Printable View
I’ve been reading about powder coating and will probably start this spring with 45 acp, may start shooting at a higher velocity. I’ve been shooting wheel weight bullets for years, and here’s my question - although I think the answer is obvious, I’d like to ask anyway:
I’ve always sized my bullets after casting, does anyone size after powder coating? I suppose not, it would take the powder coat off…
I size a wide variety of .308's after powder coating. Seat .014 aluminum gas checks and Size to .310 after powder coating; not seeing any loss of powder coat on drive bands.
I have size tens of thousands of bullets and have never had one where the paint coat came off during sizing. If you are new to powder coating then do the hammer test aka the smash test verify that they are done correctly before you go shooting the bullets. Take a sample bullet the batch of coated bullets and smash it flat, take another one and Hammer it into a small cube. If the coating comes off or flakes on either one then the coat is not done correctly and you will likely have poor results on Target and a leaded Barrel.
Also have sized thousands of bullets after PC. Just did 216 yesterday.Works perfect..
I size before and after PC. These are for target use. PC will add a thou or 2 to the diameter, so I size after.
size one time, after PC.
figure this will bring the bullets into specs no matter how heavy the PC coating is.
too lazy to do it both before and after
I size after coating. If size before I'd be concerned about surface contamination and PC adherence.
Thanks for the replies, I'll be sizing and do the hammer test.
I size AFTER the PC....but I admit...if I have to install a GC...I do it after PC so I only have to size/crimp once.
I've seen where some will install a GC first...then PC then resize again...for me this seems like a wasted step with the same sized boolit being the result.
redhawk
Sizing before or after PC also depends on what size you are trying to reach. Sizing at least once is a good idea to assure uniformity. I have one bullet that drops at 0.311 but shoots best in my SMLE (303 British) at 0.313. So, that one I size to 311 for uniformity before PC, and do not size after (the PC bumps them up to 0.313). This is one of the really nice things about PC-- it greatly adds to your flexibility of matching bullets to barrels.
I only size after powder coating. I let the boolits cool to around 90 degrees, then size them.
I wanted to powder coat some 358156 gas check bullets, but I wanted the checks on first. I put the checks on and ran them thru a Lee sizing die, then applied pc with 'shake and bake', using 'Smokes' powder. I didn't have any trouble with the pc adhering. YMMV, hc18flyerQuote:
Originally Posted by kayala
I also size after PC, since I do large volumes of 9mm and 45acp boolits, it will just take too much time to size before and after. One thing though, since I WQ after PC, so I do size them the same day, or at the most the next day, otherwise they really needs some extra force to be sized, my arm does not particularly like that anymore!
No problem,the coating stays on.
Yep, I did about 300 .314 to .312 coated bullets, all the coating stayed on. No problems.
I have never resized before powder coating. I have also never had any of the powder coating come off. I have found the bullets after firing and its all still on. I even double coated 9mm so I could fire it in 38 special and the double coat stayed on. I even used two different colors to make sure it worked.
I had a little trouble with sizing after PC. I used a lanolin/isopropyl mix to lube before sizing. Increased my bake time to 30 minutes @ 400degF and the lube ain't necessary. I coat as soon as casting is done and size after the bullets have cooled from baking. Slides through the sizing die like butter. By the numbers My mold casts at .3584. After coating and baking they come out .360-.3605. After sizing they are .357. Very light resistance when sized within 2 hours of the bake finish. The PC is the lube like in the barrel.
:Fire: Have also sized then powder coated then sized again without any loss of coating.
With a PB or BB bullet, I always size after coating. If I use a GC I size prior to coating since I find GCs fit truer on the uncoated base rather than after PC adds some girth. Then size again after coating.
You guys that size before and after: Do you have any die leading problems when sizing uncoated bullets?
I assume you size them unlubed. I'd hate to have to lube-size-clean-coat-size, or is that what you do?
With the (Lee) die super-clean, no issues w/ bare lead
(within reasonable 2-3 thou)
I myself, like others have said, have sized thousands of bullets after powder coating with no problem whatsoever.
Pistol bullets I size after PC. No lube.
Rifle bullets that I PC are a bit more complex. Cast, seat and size with GC, nose size (both .001 undersize), powder coat, size body and nose size again (final size). Why all that? I want sub MOA accuracy. To get that, especially with a bore rider, the bullet fit to bore has to be near perfect, an interference fit in the bore with the body jammed into the lands.
And, no, don't use lube on the dies, either before or after PC. Never had an issue with lead smear.
Before, after or both, depending. I usually put on the gas check first because some shanks are too large after PCing. A lot of this is not chiseled in stone, just figure out what works for what you got.
I have no problem sizing dry with a Lee but sometimes it's a little too much for the Lyman. I have sometimes used crocus cloth to polish a Lee sizer.
PC or Hitek applied properly does not rub of in the sizing die or down the bore. Size after coating. Maybe with a gc I could see sizing first but pb bullets, just extra work for no gain. Sme of my bullets are pretty fat going into the lee die but the pc stays in place.
I size after powder coating. If I have a powder that is effected by the sizing I very slightly lube those with Imperial lube before sizing. Then they go through slick and unhurt. I have an Eastwood machine grey that is super tough and unhurt by sizing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Scratchie
If the powder coat comes off during sizing, you have done something wrong.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Horse
I size before (unlubed) and after when using gas checks. I've never had a problem with leading in my sizing dies. Even before I started PCing, I never lubed the bullets before sizing and had no problems then either.
I cast, powder coat, and size for plain based boolits, mostly pistol rounds. These boolits are tumble coated (shake and bake) with a very consisttent PC thickness.
For gas check boolits, I spray coat the boolits in ajig that prevents PC from coating the gascheck shank. I then gas check and size. These are decidedly used for accuracy shooting and do quite well.
I never touch boolits after casting and generally PC same day. I do use nitrile gloves to place the gas check boolits in the jig to prevent fingertip oils from being transferred. The plain based are just transferred to the plastic tub, powder is measured with a Lee dipper, so much per caliber and number of boolits. I've not cast or PC'd in quite a few thousand ( more than 50k) so I'm not running out :)