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Post by cas on Sept 20, 2018 11:18:13 GMT -5
I tried my hand at powder coating last night for the first time. First small batch of about a dozen bullets came out great.
Second batch I never got in the oven, they just wouldn't take the powder. Tried several times. A little powder, a lot of powder. Nope. Few BB's, many BB's.... a whole hopper full. Nope, nope, nope. Washed and tried the bullets. Nope. Degreased them. Nope.
But my post is less about that and more about what they're doing in the tumbler. They're not tumbling! For the most part they sit in one spot and spin. The airsoft BB's seem to make it worse, like ball bearings.
I'm starting to think hand shaking them in a small container might be better.
Any input?
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jdoc
.327 Meteor
Posts: 727
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Post by jdoc on Sept 20, 2018 11:33:43 GMT -5
Where's Dick when you need him? I'll bet he's hunting. I would recommend Hoover but he is writing magazine articles full time. Best I can tell you is research the 32 H&R magnum and 327 Federal threads. Good luck
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Post by cas on Sept 20, 2018 11:41:12 GMT -5
Probably should have mentioned, these are 500gr .512" WFN's.
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Post by sixshot on Sept 20, 2018 11:50:21 GMT -5
Depends on what kind of tumbler you are using, mine is a Hornady that I've had for at least 20 years or more & it just keeps on ticking....or tumbling. First, use more bullets & less powder & don't use any pellets. What I do is put 200-300 bullets in there, I even mix calibers, you can sort after you bake. Put a couple of tablespoons full of your chosen powder in there & tumble for 20 minutes or so. If they look like they are mostly covered you are good to go. Pour them into a colander & shake them good a few times to knock off any residual paint onto some old newspaper & then place them on non stick aluminum foil or a Silpat sheet, these are a silicone sheet used for cooking & they work great. I buy the generic one's at a Army/Navy store for about $13 & they last forever. You can pre heat for a couple of minutes & then bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees, any longer than 10 is pretty much a waste of electricity. The bullets are just dumped onto the tray, I double or even triple stack them, you will have a few stick together but they come apart pretty easy. Don't leave a lot of extra paint sticking to your bullets before you bake or they do stick together more, shake them good when you remove from the colander. If you are using a plastic container to shake & bake you still don't want to use too much paint, just shake sideways & up & down, check them to see if they are coated ok, if not, give them another 30 seconds or a minute & you should be fine. Using too much paint is usually a problem. Can't really tell you about other tumblers, mine moves them around pretty good just vibrating but they don't actually roll over much. If you are showing a few minor bare spots you are fine, it will cover up when you bake them. Good luck!
Dick
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jdoc
.327 Meteor
Posts: 727
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Post by jdoc on Sept 20, 2018 11:52:42 GMT -5
I'm not much help. I still shoot naked lead. I have shot some of Missouri Bullet's coated bullets but no experience in coating. I'm fairly sure Dick uses the "shake & bake" method. I think you are on the right track about the bullets need to tumble. They need to generate static electricity for the coating to stick. I would try the shake method. I'm curious to see it works out with these bullets. I've had the materials to try coating for sometime but never tried my hand at it.
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jdoc
.327 Meteor
Posts: 727
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Post by jdoc on Sept 20, 2018 11:55:38 GMT -5
Well I see Dick wrote a whole SOP while I was typing five sentences.
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Post by boatswainsmate on Sept 20, 2018 12:06:28 GMT -5
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Post by cas on Sept 20, 2018 12:09:40 GMT -5
I will try one of my other tumblers tonight with a slightly different bowl ahape. These are big heavy bullets so its understandable that they don't "bounce around". I'm doing small batches because I'm experimenting with softer bullets (the reason I'm even trying coating). I only ran small batches of differnt hardness to test. i have no interest or need for big batches. Honestly, despite having done it for about 30 years now, I really hate casting bullets. I do it as little as possible and only for things I can't buy commercially or are cost prohibitive. Some people love it. I'm not one of those people.
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Post by cas on Sept 20, 2018 12:27:31 GMT -5
I just had a thought.... I also have a drum tumbler. Small batch in a plastic container, inside the drum. Hmmmm.....
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Post by sixshot on Sept 20, 2018 12:37:31 GMT -5
cas, if you only want to do a few bullets at a time just use a cool whip container & your bullets & paint. You can add some air soft pellets if you want, you'll just have to pick the bullets out with your tweezers. Pick them up in the lube groove is best so if you mark them at all it won't matter & then give the tweezers a good rap on the side of the container to knock off any excess paint & then put the bullets on your tray & bake, you will have good bullets in a hurry. Just swirl it around for 30-40 seconds & then up & down for about the same & check them, if they need more give them a little more. Just be sure that lid doesn't come off! Turn on some good music when you're casting, makes it more enjoyable, every bullet is a memory, at least for me. It's going somewhere & won't be back!
Dick
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Post by wheelguns on Sept 20, 2018 13:18:34 GMT -5
I powder coat, but I don’t use a tumbler. I use tupperware containers, with no bb’s. The best containers have a triangle with a 5 in the middle. I also use round containers because the rectangle ones will eventually crack when the bullets collide with the corners. I use 2 containers and a collander. I put a couple of teaspoons of powder in one container, and cover the bottom with bullets. I spin them for a count of 50. Then, a couple shakes up and down. I then put the collander over the other container, and dump everything into the collander. Shake the collander, so that the excess powder falls through, then dump it onto the cookie sheet covered with non-stick foil, and bake. If you have more to do, just put more bullets in the container with the powder. If they don’t get completely coated, just add another teaspoon of powder.
There is a vendor on cast boolits. He goes by smoke4320. On his vendor site, he does a very good job of explaining the shake and bake method. Almost everything I shoot these days gets powder coated, and I am hooked.
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gamsek
.240 Incinerator
Posts: 25
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Post by gamsek on Sept 20, 2018 13:40:56 GMT -5
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Post by wheelguns on Sept 20, 2018 14:48:00 GMT -5
They look good, Gamsek. I gave up on the bb’s because I had to pick the bullets out one at a time. Just how I do it. I use to pick them out and stand them up, but I can’t tell the difference.
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Post by sixshot on Sept 20, 2018 16:19:09 GMT -5
Ya, picking them out one at a time is kind of a pain! When I just do a few I also use a cool whip container & just shake & bake. I also use some gloss black from Smokes, it's good stuff.
Dick
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Post by cas on Sept 20, 2018 17:15:36 GMT -5
So what do you think about old bullets vs new? I've seen people say it matters and others say it doesn't. I was pretty happy with my first batch, especially since it was my very first batch. They're VERY soft lead, cast two days ago. The second attempt is a much harder alloy, water quenched, cast a year and a half, two years ago. I soaked them i acetone, dried them and tried again with a hand shaken setup. No better. I did some more new ones in the same container and powder and they look okay. (not as good as 20 minutes in the tumbler, but that makes sense) 1st batch a little lumpy and not "cooked" enough. I didn't have my thermometer on hand last night.
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