Coating Lead Bullets

I lay them one layer deep on a 1/4" steel mesh tray I formed. You can lose coverage in the few small spots where it touches the mesh or other bullets but it doesn't matter. As long as there is enough of a seal to stop the gases from pushing past the bullet as it is traveling down the barrel you will not see any leading. I have seen zero benefit from being anal with how the bullets lay when cooked so I just don't bother worrying any more.

I think this method would be even better, if it had worked. All the benefit of PC with no messy, sticky lube and no baking would be great.
 
Is there a fps difference, how’s the lawnmower working?
They coated the in side of wood chip trailers with that or similar product, slick as snot. Guys would go in the them deep bellied trailers the odd time to get chips that would stick up front then not be able to get back up the steep slope of the belly, they ended up having to put grab handles on the inside of the trailers.
 
fiddler said:
In all honesty shake and bake powder coating can't get any easier. Mix and toss a couple hundred rounds in the toaster oven and go to the reloading bench for an hour until it Dings.
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Ganderite said:
Do they have to be laid out on end, on a cookie plate? Or just "tossed" in a bunch?
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bearhunter said:
They have to be laid out on a cookie plate.

If you just toss them in and they lay over, there will be a flat on where they touch the cookie plate and they will stick together if they're touching.

Other than that, it's very simple.
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I'm a newbie at PC'ing bullets. I completed my first batch of Emerald's 'Tool Blue' bullets the other day.

mGAZQfAh.jpg

IMO it's a good start. I'm impressed with the single coat coverage, even the base has decent coverage. < Is this from using parchment paper on the pan? I'm not sure.
Their close to the same diameter, ~0.361-3. I'm waiting on CP to deliver a 0.358 diameter sizing die, then I'll load a batch.


-I boiled 50 bullets to remove the manufactures lube. Let air dry on a rag towel over night.
-Covid mask, gloves & old toaster oven in an open shed.
-Put bullets, plastic beads and 2 table spoons of powder into a plastic container and gave them a spin around in the container for about 2 min. < After watching several youtube videos I went with the suggestion of adding plastic beads. They said it increased the 'static' and improved powder coverage??
-Dumped everything out onto a dollar store tinfoil pan.
-I dipped the tips of the tweezers into powder then, picked up bullet in the crimp grove area, tapped tweezers/bullet to remove excess powder and placed on a parchment paper lined pan. < Picking them up in the crimp grove area, I found these bullets would naturally 'spin' base down.
-Put them into pre-heated toaster oven at ~375F for ~15min. < May have been a little warm, 400F parchment paper was a little dark.
 
It appears to be working excellent for you. I do it a bit different, I quit worrying about using the beads, didnt notice any improvement and I only shake for about 30-45 seconds but i do cook at 400 for 20 minutes no mater what powder I'm using.
I do the bullet set-up in the pan on parchment as well, tried the "just dump them on the pan and cook" but didnt like the random malformation of the coating on the majority of the slugs.
 
So between reloading and shooting when do you have time to cut the grass?

Ahhh you use the mower to go check the targets ;)
 
CzyHorse said:
I'm a newbie at PC'ing bullets. I completed my first batch of Emerald's 'Tool Blue' bullets the other day.

mGAZQfAh.jpg

IMO it's a good start. I'm impressed with the single coat coverage, even the base has decent coverage. < Is this from using parchment paper on the pan? I'm not sure.
Their close to the same diameter, ~0.361-3. I'm waiting on CP to deliver a 0.358 diameter sizing die, then I'll load a batch.


