Powder Coating

[Old 454]

Lolol.. i know....

[armoredman]

Non stick aluminum foil over the tray in the toaster oven. Works well. I have never mixed anything with powder to make it stick, just the static electricity. I will, with Harbor Freight cheap power, to coat twice to make sure all the driving bands are covered. I just dump, size, and do it again. Takes time, but worth it.

[Don Fischer]

Originally Posted by res45

DF those HP's are cast from this NOE mold http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product...nig2k1eh5qste1 and are coated with OD Green powder coat. You might want to check or reset your monitors color setting if they are appearing gray,just saying.

Thank you! Great looking bullet's!

[res45]

Old 454 Let's see if we can help you get some better results with you powder coating. I did some NOE 124 gr. TC bullets yesterday in purple an clear coat as well as some Lee 185 gr. RN in Signal Blue.

First off I do my coating usually outside in my building but sometimes I have to do it in the house if the humidity is too high an bake on the back porch, I like it to be around 40% or lower as it helps create static when the air is dry.

I start off with a container like this one as I've found it works the best for me. They are just recycled #5 plastic containers and lids that we get takeout in from the Chinese restaurant or you can just pick some up at the restaurant for about a quarter each.


I fill the container about 1" deep with these plastic beads you can get at any Walmart or craft store cheap. You can wash them off and reuse again an again if you want to switch colors.


I put about a 1/2 tsp of powder in with the beads and shake it up for about 30 seconds to get everything mixed well, you may need to add more powder but I only add about half as much 1/4 tsp as too much can make the powder clump on the bullets, you just want a fine coat. As you can see the powder is already clinging to the plastic bowl.


I hold the container like this in my hand an swirl everything around for about a minute sometimes less or if your lazy and need to do something else you can set it in your tumbler for a couple minutes.



I place all my bullets on nonstick aluminum foil base first an bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

[res45]

You should end up with something like this when you look in the container.


Coated bullets ready to size.

Clear coat


Purple


Signal Blue

[Old 454]

Damn those are nice. !

I put beads in a plastic bowl...i know i added way to much powder ... first it was a spoon full... added my bullets and shook the bowl for a few minutes... didnt cover the bullets very well at all.... i rubbed the bowl on the carpet trying to get a static charge and added more pc... still no coverage. Very spotty at best.

I thought i read over on cast boolits some one adding acetone to the mix so i did that.
Bullets covered real well but had way to much PC and it clumped up on bullets. Baked at 400 deg. For 15 min. Damn if those bullets didnt stick to the cookie sheet like they were glued.
Had to drop the sheet on the ground to break them free.
I threw most away... kept a few... but cant post a pic due to some missing security token.

[Old 454]

So HF powder not good for tumbling PC bullets .?? ...

[res45]

I think HF Red does OK lots of people use it. I have some so I will give it a try today using my process an see how it compares to being spray on. In the past when I used an ES gun I just sprayed the Yellow and Red on it came out much better.

Sprayed on HF Yellow an Red

[Old 454]

Well looks like i will have to buy that kit at HF with the sprayer

[res45]

I wouldn't I would just buy some good quality powder an try that first. You can get 3 1/3rd. lb samples of powder for Smoke over at CastBoolits for $19 shipped. I recommend the Yellow Green, Carolina or Signal Blue or Red and the Clear coat as well.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...raying-bullets

If you want to go elsewhere Eastwood Powders http://www.eastwood.com/hotcoat-powd...g/powders.html are excellent as well you can buy it in 8 oz. bottles for under $10 sometime as low as $7, either way, a little bit goes a long way. Colors that work well are Orange/Vermillion, Medium Green.Lime Green an Maroon.

[Old 454]

Ok i will try that

[Beagle333]

Smokes powders are great, and tumble very well for most people. It's a really good cheap way to coat bullets.

[Chainsaw.]

If I can get good coating, in western washington, in winter, you'll be able to get results. Keep after it.

[dahermit]

So HF powder not good for tumbling PC bullets .?? ...

No it is not. Only Red is half-way good for tumbling, albeit great for use with an Electro Static (ES) gun. However, even when tumbled, the finished coating will be thinner than powders available from places like Smoke's. Also with HF Red, the color gets darker as it is being used (shaken) over and over leading me to conclude that the abrasiveness of the HF Red powder is grinding away on the lead bullets and the lead swarf is darkening the powder. It seems to go from Red to more of a Maroon so I reserve it's use to my ES gun.

[Old 454]

Good to know..... what is Swarf ??

[Beagle333]

swarf
swôrf/
noun: swarf
fine chips or filings of stone, metal, or other material produced by a machining operation.

It is the lead dust or fines that is apparently being abraded off the bullets and darkening the remaining powder in the container.

I have noticed that too. It will turn a maroon, as he said, after a few uses with the same powder. I didn't see any apparent problem with it, but it does get quite a shade or two darker.

[gwpercle]

They real pretty and all but you still have to size the bullets for the correct fit. If I'm going to run them through my sizer , why not lube them and seat the check all in one cycle and be done with it.
Looks like a more time consuming way to lubricate a bullet .
My Lyman 450 was paid for in 1973 , cutting edge technology for that time , I think I'll just Keep On Keeping On with it.
Daddy said "if it ain't broke , no sense in fixing it."
Gary

[shootniron]

Powder coating is the best thing that I have ever added to my casting/reloading processes. Have not conventionally lubed another bullet since I powder coated my first batch. I have coated a PILE of bullets...I have landed on the process that works very well for me...put bullets and powder in the tumbler...turn it on and let it run about 5 minutes. Dump them, shake off the excess, bake'em and size'em. Presto...great bullets ready to shoot. BTW, I have only used HF powder...works pretty well for me.

