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$6.99 Red-Brown powder coating from Harbor Freight (Read 129 times)
Oldfeller--FSO
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$6.99 Red-Brown powder coating from Harbor Freight
01/29/19 at 05:54:42
 

Powder Coating Instructions are fairly simple.

You will need some parchment paper, an empty Mayonnaise jar or butter tub and some used towels or other blanket like stuff.    You need a flat piece of cardboard that is folded once in the middle to make a pouring channel for the excess powder.  A piece of 3/8" or 1/2" hardware cloth (rabbit wire) cut an inch each way oversized to your wife's cookie sheet is also nice to have too.  (you need to be able to shift the loaded wire around some).

Cast your bullets all hot and frosty like you love to do.  You can do this weeks in advance, provided you store them unfingered inside a sealed container.

So, from now on put them un-finger printed into a sealed container with your freshly soap and hot water washed and towel dried hands.    Make a habit of doing it like this in the future -- you don't want dirty finger prints on the bullets.

Go to the grocery store and buy some PARCHMENT PAPER (sitting next to the waxed paper).

This is a roll of paper that has silicone in it that NOTHING will stick to (you will find other uses for it, too, other than baking)

Take out some old towels or other form of scrap blanket type stuff and cover over your kitchen counter, range top and your kitchen table.

Always remember -- if you spill some powder or drop a dusty bullet on the carpet a vacuum cleaner right then is the best way to keep the red spots at bay --- uncured powder is a dust, like any other dust.   Just suck it up.   Don't try to wipe it up with a wet rag or scrub at it -- bad idea that.  Put the cat outside as kitty paw prints will multiply like, well, kitty paw prints.

Pre-heat a cup full of bullets to 140 degrees in your wife's oven --- this is about as hot as you can handle with your fresh washed and de-oiled fingers.   Mild heat helps the powder to stick and adhere to lead bullets.

Dump them in the Mayo jar, add a large sprinkle of Harbor Freight Red (about a pinky first knuckle deep layer) put the lid on tight and shake it and roll it and shake it for at least 5 minutes before checking on it the first time.   Some speed is needed to get it all moving quick, as the powder will clump up from the heat if you don't keep it moving both ASAP and continuously until you pour it out.

During a check turn the lid off carefully with it sitting on a towel, look inside then put the lid back on and make it move again -- you are looking for a full 100% coverage of adhered red powder --- looks like a consistent layer of red frost at this stage of things.   If you don't have the 100% full coating, put the lid back on and shake it some more.   When you arms get tired you can roll the mayo jar on the towel sitting at the kitchen table.  Thickness of the powder is not important, 100% coverage is what counts.

(yes, people wind up buying a small vibratory bowl just to avoid this workout.   They claim that 20 minutes vibrating coats the bullets in a superior fashion)

Parchment paper is laying flat in the baking tray sitting on top of the stove.  CHANGE THE OVEN HEAT TO 325 DEGREES.   Lay out the cardboard and the rabbit wire beside the baking tray.  And yes, I put a towel over the stove as a fumble can happen anywhere you have the bullets or the red powder out of a sealed containter.

When you finish shaking the bullets in the mayo jar (you never stopped, remember) you slowly pour them from the mayo jar into a line on the center of the rabbit wire that is laying on top of the sheet of cardboard.  Lift the wire and just by that lifting action jiggle sift the excess powder from off the bullets -- don't beat them up any, just get the excess powder off of top of them.   Excess powder goes from cardboard back into the shaker jar (with the lid screwed on tight it has a long shelf life that way).

Center the linear mass of bullets in the middle of the cookie sheet and put the wire hanging over the edges of the baking sheet with the parchment paper underneath it.   The wire will sink down until the bullets and the wire hit the parchment paper in the baking sheet.   The entire rig is self-centering on the cookie sheet.

If you did this smart you go no red powder on the baking sheet -- if you do get some on it still in the powder state, simply wipe it up with a damp paper towel.  If you don't see it until after it goes in the oven and gets melted and cooked, it can still be scraped off with a razor blade or a kitchen knife, so it isn't really fatal to find a bit of red powder on the baking sheet.   But remember your goal is to get away with this without your wife never knowing you did it -- wives are all funny about curing paint inside their oven, you know.

$30 toaster ovens wind up getting bought by the men who get caught using the wife's oven.

Stick the wire and jumbled bullets and the parchment papered baking sheet in the 325 degree oven and give it 10 minutes or until the powder has melted into a flexible, fully covered but not hard coating state.  Full temp as listed on the powder coat container and full half hour baking time means a HARD coating, and you want it to remain flexible so you can separate the bullets and then size the bullets afterwards.