-I boiled 50 bullets to remove the manufactures lube. Let air dry on a rag towel over night.
-Covid mask, gloves & old toaster oven in an open shed.
-Put bullets, plastic beads and 2 table spoons of powder into a plastic container and gave them a spin around in the container for about 2 min. < After watching several youtube videos I went with the suggestion of adding plastic beads. They said it increased the 'static' and improved powder coverage??
-Dumped everything out onto a dollar store tinfoil pan.
-I dipped the tips of the tweezers into powder then, picked up bullet in the crimp grove area, tapped tweezers/bullet to remove excess powder and placed on a parchment paper lined pan. < Picking them up in the crimp grove area, I found these bullets would naturally 'spin' base down.
-Put them into pre-heated toaster oven at ~375F for ~15min. < May have been a little warm, 400F parchment paper was a little dark.
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I'm back.
Last week, I finally got around to sizing the bullets to 0.358" with a Lee die. I used Dillon case lube on the bullets. Using the Rock Chucker, they slipped thru the resizing die way easier than I thought they would.
Loaded them up in 357Mag cases with 15gr of H110 & CCI MPP.
They didn't last long. They shot really well in my Marlin 1894 357Mag/38Spl. I'd like get bunch more PC'ed and reload some 38Spl for indoor range use over the winter.

Additional equipment, since the last 'cook' I've picked up an oven thermometer.

Weather is looking good for a mid week 'cook'. We'll see if I got lucky on the first run.
 
Ganderite, you must be my long lost twin brother. Thanks for posting your latest scientific journey! :p

I have been casting for many years now. I've only ever used good old LEE Liquid Alox on pistol and light rifle loads. Heavier rifle loads, I usually put a bit of LBT blue lube on with my fingers. Over the pile of bullets I have cast and fired downrange, I have only had leading in a long barreled .44 mag S&W, and of course, that Chiappa 44 rifle with the horrible machining marks in the barrel.

Now, you guys keep harping on powder coating, so I am building up steam to try that method.
 
I am still loading those coated bullets from that experiment. The crap still keeps building up on the seating stem. I look forward to when they are all gone.

That powder coating looks nice, but I tend to load and shoot 1000 rounds at a go, and powder coating looks a bit slow and tedious.
 
I don't cast myself (yet.....) but I buy cast bullets from various sellers (since Jet retired). I find sometimes the lube gets messy when summer shooting. Could I just boil the bullets to 'melt' off the lube and "shake and bake" to powdercoat the bullets? The bullets currently have gas checks and are sized to .001 above nominal size
 
Re3iever said:
You might try sizing the coated bullets before reloading cartridges.

Retreever
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I could do that. I do have a cast bullet sizer and the correct die. BUT, the problem is the coating on the bullet nose. That is what builds up on the seater stem, and sizing won't touch the nose.

I loaded some more last night, and this time the crap did not build up. I guess the coating is drying out and is no longer sticky.
 
Ganderite said:
I could do that. I do have a cast bullet sizer and the correct die. BUT, the problem is the coating on the bullet nose. That is what builds up on the seater stem, and sizing won't touch the nose.

I loaded some more last night, and this time the crap did not build up. I guess the coating is drying out and is no longer sticky.
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I had a similar issue with a bunch of 45 RN I powder coated. Talked to my Binlaw about the problem and he suggested to turn up the heat in the oven by 35C over what I did the job with originally and it should clear up the problem.

He runs a powder coating shop as a primary income source and knows what he's talking about.

It would be much easier to run a test batch through the oven again, at a higher temperature than originally used to find out and wouldn't take much time.
 
Ganderite said:
That powder coating looks nice, but I tend to load and shoot 1000 rounds at a go, and powder coating looks a bit slow and tedious.
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It can be slow if you are anal and do silly crap like stand all your bullets up spaced out perfectly. Mine get dumped from the ice cream pail onto steel mesh then a quick shake over the pail to remove the excess and then into the oven for 20 minutes. I can do several thousand in a couple hours.

Don't let them pile on top of each other and don't worry about the small spots that end up not covered because of sticking to the mesh or another bullet. You just need a seal to prevent gasses slipping past. Anything beyond that is aesthetic. Coating with PC is super easy if you don't make it hard like some seem compelled to do.
 
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