I bought the Harbor Freight stuff because it was only about $6 a pound but it is not very swirl compatible. Maybe the Princess Auto powder is better.
Powder coating cast lead help.
- Thread starter rolloverandlaugh
- Start date
My guess is that HF & PA powder are the exact same stuff.
Hunt&Hook said he had good luck with PA red but I tried everything to get the HF powder to coat (swirl, swirl with plastic BBs, plastic bag in a tumbler, etc.) and coverage was never better than 80%. Now maybe that's what he considers good but to me good coverage is at least 95% so either he's happy with 80% or the powders differ.
vagrantviking
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- High River, Alberta
I've done alright with PA blue and black. Sometimes a little splotchy but usually ok coverage.
Grabbed some clear Eastwood powder at KMS a few weeks ago and it's a whole different game. I'll be going back for more. I like that the clear is thinner too.
Grabbed some clear Eastwood powder at KMS a few weeks ago and it's a whole different game. I'll be going back for more. I like that the clear is thinner too.
hatman1793
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
You gotta credit where credit is due & that is Elvis Ammo (4/140) from Youtube fame. Elvis Ammo pioneered the heating the bullets method.
His 4/140 method: heat your bullets for 4 minutes @ 140F. After this is where I differ from him & most powder coaters. With the bullets now warm in your hand but not so hot that you cannot hold them, are dumped into a suitable container. Say, 100-150 9mm bullets. Add 1/2 teaspoon of Emerald Coatings “Tool Blue” & swirl for half a minute. Place the coated bullets on a metal tray covered by parchment paper in a suitable toaster oven.
13-15 minutes @ 375F. Repeat.
Elvis Ammo & some others dump the pc bullets in a bucket of water but this just adds another superfluous step you can avoid.
No shaking onto screens, no reclamation of unused powder, use just enough powder to coat.....
His 4/140 method: heat your bullets for 4 minutes @ 140F. After this is where I differ from him & most powder coaters. With the bullets now warm in your hand but not so hot that you cannot hold them, are dumped into a suitable container. Say, 100-150 9mm bullets. Add 1/2 teaspoon of Emerald Coatings “Tool Blue” & swirl for half a minute. Place the coated bullets on a metal tray covered by parchment paper in a suitable toaster oven.
13-15 minutes @ 375F. Repeat.
Elvis Ammo & some others dump the pc bullets in a bucket of water but this just adds another superfluous step you can avoid.
No shaking onto screens, no reclamation of unused powder, use just enough powder to coat.....
Thanks I'm going to try that. I shake off on a screen then use the parchment paper method. You dont end up getting globs of melted powder on the paper?
Put bullets in a clean dry margarine container, heat them with a hair dryer until they're almost too hot to pick up. Then add a minimum amount of PC, and agitate. It's not just "swirl", also flip the bullets lightly to move top layer to bottom, etc. Don't need to do it too hard, less energy is better than too much. Clear PC works better than coloured PC. Too much PC or agitating too long or too hard is counter productive. 1/2 tsp of powder tumbled gently for a minute or less gives good results if you're doing it right.
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Looks good to me.
Maybe I'll give the PA red a try. Did you just use the swirl & bake method?
Yeah, I use a cool whip container and add powder bit by bit, swirling/shaking until the powder has good coverage, but there's no extra. Bake @ 400f for 15-20 min.
Jethunter has some good advise. He'd have more experience than I would.
Jethunter has some good advise. He'd have more experience than I would.
fingers284
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta Cowboy Ranges
Absolutely nothing wrong with Phantom Gloss Black. I use it and it gives excellent coverage (not quite as good as Tool Blue but I'm talking maybe 98-100% vs. 96-99%). The problem with some black powder coatings (especially the less glossy ones) is that they apparently have some abrasive components in them but you are not going to have that problem with gloss black. After Tool Blue and clear it's one of my favourites.
If still looking for gas checks, I just purchased from DragonBulletLube.com.
rifleman762
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Southern Alberta
I got black Eastwood powder from KMS Tools. I put black airsoft BB's in a peanut butter jar and shake it up. I read that the airsoft BB's in that colour are made of a plastic that's good at building a static charge. All I know for sure is it works! Never tried any other technique or powder.
Any idea what would cause a colour change and make the coating sluff around and cause wrinkles? My PA blue came out OD green on my last batch and very crinkled. Degrees, warm bullets, swirl coat and bake for 20 min@ 400 then dump into water right out of the oven. Never had this issue until the last go. Maybe my toaster ovens thermometer crapped the bed?
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Soundz like they got too hot? My toaster oven runs 50f higher than the the dial setting. I use $5 oven thermometer to get more accurate temps.
Alright you guys made me feel better again. I went with black because I just sort of cringed at the thought of my ammo being in some sort of cartoonish color. I was worried about coverage and any possible abrasive qualities but it sounds like neither are an issue.
rolloverandlaugh
New member
- Location
- aurora, ontario
Thnx
