okie45
.240 Incinerator
Posts: 63 
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Post by okie45 on Dec 12, 2017 20:56:26 GMT -5
So I've decides to jump off in to world of powder coating. This bullet is cast from a .45 320 LFN mold from Veral. I did away with the Lyman #2 I usually cast with and went with 80-20 clip on and sticky wheel weights with about 4 oz per 10 lbs of 50/50 solder thrown in. I wanted to coat with the black but as I've read and found out the HF black doesn't stick the best. So I got a little creative and mixed HF red, black, and yellow and low and behold it turned out brown. Kinda looks like deer droppings. Also bought a lee push through sizer for this but after I got it all set up and sized the first few I checked them and the sizer was sizing to .451 not .452 as it's supposed to. I'm on the fence if I should just send it back to lee or try to open it up that last .001 myself with some sand paper, a dowel, and a drill press   |
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Post by sheriff on Dec 12, 2017 21:55:09 GMT -5
Your bullets look good!
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dhd
.327 Meteor
Posts: 941
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Post by dhd on Dec 12, 2017 22:46:56 GMT -5
Open it up yourself. You'll have control of the ID, not Lee.
Just another thing to try is some of Smoke's powders. He mainly/only? posts on Castboolits. Get whatever color you want and get some of his clear too. Mix 50/50 and compare. The clear gives the best coat of any of the powders I have, but I like some color cause I do. You can just order a pound and split the pound half and half in different colors (remember to get half in clear).
I started with Smoke's and see no reason to change. Oh, and I shake and bake.
As the Sheriff said, they do look good already.
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Post by sixshot on Dec 13, 2017 2:12:25 GMT -5
Shoot some first & see. Why didn't you seat your gas checks while you were sizing?
Dick
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Post by coldtriggerfinger on Dec 13, 2017 2:30:50 GMT -5
Those look Really good !!
For an LFN those have a nice wide meplat. I really like the color those came out
What is the brinell of that casting recipe ??
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Post by boatswainsmate on Dec 13, 2017 6:14:25 GMT -5
There looking good for just starting. I like the color. It looks close to the mine. I mixed Smoke's black and orange to get this color. I would suggest seating the gas checks in a conventional sizer before putting them threw the lee sizer. I had a hell of a time seating gas checks on my 500 bullets with the lee sizer. I ended up crimping them on in my RCBS sizer and then using the lee push-thru sizer. Happy Shooting. Boats  |
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okie45
.240 Incinerator
Posts: 63
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Post by okie45 on Dec 13, 2017 7:27:44 GMT -5
I did put a check on the ones I sized. The checks didn't push on easy like before pc but snapped on snug after. The few I checked all went on fine with the lee sizer. I didn't take a pic of those. I thought about loading them up but the little voice in my head I'd screaming they should be .452. This is a new bullet to me so I'm working from the start.
I'm not sure on the hardness of this alloy. I don't have a tester so I smashed a few with a hammer and they flattened out nicely without busting up. They didn't feel like pure lead but weren't overly hard either.
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Post by cherokeetracker on Dec 13, 2017 8:52:00 GMT -5
I did put a check on the ones I sized. The checks didn't push on easy like before pc but snapped on snug after. The few I checked all went on fine with the lee sizer. I didn't take a pic of those. I thought about loading them up but the little voice in my head I'd screaming they should be .452. This is a new bullet to me so I'm working from the start. I'm not sure on the hardness of this alloy. I don't have a tester so I smashed a few with a hammer and they flattened out nicely without busting up. They didn't feel like pure lead but weren't overly hard either. The gas checks do, go on easier before you even powder coat, and you can do this. It does not hurt. The hardness will return, after a week or two. I water quench mine, and they get harder after about two weeks. Check the bullets two or three weeks after powder coating.
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Post by cherokeetracker on Dec 13, 2017 8:58:40 GMT -5
Shoot some first & see. Why didn't you seat your gas checks while you were sizing? Dick X2 sometimes there is a little bounce back with certain alloys. Shoot them and ask questions later. |
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okie45
.240 Incinerator
Posts: 63
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Post by okie45 on Dec 26, 2017 20:51:36 GMT -5
Finally got around to loading some up. I went ahead and opened my sizer up to .452 and worked up with 296. Velocity is unknown cause my chronograph is out of order and I need to get another one. Every thing looked good while I was shooting and most of all a completly spotless barrel. I wasn't really shooting for any kinda accuracy but was busting softball size rocks across the river bank at 25-30 yards with ease. The most shocking thing came when I went across the bank and dug a few bullets out of the clay bank. This bullet cast right at 320 with my alloy and the final bullet weighed 326 with GC and PC. The bullet pictured weighed 318 and the others showed similar results. I know that sand stone and wet clay ain't the best test medium but this blew my mind for a solid flat nose bullet to rivet out and expand while not breaking apart.  |
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Post by lscg on Dec 26, 2017 23:13:13 GMT -5
nice!
i had similar results with some Keith boolits fired into a pile of screenings when i was sighting in some revolvers. i have yet to test them in water but would really like to see what they do.
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Post by sixshot on Dec 27, 2017 13:48:45 GMT -5
Just as a test you might try leaving out the 50/50 bar solder, it's expensive & you're probably just wasting it where you are annealing these power coats at 400 degrees. Worth a try. I would size them right after they come out of the oven, then let they age for a few days & then shoot. You probably have a buddy who has a hardness tester & you surely have friends here on the forum who will test some for you. Do some as you usually do & maybe some quenched just to compare. Your 80/20 alloy is a good one by the way.
Dick
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okie45
.240 Incinerator
Posts: 63
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Post by okie45 on Dec 27, 2017 16:47:50 GMT -5
Thanks Dick, I'm gonna leave the solder out next time. I think I'm gonna give 4227 a try before I load a bunch up with the 296. Like I said I don't know the velocity yet but I would be willing to bet it's north of 1300 fps maybe even closer to 1400. I used allot of 4227 in 44 mag and always had really good luck with it. I can live with the little kernels it leaves behind. I'm shooting for 1200 fps give or take and I think the 4227 might be the ticket.
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Post by Markbo on Jan 8, 2018 23:38:15 GMT -5
Whats the bore diameter of your revolver? Whats the after PCing diameter ofnthe slugs before sizing? Have you even tried to shoot them unaltered? You might be surprised.
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