Powder Coating Lead Bullets The Fast And Easy Way
Tired of getting lead fouling in your barrels when shooting cast bullets? Let's talk about a quick and easy way to powder coat your cast lead bullets. All this takes is a little time, a toaster or standard oven and some powder coat. What you will have is a protective coating over the bullet to reduce or stop leading in most barrels. Plus, it can give your bullets a unique look.
First off, if you are casting your own bullets, I would highly suggest that you slug the barrel and match the bullet molds and bullet diameter with the actual diameter of your barrel. There can be some variation in actual barrel specs and what the molds drop, so leading problems can also be attributed to bullets that aren't sized properly for the barrel they are shot through. Even with powder coating, you want to use properly sized bullets!
What do you need?
Now, what exactly do you need to powder coat? It is pretty simple.
1. You need some lead bullets to start, either cast them yourself, or buy them ready to go.
2. Then you will need some powder coat. Since we are doing this quick and easy, you can use the cheap red powder coat that Harbor Freight sells.
3. A Tupperware type container to mix the bullets and powder coat.
4. An oven or toaster oven to heat the powder coat (Hopefully not the oven you cook your meals in!)
Coat the bullets.
Pour a handful of bullets into the Tupperware container and add the powder coat. You typically do not need a lot of the powder coat, but if you add more than you need it will stay in the container and you can just use it on the next batch.
With the powder and bullets in the container, close the lid tightly and agitate it for a couple minutes. You can check on the progress after a minute. You want to make sure that the powder coats the bullets evenly. The longer you shake, the better the coating that you will get.
One the bullets are coated, I like to lay them out on a fine screen prior to putting them in the oven. This allows the loose powder to drop free. You can collect the excess powder and return it to the Tupperware container for the next batch.
With the bullets coated and put on a screen or pan, it's time to bake them. I like to use an old toaster that I had laying around. It can't fit as many bullets as a time as the kitchen oven will, but I don't use the toaster for food anymore, so I don't have to worry about any kind of food contamination.
With the oven pre-heated to 400 degrees, I cook the bullets for about 10 minutes. You can play a little with the temperature and time, but this is a pretty good starting point. One thing that is worth noting, many of the cheaper toaster ovens can have very inaccurate temperature settings. It is definitely worth double checking the actual temperature, compared to the rating on the dial.
After baking the bullets, let them air dry until they are cool to the touch. The last thing to do before loading the bullets is to check the diameter. Depending on the diameter of the bullet mold and the consistency of the coating, it is typically a good idea to run the bullets through a sizing die to make sure that you have a consistent size for each of the bullets.
Once that is done, load up the bullets and shoot them!
I've noticed that the powder coated bullets tend to smoke less than those that I coat with Lee Liquid Alox. I still often shoot Alox coated bullets through my 45 ACP pistols, but I really like the powder coat for shooting lead bullets in the 300 Blackout or 300 Whisper. It makes for a very cheap plinking load!
Let me know your thoughts on powder coating in the comment section below. Do you shake the bullets, or do you prefer to powder coat using a spray gun for better coverage?
First off, if you are casting your own bullets, I would highly suggest that you slug the barrel and match the bullet molds and bullet diameter with the actual diameter of your barrel. There can be some variation in actual barrel specs and what the molds drop, so leading problems can also be attributed to bullets that aren't sized properly for the barrel they are shot through. Even with powder coating, you want to use properly sized bullets!
What do you need?
Now, what exactly do you need to powder coat? It is pretty simple.
1. You need some lead bullets to start, either cast them yourself, or buy them ready to go.
2. Then you will need some powder coat. Since we are doing this quick and easy, you can use the cheap red powder coat that Harbor Freight sells.
3. A Tupperware type container to mix the bullets and powder coat.
4. An oven or toaster oven to heat the powder coat (Hopefully not the oven you cook your meals in!)
Coat the bullets.
Pour a handful of bullets into the Tupperware container and add the powder coat. You typically do not need a lot of the powder coat, but if you add more than you need it will stay in the container and you can just use it on the next batch.
With the powder and bullets in the container, close the lid tightly and agitate it for a couple minutes. You can check on the progress after a minute. You want to make sure that the powder coats the bullets evenly. The longer you shake, the better the coating that you will get.
One the bullets are coated, I like to lay them out on a fine screen prior to putting them in the oven. This allows the loose powder to drop free. You can collect the excess powder and return it to the Tupperware container for the next batch.
With the bullets coated and put on a screen or pan, it's time to bake them. I like to use an old toaster that I had laying around. It can't fit as many bullets as a time as the kitchen oven will, but I don't use the toaster for food anymore, so I don't have to worry about any kind of food contamination.
With the oven pre-heated to 400 degrees, I cook the bullets for about 10 minutes. You can play a little with the temperature and time, but this is a pretty good starting point. One thing that is worth noting, many of the cheaper toaster ovens can have very inaccurate temperature settings. It is definitely worth double checking the actual temperature, compared to the rating on the dial.
After baking the bullets, let them air dry until they are cool to the touch. The last thing to do before loading the bullets is to check the diameter. Depending on the diameter of the bullet mold and the consistency of the coating, it is typically a good idea to run the bullets through a sizing die to make sure that you have a consistent size for each of the bullets.
Once that is done, load up the bullets and shoot them!
Let me know your thoughts on powder coating in the comment section below. Do you shake the bullets, or do you prefer to powder coat using a spray gun for better coverage?
Shaking the bullets is the way to go. The coverage is quite adequate, it wastes less powder, and it's quick and easy. Good write-up.
ReplyDeleteI just ran my first batch of 124 gr 9mm for 10 minutes on 400 degrees. It melted 13 of the 91 into mini pancakes and distorted some. I can't believe how sideways that first trial batch went in comparison to most running 400 for 10 - 20 minutes. Some have dropped temps and times but never experienced a batch this bad . It seems they only went to a lower temp out of concern for BHN. I just wanted to have a starting point. I also need to mention the oven (a cuisinart) was not pre-heated and was 10 min. on the money.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting that yours melted so quickly. I don't know if my oven was running on the cool side, or if yours runs on the hot side.
DeleteLead should NOT melt until it reaches 650-700 degrees.
DeleteDoesnt the metal mesh get hot and distort the coating where it touches? I could never get a nice coat unless I stand them on their bases.
ReplyDelete