I'm about out of projectiles so I finally broke down and did some casting tonight. I typically wait until a weekend or a day off so that I can dedicate enough time to cast at least 6 months worth, but I couldn't wait any longer. I still consider myself a newbie when it comes to casting, and that's part of why I've been putting it off. I was worried that with the overhead involved in casting (waiting for lead and mold to heat up, for example), I would be wasting a lot of time by doing a shorter casting session, but overall it wasn't as bad as I expected. I probably casted about 300 tonight (was only at it less than an hour, start to finish).
One observation I had tonight was that I wasn't having trouble keeping my mold hot. I normally cast in the dead of winter, but it was nearly 90F where I was casting tonight. I wonder how much the air temp had to do with my relative success.
I also did some powder coating once they cooled off (after I washed my hands and ate). I dry tumble to apply, but I've been trying to settle on a way to get them into the toaster oven, and I think I finally found a winner. I've basically tried 3 different ways so far (always with parchment paper underneath):
When I started, I would painstakingly stand them on end on the toaster tray. They coating results were great, but it just took much time.
More recently, I've been dumping them from the container I tumble them into a wire mesh tray to remove excess powder, and them I've been dumping that directly onto the toaster tray. I tried taking them out halfway through the bake to separate them, but I still ended up with a huge percentage that had to go back to the casting pot because they were stuck together. The transferring to the wire mesh and then to the tray also led to poor coverage. I ended up doing a second coat on many. It was far, far worse than my first method.
Finally, tonight, I tried a way I read about or saw on youtube a while back. I have some empty trays from Federal Champion 50 count boxes of 9mm. I dropped each bullet, nose down, filling up a couple of trays. Then I put the toaster tray upside down on top and flip the whole thing over. The result is 100 bullets standing up and spaced perfectly. I've only done a couple of bakes so far, but they're coming out looking great, and the huge time-saver is that I can be loading up the ammo trays while the toaster is running (don't need to wait for the toaster tray to come out to begin loading).
Anyway, I thought I'd mention this method in case anyone likes to stand them up but hasn't heard about it. You could use this method even if you're using the ES gun to apply - it's a lot easier to drop them in the tray then to stand them up one by one.
Feel free to pass on your tips and tricks. Thanks!
If some of them look like they're drooping, it's because the tray isn't simply flat. It has a lowered section in the middle, so ones right on the line might be pointing one direction or another.
You use nitrel gloves to load them in the tray? I also stand them up but just get a rhythm going with large tweezers, like chopsticks. Takes awhile to looad the trays though.
No gloves, I just grab them with large, angled tweezers. I find it easier/faster to load each bullet into the tray than it is to stand them on end. I'm grabbing them the long way (nose and base) and setting them on their side on the tray with their nose over the hole (nose slightly lower) and they rotate right in.
i'm getting back into reloading (9mm, 357 sig, 357 mag, and .45 ACP)
the price of plated bullets is close to what i could pay for jacketed (gold). i never bothered with cast bullets because of the mess the lube made of my dies. not to mention the exposure to lead when shooting. this powder coating craze has me intrigued.
what powder are all y'all using? i read that some powders are more abrasive than others (matte, and black pigments). is there a softest or safest paint to use? i'm concerned about barrel life.
When I started casting, I was quickly disappointed with lube getting all over everything. I stopped until I came across powder coating as an alternative. It fixes just about every problem attributed to using cast bullets.
I'm using Harbor Freight red powder. It works OK and it's cheap, but I understand that there are some much better powders out there, easier to apply.
You might want to do a video on your technique. It has me intrigued also. I just started powder coating. Do you loose much coating when you slide them into the 9mm box?
Metallic & matt powders should be avoided. If you are spraying, just about any will work. If you are tumbling, then stay away from HarborF powders, but the red. There is a vendor over on castboolit forum, Smoke, that sells high end powders cheap.
My casting avg for many years was 1000 45 an hour from H&G molds easily done, lubed and sized in a Star Sizer very fast with no mess at all, I could cast a lot in just a few hours, I did this for many years now a friend now is using my same setup and still turning out bullets perfectly. 1000 cast, lubed and sized all cleaned up under 2 /2 hrs, I loaded on my Star press averages 50 in 4-5 minutes easy after filling all the tubes for my press with out any mishaps happening Remington primers had burs that would jam the feed if used, Federal always the best.
STI i was talking about wax lube. agree about Federal primers. have always used them.
i read a tip about getting a static charge when coating. "Use a handful of airsoft balls from those toy airsoft guns or something similar. Place them in a small bucket or plastic container like a cool-whip tub, add a tablespoon or two of powder, then bullets and shake gently. The balls create static which causes the powder to stick to the bullets."
i tried going to castboolit forum but "server not found".
STI i was talking about wax lube. agree about Federal primers. have always used them.
i read a tip about getting a static charge when coating. "Use a handful of airsoft balls from those toy airsoft guns or something similar. Place them in a small bucket or plastic container like a cool-whip tub, add a tablespoon or two of powder, then bullets and shake gently. The balls create static which causes the powder to stick to the bullets."
i tried going to castboolit forum but "server not found".
Metallic & matt powders should be avoided. If you are spraying, just about any will work. If you are tumbling, then stay away from HarborF powders, but the red. There is a vendor over on castboolit forum, Smoke, that sells high end powders cheap.
Probably the pigment but many report poor coverage with shake & bake using anything but HF red. So when I started I went HF red, works pretty well as long as humidity is low. Other powder just flat work better, coverage is easier for non sprayers. When I sue up the HF red I probably won't buy more.
