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Old 11-18-2020, 11:48 PM
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Default I’m going to try my hand at powder coating

I picked up 3K beautiful raw cast bullets from a fellow forum member and after researching different methods of preparation, I’ve decided to give powder coating a go. I picked up a harbor freight powder coating set up and a nice second hand toaster oven off craigslist for a total expenditure of $100 in equipment. Another $5 for the powder(white was all they had) and I need to get some air fittings tomorrow and I’ll be all set. I’ll post updates of my progress and pictures of the finished product.
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Old 11-19-2020, 04:07 AM
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Default A couple of things to think about

I have that same powder coating system, and it works just fine, but a couple of things to think about. The Harbor Freight powder gun works because it applies an electrical charge via the thin cord that clips to something metal that's touching the bullets. Stepping on the pedal sends the charge that attracts the powder and makes it stick to the bullet. So you have to figure out a way to charge all the bullets while spraying them with powder (when I forget to step on the charging pedal the powder doesn't stick to the sides of the bullets). You could just set them in a metal bowl or on a metal pan, and charge it while you spray, but EVERYTHING metal will be coated with powder, including the pan or bowl. So if you then bake them, you get a powder coated pan or bowl with all the powder coated bullets stuck to it. In order to avoid this you would have to lift them out/off with tweezers and set them on something else to bake them.

I found a solution over at castboolits.com that works but is more labor intensive. Two one by six boards screwed together (just small enough to fit into your oven, then pre-drill holes in a square grid 3/4 inch apart with a drill bit just smaller than your roofing nails. Then un-screw, place a piece of aluminum flashing between the boards with about a half inch sticking out of one end, and re-screw the boards together. Then pound roofing nails into each of the pre-drilled holes deep enough to penetrate the aluminum flashing. Now you can set the bullets on each nail and charge them all by connecting the clip to the aluminum flashing. The one I made ended up 11 by 7, so I can powder coat 77 bullets in one batch. Picture on post #12 from this thread: Powder coating

I've done both this and shake and bake. Shake and bake is way faster, but the powder coat is thicker and more uneven. You can apply a really thin coat with the sprayer.

Also, I've found that for optimal results, the air compressor needs to be set at 20 psi or lower for it to spray a thin mist of powder. It also helps if you don't fill up the powder reservoir. Just 1/2 to 1 inch of powder in the bottom is plenty. Shaking the gun gently while spraying also helps keep the powder coming out.

Lastly, about the powders. The Harbor Freight stuff is ****, IMHO. Spend a little more for some good powder. I use Eastwood blue, green and red, but there are other good powders. Castboolits.com is a good place to research powder.

One final thing. When loading the powder coated bullets I was getting thin strips of lead/powder coat all over my press because my case mouth wasn't flared enough. The case rim was taking off little shavings of powder coat. With powder coat you need about 10 thousandths of an inch of case mouth flare to avoid that.

Hope this helps. Have fun, and let us know how it goes.
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Old 11-19-2020, 09:47 AM
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I have that same powder coating system, and it works just fine, but a couple of things to think about. The Harbor Freight powder gun works because it applies an electrical charge via the thin cord that clips to something metal that's touching the bullets. Stepping on the pedal sends the charge that attracts the powder and makes it stick to the bullet. So you have to figure out a way to charge all the bullets while spraying them with powder (when I forget to step on the charging pedal the powder doesn't stick to the sides of the bullets). You could just set them in a metal bowl or on a metal pan, and charge it while you spray, but EVERYTHING metal will be coated with powder, including the pan or bowl. So if you then bake them, you get a powder coated pan or bowl with all the powder coated bullets stuck to it. In order to avoid this you would have to lift them out/off with tweezers and set them on something else to bake them.

I found a solution over at castboolits.com that works but is more labor intensive. Two one by six boards screwed together (just small enough to fit into your oven, then pre-drill holes in a square grid 3/4 inch apart with a drill bit just smaller than your roofing nails. Then un-screw, place a piece of aluminum flashing between the boards with about a half inch sticking out of one end, and re-screw the boards together. Then pound roofing nails into each of the pre-drilled holes deep enough to penetrate the aluminum flashing. Now you can set the bullets on each nail and charge them all by connecting the clip to the aluminum flashing. The one I made ended up 11 by 7, so I can powder coat 77 bullets in one batch. Picture on post #12 from this thread: Powder coating

I've done both this and shake and bake. Shake and bake is way faster, but the powder coat is thicker and more uneven. You can apply a really thin coat with the sprayer.

Also, I've found that for optimal results, the air compressor needs to be set at 20 psi or lower for it to spray a thin mist of powder. It also helps if you don't fill up the powder reservoir. Just 1/2 to 1 inch of powder in the bottom is plenty. Shaking the gun gently while spraying also helps keep the powder coming out.

