Powder Coating (NEWS!) "New Method"

This Brand New Powder Coating Method! Gives us more control of our BHN. Without Tempering or Annealing our cast powder coated and sometimes water quenched bullets! NICE TO BE IN CONTROL!

[@anthonyresor2465]

Elvis, the bullets that you powder coated and heated to 400 will test a lower bhn for a couple days but will return after about a week to the original bhn before heating them in the oven. Using 3 separate bhn testers I checked this on 19bhn bullets. After cooking on 400 for 20 min I then rechecked them on day 2/3/4/5/6/7 and all on day 7 had returned to within 1 bhn of cast hardness. Just what I have found. Something else to consider is the bhn test. It is putting an indentation in the surface. The coating is a very thin layer and softer than the lead itself therefore your bhn test on the coated bullets are not accurate. This is why I put non coated bullets in to heat with my coated ones and these are the ones you need to test and they will tell you what u need to k ow

[@sfbeninati320]

Thank you very much for this comment seems very underrated and unnoticed in the chat

[@QarthCEO]

I watch just to hear you say "Hey KZbin! It's Elvis Ammo here! Hey!" Always puts a smile on my face.

[@elvisammo]

Xaro Xhoan Daxos ... cool! I'll take it.... glad ya stopped by. ; )

[@myongpark]

I love it. Documentation, the difference between an anecdote, and science. Thanks for the great vids Man.

[@thebaddest2562]

I gotta say thanks for the info in the latest video elvis. I only cut my temp back to about 300 but what makes it so awsome is afterward i felt good about takin my rifle bullets out right after the powder coating flows over the bullets. Sure enough after the first load i observed what u said about the bullets easy release from the tray when i dumped the bullets into the quench. on my second load of rifle bullets i just tossed them all in the basket like pistol bullets. To my overwelming joy they all came out perfect just like i had placed all my rifle bullets on the tray carefully making sure that they didnt touch. So now im saving alot of time and aggravation when coating my rifle bullets. Thanks for all the great work you do and share with us all. Since i discovered your channel its become my favorite on youtube. Inicially it was the everyman approach thats so refreshing and inviting. That is still the case. the info and the process you use make your videos enlightening, second to none. I believe the simple and honest why or why not questions are not asked enough by most but you sir have not lost that inquisitive nature. you continually demonstrate that the solutions to most problems are small quests. Just a simple matter of the can do spirit, effort and common sence. Put simply anything is possible if you just try. For most unbridled possibility is a natural instinct that is dimmed by the sinacism developed with time. Your enjoyment of life and its journey is evident by the laughter and joy you show in every video. You are an inspiration on so many levels. Thanks again and dont ever change.

[@kevinbrenton3036]

Those bullets are not straight in the cases .

[@64samsky]

You are a pioneer of casting! Thanks for what you do.

[@elvisammo]

64samsky ..hey bud... thanks.. just hope I'm pioneering something we can all use that works! ; )

[@daverichards190]

Thank you sir! This is the best method so far, did a pile of 9mm boolits today and they came out great and broke right apart. I have piles of boolits for .357, .44 and .45 to do and this is how they will be done

[@kevins1114]

Between your other "marathon" video on powder coating bullets, and this one, I have to say that these two videos are the most informative and useful videos I've yet seen on the subject.

[@hookedontheoutdoorsgeek6800]

Thank you for your dedication and hard work. I have learned a lot from you and Fortune Cookie 45 LC. I too use the Lee hardness tester and have found it to be quite accurate after I learned how to use it properly. With that said, I wanted to say that I just got done casting some 240 gr .44 bullets that I intend on using for Cowboy action shooting. After a weeks time I powder coated them at the 400 degrees for 20 minutes and quenched them. These were air cooled bullets that consisted of 70% pure and 30% wheel weights that were cast at 750 degrees. My goal was to produce a bullet that was around 8 or 9 Bhn that would be shot at 700 fps. I succeeded in that quest and my bullets before and AFTER powder coating and quenching was 8 Bhn. There was no change in hardness. These bullets shot accurately and cleanly out of my Super Blackhawk Hunter and my 4" Redhawk. With that same alloy I water quench a batch trying to get 12 Bhn and that succeed also. I did not test those after powder coating them. I hope this helps you in some way. - HotoGeek

[@birddog7492]

Hey Cat thank you for this Video. I've wondered about this before but had no way to test hardness. You are on the cutting edge of our endeavor to find new and better ways.