Take the bullets out of the oven and verify that the coating has at least jelled good.  Let the bullet mass cool until you can touch and handle it.  Flip and dump the wire over on to the towel at the kitchen table with some energy and then break the lumped bullets apart with your fingers (you can bang clumps apart on the towel if you need to).   You need to do this while they are still quite warm so they will break apart easily.   I use a fresh set of white cotton gloves for this step as I keep lots of white cotton gloves around since I always wear them when sleeping due to diabetes/heart/circulatory issues.   Side benefit -- I do not have arthritis in my finger joints any at all, which is a good thing seeing that comes with diabetes latter stages.

Mild damage (down to the lead) anywhere other than a driving band (where bullet meets gun bore) is just cosmetic -- jest ignore it.  If you have some of such, make a pile for "second coating" if you want to.   While you are first learning, a second coat often happens and some guys give up and just do the second coat as routine --- but you can coat bullets with just one thin coat once you get good at this.  

You will get past the "looking for cosmetics" stage fairly fast, and get to the "looking for driving band coverage" stage.   I now hold off any eyeballing of bullets until I have done the sizing operation, as many little "imperfections" on driving bands get mushed over and sealed over during the sizing operation as it moves the coating around some as it squeezes the bullet, evening up on the little coating dings on the bands quite nicely.  It also removes any jumble break up marks very nicely too.  

Plus, second coating only your sorted & sized bullets keeps the diameter growth factor under control if you have to do a recoat.

Now size the bullets in any manner that you normally use (they will need sizing because powder coating is ~0.002" over as cast -- just don't use any oil or lube on the bullets while sizing as it isn't needed.  The coating is slick plastic and goes through sizing dies and gun barrels without damage or deposit of any kind.
 
If you cooked the coating minimally (and that is what the 325 oven temp and the shorter 10 minute bake time were all about) you now have a tough flexible coating that can run through your sizer and your firearm and not crack or break, or chip ever.   It will also allow rifle bullets to expand like a soft lead bullet likes to do.  

Bullets fired through a tree hold on to their coating .......  beat on a bullet with a hammer until you mash it totally flat if you don't believe me.

I no longer water quench for full hardness during casting as I don't need that hardness any longer and I like for lead bullets to expand freely when they hit meat .......

Eyeball the bullets coming out of the sizer for band coverage -- this means no leading at any velocity your gun can shoot.   See, a lot of those little imperfections on the driving bands just got healed during sizing, huh?

GAS CHECKS become optional for low velocity use, but folks still like them for full velocity rifle uses.   Folks say accuracy is very good up to 2,200 fps and then degrades progressively after that the faster you go.    Folks shoot .223 AR-15 55 grain cast and coated slugs at over 3,000 fps and when it hits a jell test block it acts just like a soft point varmint bullet does -- it blows up violently.

Powder coating is excellent for them Glock polygonal rifled barrels -- no lead exposed so it is also nice for your health when shooting at an inside range.



PS  .......   you can coat small motorcycle parts, too      Wink


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« Last Edit: 01/29/19 at 19:00:35 by Oldfeller--FSO »  

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Re: $6.99 Red-Brown powder coating from Harbor Fre
Reply #1 - 01/29/19 at 09:28:02
 
Those sure are "RED"  !  

I'd have to see the bore after them passing through it with all that slippery on them ?    

They look like that Lee .356 mold spit them out , but I've seen a .40 cal that looks like that too ?

You ain't got ya a 9mm rifle have ya.   Huh

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justin_o_guy2
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Re: $6.99 Red-Brown powder coating from Harbor Fre
Reply #2 - 01/29/19 at 10:05:53
 
Howcumizzit you wanna do that?
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Re: $6.99 Red-Brown powder coating from Harbor Fre
Reply #3 - 01/29/19 at 10:07:30
 

These are 175 grain 40 cal slugs, only one gun I have can beat 1,400 fps with them and that is the big muzzle braked Glock 40 Super pistol we shot at your house.   You were breaking 1600 fps with the greased lead 145 grain "light loads" we were shooting that day ....

No rifle over 40 cal, my biggest bore on a rifle is a 33 caliber which is what the two short little stutzen Steyr carbines were shooting.

I am going to cast up a supply of each of my cast rifle bullets and intentionally shoot up all my greased lead rounds for these same guns, in an honest effort to find out what powder coated gas checked cast slugs can really really do.

I will not water drop the cast bullets for the coating experiments --- this used to be needed to keep the rifling from stripping on heavy loads but now that they are all "plastic jacketed" supposedly I don't have to do that any more.
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« Last Edit: 01/29/19 at 16:47:06 by Oldfeller--FSO »  

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Re: $6.99 Red-Brown powder coating from Harbor Fre
Reply #4 - 01/29/19 at 10:11:19
 
justin_o_guy2 wrote on 01/29/19 at 10:05:53:
Howcumizzit you wanna do that?


Who is your question aimed at, me or MM?
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Re: $6.99 Red-Brown powder coating from Harbor Fre
Reply #5 - 01/29/19 at 11:06:08
 
Blowing up water jugs on the side of the hill is fun .   Those big bullets make them jugs jump in a big way.

