powder coating cast bullets

[dromia]

BTW if you are going to spend 60 odd quid on a powder coating experiment then you would be better off putting that towards a casting set up.

Shellhouse pistol bullets run at 15-16BHN which I find is still too hard an alloy, 12BHN is the maximum I would consider. The less antimony in the alloy the better.

What velocity are you driving the bullets at?

[tackb]

not sure about powder coating but I think they tried copper jackets with some success ? not sure if the idea took off .......

[bradaz11]

I've been using plated with good success, its just that for less than £10 more than 500 plated bullets, I can get 1000 cast.

I don't have any hardness testing gear, but the 9mm is nowhere near the same mix as as their 148gr 38 WC's

that £60 for powder coating includes 500g of powder, at a tsp for around 50 bullets, I'd imagine that to last a good long time.

will £60 with casting my own even get me a melt pot? then i need dies and lead. It's something i have thought about doing, but I'm not sure still, especailly not when things like roundballs, 44 200gr and the 9mm (the only thing to have had issue with so far) are all so well priced. I'd also have to figure in the time somewhere, i'm already getting moaned at by swimbo for disappearing off to reload for a few hours, then theres the shooting part. I'd really rather just buy atm.


velocity wise, I'm not sure, I have a magnetospeed chrono, and although the DXM has a rail on it, the bayonet is too far away to give me a reading. OAL i think is 1.070 with 5.5gr of trueblue. but i'd have to check my logs at home.

[dromia]

All you need to get casting is a pot and heat source, for years I used a camping Gaz stove and a cast iron pot, shillings from a second hand shop.

You will need a decent ladle, the current Lyman is very good, a mould, price depends as to whether you want to gamble on a cheap Lee, a six cavity is better bet than a two cavity but still a bet, or go for a decent mould that you know will work. Tumble lubing with Xlox or better still 45-45-10 lubes will work well in pistol applications. If you need to size then the NOE push throughs are the way to go.

Depending on your mould choice getting going will cost you around your £60.

Time, well that at the end of the day is your call and choice. Obviously if you have time for the coating faff on you will have time for casting.

Depending on the number of cavities in your mould casting from a two cavity mould, sizing and lubing 50 bullets an hour, not including cooling and drying time, is easily achievable without rush.

At the end of the day a bullet is only a good buy if it works, regardless of the cost.

[bradaz11]

right, barrel slugged, and as before, comes out bang on at .355

so, should I be using .356 or .357 lead bullets in the gun?

I will be looking into casting my own bullets at some point, just not at the moment, maybe when I get the house fully sorted, and the new reloading room, i can set up something.

[Bilbo-K]

There are no benefits that I can see from my experience other than pretty colours.

I experimented quiet extensively with it to see if it would help to give higher velocities with just run of the mill alloys and it didn't. At best it will give a couple of hundred fps over xlox.

Hi dromia

which calibers have you experimented with?
was your diappointment based on accuracy, leading or both?

thanks

Bilbo

[dromia]

303, 310 Cadet, 30-06, 30-40 Krag, 218 Bee, 32-20.

No specific reason for these calibres other than that was bullets that I had in line for lubing and loading.

I was hoping for higher velocities than my usual 45-45-10 tumble lube but I didn't get that the tumbled powder coatings failed at 45-45-10 or below velocities and the the epoxy only gave a 100fps or so more, accuracy was no better and in most cases worse than 45-45-10 tumbled lubed bullets. I found the process messy especially the powder coating powder and a real faff on.

Perhaps if you were doing a lot of pistol calibre bullets and had the room and the kit to do it in volume then it may have production benefits but for a 200-500 round a week shooter like me then tumble lubing with 45-45-10 is far easier with better overall results. As to better velocities over 1400 fps which I had hoped for then it was not appropriate in any way for that application and a lube sizer charged with White Label lubes gives me everything I need up to 2,400 fps, it will work beyond that but that is maximum velocity I am currently shooting cast at as I have no need for extra speed.

[Bilbo-K]

Thanks for your reply.

Regards

Bilbo