[@barndweller4573]

Thanks! This may even be a benefit to us crazy people that stand our bullets one at a time ...... the heat can get to the coating faster and does not need to penetrate the lead on one to heat the next one. Hmmmmm something to think about (I get in trouble when I think, I try not to do it much) . All kidding aside, you may have discovered something that will help all of us and I for one appreciate the time and effort you must have put in to this. THANK YOU!

[@pdubowner]

Thanks for sharing all your information with us.

[@stevemoren286]

To soften is to anneal. Tempering is hardening. Excellent job and repeatable scientific method. Thank you man!

[@acurt1970]

tempering is a 2nd heat treat at lower heat after 1st hardening at high heat

[@avidhuntr]

Great research brother, very good to know. I had noticed that after about 12-15 mins in the toaster oven that my cast bullets looked finished, but thought maybe the extra time in the oven was part of the powder coat curing process. Looks like the extra time us not required at all, also was tempted to reduce the heat but never tried that either. Don't forget your safety glasses when pounding out those bullets, a lot there that could fragment and wind up in one of the eyes. Again awesome work dude. Thanks a million.

[@joep4235]

All I can do is thank you Elvis! you do the work, and we reap the benefits!! awesome!

[@elvisammo]

Joe P ... Yes sir ... you guys keep coming by I'll keep sharing the madness! ; ) thanks for participating!

[@olreprobate4777]

You've hooked me on powder coating. Best is once their coated I'm no longer handling lead. The lower temps and times are very important too. I'm "off grid" and my reload room is in my shop, separate from the house. I have to run a small generator to use my toaster oven.

[@elvisammo]

Hey Ol' Reprobate.. Nice name by the way! : ) Less energy is a perk for sure! Thanks for taking the time to comment.....

[@frill5240]

Hi. Thanks a lot for your assume tutorial videos. Im new in the way of coating bullets. Actually i haven’t done it yet. So I’m learning, and you taught in a very pedagogical way. By the way, your accent is very nice. Me myself live close to the North pole. Scandinavia. Thanks Elvis. 😊👍🏻 Greetings Peder

[@TheStone0707]

Hey Elvis ! First let me say this I can't thank you and F.C. with Johnny also for what you guys do ,with the help you guys give Us in this .I will pass this along to all my reload freinds (just make them think I am smart ) not ! thank you again My God Bless You and Yours .

[@archersfriend]

Awesome Information and Progress from EARL. Thank you for being so generous of your time and with your valuable information.

[@fixitdad9669]

You do such a great job on your video's and can't wait to see more.

[@emandejnozka1369]

I like your style! Your metallurgical theory holds water.

[@PatriotPaulUSA]

Very Nice! Good work Elvis, Your hard work and testing is appreciated by all of us that are powder coating like me. Thanks again. I am binge watching your vids to save me a ton of time and misspent money Thanks to your EARL laboratory :)

[@enegron6987]

I feel like I’m watching a revolutionary legend in real time, like you’re gonna do big things when you grow up😎

[@rickleclair6781]

Great stuff. Looking forward to the follow-up. I haven't started powder coating yet, but this is where I'm learning. Thanks

[@elvisammo]

you will kick it off right when ya get started Rick LeClair.. Warning. Its addictive! : )

[@FortuneCookie45LC]

Great work, Elvis...!! Other commenters have been saying that PC works with shorter oven times, but you're pushing new ground with the lower temps... Gung Ho...!!