Costs less than $75 to start.

[dahermit]

They real pretty and all but you still have to size the bullets for the correct fit. If I'm going to run them through my sizer , why not lube them and seat the check all in one cycle and be done with it.
Looks like a more time consuming way to lubricate a bullet .
My Lyman 450 was paid for in 1973 , cutting edge technology for that time , I think I'll just Keep On Keeping On with it.
Daddy said "if it ain't broke , no sense in fixing it."

When using a lube/sizer to size the powder coated bullets, then yes it does take longer than lubing and sizing in a traditional grease lube/size machine. Nevertheless, there are distinct advantages to powder coating over the machine-applied grease lubes. For instance, with powder coated bullets no grease lube can melt and contaminate the powder in our Southern most hot climate. There is also a noticeable reduction in smoke when firing and also a huge reduction in that greasy sludge that builds up in revolvers. Further, grease lubes have a tendency to clog-up seating dies which can result in pushing the bullets deeper in the cases until it is detected and cleaned from the die. Many cast lead bullet shooters claim that powder coated bullets produce better accuracy than greased bullets. They also claim that powder coating eliminates leading with the same level of loads as greased bullets and even allows high velocities than greased bullets. Some also mention that powder coated bullets are not sticky like greased bullets, but those of us old-timers have been using motor mica on our greased bullets anyway. Note: by "greased bullets" I mean bullets lubed with NRA Formula 50/50 Alox. Oh yes, some of our Southern brethren mention that powder coated bullets do not have their lube melt in the hot climate when the bullets are in storage before handloading.

[Old 454]

I just want nice reduced smoke bullets and doing a lot at a rime is the way to go

[Beagle333]

Have you looked into Hi-Tek? It does a lot fast and is really perfect for 9mm, 40 cal or .45acp. It is just a "swirl, dump and bake, repeat once" technique. It does take two coats and two bakes, but you can do a tray full at once without touching them, and using two or three trays you can really rock and roll with that coating.

I like PC, but I shoot sixguns and don't need nearly as many bullets as the bottomfeeders.

[Chainsaw.]

I tried lubing bullets a couple times, its a sticky, stinky mess that results in lead on the hands, smokey shooting and dirty grungy guns. Oh and buying a lubrisizer is spendy. PC is simpler in my mind to apply and the results are far and above lubed bullet performance. Just my two pennies.

[dahermit]

I tried lubing bullets a couple times, its a sticky, stinky mess that results in lead on the hands, smokey shooting and dirty grungy guns. Oh and buying a lubrisizer is spendy. PC is simpler in my mind to apply and the results are far and above lubed bullet performance. Just my two pennies.

Some of us have been casting bullets since the sixties. Back then, lube/sizers were pretty much the most popular way of dealing with the issue. So when Powder Coating recently became popular and have messed around with it, we still use the lube/sizer for just sizing the bullets inasmuch as we still have the lube/sizer and all the dies. If a person needed to start out with cast bullets from scratch, PC'ing and sizing with a Lee push-through sizing die would likely be a tad faster. However, I powder coat my bullets and stand them up on the toaster oven tray covered with parchment paper...that is what takes longest for me.
However, when it comes to using the grease lubes in a Lube/sizer, stickiness was not a problem when using motor mica to dust them. But, if you are referring to Lee Tumble-Lube...I could not get too enthused about that stuff and abandoned that method early on.

[res45]

I started casting in my late 20's I had a Lee 158 gr. SWC mold and a Lyman 158 gr. RN mold an old cast iron pot, cook stove an ladle and lots of free wheel weight for the local tire shop, this might have even been pre-Alox days as remember I pan lubed all my bullets using a Lee Pan Lubing kit,I ended up a few year later getting an RCBS Lube A Matic with a .359 sizer.

Wouldn't you know kids came along casting, reloading and shooting stopped and I sold off all my casting stuff but kept everything else and just stashed it away. Fast forward about 20 years from then and I'm back casting, reloading and shooting in earnest for the past fifteen years. Tumble lubing or ranch dipping bullets was the way I went up till around three years ago when I bought a used RCBS Lube A Matic like my old one and 10 different sizing dies on the cheap all of the sizer of which I could use but two.

I still shoot one bullet that is tumble lubed only because I did enough not to have to worry about them for a while. I still like to run some of my pistol and rifle bullets through the RCBS but when I took up PC'ing my bullets around two years ago an got the process and the results I wanted down pat I pretty much have been doing powder coated bullets ever since. I won't ever get rid of my RCBS and will still use it on occasion, it ain't eating anything.

I like PC'ed bullet mainly because of the long-term storage and handling properties. I can do around 100 rifle or 200 pistol bullets about every 30 minutes, I'm only limited by the size of my toaster oven an once I get the rotation going I can crank out lots of bullets in a couple hours that are ready to size an load or gas check an load at my convenience. It's just another tool in the toolbox.

[Old 454]

Agree.... i just went and got the harbor freight and bought ES gun and some black and red HF powder.

Now i got to find some of those little damn pans for the toaster oven so i can just get a rotation of pans going in an out of the oven