Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting Don't use cheap parchment paper

When you're curing powder coating.

Used some Reynolds paper the first time I powder coated a batch of bullets and it worked great, bullets just slid off of it. Ran out of it so the next time I used some store brand that someone had given me a long time ago. It worked fine for baking cookies but definitely not for powder coating. It turned very brittle and crumbled like centuries old parchment and it stuck to each bullet, leaving a shard of paper that has to be picked off. Except it won't come off entirely and leaves a small strip right where the bullet contacted it.

Was trying to pick off those little remnants one by one as I sized them but that would take hours and you stll can't get all of it off anyway. So I'm just going to scrap the whole batch - three hours work and over 15 pounds of bullets, almost 675 of them by weight - and remelt them.

Lesson learned, don't use cheap parchment paper.

What application are these bullets destined for that a tiny scrap of Parchman Paper would make any difference whatsoever..?

As it stands, the paper will likely burn up when fired.

The other option is to just don't use any in the first place...

Jim, I had that same thing happen to me, and since that was the only paper I had, I baked everything but the first batch standing the bullets up. That worked out, but I'd not do it again. They were only 9mm plinkers, but there were nearly 2000 of them after what I scrapped due to paper sticking to the sides.

Yeah, I made a couple of mistakes this time, one with the cheap parchment paper and also tried to save time by putting too many bullets in the pan so a lot more of them stuck together. You can break them loose, that's not a huge problem but no reason to have to do it if it can be avoided.

Had actually started to size the "partial paper patched" bullets and was going to shoot them. It probably wouldn't affect accuracy all that much but it just offends my sensibilities. I don't go to extremes for accuracy but it would feel like settling for second best when a trip through a furnace would erase the mistake and allow a clean start. They wouldn't be the first mistakes tossed back in the pot...

Ordered a second smaller furnace which should be here tomorrow. There are several threads in other forums about how it won't hurt your furnace to remelt coated bullets but this would keep the main one clean for sure. Plus a second one to provide a steady source of premelted lead has been on the back burner so to speak for a while now. The broke switch on the RCBS has provided the impetus to finally get'r'done.

Cast another few hundred several days ago and powder coated a small experimental batch of 60-70 this morning using the Reynolds paper. No problemo, they all slid right off slick as a whistle.

Lesson reinforced - use quality parchment paper.

Thanks for the recommendation, Jim. I've now got Reynolds parchment paper to try for my next baking session!

OK, I haven't started PC'ing, but read about it a lot. Many seem to use or used to use non stick tin foil. Has that fallen out of favor? Couldn't it be used over, & over if the colors were same or you didn't care?

Parch paper better???

Can't say with certainty but it should be just as good. Be aware there is a non-stick side and a non-non-stick side. Not aware of that, guess which side I used the first time I tried it?

Parchment paper should be okay to use either side but the Reynolds paper has printed cutting guides on it and the outside of the box shows it being used with the printing side up, so given my record of 1-2-0 that's how I use it.


Good judgement comes from experience, experience comes from bad judgement. By now I'm just chock full of good judgement on this subject...

What kind of powder paint are you using? I’m looking to get started using the cool whip container tumble coat method.

I'm using RAL 6018 Yellow Green from Powder Buy The Pound as mentioned in the first post in the "Powder coating quick and easy" thread a little lower in this forum.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...wder-coating-quick-and-easy#Post11306180

Still a newbie to this myself and have only coated three batches so far so couldn't speak with any authority about any other powder. Obviously others work since I've bought some commercial coated bullets that are red. But this yellow green works well so I'll stick with it. Plus I bought two pounds so have enough for the rest of this lifetime and half of another.


On another note, I'm hooked on the powder coating now. It takes less time than lubing each one individually but that wouldn't be the sole reason to do it. The bullets are nice and clean to handle, your hands don't get dirty with lube and if you drop one it doesn't pick up dirt or dust from the floor. Also no lube smoke in an indoor range, I'm sure the other shooters appreciate that. It does smell a bit funny when shot but not too bad. I've only had mine up to about 1100 fps in a .357 Magnum but there was absolutely no leading at that velocity.

Well I spent a good bit of time reading the thread you linked, and just ordered a pound of 6018 yellow green (I happen to like that color haha)

Thanks for your help!

I switched to parchment paper after a cheaply made but still expensive) sheet of nonstick aluminum foil adhered to the base of about 100 .44 bullets. Of course it doesn't year into perfect discs, so lots of cleanup was needed.
Thanks for the heads up about cheap parchment paper. I use Reynolds about 4 or 5 times before it becomes brittle.

Good to hear you can use it a few times. Parchment paper isn't free for a tightwad. Be Well, RZ.

Silicone baking sheets should solve the problem of what to bake your bullets on. Bullets will slide right off. Reusable over & over.