[@elvisammo]

FortuneCookie45LC .. Yeah.. some crazy stuff with unexpected results so far.. Some more data and testing is needed. I'm sure I won't be the only one with good feedback.. I'm excited about what I'm seeing. . this could be a great option to control our bhn. More to come! ; )

[@FortuneCookie45LC]

Elvis - I was just putting another order in with Eastwood, so I bounced your PC bullets off of 'em just to get info from the source to add to yours...They said that the 400 for 20 minutes was the recommendation for car parts. But the tech said that doing other stuff like bullets, the temps and times could certainly be adjusted. What he said is that if it works, it's OK. Have a great day, FC Steve

[@elvisammo]

FortuneCookie45LC ..Yeah, I guess I was never much for following the rules huh! ; ) I have an epoxy base pc coming. it's a much lower temp cure.. Might be just what we're looking for. My biggest hope is that it coats using the swirl method! ; ) a lot of times when someone says "no way" it just means they haven't tried anything different! thanks for the feedback from Eastwood. ...

[@lestergillis8171]

@@elvisammo Based on several bullet casting books that I've read on the subject, wheel weight is nearly devoid of TIN. It does have about 4% antimony on average. The amount of gain from quenching wheel weight is minimal. It would be better to add about 1%-2% of TIN. This will improve BHN after quenching.

[@josemufflei3949]

Thank you for putting so much effort into these for us. Really enjoy your efforts... thanx

[@nycreloader]

Great news Elvis thank you so much I'm going to make a batch this weekend of 30 cal 150gr and will try your new method on 100 of them if it kicks but for me I'll do the other 900 the same method. Keep these videos coming. You da man!

[@elvisammo]

NYC Reloader Yeah! good deal... if ya get em done this weekend, I'd be glad to hear your thoughts! happy shooting bud!

[@nycreloader]

elvis ammo I shot them this weekend and they shot great. Really tight groupings and my barrel check with my borescope looks fine as well. This method seems to work well. I'll do some more testing.

[@fathertimencUSA]

I did experiment with powder coating my .25 cal slugs and pellets for my air guns.I did them at 160 degrees for 20 minutes and they turned pretty good.This was the first time I did it.I have a 350 Legend on the way and plan to cast bullets for it.I also have plans on getting a 450 BushMaster.

[@tobyemerson8595]

Thanks for sharing this. I don't PC because of the BHN loss. Now I have to try it out again thank you

[@elvisammo]

toby emerson ..that's awesome! I knew you folks were out there! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment. . I was hoping to here from you guys!!! ; )

[@EricAmerica]

Outstanding research Elvis. You are a pioneer. This is great news for PC rifle bullets. Thank you sir.

[@148DMC]

Elvis ammo your becoming real legend thanks for another great video

[@Harley365]

Hey Elvis I know this vid is a little old but I have another tip for Powder coating. Bake the bullets on non stick foil on a small cookie sheet. When the timer goes off take them right away and put them on a large cookie sheet and roll them around till they cool a little. This is how I do mine and get no flat spots or bullets sticking together. Give it a try. I see everyone waiting till they are cooled down then breaking them apart. This method works great and is much easier. Thanks for the great vids.

[@michaelcinardo203]

Awesome, brother. I've been following you and the methods are sound. I'm partial to the Eastwood semi-gloss Black. Bullets look like the old Federal Ny-Clads. Can't wait to try the new technique. Thanks for your efforts.

[@elvisammo]

Michael Cinardo ..your welcome. .. how easy is that powder to apply? quick shake and bake? love to hear more.

[@RickFulks]

According to the technicians at Lyman water quenching only put a surface hardness on the bullet and when you size them it takes the surface off so you have really gained anything by water quenching

[@EricAmerica]

Hey Elvis, I tried your method today and have to say that it works great. Although, I don't have a BNH testing device to check hardness. Thanks again.

[@elvisammo]

Thanks Mick9mm.. for the info you do have. Nice to know it can be duplicated! : )

[@ericlaird7508]

Elvis I dig your video's and information! KEEP ON ROCKING IT! ELVIS!!!...

