Glad to help. I should note, that there are professionals who understand this a lot better than me. I would not be surprised if some of them comment here with very useful corrections to my statements. If so, I will do a followup video. There are some forums for professionals in the coatings industry which I have found helpful to read through, as well as the indications sheets on the products themselves.

Thanks man. I am surprised at the caliber of accomplished people who have already bothered to watch my little ramblings. Greetings from an hour and a half east of you or so.

Welcome

I've been recording a few. I feel guilty about not posting more, but I have clients who've actually paid me to do stuff, and a wife now. They seem to have priority.

Actually, I was considering taking this one down. It looks terrible. I re shot most of it and tried to convey the same information more concisely. It will go up today.

Timothy Robinson thank you. I am probably a bit off in my info, but I think that this is going towards a better understanding. Hopefully someone who designs the powders will comment and I will get an email chat going.

I am kinda ashamed of the lack of script and poor production quality to be honest. New upload today probably which should say mostly the same thing better.

Don't forget that we are often our own biggest critic.

Yeah, but I've worked and lived with professionals in the video production industry. I know how quality happens, and what it looks like, and I can see what I am missing. 1. Content: script is concise and well spoken 1a. Audio is recorded with good mic and no background interruptions 2. Visuals are clear and engaging 2a. Visuals are in shot 2b. Lighting is not terrible. 3. decent hook in the title and cover card 4. Surplusage is edited out Most of my videos get maybe 2-3 out of that list, and I am proud if I get 4. And those are all with the asterisk good *for my abiltiy.* My goals for videos isn't to have a huge following. It is usually a combination of the following: I'm interested in the topic, there is general misunderstanding or lack of information, someone else hasn't explained it better, and I've had numerous people ask me to explain it somewhere or other so I get tired of typing about it. (And when I do a video first, the readers complain that I didn't just write the post. you know how it goes.) I wanna add some of the types of discussions that have gone into the coffee chats for a while too, but any topic that is interesting enough to go into one, I write and rewrite in my head for years and never record. i.e. a video chat I want to make called "straight razors and the emperor's new clothes"

Looks like I need new editing software. They took away the youtube editor while I was not looking. Any suggestions?

I've always edited on my iPad, but if I remember right, you're not Apple anything. I've heard of a few guys using some of the Adobe products, but I don't have any personal experience with them. I completely understand where you're coming from on the video quality stuff. I've tried to force myself "a bit" to view these as parts of conversation and dialogue starters. They need to be clear and concise enough to get your point across without too many distractions, but on the flip side, "a good plan executed today is better than a perfect plan never executed." Looking forward to hearing about straight razors and revealing attire!

Probably that's overkill. The practical tolerance is not that critical. If you are equal or greater to bore diameter and the bullet chambers, you will have good results. Digital calipers on a slugged bullet will tell you that with adequate precision. Your method will do it too, but probably tempt you to over think things. It's a threshold state thing. One threshold is that bullet diameter of the smaller outlier bullets are small enough to get blowby. The other end threshold is that the bullet as loaded in the cartridge is to fat to chamber and extract easily. As long as your bullet is between those thresholds you are good to go. Hope this helps.

Welcome! What part helped?

It was most beneficial to me to know that there are different types of powders which give different results. I'm very grateful that you tell us the type that's best for cast lead bullets.

@@robertpaasch6343 ​ Robert Paasch A note of clarification. I never claimed what is best. I claimed what is best that I know of so far. Or to put it differently, I described how to identify powders with attributes similar to "known good" powders. Also what attributes tend to make for bad powders. There may be far better stuff out there, but we/I just don't know yet.

Sorry I replied....

@@robertpaasch6343 i appreciated your reply.

Powderbuythepound . Com, Eastwood, a guy known as grmps on castboolets

You look at my initial long format powder coating video and the about I have links to several of the specific powders I use .

I bought it at powder buy the pound. Com

Also there is a brass company that has it really cheap. Can't remember the name at the moment.

It "triggers" me. You are using more work to make your bullets objectively worse. The part that passes the crown gets a crusty ring from that. But if it makes you feel better, I can't stop you :)

By the way I have the same handle on castboolits too. or it might just be GunFun. I value that forum a lot, but I think some of the discussion on powdercoating there has become counterproductive. The PC specific molds though are are exciting.

"Crusty Ring? . . . Crusty Ring! .... We don't got no stinking Crusty Ring !"

I bet I could feel a ring with my fingernail right at the base of the bullet. You can't cheat physics. If that is your contact point with the mat tray, or rack, that is going to be disturbed.

I not only have OCD but I use 'tweezers' to stand the boolits! I tap each one individually to knock off any excess PC as I go to stand them on parchment...Guess What? . . . I don't got no stinking Crusty Ring!

Of course. And with the same benefits. No leading, reduced exposure, easier to find your bullets. You can probably reduce or eliminate lube too, and have less smoke. If the lube is helping with cleaning powder fouling, that might not be worth it though. Ditto for revolvers where the lube can help be a barrier against chain fire. If I were hunting with a front stuffer, I would definitely powder coat my bullets. Still stick to full soft lead alloy. Sorry for the slow response. For some reason youtube doesn't show me that there are replies on the videos. There's a graphic on my dashboord that shows the responses, but then shows blank when I go to the comments page. I have to guess which video by the thumbnails, then sort by newest to find them. I've probably missed quite a few people.