Lastly, about the powders. The Harbor Freight stuff is ****, IMHO. Spend a little more for some good powder. I use Eastwood blue, green and red, but there are other good powders. Castboolits.com is a good place to research powder.

One final thing. When loading the powder coated bullets I was getting thin strips of lead/powder coat all over my press because my case mouth wasn't flared enough. The case rim was taking off little shavings of powder coat. With powder coat you need about 10 thousandths of an inch of case mouth flare to avoid that.

Hope this helps. Have fun, and let us know how it goes.
Thanks for the tips. I checked out your setup in the other thread. I’m going to try that before I make a huge mess coating everything. I hadn’t thought about the PC sticking to everything that was charged, but it sure makes sense. It looks like you have the exact same toaster oven I picked up off craigslist. There appears to be room enough to do at least two trays of bullets, maybe even three at a time. Have you tried more than one? I was thinking of making up two trays and giving it a try.
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Old 11-19-2020, 10:01 AM
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I have done a little powder coating (shake and bake ) . After they cool down I run them through a LEE push through sizing die , then tumble lube in 45-45-10 . I have felt the extra effort , tumble lube was worth it . Regards Paul
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Old 11-19-2020, 10:43 AM
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I also ditched the HF powder and went with a type I can shake with an old cool whip can. Very pleased with coatings and groups.
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Old 11-19-2020, 11:58 AM
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I have done a little powder coating (shake and bake ) . After they cool down I run them through a LEE push through sizing die , then tumble lube in 45-45-10 . I have felt the extra effort , tumble lube was worth it . Regards Paul
Why do you tumble lube them after coating? Just curious as I never saw the need for it if PCed.
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Old 11-19-2020, 01:14 PM
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What brand powders are recommended? I’ve used other Eastwood products over the years, and their PC gets good reviews. Any others? Anything that can be sourced locally? What colors work best? I see that Eastwood had a copper colored coating. I’d like to try that. I’m not really into “colorful” bullets, just want what works, nothing flamboyant.
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Old 11-19-2020, 01:45 PM
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Thanks for the tips. I checked out your setup in the other thread. I’m going to try that before I make a huge mess coating everything. I hadn’t thought about the PC sticking to everything that was charged, but it sure makes sense. It looks like you have the exact same toaster oven I picked up off craigslist. There appears to be room enough to do at least two trays of bullets, maybe even three at a time. Have you tried more than one? I was thinking of making up two trays and giving it a try.
Putting the tray in the oven is a bit of a balancing act. 77 bullets balancing on a nail. I maybe could get two in, but it might be tricky. I've only made one jig at this point so I haven't tried. We found the toaster oven at Goodwill for $12.
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Old 11-19-2020, 01:50 PM
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I have done a little powder coating (shake and bake ) . After they cool down I run them through a LEE push through sizing die , then tumble lube in 45-45-10 . I have felt the extra effort , tumble lube was worth it . Regards Paul
I powder coat so I don't have to deal with tumble lube. A good powder coat and PROPER sizing eliminates leading in your barrel
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Old 11-19-2020, 02:43 PM
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I use Eastwood Ford light blue:

Hotcoat Powder Coat Ford Light Blue

I've coated about 12 thousand rounds this year.
I just use the classic shake and bake method
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Old 11-19-2020, 04:01 PM
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I tumble lube them go give them an extra bit of lubrication while going down the barrel . If shooting just PC'd bullets , when cleaning the barrel , the first patch felt " draggy " like there was a microfilm coating inside the barrel . Tumble lubing them ended that . I have also felt that I gained a bit of extra velocity , a chronograph is needed to confirm that theory . Many believe the powder coating offers lubrication , I simply don't subscribe to that theory . Regards Paul

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Old 11-19-2020, 10:20 PM
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Default Do I need a second coat?

I went with DeplorabusUnum‘s suggestion and constructed a “matrix” of roofing nails through aluminum flashing sandwiched between two pieces of wood. I measured the oven racks and made two matrixes with 169 (13x13) nails each to fit the racks. I completed one just to try everything out and see if it was viable enough to spend the time completing the second one. It’s working pretty well...the wadcutters I tried first were surprisingly stable. I thought it was going to be like dominos falling when I first picked it up, but slow and steady wasn’t too bad. It should be even more stable with shorter, lighter projectiles like 124 gr. 9mm. Drilling 169 straight holes and nailing in the 169 nails was pretty tedious, but I got it done. Having a good drill press sure helped! I used 1/2” and 5/8” hardwood ply for the wood, since I had it on hand. I only had to drill one set of holes, since I sandwiched the two top halves of the matrix together and drilled through both. I didn’t drill the bottom piece of wood, I wanted the nails to penetrate the flashing and anchor in the bottom piece, which actually worked pretty well. I placed the two pieces of wood with the flashing between them on an old piece of 1” boilerplate for nailing. My idea was to have the nails bottom against the plate so all of the nail heads would be a uniform height. It worked ok, but the nails needed to be a uniform length and they were not. Just enough variation to give slight height differences. Tricky part was running the nails in evenly, I had a couple that ended up with heads canted slightly from horizontal.