[@tbrn8617]

Hey Elvis, seems great minds think alike. I've been doing a similar process all along. I usually set mine to around 275* for about 10 minutes. I'll lower it to 250* and try to keep a little more bhn. I use a mixture of range scrap and ww since ww are hard to come by in my area.

[@jamespollard3066]

Thanks Elvis , I have been playing with the time ( down to 12 min. ) but have left the temp . at 400 degrees . Looks like you took it a step farther . I will give this a try . Thanks for sharing .

[@elvisammo]

Hey James Pollard... Yeah.. Fortune Cookie said that somebody was shortening the bake time! you must be one of those! One thing I did was let the oven get up to 260 and lost about 3 or 4 BHN. I was getting close to the end.. I should have pulled them out. Thats how close the 250 is to tempering. just thought you should know.. that temp formula I was holding up is pretty good!

[@l.a.3887]

Great job on figuring out time and temperature for keeping your bullets hard while curing the powder the bullets look grate...shake and bake is the best method the elvisammo method 👍

[@chapoescobar1982]

Love your videos bro and your intro has to be the Best 1 yet good luck on your channel and thank you for providing us with GREAT videos

[@elvisammo]

Thanks pedro ramos... much appreciated! and my pleasure! : )

[@trigunnn2]

Just got into reloading again going to try my hand at casting im so glad I found this video and thank you for the tip =)

[@Thorsaxe777]

Elvis, You are a thinker. I like that. You don't say what is on your mind till there is a method to your madness. I enjoy you "leaving the bones in" approach to your channel. That alone makes people feel that they are right there in the room with you as you are discussing this and that. No flowery speech and not using words we have to look up in a dictionary. It obvious that I was never a grammar king in school, however, you don't need to be for people to understand you. So Keep up the good work Buddy, Dave.

[@elvisammo]

hey thorsaxe777.. thank ya sir.. Organic here with out the added cost!!! : )

[@CountryBoyPrepper]

I'll second that!

[@squeezeracer]

You went thru 10mins to tell me nothing. Exhausting.

[@allenmouldey7784]

Then get your free info somewhere else if it bothers you so Much.

[@allenmouldey7784]

What ever you do don't say thanks dick.

[@hillbillyj8448]

Spot on Elvis Ammo! It was kinda funny listening to you because the method you speak of is the exact way I've been doing it. Low temp (200-250) and just keep an eye on the shine. Great information for everyone!! Keep up the good work buddy!

[@elvisammo]

HillBilly J .. cool beans hillbilly. ... so this sounds tried and true! thanks for taking the time to comment. .. any advice is helpful and welcome!

[@bigcountry022885]

Thanks a lot another good video I'm thankful for all the fork you do

[@cdelo2]

Thanks for the innovative video . This info expands our range of use !

[@MrRichinil]

EA . I have watched you and Uncle Jim and Fortune Cookie with the powder coating . I dove in and got a 20 dollar toaster oven from Wallyworld and it works ! Thanks for showing us just how easy it is .

[@bigrod0069]

more red than blue just like our country! Although we need more conservatives! Good video thanks man

[@steelpunisher6944]

Hey Elvis the pioneer! that's really good info and thank you for sharing it with all of us casters and powder coaters. I have some 230gr I'm gonna try this on tonight. Thanks bud. I'll let you know how they come out.

[@michaelguillemette2256]

Thanks Elvis, your videos are so funny to watch!

[@elvisammo]

nicolas pinet ..well I'm sure glad your around to watch em!! ; )

[@uMalice]

I recently tried pc on 130 grain 308 win bullets at 2500 ft/sec and had excellent performance and no leading. I could smell the burned pc though.

[@kayeszymanski6945]

hey Elvis, awesome video! you are the mad scientist of reloading! if only you could win the Nobel peace prize for this! Obama won one for doing nothing! look forward to your follow up videos on this, maybe my husband won't burn his fingers as often thanks

[@elvisammo]

Kaye Szymanski ... Hey.. thanks , I like the money that comes with the prize. .. My dog took a dump this morning. . That was greater than anything Obama done... ; ) Lower temps and shorter times save the burn and power bill!

