October 26, 2013, 09:01 PM | #1 |
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Powdercoat testing.....
The HF red came out perfectly on the .357 bullets. I have them sitting on small machine nuts under the foil. I managed to coat a sandwich baggie full of them and only had two fall off the little nuts. It is quite a game of careful balancing though, from the spray table into the toaster.
The nuts are not JB-Welded to the tray (as some I have seen), I just placed them in rows, put the foil over them and pressed it into shape. The foil keeps the nuts from moving until I get the bullets set on em. I didn't know what spacing I was going to need, so I didn't want to permanently fix the nuts to the tray until I had that figured out but I am now thinking I don't have to glue em down at all. The previous coatings I have done using the tumble method worked great but did not make a nice smooth coat like this. But the tumble coating worked perfectly with soft lead, so I shall load these up now and see if they do as well. These are 90% pure lead. (both pictures are baked and dry, they just look wet because the red is glossy)
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October 26, 2013, 11:04 PM | #2 |
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Now they got shoes and I can see just how fast they can go!
The coating makes them .362 and I sized em back down to .358, then put the checks on and sized again to seat the checks. So they been through the die twice after coating and still look good.
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October 26, 2013, 11:15 PM | #3 |
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MAN, those turned out sharp! You're gonna make me go get an ion gun yet, aren't you! Show-off... Love the color choice, too!
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October 27, 2013, 10:10 AM | #4 |
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I'm going to do a bunch of different styles while the weather is nice.
My casting station also doubles as my powdercoating station, so it is highly dependent upon cooperating weather.
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October 27, 2013, 11:04 AM | #5 |
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And THAT color would be "Turtle-Buster Green"...
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October 27, 2013, 01:18 PM | #6 |
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I do like that color of green. 'Might as well do some of the 640 style too.
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October 27, 2013, 06:24 PM | #7 |
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The NOE WFN coated nicely. I think this one is going to be a winner.
The candy coating looks pretty, but I'm doubtful about its lube ability. I'll find out soon. Things I've learned today: 1. My HF gun works best at 30 psi using the gauge at the gun. Less, and it tends to let powder build up in the tube and spits out clumps occasionally. This stopped completely when I left it on 30#. Keep in mind though, I don't know how accurate a $6 gauge really is. 2. My coatings added around .002-.0035 to the diameter, depending on color. This was not a problem, as they slid right through the sizing die so easily that I had to look to be sure it was the right one. 3. Do not attempt to cheat and use regular foil. That batch will get melted down and repoured. I was getting 2 batches per non-stick sheet. I got flashing on the 3rd, so started replacing it after 2. This will probably depend on how heavily you coat and how much overspray you have. 4. Changing colors is NOT an easy thing. It's about as easy to change the alloy in your pot, and about as time consuming. I think I'll stay with the HF red. It worked really great. (although many prefer the matte black, but I didn't have any black here.) 5. Now that I have figured out my spacing, I'm going to JB-Weld my nuts to the pan. It is a pain to line em up again after every changing of the foil.
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October 27, 2013, 07:02 PM | #8 |
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Why? Just for the heck of it?
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October 27, 2013, 08:22 PM | #9 |
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Because preliminary testing shows that a medium hardness cast bullet can be shot like jacketed, and soft or pure lead cast bullets can be shot harder and faster than with tumble or conventional lubes.
In short, it seems to be allowing tighter groups at higher velocities, with no barrel leading.
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October 27, 2013, 09:40 PM | #10 |
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If you could make it so the powder coating also covered the bottom of the bullet, you would not need gas checks. I am in the process of setting up to do 2 part epoxy paint coating myself. Gets the same results and no need for gas checks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiFxAPtx4c0 |
October 27, 2013, 09:43 PM | #11 |
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OK, cool.
I didn't know if there was a practical reason or if it was just a exercise. Could you place the bullets nose down, that way the base would be covered and the nose would be open like a soft point bullet?
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October 27, 2013, 09:49 PM | #12 | |
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Yes, that guy is surely getting some great results from his technique. I had seen that video. I might give it a shot after I ride this trick as far as it'll go.
Keep us updated on your progress? I could coat the bottoms of nearly all of my bullets if I just stuck them over some roofing nails before spraying, since 95% of my molds are hollow points. But I got all these empty aluminum cans and nothin' to do with em!!!! Quote:
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October 27, 2013, 10:33 PM | #13 | |
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Very nice.
