Powder Coat Deterioration on bullets

Powder coating on bullets deteriorates when in smokeless powder for months.
Powder Coated Bullet Warning - Good Powder Gone Bad!
mannyCA
Published on Aug 13, 2018
• Video
go to 5:27 Bullseye powder first test.
Powder Coated Bullets - Effects and Cautions Part 2
mannyCA
Published on Aug 19, 2018
• Video
go to 2:07
Having fun with reloading, bullet casting, and shooting.
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[@bjung8858]

I'm going to seal a PC bullet in Alox and see if the BE will penetrate it and react to the PC. If not, I'll paint the bottom of my PC bullet with Alox for LT storage of my PC loaded ammo. If the BE NG penetrates Alox, then a paper base might work.

[@davidycedo1606]

I Have loaded bullets dating back to 1982 with red dot 9mm 45acp 38/357s lead hard cast they fired fine and my 6 year old rounds loaded with promo fire just fine. Powder coated.

[@davidnave4349]

P.S. if the powder coating got warm enough the powder will stick to it. it is a polymer that adheres with heat. something that would never happen unless you were careless enough to leave loaded ammo on the dash or something.

[@ericlaird7508]

I made some Lee .45 acp round nose bullet's and powder coated them with RED Harbor Frieght powder coat ...must have made over 3000 of them over the summer a couple of year's back...the last 150 or so have been smoking and squibing.......the powder I use is LongShot and I love it....tore down a few and sure enough the powder coat and even some of the lead bullet itself is decomposing....

[@theronroberts5573]

I find a few of these comments about deteriorating codings and lead bullets deteriorating. To me is a very troubling issue. So what this is telling me is I need to have a single reloading kit for each bullet that I really need to hang on to. Especially for S. H. T. F. I'm sure glad I watched this video and read all these comments.

[@robertlozanosr9311]

Thanks for sharing your test and results

[@silaslongshot941]

Interesting test. Not exactly the 'norm' for storing loaded ammo with such extreme temp ranges. I suspect summer temps inside that black bag probably exceeded 130 - 140°F which would for sure started messing with the chemistry of both the powder and the coating. You could solve the sticking issue, if you commonly stored ammo near a commercial oven like that, by installing aluminum gas checks on the bases of your bullets. Maybe the powder wouldn't react to the aluminum at 140°F

[@georgiaboy4410]

Good test, I remember seeing those videos. I’ve not had any trouble with my powder coat but I don’t store much loaded ammo long term. I try to just stockpile the components. Good stuff to be aware of👍🏻

[@peteralexben]

under to much heat, the double based powder can sweat out the nitro glycerin looks like oil ,that`s why you have to keep powder at a cool constant temperature dry environment not freezing (and ammo too) ,and if jou powder coat and not at the base(you need a static load powder spray gun then) then there`s no gun powder in contact with the powdercoat by the way you had some grenades at hand with the powder in a glas container :-) yours peter

[@ericlaird7508]

Thank you for the content of your video's, I have loaded up 3000 round's of .45 ACP..with HOGDONS LONGSHOT......worked flawlessly, I shot all but maybe 200 or so last summer..this year I took the remainder out to go shooting and every other round was a smoker or a squib load...it was not the way I loaded them...the Harbor frieght "RED" paint is the problem, I believe, not sure though.........when I pulled them apart the paint had been eaten off the bullet and ...even the lead was begining to get eaten apart!......I can no longer trust these anymore for storage, load em and shoot em, but dont store em for any length of time, at least with Harbor frieght "RED" and using HOGDONS LONGSHOT,obviously the type of powder coating and smokeless powder combination are of importance!...KEEP ON ROCKING IT!....RogerRevo.......

[@jonanderson1519]

Why put bullets in loose powder. I can understand concern with loaded a mo.

[@rooster3019]

The pattern of white residue on bottom of jars seems to match the inner margins of the lid seals. Store ammo in a cool temperature controlled area and all is good.

[@michaeldickerson873]

I’m pretty certain that I would not be storing bullets in a hot environment like experienced from sitting out in the sun for some 8 months. I store in climatized controlled temperatures. Just sayin’……

[@l.a.3887]

Good testing

[@JeffinTD]

I’d heard some of this. Rather than what is going on in a jar in a back yard, I’m more interested in what happens in loaded ammunition stored in typical conditions. I had some older LFB coated Tightgroup loads and I pulled a few. Might be some softening of the coating on the base, but they continue to function just fine.

[@mybuickskill6979]

I do believe there are different chemicals used in different powder coats, like vinyl and acrylic and such. It may be the certain powder coat components react differently with some gun powders. For instance a single base powder may do well with a certain powder coat that would mess up with a double based powder. Also I do believe the two powders you tried( gun powders) were double based, they might have different arresting components which may act differently. That red thought... That red would be a good go to powder 🤔😎

[@davidnave4349]

inconclusive the sticking is from your lube maybe . the ring in the bottom is caused from the compound separation of the powder due to heat and cold contraction and expansion . Great video though. thank you.

[@timothybagrowski643]

I'm late to the game here, Just getting starting in casting for Modern firearms and planning to powder Coat, Good info here, I've been casting since the 70's for Black Powder, No idea why I never went the next step, But I guess better late than never.

[@hh928]

If you save your cases and can get lead ((hardened), loads can be relatively cheap. For quiet a few people, powder coating is cheap and quick .