[@papasplace2]

That's great news. Thanks for doing the research.

[@elvisammo]

Papa's Place ..Thanks again for stopping by Pappa... !

[@JC-nq8hs]

Thank you once again for the great information Elvis. Will be giving this a try.

[@elvisammo]

Justin Conklin ...let me know what ya come up with! don't go over 250 degrees. . move up slow! if it goes up to high to fast and you got a good gloss. it don't hurt to pull em out a minute or two early!

[@JC-nq8hs]

elvis ammo just so happens I have about 300 rounds ready to coat. I'll let you know how mine turn out.

[@JC-nq8hs]

Hey Elvis I tried your method and it works great. I tried something a little different though. I preheat the oven on 250 and put the bullets in. Drops the temp to 185. As soon as the oven temp gets back to 250 I set the timer on 10 minutes. The powder seems to melt well. It also passed the hammer test.

[@reelamor9950]

Great R&D. Will give it a try

[@kirkboswell2575]

Hello Elvis. Long time. Good video. Now, I'm going to throw in a monkey wrench. Physics - water quenching does indeed make cast bullets harder, but SUSTAINED hardness depends upon the composition of the alloy. What is happening in the oven when powder coating amounts to "tempering". Water (or for steel, oil) initiates the contraction of the molecules. Reheating in the oven "removes" the brittleness of the metal and, after tempering, increases the durability of the metal. Note the word "metal" - still applies for lead. Tempering, by definition, removes SOME hardness BUT increases durability. The sustainability of hardness is dependent upon composition, and any remaining hardness is dependent upon the temperature of the "tempering" process. In other words, the least amount of heat is best. So, you've done well. Now one more thing. "Reloaderman" has come up with a "wet" method for powder coating. Per 200 bullets (he's doing 9mm), use 2&1/2 cc's of powder. Toss in 3 cc's of acetone. Shake with lid on for 10 seconds. Repeat for seven seconds with lid off, and then scatter bullets on a drying tray till dry. Once dry (just a few minutes), bake in the oven as per usual (400 degrees for 20 minutes). Break apart and allow to air cool and repeat with a second coat. He says this does everything people talk about, but keeps powder out of the air and minimalizes use of powder. I'm thinking that second coat could undergo a water quench and end up with the best of both worlds. Want to check it out?.........

[@LoadsofBacon]

Awesome! This is an awesome contribution to the PCing community! Great work brother!(I've had plans of doing some BHN/casting/PCing videos in a couple months - this will certainly be a great addition to that.)

[@elvisammo]

Loads of Bacon .. hey man! hopefully this is as good as it looks! time is either your best friend or worse enemy! I'm optimistic! so far so good! I'm working out and eating my bacon! things are looking up! ; )

[@peteralexben]

heattreating the lead bullet in a oven was a method to hardening the bullet ,if you heat them to cure the bullet with powder coating ,just wat hotter and then up in cold water. seems to work wel too

[@elvisammo]

yep peteralxben.... thats another option... I hear that can work good!

[@bobmcelver1484]

Nice job bud.........In the many many years of casting bullets using standard WW's, air cooled they'll average out around 9-10 BHN and water quenched I'll get 14-15 BHN. I've never hit 21 BHN which is about what air cooled linotype runs. I bought an LBT BHN tester from Veral Smith way back in the day (probably 1981) and it has a direct readout. I've tested and swapped bullets back and forth with guys who had the Lee and saw (sometimes) wildly varing results.........just my 2. Never tried the Saeco......

[@bgufford]

You were about to tell us the BHN difference before and after you water quenched the PC bullets at the lower temp at 18:55. Then you drifted to cotton on the bullets from a towel and you left out the BHN difference. It may help your viewers if you can outline your results down and show that to us in the video so you don't get sidetracked so much but I understand your excitement. We really appreciate the time you put into this. Thank you.

[@emandejnozka1369]

My contention with water quench directly from cast is that antimony stays in solution apart from chemical mixture combination and crystallizes upon rapid cooling. Then when firing the pure lead coating the antimony crystals rub off into the rifling grooves upon firing. Hence the use of tin to eliminate the colloidal dispersion through chemical combination. (Just like adding alcohol to gasoline to break up frozen gas lines in winter.

