Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting Powder coating quick and easy

Something to think about - what are you doing differently than me that you need to
a) use airsoft pellets
and
b) swirl for 2-3 minutes?

Something in your process is obviously different than what I'm doing, and it sounds like it's causing you more difficulty in getting the powder to stick. I do not put anything in my coating container besides bullets and powder, and then shake it hard for 10-20 seconds. That's it, the bullets are fully coated at that point if I got the right amount of powder. Too much powder is a problem, you shouldn't have any excess left in the container. Too little is obvious.

It saves a lot of time to just dump the bullets out on the baking tray; I generally do batches of several hundred minimum, so the bullets are piled 2-3 deep most of the time with no ill effects. When piling them together like that, it's best to use a very light coat of powder, you should be able to see some lead showing before baking.

I've switched from using screen in the bottom of my baking tray to non-stick aluminum foil; that stuff works great. I hope everybody knows not to use wax paper for obvious reasons. I've considered trying a silicone baking mat, but like the aluminum foil because it's easy & cheap to start over with a fresh surface from the next batch, instead of having your bullets pick up the inevitable bits of stray powder from the previous batch.

I've noticed that if the humidity is slightly higher at time it can take a bit more shaking to get the powder to coat well it may just be the powder as well. I have one powder Copper Vein that requires a couple minutes to get a good coating but I like the results, I got it for $4 on sale so a little extra effort is not a problem. As far as the air soft BB's I use plastic pony beads they seem to help generate extra static and I like the coating on the bullets vs. not using them and as they say there is more than one way to skin a cat.

Copper Vein

That is a neat color for bullets.

Thanks, it's a PITA to get good coverage though.takes a bit longer and a little extra powders but it works OK. After I use up the 8 oz. bottle I probably want buy anymore.

Well gentlemen, I have successfully done my first batch of powder coating using Yonderings instructions and RAL 6018. Currently have just coated and baked. No sizing or loading of said bullets. They look great. I have to replenish loads for my .44 special since Owl shot up all of my loads at Quemado. miles

I've used your method exactly as published and have had very good luck... I wanted to ask if you have a special barrel in your Glocks for shooting PC bullets?

Good to hear, glad it's working for ya!

The stock Glock barrels work fine. I use a number of different barrels, including the OEM Glock, and have no issue with powder coated bullets in any of them. In several cases, the factory Glock barrels are more accurate than most of the aftermarket barrels, especially with properly sized bullets.

Where do I find this coating stuff for my cast .458 bullets for my 45-70? Do certain colors represent different car actors like hardness. I bought some ACME 405 bullets and they are red. My ACME 147 gr 9MM are also red. Any reason for a certain color or just for fun?

ihookem, I use the powder from Powder Buy The Pound. Look for the RAL colors, any of the TGIC Polyester -based powders should work well. The different colors are nice for color coding your bullets or loads; for example I use a dark blue for subsonic loads, and bright green for +P or other hot loads.

Where do I get some ? I'm sure it's online but could look for hours when you could tell me in a minute.

https://www.powderbuythepound.com/ral-colors/

Another "thank you" for the instructions. I have had a lot of shooting done since I started powder coating.

that stuff from powder by the pound in my opinion works a lot better than the harbor freight variety.
I started powder coating a few years ago, and am not going back to traditional lubes. Easy to do, stores well in arizona heat, and a pound of the powder will do a lot of bullets.
i have a number of .45 colts and i like to coat the bullets in three colors, some are white, red, and blue. Kind of patriotic sticking out of the cyclinders on the revolvers.
I would have to look in my notes to be sure, but a few years ago i fired a 429421keith out of a thompson contender, i want to say over 1200fps for sure. no leading, nothing in barrel. But i fired it through a bunch of water filled gallon milk jugs and recovered the bullet.
i still have it around someplace, almost looks like it could be reused.

That's a fun way to do it, I've done that myself.

And, if your buddy asks for some of the same, it's pretty easy to "accidentally" mix the red and white together in one batch to make his bullets "special". Even better when it's for a shooting match at the local range.