Here’s a couple pictures of my construction and first batch in the oven. I ordered some Eastwood PC, but won’t have it for a few days. Had to make do with the HF white. Sorry I didn’t take more pictures. I’m really bad about taking pictures of each step; I get focused on what I’m doing and forget.

Edit to add: Just got my first batch out of the oven. How do they look? Should I do a second coat, or is one enough?
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Old 11-19-2020, 10:29 PM
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Default Added pictures

Couldn’t attach pictures to existing post for some reason.
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Old 11-19-2020, 10:37 PM
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I went with DeplorabusUnum‘s suggestion and constructed a “matrix” of roofing nails through aluminum flashing sandwiched between two pieces of wood. I measured the oven racks and made two matrixes with 169 (13x13) nails each to fit the racks. I completed one just to try everything out and see if it was viable enough to spend the time completing the second one. It’s working pretty well...the wadcutters I tried first were surprisingly stable. I thought it was going to be like dominos falling when I first picked it up, but slow and steady wasn’t too bad. It should be even more stable with shorter, lighter projectiles like 124 gr. 9mm. Drilling 169 straight holes and nailing in the 169 nails was pretty tedious, but I got it done. Having a good drill press sure helped! I used 1/2” and 5/8” hardwood ply for the wood, since I had it on hand. I only had to drill one set of holes, since I sandwiched the two top halves of the matrix together and drilled through both. I didn’t drill the bottom piece of wood, I wanted the nails to penetrate the flashing and anchor in the bottom piece, which actually worked pretty well. I placed the two pieces of wood with the flashing between them on an old piece of 1” boilerplate for nailing. My idea was to have the nails bottom against the plate so all of the nail heads would be a uniform height. It worked ok, but the nails needed to be a uniform length and they were not. Just enough variation to give slight height differences. Tricky part was running the nails in evenly, I had a couple that ended up with heads canted slightly from horizontal.

Here’s a couple pictures of my construction and first batch in the oven. I ordered some Eastwood PC, but won’t have it for a few days. Had to make do with the HF white. Sorry I didn’t take more pictures. I’m really bad about taking pictures of each step; I get focused on what I’m doing and forget.

Edit to add: Just got my first batch out of the oven. How do they look? Should I do a second coat, or is one enough?
Wow that was quick! You don't waste much time putting a plan into action. Looks great. I had to laugh. I have that same Lee mold for 148gr LWC (at least that's what it looks like).

Every third or fourth run you're going to have to take a dremel or something to remove the inevitable powder coat stuck to the top of the nails that eventually keeps the nail from making electrical contact with the bullet. It creeps its way toward the center of the nail with each batch.
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Old 11-19-2020, 10:50 PM
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Wow that was quick! You don't waste much time putting a plan into action. Looks great. I had to laugh. I have that same Lee mold for 148gr LWC (at least that's what it looks like).

Every third or fourth run you're going to have to take a dremel or something to remove the inevitable powder coat stuck to the top of the nails that eventually keeps the nail from making electrical contact with the bullet. It creeps its way toward the center of the nail with each batch.
I’m not casting yet. I bought 3K raw unlubed bullets from a forum member just to see if I’d eventually want to get into casting. Kind of a dry run I guess. The PC’ing wasn’t that bad. I’ll put the other matrix together tomorrow after I pick up some more nails. I’ll be able to do 338 in a batch with two in the oven at once. Next batch, I’m going to try a little more pressure. I need to put a gauge inline, but I was probably only around 10-12 psig. I’m using nitrogen instead of compressed air. I’ve got several 125cuft tanks and a 250cuft tank, and since I got rid of all my pneumatic stuff and gone almost all battery, I just don’t need a compressor any more.
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Old 11-20-2020, 01:57 AM
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I have done a little powder coating (shake and bake ) . After they cool down I run them through a LEE push through sizing die , then tumble lube in 45-45-10 . I have felt the extra effort , tumble lube was worth it . Regards Paul
What do you think the tumble lube is giving you? I have zero issues running PC bullets in any handgun. The one big benefit of pc is NOT using smoky, grime producing lubes.
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Old 11-20-2020, 02:01 AM
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I find the entire spraying process tedious & messy. I shake & bake, using a jig to place the bullets nose down then flip them over onto a tray. It takes 10m to fill 150 bullet tray.
You could do the same thing for soraying, just more soace between the bullets, but what about the powder waste? I get 400-500 bullets on one rounded tsp of powder.
One coat should be enough. Test your bullets by smashinng one with a hammer. Smash it flat, coating should stay intact. If not, you need to check your oven temp & baking time.
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Old 11-20-2020, 04:44 AM
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Couldn’t attach pictures to existing post for some reason.
Once you get some good powder, the powder coat layer will be much smoother and more uniform. If I were you, I'd wait til the good powder arrives and use that for all those bullets. I'd dump that HF powder and keep the jar for storing the good stuff.
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Old 11-20-2020, 07:02 AM
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I did a tedious round or two of standing all the little soldiers up, row upon row. Then I went to Shake and Bake and have never looked back. Just a big pile of bullets.


