Post by sixshot on Oct 8, 2018 10:33:35 GMT -5
When powder coating bullets it's necessary to heat them for 10-12 minutes in a toaster oven to bake the paint onto the bullets, I'm sure everyone knows this by now. What this does is anneals (softens) the bullets down to a lower BHN. Depending on your alloy this can vary a bit, somewhere between 8-11 is normal for most bullets. At 400 degrees heating the painted bullets more than 10-12 minutes is just wasting electricity. If you are doing HP's you are done once you remove them from the oven. If you think you need a harder bullet & are shooting solids then water quench right out of the oven. These bullets will age harden to a higher HBN in 7-10 days but will start to harden right away so always try to size any of these bullets as soon as they are cool.
I've said this before but many painted bullets will need to be sprayed with Hornady One Shot Case Lube before sizing or you risk getting one stuck in your Star sizer & bending the handle. The way to remove a stuck bullet is to drill through the bullet with a small drill bit from the bottom, then you can punch it out with a brass or wooden punch. Don't ask how I learned this.
Painted bullets can be made quite soft if you are using gas checks & still run them quite fast. I'm running some bullets well over 1300 fps & one over 1400 fps that is a soft HP with great accuracy & great expansion. My recent antelope is an example of a soft HP running over 1400 fps that is extremely accurate & yet exited after taking out a rib on each side of the antelope.
Recently at the NRA Center at Raton, New Mexico I had one run where I went 6 for 6 on the rim fire pigs with this load using the 135 gr Ferinator HP & 13 grs of H110 with iron sights. This is at 55 yds. So the soft gas check bullet is holding up very well at this velocity.
Dick
I've said this before but many painted bullets will need to be sprayed with Hornady One Shot Case Lube before sizing or you risk getting one stuck in your Star sizer & bending the handle. The way to remove a stuck bullet is to drill through the bullet with a small drill bit from the bottom, then you can punch it out with a brass or wooden punch. Don't ask how I learned this.
Painted bullets can be made quite soft if you are using gas checks & still run them quite fast. I'm running some bullets well over 1300 fps & one over 1400 fps that is a soft HP with great accuracy & great expansion. My recent antelope is an example of a soft HP running over 1400 fps that is extremely accurate & yet exited after taking out a rib on each side of the antelope.
Recently at the NRA Center at Raton, New Mexico I had one run where I went 6 for 6 on the rim fire pigs with this load using the 135 gr Ferinator HP & 13 grs of H110 with iron sights. This is at 55 yds. So the soft gas check bullet is holding up very well at this velocity.
Dick