[@richrob57]

Really enjoyed your vid..could you consider in the future doing one comparing powder coating pure soft lead bullets with your wheel weight bullets ...with some range testing comparing accuracy and penetration ...that would be very interesting ...even with buckshot ...Thanks

[@mkshffr4936]

The tempering seems like a good thing to me as the bullets will be more likely to expand and create a larger wound channel (unless of course you are hunting rhinos in which case you need em hard for penetration). ;)

[@1ambulator]

I have found if you heat them till they gloss over then 1-2 minutes longer is all that is needed. Large batch or small batch doesn't matter. That point where they move from fuzzy to glossy is the key not the time. Id have PCd the same quantity of bullets in 1 batch, but, moved them from the oven to a water bath, thinking I could preserve some of the hardness. They seem to shoot fine subsonic 800-1100 fps. I don't know about faster. You are right, good powder makes all the difference.

[@RobertWilliams-vy8bl]

Elvis thank you for all the info. You are the one that got me started. Have you tested on the 223 yet

[@ibthumper2]

Thank you for your hard work and, sharing with us trolls.

[@terryp5001]

Elvis, You are the man !!! great info. I hope to start casting this winter, Been collecting lead and making ingots for now, My Wilton Mini Loaf tins have made 400 plus ingots and counting.

[@elvisammo]

hey terryp5001... Good deal brother... When you start you'll be prepared! The Wilton never dies! : )

[@neilharris4462]

E.A.R.R.L. for the win!!

[@murphymmc]

Nice work Elvis!

[@elvisammo]

murphymb thankya sir... we'll see where all this goes! ; )

[@HanstheTraffer]

Also I believe that your methods work mostly because you are blessed by God. Seriously. I notice myself that when I am close to God good things happen in my work. I believe. Maybe others will consider that too.

[@elvisammo]

hey Hans Pcguy... yes sir my friend, I am blessed for sure! and you are too if you are writing this!! : ) I am flawed but related to Perfection! This gives me a source of strength! 😀

[@nycreloader]

Hey guys I'll see ya on the other side too. I wonder if I can bring my Dillon xl650?

[@OzarkSpirit]

I have been buying powder from The Powder Coat Store on Amazon. Their instructions say 400 for 10 min. Watching through the glass the powder melts and coats the bullets in less than 5 minutes at 400 degrees F. I pull the bullets at about 7 minutes when I see a good shine. In fact I did batches of 500gr Lee .459's today for my 458 SOCOM. That's a lot of bulk in the oven with those big pills. I stand them up like Loads of Bacon and still water quench. The powder from harbor freight is cheap and is hit and miss. Pay the $15-$19 bucks on Amazon and go with the good stuff. The color selection is crazy big. My favorite is a candy blue. I'll definitely have to try your low temp method and see how it works. Thanks for thinking out of the box Elvis. Sorry for the rambling.

[@kennethbaker5150]

Two questions: 1) Did you do a BHN test on your powder coated bullets that were water hardened out of the mold, cooked the usual 450* method, THEN water quenched out of the oven? I wonder if water quenching then after the cook restores any of the hardness. 2) Since we are powder coating the bullets, does the actual bullet hardness matter anymore? My purpose in casting hard bullets is as a substitute for lube, and preventing barrel leading. 2a) In fact, would a softer powder coated bullet actually be beneficial, as it would be able to better expand under pressure to form a better seal to the barrel?

[@nickjm37fordel1]

I like the sign to. I always preheat the oven, maybe I'll be changing my method !!

[@elvisammo]

thanks for liking my sign Nick J... took some time and paper to make that graphic appear!! : ) I'm not sure if it's a change method always, as much as it gives us more control when we need our bullets to remain hard as possible ... one more tool in our arsenal!!!

[@AlbDavidT505]

Thanks for sharing. I'll have to try this with some 12 gauge slugs.