Shake and Bake:

This guy sells the powder I'm using:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...owder-For-sale

Blue and Translucent Copper work great for me with 1 coat.

I run the through a sizer unlubed. Sometimes gas check.

Enjoy.
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Old 11-20-2020, 11:53 AM
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fredj338 , I would need a chronograph to give you a truthful answer . I did see a video of a guy doing the same thing and the velocity increase was substantial . I always noticed the smell of " hot burning " plastic when I first started shooting my PC'd only bullets . After I started tumble lubing the coated bullets , the smell went away . That told me the lube was doing it's job . I'm not saying shooting w/o lubing is wrong , it's just what I do. Regards Paul
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Old 11-21-2020, 12:43 PM
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fredj338 , I would need a chronograph to give you a truthful answer . I did see a video of a guy doing the same thing and the velocity increase was substantial . I always noticed the smell of " hot burning " plastic when I first started shooting my PC'd only bullets . After I started tumble lubing the coated bullets , the smell went away . That told me the lube was doing it's job . I'm not saying shooting w/o lubing is wrong , it's just what I do. Regards Paul
I would have to see the "substantial" numbers. A PC bullet will be about 15-25fps faster than lubed. I cant see where adding lube give you anything. Contrary to what some think, a slicker bullet wont go faster unless you up powder charge. This was proven with moly coated bullets.
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Old 11-21-2020, 01:38 PM
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Well fredj338 , if you have access to a chronograph , shoot bullets just PC'd and then shoot some that are coated and tumble lubed . I would be interested in seeing your results . I believe a " slicker " bullet will go faster as it doesn't have as high of a drag co-efficient . Like I have said before . This is just what I do , I'm not saying this is needed . I'm a bit of an experimenter and a perfectionist , always looking for a better way . Regards Paul

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Old 11-21-2020, 10:24 PM
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I looked at powder coating but decided to try Hi-Tech coating instead. So far it's working well for me. Tumble the bullets, let dry, then pour them on a screen to bake in the convection toaster. Size after coating. So far I've run 9mm at 1100 FPS with no leading
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Old 11-21-2020, 10:42 PM
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I looked at powder coating but decided to try Hi-Tech coating instead. So far it's working well for me. Tumble the bullets, let dry, then pour them on a screen to bake in the convection toaster. Size after coating. So far I've run 9mm at 1100 FPS with no leading
Dry powder coat can be done the exact same way without the drying step. I'm not suggesting one is superior to the other, just a point of information.

I'm a big fan of powder coat vs lubing.
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Old 11-21-2020, 11:17 PM
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I got bored today waiting for my Eastwood powder to show up(probably towards the end of next week), and I ordered some sizing dies. In the meantime, I built this contraption to help contain the powder as it’s sprayed on. Kind of like a little spray booth for bullets

The first batch I did, powder ended up everywhere. I was wearing a mask and goggles and didn’t really notice the layer of powder on everything until the next morning. I’ll probably it try out tomorrow with a few bullets and the HF powder to see how it works.
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Old 11-22-2020, 12:52 AM
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I got bored today waiting for my Eastwood powder to show up(probably towards the end of next week), and I ordered some sizing dies. In the meantime, I built this contraption to help contain the powder as it’s sprayed on. Kind of like a little spray booth for bullets

The first batch I did, powder ended up everywhere. I was wearing a mask and goggles and didn’t really notice the layer of powder on everything until the next morning. I’ll probably it try out tomorrow with a few bullets and the HF powder to see how it works.
Looks like a good idea. I use a cardboard box. I'm guessing you might need to tip it on its side to get your powder coating gun at the correct angle to coat the vertical surfaces of the bullet. If you spray this way from above, I don't know if you're going to get coverage of the sides of the bullet. I'll be interested to hear if you can.
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Old 11-22-2020, 12:13 PM
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I Like what AlHunt wrote with his link above.
Here's another strong recommendation for buying from Smoke over on castbullets.

