Poly coating .310 Cadet

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  • Last Post 26 October 2020
JeffinNZ posted this 10 October 2020

Hi team

I have been experimenting with poly coating bullets lately (yes, slow of the mark) and having remarkably good success with my .310 Cadet.

I bought Eastwood brand paint powder as it consistently gets good rating and have found it coats well and bakes evenly when I do my bit. 

Two groups from yesterday shot at 50m/55y using two different CBE .310 pattern bullets.  The round nose is the 320-120 and the pointed bullet the 323-125 both cast in 40-1 alloy. 

 

Cheers from New Zealand

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mashburn posted this 26 October 2020

Hello to all,

Glad to see more powder coaters entering into something new. Looks like they are starting very well towards excellence. Keep up the good work and report your progress.

Mashburn

David a. Cogburn

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GP Idaho posted this 25 October 2020

I've been powder coating all my cast bullets for years now and I've used the cheap Harbor Freight powders, Cardinal powder and The Eastwood powders.  All of these powders work well if applied with an electrostatic gun (as they were designed to do) If you want to do the "shake and bake" do yourself a favor and try the Eastwood semigloss clear powder. Not only will you get the best coverage of any powder I've tried you retain the lead bullet look so many prefer. I like to add just a pinch of colored powder, usually blue or green so old eyes can tell at a glance that the bullets have indeed been coated. This gives a very nice opaque HyTek look. I agree that a proper cure is indeed important but using the powders mentioned above, I've never had a problem with baking for twenty minutes at 400 degrees in my convection oven. It's really a pretty simple process. Give it a try. Gp

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slide posted this 25 October 2020

Everyone needs to realize that the bhn of the coating is achieved by proper curing. When it says 400f for 10 minutes it means that the bullets must reach 400f. So many people throw them in the oven for twenty minutes or an hour or a day and they think the coating is cured. Powder coat can be over baked or under cured. The answer is a digital thermometer with a thermocouple. Drill a hole in a coated bullet and pinch it down on the thermocouple. Will cost you about twenty bucks. Lay the thermocouple on top or in the middle or anywhere the bullets are. You will know exactly what the temps of the bullets are and you can start a timer for whatever time the mfg. recommends. With oven thermometers or even a thermocouple on a PID you are measuring the temp of the air in the oven with no idea what the temp of the bullets are. the thermocouple will not interfere with the oven door closing. I am on a quest to try and shoot cast coated bullets in the AR platform. I want that bhn to be as close to right as I can get it.

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Paul Pollard posted this 25 October 2020

Jeff,

Your post made me look at some powder information. The technical information shows what temperature to bake at and also a reference to hardness. It looks like a common hardness would be "H" to "2H", which translates from the pencil test to a BHN of 20 to 28. Interesting.

 

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pisco posted this 25 October 2020

Coming in a bit late I have only yesterday had a go at powder coating had a reloading session today have to try them one after noon

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JeffinNZ posted this 11 October 2020

Yes, original sights and 51year old eyes. Eastwood Vermillion powder. The 323-125 pointed bullet is one of the last Jim made prior to selling CBE. I have the prototype mould.

Cheers from New Zealand

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Squid Boy posted this 11 October 2020

Very good results, especially if you are using the original sights. I have a RN CBE mold and lubing the heeled bullet is a pain. Is the pointy bullet a newer design? I haven't looked at his site in a while and understand the business was for sale. What powder are you using if you don't mind sharing that? Thanks, Squid Boy

"Squid Pro Quo"

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Spindrift posted this 11 October 2020

Nice looking bullets, and great results Jeff!

I also use the Eastwood powders, and typically gain 0,002-3in in diameter as well. 

 

My favourite colors (easy to get good coverage)

-Ford, light blue

-Kawasaki green

-mirror red

 

These have been more difficult

- Chrysler orange

-black, gloss

-white, gloss

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JeffinNZ posted this 11 October 2020

Great results for your first batch.

Tell us more. What was the thickness of your coating? Did you size the bullets undersized before coating? What is the extreme spread? Showing the bullets is good and gives an idea but numbers are better.  Are these two groups the only ones you shot or two or several? Are the average group size with coating better or worse than uncoated bullets.

Sorry to ask for more work on your part but this a hot topic right now as you know.

Thanks.

John

1) Coating thickness is approximately 0.002 inch. 2) Bullets are shot as cast and coated though the pointer bullet does have the heel run into a .314 die just a little. 3) Extreme spread centre to centre between 7/8 inch and 1 1/8 inch. Giving the day was dull and I had just been up the hill for a run and probably a little dehydrated I was thrilled with the targets. 4) This is the second batch of PC bullet I have shot in the Cadet with very similar results. 5) Grouping is on par with the best groups from traditionally lubed bullets in my Cadet. I will be going exclusively to PC for the Cadet for smokeless now as outside lubed bullets are a pain as they collect dirt and dust especially when hunting.

Cheers from New Zealand

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JeffinNZ posted this 11 October 2020

Is it possible to see some recovered bullets?

Not a hope sorry. They are caught in a bullet catcher and not accessible.

Cheers from New Zealand

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45 2.1 posted this 11 October 2020

Is it possible to see some recovered bullets?

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John Alexander posted this 10 October 2020

Great results for your first batch.

Tell us more. What was the thickness of your coating? Did you size the bullets undersized before coating? What is the extreme spread? Showing the bullets is good and gives an idea but numbers are better.  Are these two groups the only ones you shot or two or several? Are the average group size with coating better or worse than uncoated bullets.

Sorry to ask for more work on your part but this a hot topic right now as you know.

Thanks.

John

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David Reiss posted this 10 October 2020

Good job Jeff, looking forward to see further tests. 

David Reiss - NRA Life Member & PSC Range Member Retired Police Firearms Instructor/Armorer
-Services: Wars Fought, Uprisings Quelled, Bars Emptied, Revolutions Started, Tigers Tamed, Assassinations Plotted, Women Seduced, Governments Run, Gun Appraisals, Lost Treasure Found.
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