I've been looking at picking up the gear for powder coating, when I get into a house (no point right now) ... primarily for coating my .444 Marlin bullets. It's too tempting not to try. Quote:
Also... hollow points can be lined up on nails, screws, etc, to let the base get coated.
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October 28, 2013, 08:49 AM | #14 |
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Beautiful! It is good to see pictures! I just got my HF gun on Saturday. Need to find a cheap toaster oven yet, then I will be ready to go! One question, why do you doubt the lube ability of the candy colors? Is it not as tough as the others? And where is a good source to get powder?
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October 28, 2013, 08:58 AM | #15 |
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I got a toaster oven at Walmart for less than $20. All the thrift stores around here didn't have any.
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October 28, 2013, 09:31 AM | #16 | |
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Quote:
I've been watching your thread and I've been interested in powder coating. I just ordered a used RCBS lubesizer so I hate to start down the road with more equipment at this time. Main thing I wonder about is how do the 2 compare speed wise in producing bullets? Accuracy is a big importance also and I'd consider switching eventually if PC can do the trick. |
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October 28, 2013, 11:48 AM | #17 | ||
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Quote:
I get my powder from HarborFreight and Ebay. There's a bazillion folks selling it on Ebay. Some people are getting theirs from PowderByThePound, but I have no experience with them. I only got my HF gun Saturday, so I have no results yet from any of this. I have used powdercoating (mixed with lacquer thinner and shake, then dry and bake) with great success, but it doesn't produce a uniform coverage like spraying. I have been tumbling and baking some wadcutters that are 90% pure lead and shooting them pretty fast (over 1300fps) in my .357 and so I am hoping that the spraying method works even better. I got my little toaster oven from Kroger. They had Black & Decker models for $14.99, but it will only do about 45-60 bullets at a time. I'd like a medium sized convection toaster oven one day, if this works out. @CS86(pm sent on the gas checks) Quote:
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October 28, 2013, 06:28 PM | #18 |
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Bear in mind, that even if I didn't turn em upside down, the bottom looks like this:
Which is fine for shooting. The sides are what is going to protect the rifling. The coating even extends around the side of the base a little. I just gas check em, because I've got a LOT of plain base checks.
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October 29, 2013, 11:58 AM | #19 |
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Have you had a chance to shoot them yet to see if there is a difference between checking the base or leaving it plain?
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October 29, 2013, 05:51 PM | #20 |
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Not yet. I coated em last weekend, I'm loading them at night this week, and I'll drag out the chrony and the jugs this weekend and see what happens.
(working two jobs really crimps my shooting time!)
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November 3, 2013, 06:33 PM | #21 |
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I loaded em up today with 6.5gr Unique and shot em outta my 6" GP-100, and according to my shiny new Chrony (which I did not shoot, all day!), they were running an average of 1008 fps. This is faster than I normally shoot, as my usual backyard load is 6.0 grains of Unique. But with no leading after 40 shots, I'm claiming a success. Then I shot some of the plain base, and saw no difference in the leading, or the accuracy. Other than some Unique dust in there (as always), it was clean. (I don't have a good way to take a pic of a bore).
I think next time I shall pour up some pure lead and see if it will get up to at least 900 or maybe 1000. I'd be tickled if I could shoot pure lead HPs at 900 fps with no lube! They wouldn't need to go any faster. But they look good loaded.
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November 3, 2013, 07:28 PM | #22 |
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Sounds like you were just looking to see if the coating would prevent leading. Do you know what distance and what kind of group you were getting?
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November 3, 2013, 08:30 PM | #23 |
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That pretty much is correct. I really was trying not to shoot my chrony.
But I was not unhappy with the groups. I was only at 30 feet. I don't shoot any appreciable distance with any of my pistols. Most of the time, I'm trying to put 6 in a playing card at 21 feet. Today was to see if I could use the coating without worry.... now I'll play with loads and alloy.
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November 10, 2013, 06:17 PM | #24 |
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I started running out of some colors. Now I'm just mixing the leftovers. Seems to work just as well. (MP45-225 and Accurate 36-162V) These are still unsized yet.... so they're running about .004 over right now, half of that is coating, the other half is just 'cause these two molds drop .002 over.
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November 10, 2013, 10:13 PM | #25 |
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Terra Cotta TurtleBusters!
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