Anyone powder coating their bullets in lieu of lube?
Sounds like something those pesky pellet pluckers might want to play with.
Do you lovingly powder them?
Moderators: pilkguns, m1963, David Levene, Spencer, Richard H
Re: Do you lovingly powder them?
Greetings,
Interesting question.
I recently tested a Pardini 32 S&W Long barrel that the owner said "would not shoot at 50 feet".
I did clean some normal Lead fouling out of the leade of the barrel and when examining it with my bore scope, the lands and grooves had a yellow color.
Mechanically, the barrel seemed fine. Groove measured 0.313" and no bulges.
Testing the barrel at 50 yards with ammo of known quality it did not shoot that well. Just over ten-ring.
The more ammo I shot the smaller the groups became.
The last target was 100X9.
A lot of folks use the coated bullets; but, I have not seen a published test target at 50 yards to validate the accuracy.
Personally, I think it would be challenging to apply a coating with any precision as to thickness.
Cheers,
Dave
Interesting question.
I recently tested a Pardini 32 S&W Long barrel that the owner said "would not shoot at 50 feet".
I did clean some normal Lead fouling out of the leade of the barrel and when examining it with my bore scope, the lands and grooves had a yellow color.
Mechanically, the barrel seemed fine. Groove measured 0.313" and no bulges.
Testing the barrel at 50 yards with ammo of known quality it did not shoot that well. Just over ten-ring.
The more ammo I shot the smaller the groups became.
The last target was 100X9.
A lot of folks use the coated bullets; but, I have not seen a published test target at 50 yards to validate the accuracy.
Personally, I think it would be challenging to apply a coating with any precision as to thickness.
Cheers,
Dave
Re: Do you lovingly powder them?
I have not used coated bullets, but I'm not sure the thickness would make all that much of a difference. It is not particularly hard, so would conform to the rifling much in the same way as the lead does. Of course, if it's globbed on you'll have problems with chambering and the like, but "normal" coating seems to work for people that use them. It does seem to allow for higher velocities; I know a guy who is using cast lead powdercoated bullets in a 308 at near jacketed velocities with no leading problems.
Re: Do you lovingly powder them?
I’m having a crack at coating swagged .32LHBWCs with a product which is produced in Oz and which is used to coat cast bullets. The product is called Hi-Tek Lube. It is solvent applied and baked on in 2 or 3 layers. I’ve got my jars and acetone and a used countertop oven through eBay which appears to hold the required temperature quite well.
I was more interested in a "clean" bullet to load rather than a sticky, beeswax lub. Whether it will produce a more accurate round or not, I don’t know. The coating instructions suggest 2 or 3 very thin coatings rather than one goopey thick coating so there should only be a thou or so increases in bullet diameter. Manufacturer: J&M Specialised Products (has a Facebook page but no website); jandmspecializedproducts@gmail.com.
There is a US website which sells the product stateside: http://hi-performancebulletcoatings.com ... tructions/
I’ll post when I’ve done a batch but with current restrictions here in Oz, I won’t be able to shoot them for a while.
Bob
I was more interested in a "clean" bullet to load rather than a sticky, beeswax lub. Whether it will produce a more accurate round or not, I don’t know. The coating instructions suggest 2 or 3 very thin coatings rather than one goopey thick coating so there should only be a thou or so increases in bullet diameter. Manufacturer: J&M Specialised Products (has a Facebook page but no website); jandmspecializedproducts@gmail.com.
There is a US website which sells the product stateside: http://hi-performancebulletcoatings.com ... tructions/
I’ll post when I’ve done a batch but with current restrictions here in Oz, I won’t be able to shoot them for a while.
Bob
Re: Do you lovingly powder them?
For coated bullets, there is also Blue Bullets and Brazos Bullets in the US.
Joel
Joel
Re: Do you lovingly powder them?
I read somewhere (don't remember if it was on here, or another forum), that you could use powder coating powder -- supposedly the same as the expensive stuff they sell for bullets, but much cheaper (or free is you make friends with the local powder coater).
marky-d
marky-d
Re: Do you lovingly powder them?
As I promised in my post above I would get back with my experience of coating projectiles. It has taken me a while to get around to applying the coating as I was a little nervous about the process. Apart from the countertop oven, I needed a reliable way of reliably measuring the oven temperature which I achieved with a Weber iGrill ambient probe (A$18) – I use the pig-sticker probe for BBQing. This connects to your smart phone through an app and Bluetooth.
I carried out the coating of 400 .32HBWC projectiles this afternoon. The issue I had, which prompted me to go down this path, was that I reload and shoot ISSF centrefire using .32SWL with HWBC pills. One of the projectiles readily available to me is a local product which uses beeswax as a lubricant. it is this lubricant which irritates me because it is very sticky, gets on everything, makes the projectiles stick to my fingers when reloading and clogs up the seating die.
The process of removing the beeswax lube was a bit of a chore: wash in white spirit, then with a soapy solution, including caustic soda and Simple Purple, and finally a thorough rinse in a wet tumbler with SS pins. Finally having dried the pills I was ready to start.
The process turned out to be far easier than I had expected and far less messy than the instructions suggested it might be. I ended up applying just two very thin coats. I carried out the “smash test” after the first coat on each batch of 200. This confirmed that I had indeed removed all the lubricant and that the coating adhered to the pills. The
second coat just made sure that the rounds were fully covered. A .32 round in ISSF is not subjected to the same abuse as, say, a 9mm round in IPSC so doesn’t need a particularly thick coating. The increase in diameter of the projectiles was effectively unmeasurable.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/142557671 ... ed-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/142557671 ... ed-public/
As I think the pictures attest (sorry, try as I might I seem unable to post pictures), the final product is worth the effort. They are very slippery suckers and should make reloading a pleasure, not to mention the absence of leading. Now to see how they shoot – when the ranges reopen!
Bob
I carried out the coating of 400 .32HBWC projectiles this afternoon. The issue I had, which prompted me to go down this path, was that I reload and shoot ISSF centrefire using .32SWL with HWBC pills. One of the projectiles readily available to me is a local product which uses beeswax as a lubricant. it is this lubricant which irritates me because it is very sticky, gets on everything, makes the projectiles stick to my fingers when reloading and clogs up the seating die.
The process of removing the beeswax lube was a bit of a chore: wash in white spirit, then with a soapy solution, including caustic soda and Simple Purple, and finally a thorough rinse in a wet tumbler with SS pins. Finally having dried the pills I was ready to start.
The process turned out to be far easier than I had expected and far less messy than the instructions suggested it might be. I ended up applying just two very thin coats. I carried out the “smash test” after the first coat on each batch of 200. This confirmed that I had indeed removed all the lubricant and that the coating adhered to the pills. The
second coat just made sure that the rounds were fully covered. A .32 round in ISSF is not subjected to the same abuse as, say, a 9mm round in IPSC so doesn’t need a particularly thick coating. The increase in diameter of the projectiles was effectively unmeasurable.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/142557671 ... ed-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/142557671 ... ed-public/
As I think the pictures attest (sorry, try as I might I seem unable to post pictures), the final product is worth the effort. They are very slippery suckers and should make reloading a pleasure, not to mention the absence of leading. Now to see how they shoot – when the ranges reopen!
Bob