ZoomieFrom1994
Member
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2024
- Messages
- 1,574
Yes, this is way out there on the fringe….
No, I don’t live out in some shack in Montana…
Yes, I kinda casually hinted at it in the junk drawer thread….
I bought an el cheapo aluminum bullet casting mold from a company called Lee. I bought their wooden handles which fit their molds. This particular mould has 6 cavities. It is meant for 9mm Luger. So basically picture a big pair of pliers. With each pour or each cast, it drops 6 bullets. This is what is called a tumble lube mold. Lee has their own bullet lube called Alox. It is kind of a mess to apply.
Traditional cast lead bullets have a lube groove in them. You have to run them through a lube sizer or a “lubri-sizer” it squeezes a waxy type lube into the grooves. It also squishes the bullet to a uniform diameter.
That waxy lube is supposed to keep the barrel from leading up, as the bullet gets spun up by the rifling.
The downside to those waxy lubes is that upon firing, it leaves a la lot smoke in the air. And it is still kinda messy.
So about 15 years ago, somebody figured out you could powder coat cast lead bullets. At first, they were sprayed with an electrostatic gun. You hooked a wire (a ground clamp) to the tray the bullets were sitting on. This imparted a charge to the bullets, so the powder was like gently sprayed over the bullets, ghis magnetic like attraction got the powder to adhere to the bullets.
Then somebody thought of the next evolution. By putting the bullets in a plastic container, sprinkling in a teaspoon of powder coat powder, closing the lid, snd swirling the bullets, the powder would stick to the bullets. The plastic container generates a static electricity charge.
This became known as the “shake snd bake” method
So I tried it out for the first time last night, swirling them around in an old Cool Whip container:
.
I made up my own wire mesh basket:
Then I stuck the basket in a toaster oven at 400°F for 15 minutes.
While they are still hot, I flip the basket over to dump all the bullets into a 5 gallon bucket of water.
After a few minutes, I spread them out on a towel to dry:
As you can tell, I am quite excited about the process and the results.
They still have to be run through a sizer.
And then loaded up into ammo.
Then shot on paper for groups and function.
How tough is this powder coat? You might be asking. Some people try smashing their powder coated bullets with a hammer, but here is a pic of a bullet shot against a steel plate:
The advantage to powder coating bullets are:
T in
1. It is fast
2. Not smokey like traditional cast and lubed bullets
3. It is cheaper than copper jacketed bullets
4. You can use different colors to denote different loads, say one color for sub-sonics, and another color for supersonics.
5. They don’t lead the barrel.
The last Hornady jacketed bullets I bought were 16 cents each.
When I was really into shooting competitions 18 years ago, I shot 8,000 rounds one year just at matches. That would be almost $1,300 just in projectiles, today.
No, I don’t live out in some shack in Montana…
Yes, I kinda casually hinted at it in the junk drawer thread….
I bought an el cheapo aluminum bullet casting mold from a company called Lee. I bought their wooden handles which fit their molds. This particular mould has 6 cavities. It is meant for 9mm Luger. So basically picture a big pair of pliers. With each pour or each cast, it drops 6 bullets. This is what is called a tumble lube mold. Lee has their own bullet lube called Alox. It is kind of a mess to apply.
Traditional cast lead bullets have a lube groove in them. You have to run them through a lube sizer or a “lubri-sizer” it squeezes a waxy type lube into the grooves. It also squishes the bullet to a uniform diameter.
That waxy lube is supposed to keep the barrel from leading up, as the bullet gets spun up by the rifling.
The downside to those waxy lubes is that upon firing, it leaves a la lot smoke in the air. And it is still kinda messy.
So about 15 years ago, somebody figured out you could powder coat cast lead bullets. At first, they were sprayed with an electrostatic gun. You hooked a wire (a ground clamp) to the tray the bullets were sitting on. This imparted a charge to the bullets, so the powder was like gently sprayed over the bullets, ghis magnetic like attraction got the powder to adhere to the bullets.
Then somebody thought of the next evolution. By putting the bullets in a plastic container, sprinkling in a teaspoon of powder coat powder, closing the lid, snd swirling the bullets, the powder would stick to the bullets. The plastic container generates a static electricity charge.
This became known as the “shake snd bake” method
So I tried it out for the first time last night, swirling them around in an old Cool Whip container:
.
I made up my own wire mesh basket:
Then I stuck the basket in a toaster oven at 400°F for 15 minutes.
While they are still hot, I flip the basket over to dump all the bullets into a 5 gallon bucket of water.
After a few minutes, I spread them out on a towel to dry:
As you can tell, I am quite excited about the process and the results.
They still have to be run through a sizer.
And then loaded up into ammo.
Then shot on paper for groups and function.
How tough is this powder coat? You might be asking. Some people try smashing their powder coated bullets with a hammer, but here is a pic of a bullet shot against a steel plate:
The advantage to powder coating bullets are:
T in
1. It is fast
2. Not smokey like traditional cast and lubed bullets
3. It is cheaper than copper jacketed bullets
4. You can use different colors to denote different loads, say one color for sub-sonics, and another color for supersonics.
5. They don’t lead the barrel.
The last Hornady jacketed bullets I bought were 16 cents each.
When I was really into shooting competitions 18 years ago, I shot 8,000 rounds one year just at matches. That would be almost $1,300 just in projectiles, today.
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