Powder coating rifle bullets & the shooting results

fingers284

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So I finally got out yesterday to actually try out some of these new fangled critters and I must say that after shooting 4 diff3rent tests bullet types, I was not disappointed by even one of the samples. Quit frankly I was very much surprised in two of the test as I set them up to test two different scenario's that are known to fail with regular cast lead/wax lubed bullets.

All were shot with a 45-70 Marlin 1895 Cowboy (26" oct) and regardless of bullet weight, all had the same load (25 gr SR4759) at 80 yrds.

The first two tests basically reiterated what I've read since getting interested in this PC method, I wasn't surprised by the results but still it was gratifying to have it work so well. The first two tests used commercially bought cast/wax lubed 405 gr Single liube groove and 450 gr 4 lube groove slugs sized to .458 (both Bullet Barn Hard Cast). I boiled the wax off, P C'd with Tractor Red & Tool Blue consecutively (one coat) and sized to .459. Both of these bullets shot groups slightly better than any I ever shot with them when still waxed (waxed - 2"or slightly larger and under 2"" with PC). Not a "bunch better but still an improvement non the less. One noticeable result was no "fliers" with PC while a flier or two were quit common with the wax lube. As already advertised with PC, the bore was spotless.

The last two test had very surprising results and grating to say the least. In the first of these two tests I used some bullets I had cast (WW) long ago for a PP project I wanted to embark on but never pursued. They started out as regular 400 gr .458 dia slugs that I then dry-re-sized down to .451 to accommodate a paper jacket. I PC'd these with 2 coats of Tool Blue, bringing them up to .4555... still considerably undersized to my .458 bore. Every one in the cast bullet game knows that e recipe for leading/poor accuracy at any velocity, is using "undersized" boolits. I'm here to tell you, that was before PC... These bullets shot excellent, 1.5 "bunched up group, no fliers and absolutely not a speck of leading, the bore was shiny as if newly cleaned.

The second part of this "built to fail with wax lube bullets" test was done with some 200 gr .452 SWC for a .45 handgun, again very much undersized when I started but in this case I PC'd with two coats of Gloss Black which I discovered gave me a heavier coating than anything else I have tried. After the two coatings I was left with a 200 gr bullet that measured .459 on average. I run them dry thu the .459 sizer to remove any PC flashing at the base. These little boolits literally turned my 45-70 Cowboy into a legitimate gopher gun. The group was a tight 1", no fliers at all, almost non existent recoil and again no bore leading whatsoever.

I have a bunch more bullet types & weight to try and of course, the BP testing. This PC'ing has sure renewed the "what if I do this" aspect of this cast boolit hobby.
 
Good stuff fingers! Have you tried the satin black powder yet? I only cast and PC for handguns so far, but nice to hear that it seems to work well with the long guns too.

Auggie D.
 
I've used tool blue, traffic red, colorado silver, and flat black and they all do well in my Ruger and 1895.....gonna try some 30 cal fodder next.
I'm on the fence about getting rid of all my raw beeswax and lubes.....this PC stuff has solved a lot of problems for me
 
I've never tried or thought of trying undersized powder coated bullets. It just never crossed my mind; I guess slightly oversized bullets is just too ingrained in my mind. I need to try PC'ing some .314" and test them in my Martini-Enfield which has a terrible ~.316" bore.
Thanks for the report!
 
This group was shot by a friend. I supplied the pc cast bullets. Its only at 50 meters but still looks good to me, these where traffic red. I have also made some .459 tool blue for him to try.

SAM_3931_zpsuukngm1o.jpg
 
I've never tried or thought of trying undersized powder coated bullets. It just never crossed my mind; I guess slightly oversized bullets is just too ingrained in my mind. I need to try PC'ing some .314" and test them in my Martini-Enfield which has a terrible ~.316" bore.
Thanks for the report!

I probably wouldn't have done it either if I didn't have some candidate bullets already here . A post on Castboolits pic'd my interest, someone stated that "PC'd boolits are the closest thing to jacketed he has ever used" and I have used some .457 jacketed in a .459 bore before with good enough "hunting" accuracy so that was my incentive. Bear in mind that these were low pressure loads and the coating seemed to withstand the abuse but a higher pressure might not give the same results.

Auggie, I have coated some .512 slugs with the Satin but haven't shot any yet. The coating thickness is about on a par with the Red, not near as thick as the Gloss Black but appears to be an adequate coverage and they did pass the "hammer" test. I will sure be trying to get some more Gloss to coat those little 200 gr'rs with.. A lot of years ago a buddy & I used to shoot gophers with those bullets out of a super Blackhawk at around 1000 fps, I'm really looking forward to rolling some with that 45-70 at around 1600 fps with them.
 
Where are you guys getting your powders from?
I live close enough to the border that I can buy direct from Harbour Freight.
But I am curious to try others...
 
This group was shot by a friend. I supplied the pc cast bullets. Its only at 50 meters but still looks good to me, these where traffic red. I have also made some .459 tool blue for him to try.

SAM_3931_zpsuukngm1o.jpg

That group is a bit better than the ones I got with the heavier slugs. I have never got a group that good with my Cowboy with any heavy boolits, wax or PC, (mind you I usually am shooting at 100 yrds) but I have never shot anything in it as fast as the legend on your target shows. The ones in my test are probably 300 fps slower.

The group I got with the little 200 gr SWC is as good as you show and they are probably up in the 1600 fps area.
 
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My friend was so impressed with pc I made him 100 more (50 flatbase/50 hb) in tool blue.

I have not had any leading in my 1895gbl after 50 rounds of pc bullets. I usually shoot 45-70 at around 1500fps although i have gone as high as 1800fps.
 
Anyone getting good results shooting plain base bullets at Gas check velocity's. Id love to get away from gas checking everything for my 444.

Thanks
 
I have shot thousands of flat black ones with powder365 coating through my 1911's, M&P's and CZ all with great accuracy and never a leading problem. Just need to clean a bit more often as the powder residue from the initial burn leaves a bit of a mess in the chamber and surrounding area
 
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