Pretty Bullets

[tmjohnson]

Well I can't find or afford to buy copper bullets, so I started powder coating bullets.
I had being discussing this with Zombie Steve and he wanted to see a picture. It is not to hard, and that coating is tough!!!
FYI these are 45acp 220 grain hollowpoints22553
I am only practicing on pistol bullets, if I can ever locate a 22 caliber and 30 caliber rifle bullet mold, I will be casting and coating for rifles

[DSB OUTDOORS]

Does this act like a Moly coating over a lead cast bullet? Looks good. Orange "safety" ammo. I like it. More info please and thank you!

[tmjohnson]

It's kinda like Moly coat only tougher, From research you can push powder coated bullets same as copper plated bullets. You can smash a bullet with a hammer and the coating won't flake off. You coat the bullets then bake to set the coating.
And the coating color is Harbor Freight red, I don't think I got it on thick enough, I will keep trying

[J]

Not sure if you were doing this for fun, or to actually shoot. Assuming to actually shoot:

What kind of thickness does the powder coating add? Are you having to cast the lead to a smaller diameter to get a good final caliber measurement?

Also, how tough is powder coating, when compared to copper? I wonder what it would do to the rifling in a nice SS barrel.

[tmjohnson]

This was my first attempt at coating, so I didn't mike after coating. My 45 pistol barrel mikes at .4518, Mould drops at .4545 if I remember right. I resize the bullet to .4534. So to answer the question no I don't cast a smaller diameter bullet, I use my resizing die to keep diameter consistant. As for toughness, I smashed one with a shop hammer and the coating didn't smear or chip. Hopefully after this weekend I'll be able to tell you what it does to a nice SS barrel.

[spittoon]

coated bullets. try some powerbond 45 cal in stock and free shipping,, http://powerbondbullets.com/

[tmjohnson]

The powerbond bullets are really good looking bullets. My reason for powder coating is improving the bullets I make. My ammuntion costs are the price of a primer and 5 grains of Unique.
There is no reason for me to powder coat pistol bullets, I only did these bullets for practice. My purpose for coating is primarily for rifle bullets. I like the challenge of taking cast bullets and having them perform almost as good as copper.

[Zombie Steve]

Does it come in cornflower blue?


I'm interested in hearing how the rifle boolits work out.

[Danimal]

Can you resize them after you coat them? Can you post pictures of what happens when you do? I am curious to see how it forms if you feel like trying it out.

[tmjohnson]

The bullets in the photo are resized and If you look real close on the bright orange bullets you can see resizing marks on them.
I a going to cast and coat more bullets tomorrow, I will try a different color of paint to see if resizing marks show up better.
I resize all my cast bullets for consistancy, the Lee hollowpoint I am using throws good enough bullets, I probably don't need to size, but I am unsure of how consistant the powder coat thickness is. I'll keep practicing and one of these days I'll get a rifle bullet mold bought. I plan on shooting some in the next few days to see how they do.

[tmjohnson]

I did a little more playing today2282122819

[vossman]

Nice. I really like the red ones.

[DSB OUTDOORS]

Sexy for sure. Do you have a link on the process to make them?? And most important. How do they perform / didn't blow the barrel up???

Thanks!!

DSB

[Danimal]

As long as they don't powder coat the inside of your barrel I think that this is a sweet idea. Do you have any plan to monitor deposits in your barrel? That is my one main concern before I jump on this for some trials myself. Definitely keep us posted.