Lee Loader

Just called and ordered powder from smoke, should be here Monday or Tuesday I guess. Guess I will be removing alox from about 300 bullets I got a short while back over the weekend. I have kerosene, mineral spirts and acetone to get it done.

az2vet wrote:Just called and ordered powder from smoke, should be here Monday or Tuesday I guess. Guess I will be removing alox from about 300 bullets I got a short while back over the weekend. I have kerosene, mineral spirts and acetone to get it done.

I ran mine back through my smelting pot. Durn near impossible to get it off. You don't want the alox in your casting pot, it is a mess.

I ran mine back through my smelting pot. Durn near impossible to get it off. You don't want the alox in your casting pot, it is a mess.

Or just load them.

I forgot to bring the stuff home so I gave it a try with the Berrymans gallon size carb. cleaner. Let it soak for an hour then washed them off with water. Well lets just say I found 1 way that does not work. Only other thing I had available was gas so I said what the heck. I Put them into a clean 2 liter soda bottle and covered the bullets and put the cap on. Held the bottle horizontal and did some shakeing and spinning and in about 5 minutes BINGO. Gave them another go in fresh gas for a rinse effect but I will let them soak in acetone before I try to coat them.

I do not have much of a lead supply right now so I wanted to salvage these to powder coat rather than load and shoot.

Ranch Dog wrote:

I ran mine back through my smelting pot. Durn near impossible to get it off. You don't want the alox in your casting pot, it is a mess.[/quote]

Yep, he speaks absolute gospel!!! It is a mess.

Just received and opened my package of the 3 powders I ordered from Smokes. Can't wait to give it a whirl.

Just got done with a batch of about 75, they look good. I used the Heavy Duty Reynolds wrap, dull side up and some of them stuck tearing the foil coming off. The others I had to peel off of the foil. Getting better though.

I also use the 'non-stick' aluminum foil. Make sure you're using the correct side of the foil. I've never had any bullets stick and have reused the same foil many times.

Ok fellow primer poppers, now my powder coating ignorance is gonna show????
Acetone -vs- dry ?
What do the Airsoft beads do?
What IS the difference in Smokes powder & HF, or others?
I have a " said to be " top of the line powder gun,
oven, beads & upside down funnel looking jar of powder?
I have just started digging into this subject & have decided to give
it a try this casting season, need to really dig into cast boolits & Google I guess,
But, just like a teenage gas thief in the 60's I prefer to suck all the info, tips & tricks out of you guys first..
Seriously, any info as always, is greatly appreciated.

There are several threads on this subject over at Cast Boolits that total into hundreds of pages. It started with electrostatic coating with a gun. Some tried spray paint from a can. The Piglet method tried Acetone mixed with the powder. This has run along side of the Hi-Tek coating that also prevents leading. The electrostatic gun coating method works with any powder and in about any conditions.
The difference between Smokes powder and Harbor Freights seams to be in the size of the particles. Smokes are much smaller. Now to the Shake and Bake method. Only gloss powders work in this method. Flat colors do not work. The S&B method uses a #5 plastic container ( a 5 is stamped in a triangle on the bottom of the container) and powder swirled and shaken to create static electricity that coats the bullets with the powder. The Airsoft beads help increase the static electricity. The HF powders except for the flat black will work, but not as well as Smokes and other high quality powders. HF red is the best of the HF powders. Some people put their bullets in a tumbler for 15 minutes. I put mine in a rubbermaid container with Black Airsoft BB's and swirl and shake up and down for 10 to 15 seconds and get excellent coverage all the time.
I use forceps (tweezers) to pick out each bullet and set them on a tray lined with non stick Al foil.
I bake them in a convection oven at 425 for 16 minutes to cure the powder.
The test to check the batch is to smash the bullet with a hammer ( I use a 4 lb sledge ) and the coating should remain attached.
I do both Powder Coat and Hi-Tek coating. Both work great. Hi-Tek is faster for large batches, but needs to be done to a much tighter tolerance than powder coating, but once you have it down it is just as easy.

Try looking at some of the youtube videos, and the Cast Boolit thread. I have done 10's of thousands of these.