[@leveractiongypsy1848]

It would seem that the Bullseye bullets all showed deterioration - except one - and you mentioned that one was PCd with what you thought was a different powder? It would make sense that differnt PCs have different compositions and it appears to make a difference with certain powders. Then with gunpowder we have double base and single base. I'd say further testing with different PCs of different compositions all on Bullseye and see if you find one that wont break up. Then do the same test with Unique. What about IMR stick powders? One other thing I would do is triple ziplock bag to insure air contact wont be a consideration. Maybe bury them in an ammo can about a foot down.I'll bet it comes down to certain PC powders do - and certain PC powders dont

[@roger_revo]

You make a good point. Thanks for the suggestions .

[@nathenstoneburgh7298]

Should have tried burning the powder...may have been damaged but not visually evident.

[@hh928]

Good idea! Thanks

[@blueeyephil]

Would have been nice to have had some lead, non coated bullets in another jar to see if it's the gunpowder itself or powdercoat in combo with gunpowder. Thanks for your study.

[@anankekashada1991]

Inconclusive. Not a true scientific test. No control. No specific data. Temps, times, etc. Thanks for your opinion though. We all have them, so no disrespect. Don't scare off the people wanting to PC though either. Blessings.

[@svernwarunos546]

Mannyca did that video

[@paynectygardener2033]

Are both of these powders double base? If Bullseye is double base and Unique single base, I wonder if the nitroglycerin in Bullseye powder would cause the sticking.

[@roger_revo]

Yes they are double base powders.

[@hh928]

Interesting video. Something to think about. More questions come up.

[@DimaProk]

I think this test is unrealistic. The companies warn you to store your powder / ammo in cool place out of the sun. It's hard to say if the smokeless powder is deteriorating or the powder coat or contact with both. Now the true test would be to load the ammo, store it for a year under normal conditions and shoot it or take it apart and I would say if you're concerned get ammo boxes and store them up right and it won't be a problem. Every time I go to the range I pickup empty plastic boxes like Fiocchi, they make perfect storage containers and reloading trays for my 223/221/300blk/7.62x40WT cases. I had one person order a flat base gas check that you punch from pop can to put on the bullet because of this. For a long term storage that's an option too.

[@roger_revo]

You make a good point. We’d seen a KZbin video where someone had done something similar and got quite a bit of “oily residue.” It didn’t seem right so I tried a really harsh test, thinking it might disprove his results. Unfortunately, he was right and “some sort of reaction “ under harsh conditions actually did generate some oily residue. Personally, I agree with you that under reasonable storage conditions it’s unlikely to make much difference.

[@bustabass9025]

I think this was a huge waste of time and effort, that substantiated or disproved absolutely nothing. Bullets seated on powder will hardly contaminate the load to the extent of rendering the round useless, or compromising the firearm, coated or lubed. The contact is minimal and is no different than trying to prove that the lead will oxidize after prolonged exposure to air...So What?

[@boozeandbullets2084]

yeah bullseye is a powder eater

[@davidunderwood3605]

I beleave its the powder leaching it chemical compounds. Powder manufactures and powder measure manufacturers tell you not to leave powders in the hoppers when not in use. It will degrade the powder and etch the hopper. The heat may have caused a seperation of the nitro glycerin in the bullseye. Also powder manufacturers allways tell you to store powder in a cool dry place in it's origanal container to prevent degradation of the powder. You should have smelled the powder in the jars before dumping them to see if they smelled acrid. This an indicator of degradation. Nitro glycerin is oily. This may be the cause of flakes sticking to your bullets and breaking down the powder coating. Talk to the powder manufacturer about this. Also there is a new powder on the market just for coated bullets. Its call sport pistol. It's sometimes hard to find. Its been on the market for about 2 or 3 years. It's designed to not effect the coating of the bullet after its an assembled round. Specifically designed to not eat the coating on the bottom of the bullet and burn it of during firing.

[@grmps8927]

curious about what temperature and how long you baked these bullets

[@roger_revo]

After much experimentation, we settled on 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Much longer than that at that temperature and you risk some minor lead melting. Less than 20 minutes seemed to give a softer coating. All bullets were quenched in water. These bullets easily sized in both Star and Lyman lubrisizers as well as the Lee sizer without any flaking of coating, giving a nice smooth finish. Out of curiosity we even lubed some of the powder coated bullets but made no comparative tests. Bullets were just piled on a silicone pad and not set up individually on their bases. Very few bullets stuck together and coatings were good. Frankly, we were surprised to see any sign of an oily residue. The lesson for us was than powder coated bullets work quite well but we will not be using them in loads that would be stored for any length of time.

[@Captndan99]

Thank you for doing this test. I don't use Bullseye, but I use a bunch of Unique. Where do you buy your powder coating from? I use EastWood.

[@roger_revo]

www.powderbuythepound.com/

[@fracturedhearts3734]

Oh yeah you pored out enough powder to blast that stump out of the ground.

[@roger_revo]

Probably, but the gunpowder will be used to fertilize the garden.

[@fracturedhearts3734]

Hey waste not want not as they say.

[@fracturedhearts3734]

What does powder coating do? I mean it cool looking but is it really beneficial ? Also do you get any tracer like effects?

[@roger_revo]

The powder coating keeps the cast lead bullet from leading the bore. No tracer effects. There are many videos about powder coating bullets on KZbin. Take a look.

[@fracturedhearts3734]

The makes cent but would not get powdering of the bore? But anywho Bummer on the no tracer thing.

[@roger_revo]

I have not seen the powder coat sticking to the bore.

[@colsoncustoms8994]

@@fracturedhearts3734 when you heat the powder coat it all melts into a coating. starts out as a powder, melts and hardens into a solid layer. I've actually heard it can clean the bore out, although I can't speak to that personally.

[@fracturedhearts3734]

@Colson Customs I know how its applied. Still seem like if you loaded with a shot cup it would color your barrel. Some reloader's load larger buckshot like that. . Thanks for the reply