Powder coating the easy way

[camp]

dolomite thank you ,thank you,

i shot 100 rounds of powder coat boolits through my glock 23 today at owl hollow ,0 leading ,

worked great and no residue from the powder coat.

i will be switching from alox tumble lube over to this on all my cast boolits.

[Dolomite_supafly]

I don't want to take too much credit. I learned of this on Cast Boolits and figured I would pass along my experiences.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

9mm. Black look purty. Red are ugly but after I resized the sides were slick and just the tips are bumpy. Ima shoot em like they are.

 

Those look neat. If you duplicate with blue rather than black, it would open up possibility of red pill, blue pill humor.

[jb980]

I have been gathering the materials to try this and was wondering if you could substitute alcohol or another liquid for the acetone. I never thought of laquor thinner though.

[Clod Stomper]

I have been gathering the materials to try this and was wondering if you could substitute alcohol or another liquid for the acetone. I never thought of laquor thinner though.

I have a partial can of denatured alcohol that I'm going to try. May work, may not. As soon as i can retrieve some of my cast boolits, I'll give it a try and post results.

[jaysouth]

I posted this same thing on another board. We have several members over there testing as well and one of them came upon a significant improvement.
 
He tried laquer thinner rather than acetone and reported some pretty amazing results. He said the powder coats the bullets and not the sides of the bucket. He said the results are a lot better as well. I have not tried it yet but I am going to because I am about out of the acetone.
 
Also, if you are getting clumpy results are using too much powder. I am starting to use a lot less powder than I initially did. If it looks like I need more I add a little more along with a little more solvent and start over. It is also dependent on how many, and what size, the bullets being coated are. Small 22 caliber bullets will need a lot less than say some 500 grain 458 caliber bullets.

It is easy to add powder but it is really hard to remove it.

Dolomite, I am curious, what other board are you talking about. Thanks

[JWC]

Those look neat. If you duplicate with blue rather than black, it would open up possibility of red pill, blue pill humor.

Funny. Haven't thought of that in a long time... Lookin' at the picture made me want to play checkers, lol.

[Dolomite_supafly]

The other board is a 300 Blackout forum I am a kind of active on.

 

http://www.300blktalk.com/forum/index.php

[timthetoolman]

Lol I saw your post over there too G.  We're getting geared up to give this a shot too.  

[Dolomite_supafly]

USE LAQUER THINNER, DO NOT USE ACETONE.

 

I decided to try the laquer thinner after Jaysouth did and it is fool proof. Add a little powder then swirl around to see if youy have enough to coat the bullets. Then pour off the excess laquer thinner and pour the bullets out. Wait for them to dry then bake.

 

It does not stick to the plastic bucket and for some reason ONLY sticks to the bullets.

 

I am absolutely amazed at the results.

Edited July 2, 2013 by Dolomite_supafly

[Jamie Jackson]

This is a fascinating thread. I never even heard of powder coating before.

 

Between this and "The Lead Thread" I am more than ready to embark on this aspect of shooting/handloading adventures.

 

Thank you all for the enlightenment!  :up: 

[jaysouth]

I tried the denatured alcohol.  It did not work at all for me. 

 

Last night I ordered some powder from PBTP.  No more coating experiments until the powder comes in.

 

Anyone want a pound of HF red?  If you had to walk further than across the street, it would not be worth your effort.  It will get hidden in a garbage bag and go to the landfill.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Jaysouth, you method works perfectly. It also uses about 1/3 the powder of acetone and works better. I will NEVER use acetone again. I will only use laquer thinner from now on.

 

Powder By The Pound is the best powder I have tried so far. It works great.

 

Thanks for posting about the laquer thinner.

[TNMTBik3r]

What powder or type are y'all using from Powder by the Pound? There is a bunch of options on the website... I have red HF now but haven't began any testing.

[Dolomite_supafly]

I think I posted it already but the TGIC polyester 400 degree powder.

[TNMTBik3r]

OK thanks...I found some that say Polyester TGIC, cure 400F. I guess I missed your earlier post.