[@johnbailey9682]

The blue bullets look a lot better than the red bullets. Keep up the good work.

[@barndweller4573]

Man I can not tell you how much I appreciate the time and effort you put into figuring all this stuff out. I have never had any problems since I started using Ford LT Blue after you first video about it. Now I am trying my hand at loading 223 powder coated rounds. First try I have lots of leading, I was lazy and did not slug my bore because I did not want to take the mount off the gun for my suppressor. Well I finally did and found I needed a larger sizing die (.225). That problem is solved and I cleaned the lead out (took forever) . I have my sub sonic working well using the Elvis Ammo 77 grain bullet. Now I have ordered the .61 grain bullet mould, I love smooth bullets. I am loading using Reloader 7 and having pretty good luck at 1800 fps. But it keeps bugging me that I can not do the 2500 fps without leading. Then I remember I saw this video when it first came out, I have a bad habit of if its not broken do not fix it. I checked the hardness of my powder coated bullets, WOW they were 12 a little soft. I just happen to have a couple hundred rounds not powder coated yet. I check one of them and sure enough it was 30 BHN according to my tester ( ST Machining, LLC) Its a nice unit with a large dial that I can read (I just can not see the Lee Scale so I gave my Lee hardness tester to a new guy just getting into it). I am thinking (dangerous for me) that because the bullet is so small in mass that the temp is affecting it more than my 30 cal or fatter pistol bullets. Your method of lower temp has helped me big time (Thank You) Now they come out at 19 Hardness and I think that will do just fine for me. The reason I have caused you a unscheduled nap is I wanted to offer you a free pound of powder I purchased. I am a sucker for a deal so when I heard of this new powder from Powder by the pound, Mirror Green I went to their website and found it "On Sale" if I purchased 3 or more I got it for 1/3 off. Well I was at check out and found shipping would be almost 20 $ but if I purchased 99$ worth I get free shipping (Another Deal......) well I figured out it was better to spend money for powder than shipping so I ended up with 7 lbs and I just do not think I will live long enough to use it all. Would you like a pound for free? Its directions state 400 degrees for 10 min not 20. I just tried it at 200 degrees for 10 min and it did a fine job. I used your advise and was only coating 10 bullets so I tried 200 degrees. They were 19 when I tested the hardness and passed the hammer test. I will never use it all so if you want one to try out I would be happy to send it to you.

[@elvisammo]

Thanks Barn Dweller! I sent you a PM to your channel! Thanks for the feed back and for the powder offer! : )

[@Rod7355]

Awesome video Elvis. Have you heard of making rubber bullets

[@bigracer3867]

And i believe you are more in the hypothesis stage than theory stage. :)

[@T.A.B.Videos]

Good info Elvis,

[@elvisammo]

thanks again treesablowin!!

[@r2com641]

Elvis is my ammo star! 🌟 💖

[@elvisammo]

Man... I like to hear that Rtwo Comm...! I'm Not feeling it.. But at least i'm hearing it!!! : )

[@shadowcat3163]

Makes sense, you are heating them up to the point they temper and lose the crystalized set of the lead. Sort of annealing the lead after the fact.

[@briansouth9325]

Saves time and electricity too

[@hokehinson5987]

Wondering if powder coating produces advanced wear on barrel. Paper patch bullets wear the barrel though one would think paper wears hard iron or steel? But people have written about it. Wonder if whatever the coating is made from will produce accelerated barrel wear? For the average hunter shooting a few rou ds to check zero then whatever is shot during probably not. Hobby shooters shooting few hundred a month...probably but serious shooters shooting 500 a week maybe do....

[@RickFulks]

All water quaking bullets does is for a case hardening on them a surface hardening and when you size them you whipe that hardness off

[@edjecollins4141]

Good stuff, buddy!

[@elvisammo]

Edje Collins ... thankya brother! pretty good stuff here! ; )

[@deltaskyhawk]

check the powder's safety data sheet. It will tell you the melt temperature for the powder. Some powders melt at 120C/250F or less. Less experimentation required. Depends on how much flow you want.