I think you've gone overboard. PC'ing should be fast, cheap, and easy.
I'm a plinker; I'm not going to the Olympics.






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Old 11-22-2020, 02:49 PM
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I Like what AlHunt wrote with his link above.
Here's another strong recommendation for buying from Smoke over on castbullets.

I think you've gone overboard. PC'ing should be fast, cheap, and easy.
I'm a plinker; I'm not going to the Olympics.
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But you're telling a tinkerer not to tinker. It's like telling your dog not to chase squirrels.
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Old 11-22-2020, 02:55 PM
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But you're telling a tinkerer not to tinker. It's like telling your dog not to chase squirrels.
^This was tongue in cheek of course^. I actually agree. I've just about decided to go back to shake and bake. Pick them out with tweezers, drop them from about 2-3 inches high to shake off the excess powder, and then set them on parchment paper to bake. The imperfections melt together into a smooth coat, and the parchment paper doesn't stick to the bullets (unlike aluminum foil, which is a nightmare to peel off the bottom).
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Old 11-22-2020, 03:39 PM
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^This was tongue in cheek of course^. I actually agree. I've just about decided to go back to shake and bake. Pick them out with tweezers, drop them from about 2-3 inches high to shake off the excess powder, and then set them on parchment paper to bake. The imperfections melt together into a smooth coat, and the parchment paper doesn't stick to the bullets (unlike aluminum foil, which is a nightmare to peel off the bottom).
It is a bit tedious, I’ll admit. It will probably grow old pretty quick, but since I put the effort into the construction, I may as well stick with it for a while. The only thing I’ve bought (other than the powder gun, powder, and oven) is the nails and flashing. I had everything else on hand. I did buy some black HF powder. It’s cheap and I’ll use it for other things.

Today I mixed some black and white together to see if I could get a “haze grey and underway” color and to try out my spray enclosure. Coverage was good and even. The vertical surfaces were well covered. It’s hard to tell in the pictures because of the lack of contrast between lead and grey color. I realized early on that poor conduction equals poor adhesion, so I used a dremel wire wheel to get a couple of areas on the exposed flashing clean and installed wire connectors with machine screws to the flashing. That way I could run the wires down and out of the enclosure and not have it interfere with the way the enclosure sits around the matrix. I ended up with a nice even “fuzzy” coating of powder which baked down into a good looking coating.

One thing I don’t really like about using the gun method is there is still quite a bit of waste. I probably lost at least twice as much powder as what adhered to the bullets. I’ll try a lower pressure setting next time. I had quite a bit of powder stuck to the inside of the plexiglass, but it washed right off.
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Old 11-23-2020, 11:28 AM
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Here's a little trick for supercharging(pun) your ESPC gun. I soldered some copper wire to a copper tube that slips over the electrode. Since doing this mod my PC overspray has been reduced significantly. Air pressure set to 2-3 PSI and only having a few tablespoons of powder in the jar really helps also. For this example I applied a generous coat of orange to show how much overspray doesn't settle on the tray.
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Old 11-24-2020, 12:35 AM
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Well fredj338 , if you have access to a chronograph , shoot bullets just PC'd and then shoot some that are coated and tumble lubed . I would be interested in seeing your results . I believe a " slicker " bullet will go faster as it doesn't have as high of a drag co-efficient . Like I have said before . This is just what I do , I'm not saying this is needed . I'm a bit of an experimenter and a perfectionist , always looking for a better way . Regards Paul
The opposite is true on slick bullets. Vel is derived by pressure. Make the bullet slicker, it needs more pressure. As I noted, barnes has loading data for moly coated & it requires more powder to archive the same vel. My own brief use of moly coated showed the same. Some time I'll have to give lubed/pc bullets a try but I still see no point. The entire purpise f pc is you do away with bullets lube & its negatives.
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Old 11-24-2020, 12:37 AM
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I looked at powder coating but decided to try Hi-Tech coating instead. So far it's working well for me. Tumble the bullets, let dry, then pour them on a screen to bake in the convection toaster. Size after coating. So far I've run 9mm at 1100 FPS with no leading
Yet per HT instruction, you need two coats, so its easier but more time involved baking.
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Old 11-24-2020, 12:39 AM
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It is a bit tedious, I’ll admit. It will probably grow old pretty quick, but since I put the effort into the construction, I may as well stick with it for a while. The only thing I’ve bought (other than the powder gun, powder, and oven) is the nails and flashing. I had everything else on hand. I did buy some black HF powder. It’s cheap and I’ll use it for other things.

