Powder Coating DRG Bullets?

Helka

Helka

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First off I hope this is the right forum to post this question.

I’m new to handguns and will be getting a CZ Shadow 2 (9mm). Looking to shoot DRG 124gr cast bullets (can get them locally from the maker). They are pre oiled.

My question is: is it possible to clean the oil off and powder coat them? I really like the look of powder coated bullets.

Eventually I would like to get into making my own cast bullets but for now baby steps.
 
I have tried to remove the oil from my own cast bullets. Wasn't worth the effort and didn't work. Made a mess. I just shot them up and will powder coat the next ones.
 
Ok I wasn’t sure how easy or difficult it would be. Was thinking brake cleaner or something similar.

I will inquire with the manufacturer if he could make me a batch of unlubed
 
Powder coating will change the dimensions, and you may run into feeding issues due to shaving when seating your bullets. Some will say open the case mouth more, but my experience has been that if they are oversize, the plastic will roll, burr and cause feeding issues.

I tried commercially made, brand name, powder coated bullets in .40 and .45 with very frustrating results. I keep 1 un-used bullet on my desk to remind me never to be tempted to use coated bullets ever again. Bullets from that box measured .404 - .409 turned 90 degrees. Oversized by an average of about .006 and out of circularity by .005. I suspect the cast lead core may have been OK, but the uneven over application of the powder coat is likely the cause of the reloading and feeding issues I experienced. Less smoke when shot than Lubed DRG bullets; but stank way worse.

I shoot DRG SWC exclusively now in my .45, .38 special, and .40 S & W FP; I use Campro 124 Copper Plate Hollow point in 9mm. Consistent results, good accuracy, and all punch nice holes in paper for easy scoring. If you don't want to use plain old lead, then copper plate is good. For target shootiing, lead allows slightly reduced loads compared to CP or Jacketed rounds (supposed to be the same with coated bullets.

After doing some research, it turns out that specialty, low friction powder coat would generally be applied at 2-4 mill thickness; that would add 4-8 thousands to the diameter. Add a reasonable tolerance to that of +2/-0 and you are now adding up to .004 -.012 to the diameter of the cast bullets. So, size your bullets .004 undersized, then add .012 for the upper end of the tolerance with uneven application and there you have it; the same measurements as I got along with circularity issues.

These are reasonable working tolerances in industry; at home, there is little hope that it can be controlled at all. Some claim to have great success; good for them.

BTW, Lead and Copper can be recycled and separated during the smelting process; polymers just burn off and stink.

Interesting also that my local dealers have all dropped powder coated bullets, and the guys I shoot PPC and Bulls Eye with no longer use them either.
 
Difficult to find unlubed lead bullets unless you cast your own. Even if you could obtain some, would they be sized to .356?

Regardless, you would still have to size them to .356-.357 after powder coating them. Rather than baby steps that might induce a fall, go directly to casting your own. My friends @ Higginson Powder carries the full LEE line of economical casting setups. Save money, cast your own.....
 
Frank can sell you unlubed bullets. Just order 2,000 or so, so it is not a big pain for him. I have occasionally asked him for a handful of unsized, unlubed bullets when I want to experiment with an over-size barrel.

The lubing also sizes the bullets. You need the bullets sized, otherwise they will be rather fat. Ideally, he could size them something like 355 or 354, but he probably does not have a sizer that size.

I use a lot of DRG bullets. They are fine, as is, except for the lube smoke.

When shooting in the dark , when the smoke is an issue, I switch to CamPro plated bullets.

You might find that coating bullets is more trouble than it is worth.

DRG also makes a 135 gr bullet. I find it more accurate than the 125. 3.5 gr of TightGroup works very well in many 9mm pistols.
 
So, size your bullets .004 undersized, then add .012 for the upper end of the tolerance with uneven application and there you have it; the same measurements as I got along with circularity issues
Click to expand...

People who know what they are doing size the bullet LAST. No issues
 
yomomma said:
People who know what they are doing size the bullet LAST. No issues
Click to expand...

Auggie Doggie said:
This. Lee's push through dies work very well and are relatively inexpensive.

Auggie D.
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I use the Lee push through dies and just for the hell of it I sized some 9mm cast bullets BEFORE I powder coated them, washed them in lacquer thinner and then sized them again after they were PC'd.

They were the cat's a$$. Worked great in my CZ Tactical Sport, very accurate and no problem with OAL. A little more work but they looked great and shot just as good as they looked.
 
ted_dent said:
I use the Lee push through dies and just for the hell of it I sized some 9mm cast bullets BEFORE I powder coated them, washed them in lacquer thinner and then sized them again after they were PC'd.

They were the cat's a$$. Worked great in my CZ Tactical Sport, very accurate and no problem with OAL. A little more work but they looked great and shot just as good as they looked.
Click to expand...

This right here works well for me as well. .430, 9mm, .458 45-70 and smokeless custom ml rounds. No leading and quite accurate at 100 yards.
 
So i finally pushed through a PC'd bullet through my .357 Lee sizer and they all came out 356...WTF. I've read people lap their dies but i would rather just buy a 358 if it comes out 357. Thoughts?
 
Just because it says it sizes .357" doesn't mean it actually sizes .357". Mistakes are made, tooling used in manufacturing wears, QA/QC isn't always what it should be, etc. I have a sizing die for my Saeco Lubrisizer that is marked .314". It actually barely touches the bullets I put through it: they come out measuring .3155". Rather than returning the sizer die, I kept it as that was actually the perfect size for one of my Lee Enfields, and Saeco doesn't make a sizer die in .303 bigger than .314, so that was ultimately a win.

If you know somebody with pin gauges, that will tell you immediately what the size is. Or for poops and giggles, you can just get a couple of plain old cast bullets from somebody at your club that reloads, size them, and then measure them.

I have pin gauges so I would probably fiddle around with that die out of curiosity. But the easiest, fastest thing would be to simply return it for replacement - call Lee customer service.
 
I've never dealt with Lee customer service, other than to order a specific oversize mandrel for their collet neck sizing dies.

But if they make YOU pay for them to correct their manufacturing defect, then that would put them in the loser column with me. Ditto for the vendor who would expect me to pay for exchange of a defective product purchased through them.

They're not as inexpensive as Lee's sizer dies, but NOE's resizing dies are really slick. And if you aren't going to return them, then lapping is obviously a viable option.
 
They won’t pay for the shipping to them but they’ll fix and return for free. But the shipping there is $20 while a new dies is $32. Soooo lapping it is.
 
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