Coatings for cast lead bullets

[sdmc530]

Originally Posted by skosh69

Bacon grease???

I'm guessing would use powdered sugar

I would hate wasting either on bullets......

[Gatorade]

I thought I replied the other day but looks like it didn't post.

Thanks AGAIN ! You always have the right insight and help for my questions!

I will check out the powder from Harbor Freight. if you could post a little more detail I would appreciate it. Like how you transfer the costed bullets without messing up the coating, and how long and what temp you cook at.

Being able to easily coat cast bullets so that I won't have lead building up in the gas port of my AR would be very helpful! Then also loading magnum ammo with no gas checks or barrel leadding and smooth feeding from auto loaders is going to be great!

[Lonestar grips.]

happy to help when I can.

how I do it is as follows.

#1 I first take say 250 .44 or .45 caliber unsized boolits and put them in my Lyman tumbler. (you can probably do around 300-350 of a smaller boolit)

#2 I then add a spoonful or two of powder coat and let it run for 20 minutes. powder coat sticks better when it's not humid so that may effect how long it will take you.

#3 I pick the boolits out one at a time by holding the nose and the base and place them standing up on a baking sheet covered in non stick foil.

a quicker/easier way to do it is to dump the boolits in a colander or fish fry basket and sift out the unused powder and then dump the boolits onto the baking tray. they can be laying over and touching one another but they shouldn't be double stacked. as they're cooling you can break up any that are slightly stuck together.

#4 I then bake the boolits for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees in a toaster oven. do not use an oven that is used for food. you will probably poison yourself or your family.

the baking process anneals the lead making it softer so you can water quench the boolits once the baking process is finished to slightly raise the BHN. I have not seen the need to do so.

#5 now you have to determine if you need to size the boolits.

my Ruger security six 357 has .358 cylinder throats and my NOE 360-180 WFN mold throws .360 boolits before powder coating. after powder coating they're probably .361-.362 so for the sake of accuracy, not blowing up my gun due to a pressure spike and getting them to chamber, I size them with a Lee push through sizer.

my Lyman 429421 and Lee C452-300 RF throw boolits that when powder coated fit perfectly in the cylinders of my 44's and 45 Colt so they don't need to be sized at all.

the next step is to load and shoot.



on a side note you mention not having to use gas checks?

that is something you're going to have to test in your guns to see what happens. powder coating isn't a replacement for a gas check and you probably won't get the same results as you would with a gas check boolit. some people have had great luck not using them but a lot of the time it's just not as accurate.

also, if you wind up still needing to use gas checks, put them on before you powder coat. once the boolit it powder coated it's much harder to add the check.

[Gatorade]

Well I cast some .356 158gr FN and .401 180gr FN as test bullets, I got the Harbor Freight Red powder. No luck on the first trip to Goodwill for a toaster oven. Still need the metal fabric and airsoft BBs.

I want to use the .356 for .357 Magnum and .38 so I will be happy if it works out.

[Gatorade]

Picked up a toaster oven today so I am going to try cooking bullets to morrow!

[Lonestar grips.]

good deal.

make sure you do your cooking outside. poisonous fumes no Bueno. and make sure you pre heat your toaster oven so it's good and hot.

also, at first i'd start out with a small batch of say 50 or so. some of the first batches I did were on the large side and they didn't turn out good because I was still fine tuning my technique. (my oven was too cold and I didn't use enough powder to coat the bullets good enough)

keep us posted.

[Gatorade]

Posting while they cook, I will update as I go.


Lead cast bullets in a plastic container and red powder. Hand shaken to coat.



Dumped from plastic tub to metal tray. Some are coated better than others. Picking the best ones to cook first.



Used needle nose players to pick them and put them on an aluminum foil covered tray. Flat nose down.



First batched done cooking, ready to cool.


First batch is off and cool. Not 100% coated but I can re powder and bake again if I feel I need to.


Crush tested one. The powder stuck with zero flaking. Crushed it flat with tree blows from a hammer. The silver on the top is stuck aluminum foil.


I see what you mean about non stick foil!