Today I mixed some black and white together to see if I could get a “haze grey and underway” color and to try out my spray enclosure. Coverage was good and even. The vertical surfaces were well covered. It’s hard to tell in the pictures because of the lack of contrast between lead and grey color. I realized early on that poor conduction equals poor adhesion, so I used a dremel wire wheel to get a couple of areas on the exposed flashing clean and installed wire connectors with machine screws to the flashing. That way I could run the wires down and out of the enclosure and not have it interfere with the way the enclosure sits around the matrix. I ended up with a nice even “fuzzy” coating of powder which baked down into a good looking coating.

One thing I don’t really like about using the gun method is there is still quite a bit of waste. I probably lost at least twice as much powder as what adhered to the bullets. I’ll try a lower pressure setting next time. I had quite a bit of powder stuck to the inside of the plexiglass, but it washed right off.
Which is why I shake & bake. Its a lot faster & almost zero wasted powder.
I can setup 300 while the oven comes to 400. Then while those bake for 15m, I set up my next 300, repeat. I can do 1000 in less than hour.
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Old 11-24-2020, 02:34 AM
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It is a bit tedious, I’ll admit. It will probably grow old pretty quick, but since I put the effort into the construction, I may as well stick with it for a while. The only thing I’ve bought (other than the powder gun, powder, and oven) is the nails and flashing. I had everything else on hand. I did buy some black HF powder. It’s cheap and I’ll use it for other things.

Today I mixed some black and white together to see if I could get a “haze grey and underway” color and to try out my spray enclosure. Coverage was good and even. The vertical surfaces were well covered. It’s hard to tell in the pictures because of the lack of contrast between lead and grey color. I realized early on that poor conduction equals poor adhesion, so I used a dremel wire wheel to get a couple of areas on the exposed flashing clean and installed wire connectors with machine screws to the flashing. That way I could run the wires down and out of the enclosure and not have it interfere with the way the enclosure sits around the matrix. I ended up with a nice even “fuzzy” coating of powder which baked down into a good looking coating.

One thing I don’t really like about using the gun method is there is still quite a bit of waste. I probably lost at least twice as much powder as what adhered to the bullets. I’ll try a lower pressure setting next time. I had quite a bit of powder stuck to the inside of the plexiglass, but it washed right off.
Yesterday and today I cast some bullets and tried shake and bake again, as well as spray gun PC to compare. Even though the shake and bake is clearly faster, I just don't like the results. The powder coat is uneven, and I can't seem to figure out a way to get smooth even coverage with that method. With spraying, it's automatic. The shake and bake when run through the sizer leaves flakes of powder coat all over. The sprayed ones hardly any. The ultimate test will be shooting the two batches to see if there is any difference other than cosmetic. If not, shake and bake is the way to go no matter what they look like.

Waste is not a big issue for me with spraying because I lay down a large paper target inside a box. When I'm done, fold it up sweep it back into the powder bag.

Today I tried something new and that is setting the bullets on tin foil to spray, eliminating the nail jig. It worked great. After the powder coat is applied, I transfer to a parchment paper covered tray for baking with a small surgical clamp. Powder stays put, no gaps, no clumps and I can do twice as many at a time. They really turned out nice. I can almost double the output compared to the nail jig method, and still come out with a great result.

Anyway, keep us posted on your PC journey.
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Old 11-24-2020, 11:36 AM
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Well fredj338 , I guess we will have to agree to disagree . You're sticking with your opinion , I'm sticking with mine . Regards Paul
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Old 11-24-2020, 09:51 PM
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Yesterday and today I cast some bullets and tried shake and bake again, as well as spray gun PC to compare. Even though the shake and bake is clearly faster, I just don't like the results. The powder coat is uneven, and I can't seem to figure out a way to get smooth even coverage with that method. With spraying, it's automatic. The shake and bake when run through the sizer leaves flakes of powder coat all over. The sprayed ones hardly any. The ultimate test will be shooting the two batches to see if there is any difference other than cosmetic. If not, shake and bake is the way to go no matter what they look like.

Waste is not a big issue for me with spraying because I lay down a large paper target inside a box. When I'm done, fold it up sweep it back into the powder bag.

Today I tried something new and that is setting the bullets on tin foil to spray, eliminating the nail jig. It worked great. After the powder coat is applied, I transfer to a parchment paper covered tray for baking with a small surgical clamp. Powder stays put, no gaps, no clumps and I can do twice as many at a time. They really turned out nice. I can almost double the output compared to the nail jig method, and still come out with a great result.

