Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting powder coating

i thought i would see if i could improve on my last attempt.
i can say one thing, the container you use to shake them is real important.
i used a different kind of plastic container, bb's and the high priced non harbor freight powder, got a real good light coverage.
they wer .376 sized cast prior to painting, i think that will add about .002 to the diameter.
to make around .378.
curious to see what happens in a sizer, not totally sure if i need to size them again at all, assuming they fit the chamber.
i would think that extra from the paint would squeeze down all by itself.
any opinions?

Most folks will size after coating, so I am somewhat against the grain here, but if my bullets are sized the way I want them, I don't see the point in sizing after lubing...which is what PC is, so I am more concerned about the pre-coated diameter..

I think .002-003 over bore is ideal, but as long as the bullet is big enough to seal and grab the lands I don't see that it makes much difference otherwise.

Try using the Black plastic airsoft BBs for a more even, heavier coat.

I just finished playing with two powders and the shake and bake method. First powder was the Bass Boat White from powder by the pound. I used a plastic sour cream tub and it coated everything real well in about three shakes. No exaggeration, three shakes. I did two coats and got an increase of 0.003" on the diameter. I used forceps and let the bullets on non stick foil. Worked great.

Then I tried the high gloss black from powder by the pound. I had used this with a Harbour Freight gun this summer and it worked great with just one shot. There was no way I could get a good coat with the shake and bake method today. Tried three coats and the powder came out looking more like a dalmatian that a powder coated bullet. Not sure if the powder got damp or what went wrong but back in the lead pot they will go.

I just ordered four different colours and will play around with them.

The bullets were coated as cast and never touched without disposable gloves.

Note to self: Putting the non stick foil with the non stick side up helps a LOT! Oh well, back in the bot with that batch.

I sized the white bullets with a Lee size die and they now measure 0.542.

My only question is what load data do I use, cast or jacketed.

scott, my first attempt was with harbor freight shake and bake, didn't turn out real good. Then i tried some of the hi temp spray paint, worked better. Then i went to the powder by the pound stuff, but was using the wrong container.
I am using the black bb's when shaking.
interesting enough from something yondering said, i have been standing the up but knocked over a few to see what would happen after they got cooked. no difference worth talking about so i ain't gonna go to the trouble of standing them up any more. I had presized these bullets to .376, and the paint added .002 to measure .378. I did run them through the sizer die to get back to .376, and they went through real slick, but i don't think that is necessary either.
I would treat all these bullets as per cast bullet specs, just like you would with plated bullets.
these came out a lot better than my first attempts but i should mention i am pushing that 250grain bullet in the 375winchester to about 1800fps and they are producing good groups for me, clean barrel too.
I did fire a 310grain 44 magnum done this way through a contender at over 1000fps, and the barrel didn't even look like it had been shot.
I recovered that bullet after passing through about ten milk jugs and i think it could be reloaded again.
i should add also i handled those bullets before coating, and didn't clean them. Didn't make any difference still coated well.

My Blackhawk has had nothing but powder coated bullets down the barrel and when I looked I found it was so clean I almost didn't bother cleaning it.

Brian is sending me his brass 45 HP mold and I want to mask off the meplat before coating. Not sure how to do that. I may just stand them on their nose and use the gun on them.

I need to talk to you about using that fancy mould. I know I have to use some lube on the sprue plate but don't know what to use.

the guy in slovenia that makes those brass moulds sends a little tube of some kind of lube for the sprue plate. I have the same mould he is sending you.
It and several others i have got from the slovenian guy i have used without using the supplied lube. Didn't seem to hurt anything.
I think brian had the one that had four holes, and pins to make different kinds of bullets. Nominally 270grain keith style bullet. With wheelweights they tend to cast around 280 or so.
The pentad hollowpoint is nasty.
I add leadfree solder to the mix in the pot. Or you could use tin. It makes a very distinct well defined bullet. I fired one of those at about 1100fps out of a 8 3/8 smith, through a four inch prospectus. The recovered pill was about .95 in diameter.
neat bullet.

i think i would just get a board, drill some holes and stand the bullets inverted in the holes.
I am getting better. I did about 150 of those .375's last night, they all turned out well.
I have so many cast bullets lubed, i really don't need to cast more. But, i have the slovenian .45acp mould that i am really wanting to use.

Scott F, use the same load data as you would with lubed cast bullets.

Most of what I shoot is hollow point cast bullets; powder in the nose doesn't hurt a thing. I just shake/bake them like everything else. (and yes, that goes for both expansion and accuracy, I test a lot of both)

I also say skip the penta point; we came up with that on the castboolits forum years ago, but it really doesn't do anything better than round hollow points.

On the mihec molds, you can use synthetic 2-stroke oil for sprue plate lube if you don't have Bullplate or Mihec lube.

Some coated hollow point pics:

Thanks for the advice guys. I am thinking I will cast a bunch of there while I have the mould and have some real fun.

Spru plate lube = synthetic 2 stroke oil

Acheson Dag.

A little goes on forever with no mess.
Colloidal graphite in alcohol.

I'm just about positive it's nothing more than 2-stroke oil.

I have several MP molds, very nice



shake with black airsoft bb's then baked and quenched



I run them through the sizer afterwords so they will be a consistent diameter and to prevent seating/feeding issues.

Is that one coating or two?

scott
finally got around to using that slovenian mitec 200grain 45 mould four banger today.
As with his others, they are just works of art. well defined bullet, i added some lead free solder to the wheelweights, and they cast to 202grains, only 2 grains over the stated amount. Also they came out at .453, which would mean i really wouldn't have to run them through a sizer die.
I am going to powder coat them, then run them back to about .452.
you are going to enjoy that mould mr colorado sent you.

I have the handles and plan to cast the day it arrives.

One coating. The powder is from a guy on castbullets, smokes powder. Certain colors are supposed to work better than others for the shake application so I went with a couple of his recommended colors. The container you shake them in should have the number 5 in the recycling triangle. polypropylene.

Thanks.

Some how I ended up with 4 brass tumblers so dedicated my old Midway to applying powder. Works good.

I have an old Mid way and thought about trying it. Glad to know it works.

I think I am getting the hang of it. I am using the #5 plastic tubs and black airsoft BBs. I have two powders that just will not work but four that do. Today's fun for the 45 Colt.

I made a big bucket of red, white, and blue bullets like that for a buddy a while back (the 38 Special hollow point in my pics above). I'm still kicking myself for not mixing some red and white to make pink, and leaving those at the bottom...

LOL!

Some of today,s fun. This is one tray out of three.

now those are purty, my wife would say like lipstick.
what kind of paint?

Powder By The Pound, tomato red, bluebird, and bassboat white. All three work great with sake and bale, the white cover in about three shakes without BBs but I used BBs in all three.

worked great with sake? Is that what you were drinking?

OOPS!