting and processing range scrap, I've cast my first bullets with the help of a friend with proper equipment. Made these yesterday and will lube today and load this week. 200 grain tumble lube .45 bullets, they cast out at 205 grains.
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I just did my first powdercoat on boolits cast from that exact same mold! They look amazing!
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Let us know how they shoot! I'm not sure if I didn't lube mine enough or the leads too soft or the loads too high but mine leaded the barrel so bad that it wouldn't hit an 8x11 paper at 15 yards. Are you going to size them now that they're powder coated.
 
Let us know how they shoot! I'm not sure if I didn't lube mine enough or the leads too soft or the loads too high but mine leaded the barrel so bad that it wouldn't hit an 8x11 paper at 15 yards. Are you going to size them now that they're powder coated.

What did you size them at? I find best accuracy going oversized by 0.002"

I'd bet 99% of your problems were caused by a .452" sizer :)
 
I'm shooting them as cast. I don't think making them smaller than they come out would do me any favors. Will you size yours now that they've been made slightly larger by the powder coat?
 
I'm shooting them as cast. I don't think making them smaller than they come out would do me any favors. Will you size yours now that they've been made slightly larger by the powder coat?

Mine won't touch a sizing die in 45Auto unless they are over .455".... My "as cast" is .453 and with PC they are around .454"....

Shooting lead it helps a bit bigger bullet to prevent gas "Blow By" and properly seal the base of the bullet. Most casters go over bore by .002-.003" in sizing. It helps with leading and greatly improves accuracy.

I just cast a bunch of LEE 230gr boolits for my buddies 300BLK... Final diameter will be .311" after coating and sizing.

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Timbertec, the black powder coat looks good. Are they tumble coated? Do you have a link for the website to buy the black powder coat?
 
Timbertec, the black powder coat looks good. Are they tumble coated? Do you have a link for the website to buy the black powder coat?

These were tumblecoated... Using the plastic butter container and Airsoft BB method. Then baked for 15 min at 400....

As for your other question - I managed to score some off a powdercoat shop and I'm still trying to find a good source myself.
 
Couple questions:
Haven't reviewed all 291 posts ^ , so please excuse if me's missed it.

1. Is lube needed when PC's are run through the sizer?.
2. Gas checks. Are they still required for fine rifle boolit accuracy, when driven hard and fast?.
 
Couple questions:
Haven't reviewed all 291 posts ^ , so please excuse if me's missed it.

1. Is lube needed when PC's are run through the sizer?.
2. Gas checks. Are they still required for fine rifle boolit accuracy, when driven hard and fast?.

1. No. Though the PC will sometimes come off a little when sized. Those ones go back in my pot. Most come out fine.
2. Some say yes, some say no. Most over on the Cast Boolit forums are using GC's when approaching jacketed velocities (in and around 2500-3500fps). If you are staying under maybe 2200fps you might not need GC's.
 
Thanks LUTNIT.
Can't see the harm in a light tumble lube before putting them through the sizer. Maybe it's time to quit talking about it, and start into making up a batch of these PC's for myself!.
Same for cast 286gr 9.3's at +/ - 2400fps or so. With GC's or without GC's .. Won't really know chit-all of how it'll shoot until I try it, now will I.

Paper patched in the .303's has worked very well in my oversized LE bores ... but is much too tedious a process to sustain much enthusiasm for the volume of projectiles used over the long term.


Am really enjoying this thread gents.
 
Went to the range tonight with Corythecowboy, who is visiting here. He did the shooting, using the same load, but with three squares, and then four squares, of newsprint for the wad. The bore is leaded up very badly after 20 rounds, and accuracy continued to deteriorate as we shot.

Going to try shooting the same load again with cotton wad and COW, as in the original loads, and see if they will remove the lead. The first time all the leading was gone in five rounds.

Will report back.....
Ted
I wonder if the cotton wad and COW would improve my 45 Colt loads with cast bullets. Anyone try this?
 
Nice looking bullets. Can't wait to start casting 22cal myself. Got a Lyman mold on the way and interested to see how their molds compare to Lee's molds in general.

Still waiting on that order from my local shop so found a lee bator mould on ebay and ordered that up. Curious to see how these lee bullets compare to the vmax bullets for accuracy out of my VZ 58 in 556.
 
Still waiting on that order from my local shop so found a lee bator mould on ebay and ordered that up. Curious to see how these lee bullets compare to the vmax bullets for accuracy out of my VZ 58 in 556.

The Bator can be hard to get cast properly. It's also very short and blunt so may not feed worth a hoot in the VZ 58. Most autoloaders (AR-15 not included) like spire point bullets. Neither of my my Ruger Mini-14s would feed NOE MX-3 55gr or 62gr flat point boolits well at all until I powder coated them -2 separate boolits from different molds. I have an LBT 55gr spire point that feeds and shoots beautifully in my remaining Mini-14 and in my T97. 2200fps is good for lubed boolits (I use Speed Green) and powder coated I can shoot full power loads, 25gr of H335. Should be around 3400fps. I can't chrono it because a gas check took out one of my screens. No leading with either load although the 2200fps lubed load is more accurate for me.
 
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