[@toml802]

First thought...Those blue ones look really consistent!

[@HanstheTraffer]

And more also. there is a good thread going on in castboolits right now about adding copper to your alloy to toughen the bullet. Very cool. The method is that copper replaces zinc in the alloy. So you have to have some zinc in the lead to be able to add copper... more interesting zinc news there.

[@elvisammo]

Hey Hans Pcguy, yeah been thinking about a mix like this, Didn't know there was a thread.. i'll see if I can find it. A interesting subject!

[@tbrn8617]

Hans Pcguy I tried the copper adding as suggested on cast boolits by using copper phosphate as a sort of flux. My pills came out pretty nice. Haven't tested hardness but they seemed harder while sizing and also noted a slight weight increase.

[@Johnny-jr2lq]

Yes sir I’ll definitely be doing this soon enough I just have to get a set of handles for my Rcbs 150gr SWC mold

[@oldager1662]

Elvis. You can get up to about 30 BHN if you do this: cook them at about 470 for one hour after powder coat and sizing. Quench. Wait about a week. There you go.

[@cobia1794]

Old reply here! Current method is cast, quench, coat/bake 400/20min, quench, gc /size, load. You are the first I've heard to heat treat after coating! I cast 300g for my 454 w g/c, coww alloy, coated and really want it harder, and have been wondering about that. Does it burn/degrade the coating, or change dimension? Only problem, my toaster says 450deg max...

[@goswald04]

Arsenic? You are making poison bullets now! +1 on the quench. Ive been doing this for a year with good results.

[@nycreloader]

goswald04 yeah God forbid you poison anyone that you shoot with your bullets. I think if you shoot an intruder with the entire magazine they won't die of arsenic poisoning. So it's less of a concern.

[@jake4x41982]

Ure the man once again I also had been wondering about the elephant in the room . Good job

[@Mr102373]

Good info going to try this.

[@TheReloaderDude]

I been looking into this subject myself. I was wondering if just water quenching at the higher temp would keep it from changing the BHN.

[@elvisammo]

hey The Reloader Dude... Water quenching after powder coating does nothing for the BHN. But it would be possible to heat treat them close to the melting point for a couple hours or more. Then quench.

[@marka9484]

How long am I going to have to watch this before I know what this is about?

[@jima28080]

If you want quick concise explanations you might want to find another channel. If you do stick around you will learn something!

[@TheTechGuider]

Here's an idea...What if after you take them out of the oven you re-water quench them. I know they wouldn't be as hot as they would be when casting but it might help retain some BHN. Just a thought.

[@elvisammo]

Great Idea... But I tried and checked BHN no change at all ... : (

[@monkeyship74401]

Well Thats Just Great..... How do I explain to my wife that I need new equipment if the old stuff will work???? Thanks for the info. I guess I need to get casting again and try this method. See you at the range, and stay safe.

[@elvisammo]

Hey monkeyship74401... You just have to tell the wife it's like the equivalent of a product that makes ya look ten years younger!! She'll understand! : )

[@tires2burn]

This is very interesting. Why do the powder companies say 400 deg for 12 minutes.

[@jacobackley502]

20 min is a bit overkill. If you want to see exactly how much time you need, get powder coat "clear" and coat some bullets. They'll appear Snow white, then when you cook them sit and watch. They'll go from snow, to wet looking, to normal lead in just a couple minutes. You can watch in real time how long they actually need to cook.

[@briansouth9325]

I'm a firm believer in the E.A.R.R.L. methods

[@elvisammo]

Brian South Thank ya brother. .. I hope you don't regret that! ; ) but your power bill will drop! ; )

[@meesterp]

Have you tried using Hi Tek 'powder' coating? The powder is mixed with a little acetone. It's Ultra easy to get a real nice thin even coat. You can do multiple coats for size as needed. I've been using it on tumble Lube Style bullets and really liked it. I think is a test I might put some regular Powder Coating in acetone and see how that stuff responds to it.

[@graywolf9876]

thank you for the video. great info.