You plan on saving up some water jugs and coming to visit this summer ?   Huh

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Re: $6.99 Red-Brown powder coating from Harbor Fre
Reply #6 - 01/29/19 at 14:15:44
 
Oldfeller--FSO wrote on 01/29/19 at 10:11:19:
justin_o_guy2 wrote on 01/29/19 at 10:05:53:
Howcumizzit you wanna do that?


Who is your question aimed at, me or MM?



Sorry, I didn't realize MM dropped a post between yours and mine.
I'm asking why you wanna do that.
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Re: $6.99 Red-Brown powder coating from Harbor Fre
Reply #7 - 01/29/19 at 14:26:23
 

Justin, I second what MM said, shooting them bullets into gallon jugs of water is a whole lot of fun.   The outings themselves are a lot of fun too.   You should come to one, even if you drive a car to get there they are still a lot of fun.

I shot lead for a lot of years because it was CHEAP compared to even mil surplus jacketed slugs.

Then I spent years designing bullets to fit guns you couldn't even buy ammo for, and what you could buy for them commercially was like $3.00 a round or more.

And yes, I'd save up some milk jugs for an MM Shoot and Scoot should he wish to declare one for next summer, or in the late spring, or in the early fall.

Put up a thread and find out when other folks can come.
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Re: $6.99 Red-Brown powder coating from Harbor Fre
Reply #8 - 01/29/19 at 16:39:45
 
so you going to bring some of them powder coated projectiles !

I must be getting lazy as the years pass .   I haven't reloaded in years , but still have plenty to choose from.      
I've got several boxes of 222 lead 60 gr. w/gas checks with cases full of that "Trail-Boss" powder.      
Also .357 Mags w/gas checks on 125 gr lead projectiles , loaded about as hot as they should be.    My rifle likes them just fine.  Wink
All the rest are those high dollar jacked projectiles.    ....  except the 38 specials , but the rifle is scoped for .357's anyway.    
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Re: $6.99 Red-Brown powder coating from Harbor Fre
Reply #9 - 01/29/19 at 16:44:53
 

Declare the trip and I will bring some stuff.   I ain't got any nasty work bosses to screw me over any more.
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Re: $6.99 Red-Brown powder coating from Harbor Fre
Reply #10 - 01/29/19 at 18:22:45
 
I believe JOG is trying to find out why you want your bullets coated? Huh
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Re: $6.99 Red-Brown powder coating from Harbor Fre
Reply #11 - 01/29/19 at 18:50:23
 

Justin,

Plain lead is bad because it rubs off in the barrel "leading up the rifling" and destroying accuracy.  

We used to beat this with bullet lube, a stiff waxy grease like substance that filled the lube grooves on a cast bullet.   We had to water drop the slugs to make the lead extra hard to try to withstand the forces of firing the gun so we could get some speed out of the grease lubed bullets.

With flexible polyester powder coating none of the above are needed.  We have a thin "plastic jacket" around the soft lead now-a-days which stiffens the bullet and protects it from barrel friction ......
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Re: $6.99 Red-Brown powder coating from Harbor Fre
Reply #12 - 01/29/19 at 19:27:09
 
protect the barrel from the lead "Galling" as the projectile runs through it .   What about the heat from the powder ?   Don't you still need the gas check between the burning powder and the lead ?   And the little copper cup raking the bore from what ever might stop-up the riffling ?    
That powder must be "Really Tuff".  

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Re: $6.99 Red-Brown powder coating from Harbor Fre
Reply #13 - 01/29/19 at 23:20:44
 
Tannerite hog hunting.

Look that up..

I totally understand why people shoot stuff.
Now I understand why you powder coat.

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Re: $6.99 Red-Brown powder coating from Harbor Fre
Reply #14 - 01/30/19 at 05:10:47
 

Moderate pistol speeds (same shooting speeds as old cast stuff) requires no gas check the plastic protects the base and strengthens the slug well enough.   Since the lead is quite soft, it slugs up to fill the bore tightly.  You size same as you sized your cast before.   Folks are leaving off sizing completely if they can load the as cast and as coated slugs into their chamber.

These are generally the folks shooting tumble lube designs with a plastic coating on top of the as cast lead, they never had the equipment to do more with it, nor the desire to mess with it.

Higher power rifle uses always use a gas check.  Expect accuracy to decline past 2200 fps the faster you go the more accuracy you lose.

People see different ways to go faster simply not working -- one dude water dropped, gas checked, plastic coated and shot grease in the grooves in an attempt to shoot a full speed magnum bullet.   He sprayed the backstop and only hit the target frame a few times ....

Me, I see pistol stuff being all plain based designs that can be shot as cast soft with just the coating on the raw lead bullets.  Me, I size to a thou and a half over bore diameter to make sure I get a good gas seal, but I want roundness and size to be controlled.
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« Last Edit: 01/30/19 at 07:13:20 by Oldfeller--FSO »  

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