[Clod Stomper]

I tried the denatured alcohol. It did not work at all for me.

Thanks for that info. I hadn't tried it yet and that saves me the trouble.

[camp]

I stopped by powder by the pound in nolensville, very nice people to deal with, i was out the door with my samples 10 min after i gave my order to the receptionist.

[JWC]

Good to know I can do that. I emailed them to see if i could just stop in and didn't get a reply.

[JWC]

Just shot 300rds of 9mm and 200rds of .38 Special pc'd. No leading at all. I was having some issue in the 9mm but no more. Tomorrow going to empty some .3O Carbine so I can carry them home and reload them with powder coated.

[Dolomite_supafly]

That is great.

 

I am waiting for sunny weather to push the limits. Without the sun my chronograph is useless and without my chronograph my testing is useless.

 

I am amazed, like I haven't been in a very long time, at how well it works with laquer thinner. I cannot imagine an easier or quicker method of coating cast bullets. With laquer thinner is it idiot proof (a good thing for me).

 

I can honestly say that powder coating, maybe not my method, is the wave of the future. Imagine manufacturers being able to produce ammunition that doesn't use that expensive jacket but works just as well.

[Jamie Jackson]

The guys over at castboolits say its working in poly barrels. Try at your own risk obviously......but I will be trying it.

 

Obviously I think this may have a revolutionary potential...pretty fascinating.

 

Have you, or anyone else, had the opportunity to try any of these powder coated bullets in poly barreled handguns yet?

[JWC]

I'm in FL at my wife's grandparent's place and can shoot all I want. But man it has rained almost non stop since we got here. I can shoot handgun from under the tractor shed but I have a couple of rifle loads I need to shoot and I can't get out. Plus I made some steel targets I'm dying to shoot. Every time I start to get my stuff out it rains again.

[Rickey]

This is all very interesting and sounds like something I might try how long does the process take from start to finish because I have a Star luber Sizer and it takes some time you have to handle every bullet

[Dolomite_supafly]

 

This is all very interesting and sounds like something I might try how long does the process take from start to finish because I have a Star luber Sizer and it takes some time you have to handle every bullet

 

All in all an average batch takes less than 15 minutes. And the batch can be any size providing you have enough powder to evenly coat the bullets. You want just enough powder to completely coat the bullets without excess powder.

 

I pour the laquer thinner, about a 1/4" deep, in the plastic 2.5 quart bucket that I got at Walmart. I put the powder coating powder in the laquer thinner and I swirl it around for 15-30 seconds. I dump all the bullets in the mixture and swirl them around until the bullets are lightly, yet completely, coated. If I don't have to add more powder I pour the excess laquer thinner off after about 30 seconds and dump the bullets out onto a screen to dry. If I add more powder then it takes another 15-30 seconds to make sure the bullets are evenly coated. I shake the screen a few times to ensure they are not piled up onto each other. Then I let them set for 1-2 minutes until they are look dry. I will use a tool, like a dental pick but not my hand, to try to seperate the bullets from each other before baking. Then I put the screen and bullets into the oven for 10 minutes at 375-400 degrees. After 10 minutes I remove them and let them cool. After they have cooled I size them if they need to be sized.

 

The powder coating is adding about .002" so if the bullets start out at the size of the bore they will not need to be sized. If the bullets start out at .001" or more over the bore they will need to be sized to .001"-.002" above the bore size. Cast bullets MUST be larger than the bore otherwise leading will occur in 99% of the guns out there.

 

I start by adding a single .7cc dipper of powder for ~100 bullets 150 grain bullets. You might need more or less depending on the size of the bullets themselves or the amount of bullets in the batch. It is better to have to add a little more powder after you start than it is to have too much powder. Too much powder makes for a ugly, clumpy bullet but they are still 100% useable but will need to be sized because they add more than .002" to the diameter of the bullet. Using too much powder is also wasteful.

 

But as I have said before it is ALWAYS easier and better to add powder than it is to try to take it away.