I visited one of the local shops that does powder coating as a business. I asked about colors that didn't have much call for, was able to get several pounds of powder for a deal. I'm coating bullets in 16 different colors.

Some OCD questions from someone who likes to verify what may be obvious.

About how much diameter does the coating add? My first attempt at coating will be with some 250 grain .38-55 bullets that drop from the mold at .377 and are being sized to .3765" in a custom order Lee sizing die. Even if coating makes them .378 before sizing I'm guessing that running them through the die won't scrape off any powder coating? I mean, they're going to be shoved at 1600-1800 fps down a .375" groove bore so I figure a trip through the sizing die won't hurt but wanted to verify.

Does that coating make it much harder to add gas checks?

In your first pic in this thread, would you call that a teaspoon size; table spoon size? Looks like you're using a typical large yogurt size plastic container of about 24 ounces, if not what size is that?


By weight, what would you say is in that spoon - 1.245 ounces or maybe 1.317? Okay, just kidding on this last one, I'm a precise kind of guy but not quite that bad...

Will probably come up with more questions as I go about this but thanks for a good tutorial on getting started.

Using the Powder by the Pound RAL colors suggested by Yondering only added .005" to my bullets. I have had no problems sizing them and shooting them unless I cured it improperly. By that I mean either I ran the oven too hot or too long or both. The test - smashing a test bullet to verify the coating stays on and does not crumble or flake, will give you some piece of mind. I have fired more than a few 45-70 powder coated bullets out of the 20" barrel without any leading. I have recovered bullets from the berm with the powder coating seemingly intact, though I did not fully inspect after cleaning the mud off of it.

I have had very few problems with gas checks. As per usual casting standards, if the base is crisp and sharp the gas checks snap on fairly easily. My failures have been when I have hard (bnh 22) double coated oversize rounds (.461 -.463) and tried to size them to .458. I mangled a few gas checks then. Heck, I tore my little Lee press off the plywood doing that. Once I tempered them with another trip through the oven (bnh 16) they sized pretty easily and the gas checks snapped on.

I use a heaping tablespoon and have powder left over in the tub. It gets on the bullet in the second coating.

I refer to use a one gallon paint bucket with lid but that is just a personal preference. It feels sturdier and the lid helps when my old tired hands slip. No more powder cloud calamities.

Did you mean to write .005" - five thousandths - or did you mean .0005? .005 would make a .377" bullet .382", then it would have to be sized back down to .3765 again which seems a bit excessive.

I meant 0.5 thousandths - no excuses. My mind composes the words faster than my fingers can bungle them. Sometimes if the coatings are thicker one coat can add almost a thousandth by itself.

Thanks, I figured it was just a typo, half or even a full thousandth is not a big deal.

On to more questions.

How big of a toaster oven do you guys use and where did you get them? I was just looking around on line and at Walmart yesterday and it seems the most common ones only take a 9" pan. They run about $30 for the most basic ones, if you go bigger the cost goes up rapidly. Might have to look on ebay for a decent used one unless the 9" one works okay for you all.

Jim, I would check Savers and Desserett Industries for a toaster oven. I picked one up at a thrift store in Ontario last week. A Black and Decker, for four bucks. And yes, it takes about a nine inch tray.

I am doing 120s for my 327. I put parchment paper on the tray and carefully stand the bullets on end with a pair of tweezers. I can get 300 on the tray without them touching.

The RAL 6018 from Power buy the Pound was recommended to me, and it works wonderfully. I received my first powder last Thursday. Over the weekend I cast, and coated about 800 bullets and loaded the first 300.

As stated so eloquently above, I shake about 150 bullets at a time in a "Cool Whip" container.

One note about Powder buy the Pound. Their S&H is about equal to purchase price on one pound. So if you think you might want more than one color, it is wise to order it all at once.

I let my first batch of bullets get too hot in the oven and they slumped. I was bright enough to move the lead pot outside before recycling them. But damn, that paint fumes something fierce. One does not want to breath any of that smoke.

I am so happy with the results, that I am in the process of stripping carnuba red from a big batch of pullets so I can powder coat them instead.