@@GunFunZS Thanks for a good explanation.

@@cantstandidiots5839 Welcome. I need to get a flintlock.

@@GunFunZS Flintlocks are notoriously fiddly. Playing around with your flint to get a decent spark shower off the frizzen is a bugger. Not to mention getting enough 4Fg powder in the pan to ignite, but not so much that it burns off your mustache... or blows off in the wind, or dumps when you cant the rifle even a bit too much. Get a cap-and-nipple rig, at least to learn on.

@@scottcrawford3745 I understand that if I get a muzzle stuffer it's going to be because I want to fiddle. The Flint locks are just more interesting to me and at this point the only reason to have a black powder gun is because it's interesting.

Thanks for the comments. I always enjoy your content and the obvious care for quality you put into all the stuff you make. This video is rough enough that I may pull it down. The one I uploaded the next day to replace it is only a little better. I clean the sifting pan before I sift into it. If it's been sitting out, I will probably toss the table spoon or so of powder that is on it rather than risk ruining the batch. That seems to work well. It seems like you can make most powders work, if you are persistent, but some make it much easier. My favorites so far for ease are the "steele blue" color and the "kawasaki green." The green seems to coat perfectly almost as soon as it touches the bullets. The blue might leave a touch more smooth and glossy finish. The flake or pearlescent powders I have tried are all a lot trickier to get a good coating going, but tumble them long enough and they will eventually stick.

Thanks! And if you ever get the hankering for a clear coat, I've had great luck with powderbuythepound "glass clear." Seems like it sticks well and doesn't coat too thick. I do want to try that kawasaki green sometime though--been tempted several times to try it.

Tip appreciated. I think that's the one Bacon was using, and I was planning to get some based on what his results looked like.

James Pollard the cure for that if it happens, is to let them air dry, then vibratory tumble until the powder looks good. It might take a while.

Now I let the bullets dry over night or set in the sun on a cookie sheet to ensure they are dry . But it did teach me a lesson with moisture and powder coating . I also get great results with HF red in a rotary tumbler for 3 min. to 5 min. , the vibratory tumbler didn't work for me .

The last batch I did that with had a bunch of rust marks from the cookie sheet. It appeared to be galvanized, but it still left rust on the bullets. I shimmied them around in a large damp towel until the rust was polished off, let them dry and baked them. They're the ones seen in this video.

So here's what I don't understand when you guys say "I ruined a batch of powder", how much powder do you put? I put 2-3 tablespoons in container and tumble it and little is left over. Vibratory didn't work for me either - I bought a brand new tumbler for that purpose and returned it. I've been meaning to try my rotary tumbler with plastic container inside, I just need to find right container. Loads of Bacon has good video on it.

Dima Prok If you use a rotary tumbler you don't need a container to put the bullets in . Drop the bullets in the tumbler with powder and tumble for a few minutes . Even hard to stick powder works this way .

Yes, it may look nice, but I don't believe that method can be as consistent in the thickness department all the way round the bullet. Also, it is enormously more labor. If you like doing it that way, enjoy. I think it is wasted labor to make less consistent ammunition.

pps. Your spray gun works, because you've grounded the system and given a more dramatic static charge. That's a good thing. My problem is that you almost certainly have more variability in the thickness from one bullet to the next and from one side of the bullet to the next when you are hand applying coatings. Tumbling is random, and if done long enough, pretty much has to be uniform.

I should mention that I have recycled powder too. So long as it is clean, I usually get good results. Some mixtures work better than others, so I generally prefer to recycle them in seperate containers to keep the powder un mixed. As always, if you get a good result from a mixture, that's great.

Yes, it is labor intensive I agree, however since I shoot bolt action rifle I don't just shoot hundreds of rounds so it OK with me to spend extra time with it to get good results. Speaking of results I am doing this spray in the first place is because it looks more consistent and uniform than hand tumbling and baking on wire mesh because I have to water quench my bullets I cannot follow your method of rolling them in the cardbox after bake as this will result in much softer BHN. So actually you picked my curiosity to compare sprayed vs. hand tumbled powder coat accuracy.

I annealed then water quenched my bullets prior to powder coating. Per my testing, this results in the same high BHN each time I sampled and tested as doing things in your order, but a nicer surface finish and essentially zero rack marks or clumps, or need for finicky handling. I could easily re-temper again, if I wanted to, even post sizing. I had the same theory as you and tested it out, and found no advantage, but much greater chance of bullets sticking together. Hence the point I made in this video. Having tried it both ways and measured, this is better.

The Reloader Dude thanks.

No heat in my method. I have dried them in the oven first. Perhaps a bag of silica cat litter attached to the middle of the tumbler might help. I am trying to think of better ideas. A.c. Helps.

J-D Griesel maybe the specific coating you're using . My bet is you have some kind of oil contamination though . Somewhere in your system there is oil or something like that getting on your bullets . Maybe your hands maybe your molds maybe a bucket or your tray . Clean all that crap with alcohol and try it again . Alcohol wash the bullets too at least while you are troubleshooting .

GunFun ZS thanks will try it

J-D Griesel I think you should also use a thermometer to verify the temperature of your oven