Anyway, keep us posted on your PC journey.
The trick with s&b is not to use too much powder, use high quality powder, not HF & use air soft bb, preference seems to be black, but green ones worked for me too. It yields a pretty even finish, not spray quality but I am shooting them into dirt after all, dont care.
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Old 11-24-2020, 10:03 PM
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The trick with s&b is not to use too much powder & use air soft bb, preference seems to be black, but green ones wirked for me too. It yields a pretty even finish, not spray quality but I am shooting them into dirt after all, dont care.
Air soft bb????????
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Old 11-25-2020, 01:11 AM
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Air soft bb????????
I remember reading something about that. The poly BB’s create a electrical static potential (or something like that) which makes the powder coat/acetone slurry adhere to the lead bullets more evenly.

Anywho, I’ve sort of run into a dilemma with my PC’ing.

I got my sizing die in the mail today and tried sizing a few PC’ed bullets to see how it would do. I’m sizing them at .356 and the die is taking the PC off the lower bands of the bullet, exposing lead. I’ve read that some people size before PC and some do it after, but in the instructions for the die, it says not to size unlubed bullets, that it would foul the die with lead buildup.

Is the amount of PC removed unimportant? Should I just go ahead and size, then load? Do I need to lube with alox, size them, then degrease and then PC? Whew, this is getting labor intensive!

My bullets are a little on the large side, I’m guessing. The 9mm are .359 before PC, .3595 after, then down to .354 after running through the die. Thoughts?
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Old 11-25-2020, 01:02 PM
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Air soft bb????????
#5 food grade plastic container with asbb creates a little static which makes the powder stick better. It also evens out the finish.
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Old 11-25-2020, 01:04 PM
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I remember reading something about that. The poly BB’s create a electrical static potential (or something like that) which makes the powder coat/acetone slurry adhere to the lead bullets more evenly.

Anywho, I’ve sort of run into a dilemma with my PC’ing.

I got my sizing die in the mail today and tried sizing a few PC’ed bullets to see how it would do. I’m sizing them at .356 and the die is taking the PC off the lower bands of the bullet, exposing lead. I’ve read that some people size before PC and some do it after, but in the instructions for the die, it says not to size unlubed bullets, that it would foul the die with lead buildup.

Is the amount of PC removed unimportant? Should I just go ahead and size, then load? Do I need to lube with alox, size them, then degrease and then PC? Whew, this is getting labor intensive!

My bullets are a little on the large side, I’m guessing. The 9mm are .359 before PC, .3595 after, then down to .354 after running through the die. Thoughts?
If the powder is applied properly, it shouldnt rub or scratch off. The Lee dies can be really rough so a 600 grit polish might help.
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Old 11-28-2020, 03:36 PM
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I remember reading something about that. The poly BB’s create a electrical static potential (or something like that) which makes the powder coat/acetone slurry adhere to the lead bullets more evenly.

Anywho, I’ve sort of run into a dilemma with my PC’ing.

I got my sizing die in the mail today and tried sizing a few PC’ed bullets to see how it would do. I’m sizing them at .356 and the die is taking the PC off the lower bands of the bullet, exposing lead. I’ve read that some people size before PC and some do it after, but in the instructions for the die, it says not to size unlubed bullets, that it would foul the die with lead buildup.

Is the amount of PC removed unimportant? Should I just go ahead and size, then load? Do I need to lube with alox, size them, then degrease and then PC? Whew, this is getting labor intensive!

My bullets are a little on the large side, I’m guessing. The 9mm are .359 before PC, .3595 after, then down to .354 after running through the die. Thoughts?
You're removing the powder coat because your bullet size and sizer are not a good match. For 357, I cast bullets that size at 358. After powder coat they run around 362. I then resize them to 358. Typical 9mm would be to cast around 356 and size the same after PC.
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Old 11-28-2020, 07:49 PM
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You're removing the powder coat because your bullet size and sizer are not a good match. For 357, I cast bullets that size at 358. After powder coat they run around 362. I then resize them to 358. Typical 9mm would be to cast around 356 and size the same after PC.
I didn’t realize they made the sizing dies in .001” increments. I’m going to have to get one for the .357 bullets. In the meantime, here’s what I did and it seems to have worked well:

While waiting for my Eastwood package to arrive, I took a bunch of the round nose 9mm bullets and lubed them with plain motor oil and ran them through the sizer. Cleaned them good, first with a solution of simple green and hot water, then gave them a bath in isopropyl alcohol. My Eastwood powder showed up late yesterday, so I cleaned all the HF powder out of the gun and used some Eastwood Cadillac Blue. I took your advice and placed the bullets on aluminum foil for spraying. I think my nitrogen pressure was too high the last time, so I put a digital gauge on the line and tried it at 7psig. That was a little low, so I increased it to 13psig and that worked much better. I found the most effective way was to do the powder in short bursts, giving the gun a shake after each couple of bursts. I didn’t have nearly as much wasted powder and my coverage was much more uniform. I baked them at 375 for 25 minutes and let them cool in the oven after the timer shut it off. I had no trouble removing the bullets from the foil; they came off very cleanly. I’m happy with the results and I’ll continue to refine my efforts. Definitely a bit labor intensive, and I’ll probably continue to buy most of my bullets ready to load, but knowing there’s an alternative when supplies run low is comforting. Thanks for the pointers and input you have provided.
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Old 11-28-2020, 09:15 PM
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I didn’t realize they made the sizing dies in .001” increments. I’m going to have to get one for the .357 bullets. In the meantime, here’s what I did and it seems to have worked well:

