Powder Coating Bullets - The Process

Take total control of your projectiles by casting your own!
Post Reply
Ohio3Wheels
1000 Shots
1000 Shots
Posts: 1599
Joined: 31 Jul 2014 15:18
Location: Dayton Oh
Has thanked: 227 times
Been thanked: 328 times

Powder Coating Bullets - The Process

Post by Ohio3Wheels »

I've been reading through the threads on powder coating and either I missed it or it's not in cast bullets but I haven't found a description of the process. Is there one some place on the forum and could someone point me at it?

Thanks,
Curt... makin' smoke and raising my carbon foot print one cartridge at a time Image
User avatar
Ranch Dog
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 9398
Joined: 23 Jan 2012 07:44
Location: Inez, TX
Has thanked: 1837 times
Been thanked: 2281 times

Re: Powder Coating Bullets - The Process

Post by Ranch Dog »

I did an advance search using "Powder Coat" and "donhuff" as he is the fellow that has written the most about it. You might look through the search results...

http://www.rossi-rifleman.com/search.ph ... mit=Search
Michael
Image
Maximumbob54
250 Shots
250 Shots
Posts: 333
Joined: 17 Jun 2013 08:12
Location: Kingsland, GA
Has thanked: 100 times
Been thanked: 50 times

Re: Powder Coating Bullets - The Process

Post by Maximumbob54 »

It really depends on how much you want to get involved in it. The best finish is going to be with a spray gun and Harbor Frieght is by far the cheapest and gets cheaper if you use their coupons. They also have by far the cheapest powder. But with the spray gun you can use any powder you want. I add that because the cheapest way to coat bullets is to tumble them. People have already found through trial and error that the gloss red powder that HF sells will stick to bullets when they are tumbled. The current cheapest is to use a Cool Whip bowl (something about the type of plastic in the bowl), some black air soft BB's, a partial teaspoon of HF red gloss powder, add your bullets and shake them. No matter how you coat them, a cheap toaster over that goes at least to 400 is needed. Take the baking sheet and use either parchment paper or non stick foil. Do NOT use wax paper and if you use regular foil everything will stick to it. Use needle nose pliers, forceps, latex gloved fingers, whatever to pick out your bullets and set them on the tray. Follow powder's directions for temp and time. You may want to invest in an oven thermometer as most cheap toasters have a pretty crazy temp swing. Your own trial and error will get you going on that. If you are worried about tempering your bullets, bake them and allow them to cool for the powder coating to cure. Once cured, heat them again and then water drop them and let them age for a week at least. That's as in a nutshell as I can add it.
oldpapps
Posts: 7
Joined: 24 Nov 2014 13:41
Location: Mid-America, Mo west of I-49
Has thanked: 4 times

Re: Powder Coating Bullets - The Process

Post by oldpapps »

I've been powder coating for a bit. I'm cheap and went with the 'shake-n-bake' process. I'll do a quick walk threw of that in a little.

Being lazy and old, my logic is to buy cast with normal lube when it will do the job. So far I have only coated in two calibers, .30 and .44. The .44 was more as an experiment. In most uses, reasonable loading will not give a problem with leading. But then... I have pushed .308 Win/7.62 powder coated lead to well over 2700 FPS, with NO leading.

There are several processes that are used to coat the bullet with powder. The 'static' sprayers give the best coatings (and us a lot of powder - over spray). The liquid/paste process looks to cover well (I have never used it). The 'shake-n-bake' process is what I do.

Powder color. There is any color a person would want to coat with. I have tried several and have ended with using a clear. I don't have to worry about getting an even and full coverage of the pigment. The polyester flows over the bullet surface and protects, but often the pigment looks thin.

The process:
Shake clean bullets in a number 5 plastic bowl (Dream Whip). The plastic bowl appears to impart a slight static charge and the powder sticks better. How long? Depends upon the weather, humidity, and how long you want to shake/spin.
I set the powder coated bullets on non-stick aluminum foil on a shelf from a cheap toaster oven.
Bake, the powders have differing cure times and temps. Most do well at or just below 400 degrees for 10 to 15 minuets. This cure time is after the bullets have reached the proper temperature.
Remove the tray, cool and pick the bullets from the foil.

I size both before and after I powder coat. Only after should be enough. I still do both. Don't forget to bell the case mouth before seating.

I have maybe $26 invested in my oven and an oven thermometer. Other expense would be the casting and sizing, but that is the same for simple lubed lead bullets.

I hope my ramblings have helped.

Load with care,

OSOK
Post Reply