powder coating coverage question.

[waco]

I have been using the shake N bake method. The new twist is that I am dumping them into a wire mesh basket as apposed to standing them all up on end. Lots quicker to do large batches. The only flaw I see in this method is that you get some bare spots here and there on the bullets. The nose is no biggie but sometimes it's a decent size bare spot on a driving band. Is this enough to even worry about? Hopefully the pics will show you what I'm talking about. My guess is it's more cosmetic than anything. Your thoughts????

 

[waco]

 

[Ian]

Not how I do it (not that you asked) but from what I gather a few bare spots is no big deal. Watch the forunecookie45lc videos on utoob and see how he does it...some of his are so bad I don't know how they shoot, but they do ok for him at short range.

 

[waco]

Ian. This method is new to me. I usually stand them up using tweezers. Just looking to speed things up and increase production.

 

[Will]

That standing skinny bullets up with tweezers and trying to get them in the oven without knocking them over sucks.
Makes me wanna go crazy. But I'm to particular about things to try baking on there sides.

Let us know how they shoot.

 

[Ian]

Will, I do the Lee 309-230-5R boat tails by the thousand.....on their bases. Talk about a nervous nellie taking 100 at a time on a tray and sliding them in the oven.

Those 45 SWCs are gravy. Walter, you gonna size those or are the close enough to just load and shoot?

 

[freebullet]

At 25yd & low velocity you can get away with much, much worse.

 

[waco]

Ian. I'll size them to .452"
They are .455" give or take.

 

[fiver]

lube them first.

I think you'll be fine with the little flecks and flakes missing.
we put a ton more naked lead down a barrel without the coating.

 

[358156 hp]

I remelted the only batch that I baked on their sides. I am cranky and fussy, but I still have my standards. The best results I got with PC were the wadcutters I tumbled in my old Lyman tumbler with the weak motor. I threw in airsoft BBs, and used smokes Carolina Blue PC. I stood them on the sprue end with tweezers, next time I'll handle them with nitrile gloves on with a dusting of powder rubbed through my fingers on the gloves. Hopefully they'll be perfect. I've also considered PC the tips of a pair of tweezers to see if that might make them gentler on the coated bullets. I have also tried black, but won't try it again. Black bullets look really cool, but black has a lot of clear in it, and I think its possible to agitate black enough to thin out some of the black from the clear, resulting in spots on the bullet that look like they were clearcoated without pigment. Ironically, one of the best covering powders I've found has been... clear.

 

[Ian]

I use some small, really long nodleneese pliers with a coil spring that opens them automatically. The "jaws" are smooth but I find they collect a nice layer of PC after about three bullets and they don't rub off any more where they touch the bullets after that.

One of these days I'll make a video of how I do it so people can see how easy it is.

 

[waco]

I don't know Ian. Shake then just dump into a basket is pretty darn simple.....

 

[waco]

we put a ton more naked lead down a barrel without the coating.

Good point Lamar...

 

[fiver]

I use the nitrile glove to stand them up too.
I pick them up and give them a little twist to knock the powder off and smooth things out.
I try for a smooth covering but not a lot of powder.

when I decide to do long skinny bullets I have been working on a tray with a separate basket like covering to drop them through so that I maybe get a little spot on the nose touching against the upper cover.

 

[Ian]

Hardware cloth with the corners notched and bent like an upside-down cake pan would work for a support of long skinny bullets, provided you could get the bullets through the squares without scraping the powder off. I'm not there yet, I still like the challenge of the tightrope walk from my toolbox to the oven.