While waiting for my Eastwood package to arrive, I took a bunch of the round nose 9mm bullets and lubed them with plain motor oil and ran them through the sizer. Cleaned them good, first with a solution of simple green and hot water, then gave them a bath in isopropyl alcohol. My Eastwood powder showed up late yesterday, so I cleaned all the HF powder out of the gun and used some Eastwood Cadillac Blue. I took your advice and placed the bullets on aluminum foil for spraying. I think my nitrogen pressure was too high the last time, so I put a digital gauge on the line and tried it at 7psig. That was a little low, so I increased it to 13psig and that worked much better. I found the most effective way was to do the powder in short bursts, giving the gun a shake after each couple of bursts. I didn’t have nearly as much wasted powder and my coverage was much more uniform. I baked them at 375 for 25 minutes and let them cool in the oven after the timer shut it off. I had no trouble removing the bullets from the foil; they came off very cleanly. I’m happy with the results and I’ll continue to refine my efforts. Definitely a bit labor intensive, and I’ll probably continue to buy most of my bullets ready to load, but knowing there’s an alternative when supplies run low is comforting. Thanks for the pointers and input you have provided.
Increase your baking temp to 400, verified with an oven therm, and reduce baking time to 15m in a preheated oven.
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Old 11-28-2020, 09:18 PM
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I remember reading something about that. The poly BB’s create a electrical static potential (or something like that) which makes the powder coat/acetone slurry adhere to the lead bullets more evenly.

Anywho, I’ve sort of run into a dilemma with my PC’ing.

I got my sizing die in the mail today and tried sizing a few PC’ed bullets to see how it would do. I’m sizing them at .356 and the die is taking the PC off the lower bands of the bullet, exposing lead. I’ve read that some people size before PC and some do it after, but in the instructions for the die, it says not to size unlubed bullets, that it would foul the die with lead buildup.

Is the amount of PC removed unimportant? Should I just go ahead and size, then load? Do I need to lube with alox, size them, then degrease and then PC? Whew, this is getting labor intensive!

My bullets are a little on the large side, I’m guessing. The 9mm are .359 before PC, .3595 after, then down to .354 after running through the die. Thoughts?
You are over thnking this. First, 0.354 is waaaay too small, 0.356-0.357 appropriate.
Yes bare lead is an issue. I would toss them back in the pot.
Polish your sizing die, properly applied pc shouldnt rub off, but a rough die may scratch it off.
Sizing before will mean you have to put something on the bullet as lube then remove it, uneccessary & more chance of pc failure. Just coat & size.
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Old 11-28-2020, 11:22 PM
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I got my sizing die in the mail today and tried sizing a few PC’ed bullets to see how it would do. I’m sizing them at .356
<SNIP>
then down to .354 after running through the die. Thoughts?
For starters, you have a problem with your sizing die. If you size them at .356, they should be .356.

Once you sort that out, if you still have a problem, I saw a suggestion to radius the entry edge of the push through sizing die. I've never had a problem with scraping so I can't vouch for the idea.
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Old 12-06-2020, 09:40 AM
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Default Just a quick update...

On my powder coating experiences so far. I picked up a new sizing die and now I’m working through my supply of .357 SWC’s. I’m baking them two trays at a time now, so I can do about 275 in a batch, give or take. I’m using Reynolds heavy duty foil, and the last couple batches I’ve done have been double coated. I was having a bit of trouble getting them off the foil with double coating, so I came up with the idea of using a 3/8” gasket punch to punch them out and not have to peel the foil off. And...Voila! Instant gas checks!
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Old 12-06-2020, 11:12 AM
cowboy4evr cowboy4evr is offline
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I used a " non stick " alu foil . It worked great . Regards Paul
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Old 12-12-2020, 03:13 PM
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For my latest batch, I went a step further and used spray glue to stick the bullets to the foil. I was concerned the adhesive would insulate the bullets from the foil, but the voltage is high enough that it didn’t cause any issues and coverage was very good. I cut each foil tray in quarters and they fit perfectly on the top of a piece of 6x6 PT for punching out. I should be able to push them at near jacketed velocities. I’ll work them up in velocity and give a range report when I’m done.

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