Powder Coating

Very interested to hear the results of that test with those bullets, photo shows a lot of deformities (one even shows a "gas escape" channel from end to end) and will be a good indication weather PCing somewhat eliminates the "perfect boolit" syndrome associated with casting...if those shoot even somewhat consistent I would call it a success.
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I am not to worried about some of those bullets, i will choose the best ones and shoot those first, i can try the others later. I have never shot pc bullets this fast so 50 yard test just to see.

hometownhero said:
What are they sized at?
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They dropped at .286 and are .287 to .2875 powder coated.
 
f55 said:
I am not to worried about some of those bullets, i will choose the best ones and shoot those first, i can try the others later. I have never shot pc bullets this fast so 50 yard test just to see.



They dropped at .286 and are .287 to .2875 powder coated.
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So did you size them after? What does your rifle bore slug at?
 
hometownhero said:
So did you size them after? What does your rifle bore slug at?
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I going to size these to .285, bore is .284. I might even try a few at .287


Update

Shoot 9 rounds today all .287, 3 diff powders, no leading but only 1 of 9 hit the paper.

I did run a couple of patches though the barrel before shooting some jacket 180gr and no signs of leading.

The 180gr jackets gave me 1/2" group at 50 yards so assume leading from the pc bullets is not issue. I did notice a lot of smoke from the barrel so not sure if the pc was blown off or its just powder, but i didn't notice any blue on the patches.

I will cast some new bullets (try and get better results) and pc.
 
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2nd attempt at shooting cast pc at 3000+ fps today.

Good news, no leading in barrel.

Bad news, i could only get 2 out of 10 on paper. at 50 yards.

I will have to try cast some better bullets and try again but its not looking good for pc at high speeds.
 
OK; I love the concept of powder coating, I cast for old, slower speed, odd sized firearms. 32-20, 455 Webley, 41 LC etc. I've discovered that the greasy wax lube mixes are a PITA, and I just am not possessing of the patience ( and extra $$$ outlay ) to bother with a press through sizer.
Locally; it's 2.5 kgs for about 75 $, is this about right as far as price point goes? They have no idea which type ( Spectrum in Calgary is the closest source ) and I don't want to drop 75 on something which is not suitable for my needs.
Any input or questions are welcome
Thanks
Tok
 
first thing 2.5 kgs of powder will last two lifetimes. go to KMS or Princess and buy a 1/2 lb jar (enough to coat a couple thou slugs) for under $15 or so...pick a couple of powder colors if that floats your boat.

Second, You don't want to buy gigantic amount of powder unless you know it is appropriate and will work for our method of use...read every posting you can find here and Castboolits on powder quality before you buy.

Thirdly you can sometimes get a bit of over-buy powder from a nearby commercial powder coater just for getting rid of it for them, just takes a minute to stop in and chat with someone and you never know it may result in a steady supply of different colors for just a box of doughnuts. One word of warning on this tho, don't use their floor sweepings as one guy offered me...their spray areas are almost spotless but shoes still track in a bit of grit that you don't want scratching down an otherwise pristine bore.
 
tokguy said:
OK; I love the concept of powder coating, I cast for old, slower speed, odd sized firearms. 32-20, 455 Webley, 41 LC etc. I've discovered that the greasy wax lube mixes are a PITA, and I just am not possessing of the patience ( and extra $$$ outlay ) to bother with a press through sizer.
Locally; it's 2.5 kgs for about 75 $, is this about right as far as price point goes? They have no idea which type ( Spectrum in Calgary is the closest source ) and I don't want to drop 75 on something which is not suitable for my needs.
Any input or questions are welcome
Thanks
Tok
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I find a sizer very useful even when powder coating. If you are going to the Easter Show watch for a used Lyman or RCBS, they are sometime very inexpensive and usually have a load of sizer dies/top punch's with them. I have two set up, one for old conventional wax lube and one totally boiled dry and clean for sizing fresh cast before PCing bullets...I think I have a total of $40 invested in them.
 
Powders that work are in this thread, use them or buy 1/2lb bags and test, not all powders work (unless you get a powder coat gun which can be expensive)

As fingers said, you dont need 2.5kg unless you intend to powder coat 50000 bullets.
 
Got some powder coating from Princess Auto...seems to work great. Next question; does it work with hollow based bullets, as in...when the bullet bumps up, the coating must shatter to some degree?
 
