Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting Soft Cast

Yep, 800X is cousin to the squirrels based on my research.

My offer stands. Any time you want to give it a try just let me know. Since I know you and really enjoyed our short time spent together I won't even coat them hot pink.

Mighty kind of you sir.

If I ever take the bait I'll send you a genuine Bill Clinton $3 bill I got tucked away somewhere.

In 35 years of casting and reloading, I've never seen a reason or need for powder coating bullets. Properly sized/lubed bullets of an alloy suitable for the pressure/velocity they are intended for will not lead. Just MHO.

Don

Ok, here is a question I never heard asked: Does powder coating induce wear on barrel steel, more egregiously than soft bare lead (or less than jacketed bullets I would presume)? It seems to me it would, thus abrogating, to one degree or another, one of the sweet selling points of soft lead usage: virtually infinite barrel life.

I'm pretty much the same but I do like people advancing in cast bullet technology. Guess I'll stick with the same old stuff.

I have a lifetime's worth of experimenting planned with lubed cast bullets and don't have nearly that much time left. I appreciate the experimentation with powder coating but were I to add that to the mix I would fall even further behind.

I can't remember the last time I had to scrub lead out of a barrel, so powder coating is more of a moot point to me. Nor can I remember using bullets with a hardness of over 12-14 bhn even with rifle bullets at 2000fps. When I want high power centerfire performance I switch over to jacketed stuff and be done with it, which is rarely indeed. The lone exception is in feeding my very hungry AR-15- with that it's just jacketed stuff period.

1) I do not own a lubrasizer and don't have the $$$ to set it up right.
2) I don't want to spend the money for every die and every nose punch.
3) I don't want the mess.
4) Powder coat works and works well.
5) Wheel weight is no longer available in my part of the country and soft lead works real well in my handguns.
6) It is fun and there are advantages to having different colours.

I have found no evidence of any barrel wear of damage in my handgun nor have I found any reference to damage from others who have shot a lot of powder coated bullets.

In my personal experience my barrel come clean with a trip down the barrel and back with a bronze brush dipped in Hoppes #9 followed by two patches. The second patch come out clean and dry and the barrel looks new.

Scott, I understand you position on the equipment side of it, but you might find some cheap help with Lee push thru sizers. They are cheap and quite functional. Custom diameters are also available for a small increase in price. I know that PC increases diameter slightly...having a push thru will give more latitude in moulds.

Afterall, there is slightly oversize then there is just plain stupid.

Dan

PS: I don't own a lubrisizer either...but I do have a dozen or so push thru dies.

I already use them and have used them for years. I just hate the lube. I powder coat as cast then run them dry through the Lee sizer then load and shoot. Did a batch tonight and will size them tomorrow. Getting ready for Quemado.

Sure... it's not a need it's a benefit.

The benefit of shooting coated bullets becomes more evident the more rounds one sends downrange.

I shot lead for years and never had a leading problem but it was a lot dirtier than shooting jacketed. Not just the guns but the loading tools and the whole process. Just the benefit of cleaner mags, cleaner holsters, gloves, etc.

Everyone I know that shoots a lot has moved to coated bullets. They shoot commercial brands and they are just as clean as jacketed...maybe cleaner because there is no copper fouling.

No one I know has complained about the change over or plans to go back.

To powder coat or not, that seems to be the question for some. It is right for some people and others are happy with doing it the old way. If you are happy with the results you are getting, then that's the right way for you to do it.

I wear Wrangler slim cut boot flared jeans and Necona boots. Others wear relaxed Levis and Tony Lama's. I drive 4 WD Toyota Tundra's with lift kit, 20 inch off road tires and tote a 44 special revolver. Others are happy with a two wheel drive SUV and a 45 ACP autoloader. Be happy with what you do because we get too soon olt and too late schmart.

I agree. I have done it both ways and mad my choice. I am having fun with soft bullets that expand and retain their weight but I understand the old way has and still does work.

I don't bother trying to convince people they should switch to powder coating. Some guys just want to hang on to yesterday, and resist any further improvements that come along. No sweat off my back; at the same time, I've never found any reason not to powdercoat a cast bullet, so I do what works best for me.

Hanging onto yesterday? Moi?



Dan

PS: I don't lube the bullets. Beat the crap out of them with a hammer and put some paper around 'em. They are pure as sunrise.





Boom.

No only beautiful (the gun, the shooter not so much) but it looks like a lot of fun.

Wal Dan, that is a nice piece pictured there, false muzzle and all. Wow!! You doan't see that every day. I tried paper patching swaged lead when I was shooting BPCR matches,(I realize that isn't what you are doing there) but gave it up for lubed cast bullets.

But one thing puzzles me about the photo at the shooting range and that is the topography, as in there ain't none that looks like that anywhere near Yankeetown, Florida. So you must have been at a match somewhere when that photo was taken. That kind of shooting is a special thing and limited to a few dedicated shooters all of whom seem to be dam good people. I miss it, but cataracts, resulting poor eyesight, and venier tang sights don't go together very well, so I had to give it up. Your photo's sure do bring back a lot of good memories though and I thank you for them.

That range shot is only a couple times zones west of Y'town. Some out of the way place called Cody, WY.

Since I never figured out how to take a pic of myself shooting I let SPG fill in for me. That cowboy can shoot, don't you ever not believe that.

Yeah, it's a bit different than cartridge guns. Friend of mine down the state a bit has one of those old slug guns made by H.V. Perry back in the late 1800s. .56 caliber, 1300 grain two piece bullets and about 200 grains of Lord Black. Boom! Damn thing shoots scary good.



Different gun, same theory:



My little 300 grain.44 mag bullet on the left next to the .22 LR, the .56 on the far right, but that one's only a 900 grain plinker.