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Post by bulasteve on Jan 13, 2016 12:37:02 GMT -5
What does the PC treatment do to the BHN, hardness of the bullet ? Read somewhere here of someone saying that after PC treatment their bullets ran 8-10BHN.. I have no way other than finger nail to test here. I don't know what the BHN was before they PC'd. Understand, that if bullet, load, work for me It won't really matter. Curious.
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Post by Markbo on Jan 13, 2016 13:10:30 GMT -5
Nothing at all. At 400° curing temp there is no change - unless - you water quench, then it hardens them up some
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Post by sixshot on Jan 13, 2016 14:05:08 GMT -5
The PC treatment will take the BHN down after you have baked the bullets. You can test your bullets before powder coating to see what hardness you have. Lets say you start out with a 15-16 BHN, then PC & gas check a bullet then bake it at 400 degrees. Now pop off the gas check & re-test for hardness. You are going to have a softer bullet, somewhere around 8-10 BHN. But, the bullet will react a bit different than a plain lead bullet because of the powder coat which acts like a thin shell to help protect your softer alloy. If you need it harder you can water quench right out of the oven to recover some BHN depending on what alloy you are using.
Dick
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Post by bradshaw on Jan 13, 2016 14:06:13 GMT -5
Tank Hoover's powder coat process----400 degrees fahrenheit for 20 minutes----clearly softens alloy bullets. To my limited experience an excellent development. Hoover and the present shooter have posted photos & text on his technique, the .45 330 grain SWC (NEI 310) taking on the aspect of a slightly expanded wadcutter.
David Bradshaw
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Post by BigBore44 on Jan 13, 2016 17:37:59 GMT -5
I have used the Red PC from Harbor Freight but don't care for the finish & end results.
I've heard some folks buy from: "Powder by the Pound"
Is there a certain "type" powder to get that works best on our cast bullets?
Thanks
BigBore44
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Post by sixshot on Jan 13, 2016 18:06:08 GMT -5
Ray, you can get a better quality paint from "Powder by the Pound" or another is "Smoke@paintballkingdom.com". Both of these cost more but remember this paint goes a long way compared to good quality bullet lube. I've just painted a couple thousand black bullets using the latter & they are doing very well compared to the same bullets using regular lube. But thats always been the case. I'm using Jet Black & they come out real shiny. Jackrabbits are going to hate them this friday!
Dick
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Post by BigBore44 on Jan 13, 2016 18:35:21 GMT -5
If casting of Straight WW...What do you think makes a better bullet for whitetail & bear?
A water quenched, than PC'd bullet, OR, a
NON-Quenched PC'd bullet ?
Thanks BigBore44
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Post by sixshot on Jan 13, 2016 23:18:24 GMT -5
Ray, a deer or a bear, hit in the right place with either one will never, ever know the difference. I don't think a PC bullet needs to be water quenched for either deer or bear. None that I've taken ever stopped a bullet & mine were just WW alloy.
Dick
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Post by Markbo on Jan 16, 2016 20:42:25 GMT -5
I stand corrected. What if your ww alloy starts off around 10. Is it getting significantly softer at baking?
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Post by hoover on Jan 17, 2016 10:31:10 GMT -5
It will stay the same after PC. Only alloy that has been heat treated, i.e., water quenched, will return to its original hardness after the PC process, if left to air cool.
Water quenched WW usually run 20-22 bhn when dropped right away from a hot mold. Bullet will return to their original hardness of 10 bhn after PC process. The hard PC shell allows softer bullets to be driven faster without leading. To borrow Veral Smith's famed title of his book, "Jacketed performance with cast bullets" is possible with PC.
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