Boolitcaster said:
Hi, I am new to powder coating as of last night.

Last nights test was for some .359" bullets. The coating went on well, and after baking, the bullets had a nice uniform coat that passed the hammer test without cracking or flaking. With powder coat, before sizing, they measured .361". I ran them through my .359" Lee sizer and they all came out at .357", which seems odd.

Today I did some 125 grain 9mm. After baking, I ran 1 though my .356" sizer and it now measures .354". The remainder, I ran through my .359" sizer that gave a workable .357" bunch of bullets.

Has anyone else had this happen to them?

I would hate to buy different sizing dies just for my powder coat bullets.
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Hi!! I did'nt start pc yet!! i've place my first order to emarald this week!
I had the same problem with my lee .429 push tru sizer! my bullet was sized to .426 and .427! i've to say that i buy this siser used and as is.
The guy at higginson powders ( they are wonderfull! never fear to buy there) told me to un lead my sizer before to buy a new one!!

SO i take my sizer to my cleaning bench et work on it! i'had discoverd the product call "no lead" at Xreload and it's work very well!
After cleaning my bollits were size to the correct diameter of .429 inch!! :) Give a look at your's, meaby ;P

i' have order tool blue, yellow green and i decide to gice a try to signal red too!! i'll try to share my results here !:)
 
tokguy said:
Got some powder coating from Princess Auto...seems to work great. Next question; does it work with hollow based bullets, as in...when the bullet bumps up, the coating must shatter to some degree?
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If the coating is shattering it wasn't applied right. You should be able to flatten a bullet with a hammer and it will still be coated.
 
hometownhero said:
If the coating is shattering it wasn't applied right. You should be able to flatten a bullet with a hammer and it will still be coated.
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I think he is concerned that when the skirt flares into the rifling is it going to effect the pc coverage/performance. I don't think it will effect anything as skirt flare will be so minimal as to not make much difference if your slugs pass the "hammer" test as Hometown suggests.

I do have a HB .458 mold and have shot a few with PC and didn't notice any deterioration in performance but due to a health issue that showed up last spring my "testing" was very small in quantity so a longer test may show differently. One thing I do remember is that when I cooked my boolits, I did them "base down" on parchment paper and some of them had a thin film of PC over the HB opening. I just pushed my RCBS chamfering tool nose thru it and gave a twist to clear them. Again... a small sample but no accuracy differences noted at the time.
 
I have been reading and researching PC to death for the last while. Time to just try it. I will look for a cheap used toaster oven. I was going to order a pound of light Ford blue that was recommended from Emerald Coating but it's $99 shipping for a $11 item. So I guess not.

I think I'll try 1/2 pound of the Princess Auto stuff as I can get it locally. Tokguy any colour in particular you are using? Any tricks I should know? What is your method? Thanks.
 
lpel said:
I have been reading and researching PC to death for the last while. Time to just try it. I will look for a cheap used toaster oven. I was going to order a pound of light Ford blue that was recommended from Emerald Coating but it's $99 shipping for a $11 item. So I guess not.

I think I'll try 1/2 pound of the Princess Auto stuff as I can get it locally. Tokguy any colour in particular you are using? Any tricks I should know? What is your method? Thanks.
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I've never paid anywhere close to $100 for shipping from them, usually it's under $15.
 
So yesterday I purchased 8 oz blue of Princess Auto PC for $9 all in. Figured it was worth a try. Big spender right? Anyway with nothing to compare it worked out just fine. A few a little spotty but likely just newbie stuff. Not sure why I waited so long. Now to order a couple new molds. I'll eventually get around to ordering some PC from Emerald Coatings. But this worked fine.

Thanks for all the input. It's greatly appreciated.
 
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lpel said:
I have been reading and researching PC to death for the last while. Time to just try it. I will look for a cheap used toaster oven. I was going to order a pound of light Ford blue that was recommended from Emerald Coating but it's $99 shipping for a $11 item. So I guess not.

I think I'll try 1/2 pound of the Princess Auto stuff as I can get it locally. Tokguy any colour in particular you are using? Any tricks I should know? What is your method? Thanks.
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Go all the way into the checkout at Emerald, it gives you different options for shipping. I just had two pounds of tool blue shipped to Nova Scotia and it only cost me $18 shipping
 
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