Question on PC coating

JWFilips

Well-Known Member
I'm really like that spread sheet information...just trying to understand is it the deeper colored pcs that are thicker per coating vs the light or clear colors?

Re: I would guess the blue was mentioned earlier gives the thickest coating& the bacon grease and clear gives the thinnest coating ( ? )
 

Reloader762

Active Member
Also can the colors be mixed with good results?

I've mixed a few colors together that I didn't like to just use them up and came out with some orange or rust brown colors that were OK. These days I just use specific colors, not that many as I'm narrowing down the list to just a few that give excellent coverage with no fuss. I've become a real fan of the clear gloss recently as it covers so easily doing shake and bake and it migrate well to fill in any voids but that hasn't been a problem.

Smokes Super Durable Clear Gloss on Accurate .314" 215 gr. FP.
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Reloader762

Active Member
I'm really like that spread sheet information...just trying to understand is it the deeper colored pcs that are thicker per coating vs the light or clear colors?

Re: I would guess the blue was mentioned earlier gives the thickest coating& the bacon grease and clear gives the thinnest coating ( ? )

The basic colors that Smoke or those sold by Eastwood that are polyester based when applied properly should give no more that about .002" increase in bullet dia. In general I've been able to just PC my bullets and size down to the diameter I need with no issues using my Lee or NOE push through sizers and on occasion I run some through the RCBS Lube A Matic as well.

There is an occasion or two when I have a bullet that is fairly large and adding the PC makes it a little harder to size accordingly. For those bullets which are many I do at a time I size the bullet before coating and resize afterwards.
 

RBHarter

West Central AR
Anybody make or used a gun metal grey or blue ?

I read a lot but haven't been absorbing much in colors .......it gets to bonding structure of molecular links and I get fuzzy ......
I like the one above though .
I think one of the moving trailers is going to be the new loading room . Fridge , stove/oven , exhaust fan , heat , A/C .........
 

popper

Well-Known Member
OK, cleaned the carbine this morning, 50/50 ATF& kerosene, couple dry patches, done. Just normal powder residue. Accuracy with cast went to pot so I tried re heat treating coated 142gr PB (DT Smoke's red). Cooked for 1 hr @ 440F (not an exact temp) WD after cook and some had PC missing. Temp evidently got near 'slump' as exposed alloy has a case of pimples. Those beads of sweat that appear when you casting pot alloy just starts to melt. One had a strip 1/2 x 1/8 missing that was NOT found. IMHO coating split and contracted when cooled(?). It still passes smash and fingernail scrape fine.
Conclusion - can't damage the coating with over-temp or over-time cooking. Can't say the same for alloy.
2nd conclusion - cooking on a hot plate works for the PC but if you WD the temp is hard to control and get up to 400F. I'll re-treat these in the PID controlled oven.
Ian, I've been PCing for several years in rifle, my dirty target post and these results trying to show that PC doesn't really crud up the barrel and make it inaccurate. The 308W carbine hadn't been cleaned in a long time, shot with PCd cast for > year and still did near MOA @200, HV cast GCd. The BO uses HV PB PCd and should be worst case. I also don't see an effect of copper fouling from alternating cast/jacketed that everybody talks about.
 
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Bruce Drake

Active Member
Also can the colors be mixed with good results?
I've mixed Eastwood colors up when I decided I was just wanting to coat them without worrying about specific colors. trying to mix Eastwood and Harbor Freight Powders didn't mix well at all. I think they are two different compound types.

I will tell you that with the shake and bake method, I have a hard time putting a 2nd coat on Eastwood's gloss PC powders as they don't adhere to the bullets easily on the 2nd coating. I've have to actually mark the lids of my swirling tubs to remind me that Eastwood gloss powder is either the only coat (pistol or plain base bullets) or after a primer coat and gas check is done. Eastwood does have primer powders which comes out like a flat sheen so I assume its rough enough of surface to allow the gloss powders to adhere and adhere well to the bullet.
 

Rick H

Well-Known Member
I have mixed Smokes copper with Harbor Freight Red with decent results...2 parts Smokes to 1 part Harbor Freight....the color is a little odd, but I want to use up the Harbor Freight. I know one is polymer and the other epoxy but they flow together ok and cooking at 400F for 20 min seems to do the trick.
IMG_20180512_110933_1 (2).jpg
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
I got a nice not quite metallic gunmetal grey color from Randy Rat a couple of years back.
[I don't think he is selling stuff right now though]
I mix it about 2 to 1 with HF red for a metallic like purple/lavender color not quite as dark as a Dr Pepper can.
it adds .001 thickness pretty darn consistently if I pay attention to the details.