This has been my experience also.The red covered much better than the yellow,that said there are better powders available from Smoke over at castboolits in the "coatings and alternatives" sub forum.
Yes, Smoke is the guy I'm referring to. I may switch to his powders when I run out, but that will be a long time. I'm not a high-volume shooter (a few thousand rounds per year) and I bought 2 lbs of the HF red when I got started with PC.
Probably the pigment but many report poor coverage with shake & bake using anything but HF red. So when I started I went HF red, works pretty well as long as humidity is low. Other powder just flat work better, coverage is easier for non sprayers. When I sue up the HF red I probably won't buy more.
Probably the pigment but many report poor coverage with shake & bake using anything but HF red. So when I started I went HF red, works pretty well as long as humidity is low. Other powder just flat work better, coverage is easier for non sprayers. When I sue up the HF red I probably won't buy more.
That's been my experience. Only red Harbor freight sticks to the bullets. I "cook" in my basement, which is heated and a/c so humidity isn't an issue. Shake and bake method works ok for me. Use plastic containers marked as "#5". Food grade. I use empty Folgers Red instant coffee containers.
STI i was talking about wax lube. agree about Federal primers. have always used them.
i read a tip about getting a static charge when coating. "Use a handful of airsoft balls from those toy airsoft guns or something similar. Place them in a small bucket or plastic container like a cool-whip tub, add a tablespoon or two of powder, then bullets and shake gently. The balls create static which causes the powder to stick to the bullets."
i tried going to castboolit forum but "server not found".
I've tried a few different powders and methods. My current method seems like a winner for me. One even coat and little to no flashing. Clean looking bullets and no leading.
Round Snaplock food container.
Smoke4320 powder from the CB forum.
About 1/2 black air soft BBs in the bottom. Big handful of bullets in.
Lid on and swirl and shake for 30-45 seconds.
With long curved nose forceps, lift and set them base down on a tray covered in non-stick foil being careful to grab the nose and not bearing surface. On the way out of the container, I tap the side of the forceps to shake excess powder off the bullet.
400 degrees in a convection pizza oven for 18 minutes. I've messed around with leaving them baking for an hour and thenquenching them. Get a little strengthening that way. No detriment to the coating.
While tray 1 is baking, tray 2 is being prepped. My oven is kind of big so I can do more than 200 per tray.
I bought my powder from Prismatic Powders before I found out about Smoke's. Prismatic has a great color selection and it's supposed to be a good powder, but I have to apply two coats to get full coverage. I use long angled tweezers too.
Going to get some Smoke's and see how that works next time.
I bought my powder from Prismatic Powders before I found out about Smoke's. Prismatic has a great color selection and it's supposed to be a good powder, but I have to apply two coats to get full coverage. I use long angled tweezers too.
Going to get some Smoke's and see how that works next time.
I am not, but the photos look pretty nifty. I might do another sample pack to try it. The nice thing about bright colors is that you can really see the coverage after baking. I do know that the clear is white before baking so you can detect coverage.
I have been using the john deere green from Smoke. I shake and bake and it has been working and covering pretty good. The light ford blue powder from Eastwood is supposed to work well also. I have seen several guys using the clear from Smoke with very good results.
Nobody has said anything about resizing. variations in hardness will cause bullets to vary in size.
Generally pure lead will shrink more than harder alloys and most molds are designed for harder bullets but the diameter of the bullet will be different sizes with different alloys.
I've never tried powder coating and I don't know if you would resize them before or after coating. I used to use a lyman lubri-sizer but more recently I've used a lee press mounted with lee liquid alox and have never tried to size un-lubed bullets.
I wouldn't think that shooting bullets that are random sizes would be very good for accuracy, so how do you casters & coaters deal with bullet sizing?.
I use the Lee push-thru sizing die AFTER powder coating and the coating comes thru just fine with no smearing or cracking or signs of being compromised.
I also size after coating, HT or PC. HT adds about 0.001", PC adds about 0.002". So if you are casting a bit small with softer alloy, PC can help here.
Pills look pretty good.
I am casting as well. Still trying to get the sizing right. Casting 124x9. 358x158. 401x175.
I tried some of smokes powder. Wasent impressed. Took me 2 coatings to produce good results.
Look up randyrat on cast bullets. His powder is half the price, but coverage is amazing. I can coat and bake without standing the pills. I just dump them in a pile, bake, and they come out great. The only issue is he only has grey. Much better powder.
Pills look pretty good.
I am casting as well. Still trying to get the sizing right. Casting 124x9. 358x158. 401x175.
I tried some of smokes powder. Wasent impressed. Took me 2 coatings to produce good results.
Look up randyrat on cast bullets. His powder is half the price, but coverage is amazing. I can coat and bake without standing the pills. I just dump them in a pile, bake, and they come out great. The only issue is he only has grey. Much better powder.
Not having good coverage with smokes powder. Guess its just me? Tried the airsoft bb too. Cool whip containers handful of pills. Tried heavy coat as well as light dusting. But all had to double coat. Even tried standing them up.
Weird. I use the ziplok screw on lid, 1/2" of bb on the bottom, tsp of powder & drop in a handful of bullets. I pluck them out with large tweezers & stand them up. On their side is fine, but dont like them sticking together. Not doing much while the first couple baskets are baking, so not a time issue for me. You could try a diff container but could be humidity?
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