Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting Better grouping with powder coating - short survey

Once I started casting and powder-coating I discovered how much better life at the bench and range was so into the pot went every last lubed bullet I bought previously. Probably remelted 4 or 5 thousand by the time I was finished.

Has anyone actually tested for themselves the accuracy of PC vs. traditional lube using the same mold, same alloy?

Don’t hold back, tell us what you really think!

Um, another option is to just boil lubed bullets and then powder coat them.... But if someone just loves the casting process I guess remelting them all would work.

I don't have accurate enough records from pre powder coating loads to say for sure but the shake and bake method using a 35.00 toaster oven is so easy I'm never going back.

40 something pages of guys showing off their "art work". I like mixing colors to get a marbled look.

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?251956-Powder-coated-bullets-pics-only

Of course...there are pages of that on Cast Boolits site. But...if the test mold perfectly fit the throat of the test rifle, then the coating or lube becomes a moot point.
Let me share some results of the Cast Bullet Assoc. National Tournament. KC MO. The wonderful thing about the CBA...shooters have to list their rifle, sights, bullet, alloy and weight, powder, muzzle vel.... and...drumroll please...lube. Going down the page and a half of the best shooters in the game in the lube column, I see LBT, SPG, Emmert's, White Label and many others including Pig Fat...I see no powder coated. You may draw your own conclusions.

As I said before, I think powder coating comes into its own when striving for highest velocity, not necessarily when striving for maximum accuracy. I've read enough face-to-face comparisons in the cast bullet media to give me pause about the accuracy thing. (But note mine and everybody else's ideas about accuracy with cast bullets differs from from everybody else's.) Am I interested, do I see the merits? Sure, but not enough to calculate bullet dimensions for "naked" bullets and then re-calculate the same for additional layering of PC'ing, and then going through the rigamarole of testing under identical weather/temperature/wind/etc. conditions - I have better things to do with my time. Besides, some of the competition I partake in proscribes powder coating, and even proscribes gas checks. (Pretty big thrill to put 10 plain base .32-40 bullets into 1 1/2" at 200 yards. Meh, you say? You try it sometime....)

I daresay that a fellow just getting into the hobby may be well served with PC'ing if his goal is thousands of pistol bullets for banging steel or somesuch, or the guy who's looking to create a cheap alternative to jacketed bullets for whacking deer at velocities at or approaching what he enjoys with jacketed in his favorite rifle. In other words, an analogy would be the guy who heads straight to an in-line ML for convenience sake because he can't be bothered to learn/master the arcane art of traditional ML shooting. Same difference.

I'm able to size bullets after powder coating. Apparently some powder coat works better than others. The vendor/poster "Smoke" sells powder coat that has all been demonstrated to work fine. He also sells the plastic BBs that are used in the container you shake them in. They made a difference in getting an even coat.

I have not done enough yet to work out a system to color code bullets to the load behind them but it is on my "to do" list for sure. I'm going to see if Smoke has plastic BBs in stock again and probably pick up some clear powder too.

I've looked .. didn't see those pages. If you don't mind, what was the consensus?

Longarm, It's about the same as on here. The old guys who don't mind fussing, fooling, measuring, calculating and obsess over their bullets alloy to target...don't buy into it...yet. The guys who have neither the time nor the inclination to dive deep into the casting hobby...have taken to powder coating like ducks to water. And good on them, shooting more, fiddling less. Particularly in the handgun disciplines, where volume is almost as important as precision.
Us old farts that prefer fitment and precision...will be changing our tune when PC's start setting records.
One thing that I think we can all pretty much agree on (maybe)...when it comes to vintage rifles of yesteryear with less than perfect bores...a well seasoned frosty barrel with a lubed bullet can shock you with it's accuracy potential. As far as I have read, that has not yet proved to be true with plastic coatings.
I would like to hear from Gnoahhh and Digital Dan here, I'm a hobbyist, they are competitors.

flintlocke, I’m one of those old guys that ain’t got time to fart around with almost mind numbing, obsessive, details and techniques!

I will slug a barrel to help determine mold size and sizing die size, and will use gas checks when appropriate. I do try to maintain a relatively consistent Casting temperature, but that’s about it. I use, and have for 50+ years “plain ole” wheelweights. In spite of my nonchalant attitude, I can still get groups in the 1” to 2” range. If I were looking for match grade bullets…..I’d be more critical. I shoot cast for the savings and for fun!

All of that said, I’ve always hated the dirt, sand, debris that seemed to be attracted to conventional bullet lubes. When I learned about powder coating….I did it for more of a cleanliness factor, not so much the accuracy! However, I’m pretty pleased with the seeming accuracy potential! memtb

Those pages of match results are in the back of every copy of The Fouling Shot.

I've been getting The Fouling Shot since it was Xeroxed and stapled together. Not a charter member but not far from it.

Therein lies the beauty of the hobby. Something for everyone.

The thing is all the arcane crap can be mind numbing to a newbie, but once it's internalized the protocols become second nature and 1-2" groups at 100 become cause for alarm even with loads just thrown together.

I just wish people would stop adhering to the old truism about slugging bores to determine bullet diameter. Mind the throat diameter instead.😁😇

Gnoahhh, I'm bad about that...not using precise terms, when I say slugging...I mean pound casting the throat. A well fitting dowel from muzzle to about a half inch ahead of the chamber, then dead soft pure lead beaten in with a home turned delrin punch to fill the front of the chamber and throat, a half inch or so of the rifled bore. I end up with a lead slug negative of the chamber front/throat/leade. Is it accurate? I don't know, but I got off the cerrosafe bandwagon long ago after filling a tiny groove in an old Marlin frame with molten cerrosafe. Two days with dental picks.

That'll work! I stick with Cerrosafe because I'm used to it. I too once trickled some Cerrosafe into an action because I was too lazy to disassemble it. A good dunking in a stock pot of boiling water fixed that.

Boiling water....who'da thunk it? Hand smacks forehead. The stuff you learn around the fire, water boiling at 212? Gonna experiment a little, bet you could boil eggs in water. When does my dumbschidt award arrive?

Good thread guys. I have enjoyed reading it. gnoahhh is sending me some cast bullets to try out. Thanks again buddy!!! My odd ball 30-30 and I appreciate it. I look forward to trying them out. It will be a first time loading cast bullets.

Use a Lyman "M" die to properly set up the case mouths. Cast lead bullets don't seat the same as coppers.