Powder Coating

Some recent powder coating I've done using a variety of powders from Eastwood as well as Smokes over on the Castboolit Forum. I picked up a NOE 30 XCB mold a couple months ago that hadn't been in production for a couple years to try in my newly acquired Rem. 30-06 it will work in several other caliber rifles I have as well but the focus for now is the 06. I case up a bunch a few weeks ago to load up some test ammo with an powder coated those I needed for the test using Smokes Translucent Copper, it coats with no issues just like the Super Durable Clear coat I've been using for about a year.

I also want to do some testing with bullet that have the gas check applied first before coating since there much easier to apply before coating, it's not that much of a hassle really but it just much easier and if they shoot just as well then I check those bullets that need a check before coating from this point on. The bullet on the left is coated with Eastwood Silver Vein with the gas check applied first, the other bullets I just coated with some of my favorite colors to fill up some space on the baking tray.

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Here is my 50 yd. 5 shot test target and chrono data from my first test with the above bullet an load.

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Remington 770 30-06 22" barrel 1:10 twist 6 groove bore.

NOE 30 XCB 165 gr. RN drops between 166 and 167 grs. with only a .08 gr. variance over 100 bullets weighed from a 3 cavity mold.
50/50 Lead / Wheel weights with a pinch of Tin,powder coated with Smokes Clear and water quenched after curing, gas checked and sized to .309" and allowed to set two weeks to age harden before loading.

Remington brass, CCI LR primer, 35.0 grs. of H-4198 All charges were thrown and loaded as thrown with a RCBS DUO Measurer.

10 shot string

high: 2309


Average: 2292


Spread: 31.71


SD: 15.39
 
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Ice cube trays don't work.
Amazon stated that these were good for 500 decrees.
My clear powder was supposed to be used at 400 and I was a bit hesitant, so I went to 375 and this is what happened.
The rubbery black one worked OK for my smaller .25 cal. bullets, but the plastic ones don't do the job.
9YwcyeR.jpg
 
OK, I've been feeding the pigs lately. It's been easy to get the powder to stick. ..til yesterday. A rainstorm came through and the bullets absolutely refused to take powder like they always do.
Anyone here found weather and atmospheric conditions affect the static charge required for it to cling to the lead?
 
So I am going to give powder coating a try and I was hoping to get some advice from those who have tried the Phantom Gloss Black PC from Emerald Coatings. Someone mentioned on this forum that it adds .005 or more to the diameter of the bullet.

I have an MP-Mold that casts 9mm at .359 and if I PC them, they could grow to .364 or more using this powder coat. I am going to use a .357 Lee sizer on my APP to bring them back down.

Is going from .364 to .357 too much to resize a PC bullet? I am worried that I will rip the coating off in my sizer :/

Any help would be much appreciated :)
 
omar416 said:
So I am going to give powder coating a try and I was hoping to get some advice from those who have tried the Phantom Gloss Black PC from Emerald Coatings. Someone mentioned on this forum that it adds .005 or more to the diameter of the bullet.

I have an MP-Mold that casts 9mm at .359 and if I PC them, they could grow to .364 or more using this powder coat. I am going to use a .357 Lee sizer on my APP to bring them back down.

Is going from .364 to .357 too much to resize a PC bullet? I am worried that I will rip the coating off in my sizer :/

Any help would be much appreciated :)
Click to expand...

You don't have to put on a heavy coat. Unless you are going for bulk PC'ing just put a small amount in your shaking jar.
You won't get such a heavy coat. Also, too much sizing can deform your bullet and if the bullet is hard, it becomes very difficult.
If you are using a revolver, it won't be to hard to work well, but you could have clambering problems in a tight 9 mm.
 
I plan to bulk PC by the thousands. I can control the powder amount and my bullets are in the 9-12 hardness range. My mold does not have lube grooves as it is designed for powder coating. My only concern is how much difficulty it will be to resize the bullets without removing any of the PC.
 
Anybody with direct experience with Phantom Gloss Black that can comment? Want to know if this PC goes on thick and will cause sizing issues in my case.
 
I am using the Phantom Gloss. Your increase in size will have more to do with your technique than anything. If you apply it properly it will never go anywhere. Even recovered bullets that have hit AR500 steel still have the PC clinging. I ended up putting my first coat on too thin which left a bit of leading after shooting. Minor but present... I have used it in .38, x19, .45acp, 10mm and I tried some Magnum .45 colt. I plan to use it for .30 Carbine, .223, x39 and .303B soon.

All worked acceptably except for the .45 Colt. I had massive leading despite two coats of PC and using straight clip on WW alloy. Only a gas check would stop the leading. That defeats the purpose of me powder coating so I am trying to source Linotype to further harden the alloy for my higher pressure loads. I really think my process may have been to blame as well. I'm not sure the temperature in my crappy toaster oven is consistent or accurate. I bought a very nice, very large new oven to try next time.
 
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I swirl a few hundred bullets in an ice cream pail then dump them into a fine mesh screen to get the excess off, then into the toaster they go for 25 minutes at what my oven says is 350 degrees. I think I was shaking the bullets too much after transferring them from my ice cream tub. I did a small batch without shaking them so much and the PC was much thicker.

The new oven I bought is a Black and Decker 8 slice toaster oven. It was about $100 on Amazon I think. I haven't even got it out of the box yet. Too many projects on the go...

Here it is from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.ca/BLACK-DECKER-...ds=black+decker+8+slice&qid=1598835682&sr=8-2
 
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B said:
I swirl a few hundred bullets in an ice cream pail then dump them into a fine mesh screen to get the excess off, then into the toaster they go for 25 minutes at what my oven says is 350 degrees. I think I was shaking the bullets too much after transferring them from my ice cream tub. I did a small batch without shaking them so much and the PC was much thicker.

The new oven I bought is a Black and Decker 8 slice toaster oven. It was about $100 on Amazon I think. I haven't even got it out of the box yet. Too many projects on the go...

Here it is from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.ca/BLACK-DECKER-...ds=black+decker+8+slice&qid=1598835682&sr=8-2
Click to expand...

B I have shot a few hundred coated rifle bullets from a straight WW alloy at 1100 to 1700 fps without so much as a skid mark of lead or coating in a barrel but I never cook a batch at under 400 deg for a full 20 minutes no mater what the "direction sheet" tells me...I would try that first as an easy remedy
 
I definitely have some more experimenting to do. I tried different sizes, different OAL and even put on another coat of PC but the leading was very bad. I put gas checks on and the bullets shot fine with no leading. I am hoping a thicker coat applied with a more consistent oven may be exactly the fix.
 
Looking good! I am glad there is at least one dark color that works. The cartoony ones just don't do it for me. I am hoping to be doing another round of casting in mid September.
 
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