My First Batch of Powder Coated

[Jwjarrett]

This was literally the first round of "shake and bake" powder coated bullets. All are single coats. I put some uncoated in the mix for reference. I haven't hit the range with them yet, but I hope to get there this weekend. I loaded some using the Lee tumble lube method and used the same load data for the powder coated.

From left to right: Jet Black, uncoated, Flame Red, White Aluminum, uncoated. All powders were from Smoke4320 at the Cast Boolits forum. The black will require two coatings to improve the color, but the coverage is good for shooting as is. The red and the aluminum colors can be perfected with one coat, I believe. These are far from perfect but they are very encouraging to me.

VS - Hi Quality Powdercoating Powder For sale

 

[Stroker468]

Good work! I’m eager to hear how they shoot.

 

[Jwjarrett]

Good work! I’m eager to hear how they shoot.

I'm going to get some white and blue so I can have patriotic bullets. They should be right on target. I'm pretty sure the pink ones would pull so far left that they would be off the paper -- probably land in Beverly Hills

 

[Nevada Ed]

One thing nice about those bullets, is that they will not lead your barrel
and clean up is a lot quicker.
If they are accurate, you have an extra bonus.

Well done.

 

[cowboy4evr]

I have done some powder coating and have shot them . It seemed like when I started cleaning the barrel , the first patch was a bit " draggy " , like there was a microfilm of coating inside the barrel . Since then , I have started tumble lubing my bullets after powder coating w/ 45/45/10 . Now the barrel isn't " draggy " with that first patch and it possibly has increased velocity. I powder coat for 38 special bullets . For the other calibers , I cast / size / lube on my RCBS lubesizer . I also tumble lube them afterwards . I realized that any part of the bullet ahead of the lube groove that touched the barrel was dry , no lube . Hence the reason for tumble lubing those bullets that I run through my lubesizer . Maybe it's not necessary , but I think it helps . Regards Paul

 

[Jwjarrett]

First day at the range with the PC bullets

I downranged about 200 rounds of cast bullets today -- 100 were Powder Coated, the others were tumble lubed with Lee Alox. The Lubed bullets left very noticable leading. They were more accruate than the factory range ammo I had (plated flat nose). But the PC bullets, both the Lee 175 and the 145 SWC, were noticably more accurate and consistent than the tumble lubed. Below is the pattern I got from the 145 SWC cast powder coated. 15 yards from an SD40 VE .40 S&W.

Bottom line is I will be casting and powder coating for most all my range ammo going forward. Maybe even for self defense with some softer lead.

 

[Luke Duke]

PC Bullets

Nice. just started PC bullets' this year. Ive been very happy with results. Cleaning the barrel has not been an issue at all. Been coating .44 Keith over 18 gr of 2400 with great results. And 358156 GC and pushing them out of a .35 Remington T/C over 20.0 SR4759 around 1800 fps with exceptional accuracy. I PC then size through a Lee sizer. I've dug up some of the bullets and their still PC'd! Gone as far as casting them pretty much dead soft like Black Powder slugs and they mushroom beautifully and their still PC'd!

 

[Steve W]

Eastwood Ford light blue works great, put the powder and bullets in plastic tub and shake. They come out great.

 

[cowboy4evr]

My experience has been that alloy hardness isn't as important as before if you powder coat . As I said before , when I do powder coat some bullets I still tumble lube afterwards . It just might improve their performance a bit . Regards Paul

 

[SweetMK]

I have two types of powder I want to try,, Eastwood Green, and some other supposedly good stuff,,

BUT,,

I really want to try Hi Tek coating,, this powder may be even cheaper than powder, if you can resist using too much.

AND, it goes on as a liquid (acetone) then dries before you bake.

The coating sure looks uniform, compared to applying a powder,,

Hi-Tek Powder Coatings