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PC cast boolits

I've been using the Harbor Freight red for the last 4 or 5 years on my 38/357 cast rn with pretty good results.
I've just recently used up all of my Alox lubed 9mm boolits so looking forward to some cooler weather to cast and powder coat some 9s this fall.
 
I never used any hf red they say it's ok. To bad hf dont offer red any more. I have been wanting some red I'm about to order some Eastwood mirror red. They say it costs good with the shake and bake method.
I've been using the Harbor Freight red for the last 4 or 5 years on my 38/357 cast rn with pretty good results.
I've just recently used up all of my Alox lubed 9mm boolits so looking forward to some cooler weather to cast and powder coat some 9s this fall.
 
So I did up 660 LYMAN 9MM NEW HP 125gr 356637 #:2650637 and what a process that was.. The mould is very picky and likes to be run HOT & Fast. The boolits it cast's are however are just awesome! I know alloy's have a lot to do with this sorta stuff, but damn if .7gr SD (130.2gr AVG. with WW) & .002" Avg. Length Variance Great! I tried to get a decent photo of them up close. I find it amusing that most all of them have a "Silver Dot" left in the Hollow point.
SilverDots.jpg


I had a question as to using a media tumbler for powder coating. I have read a little online and wanted to know if anyone on here has any experience with it. Time, amount of BB's if necessary, should the boolits go in warm/hot?? I was able to snag a HF 5lb Tumbler yesterday from a trader for $20! If anyone has any experience with using a tumbler for PC which would you recommend I sacrifice? The Frankford Arsenal or the Harbor Freight?
PCTumbler.jpg

I have some HF White left I might give another whirl in one of em'. My mother always said once you go Black, you never go back.. I'm not sure what she was referring too, but if it doesn't work out I could always try cleaning it out with 100% Alcohol. Thanks for any tips in advance, Happy Casting, and Powder coating :)
 
So I did up 660 LYMAN 9MM NEW HP 125gr 356637 #:2650637 and what a process that was.. The mould is very picky and likes to be run HOT & Fast. The boolits it cast's are however are just awesome! I know alloy's have a lot to do with this sorta stuff, but damn if .7gr SD (130.2gr AVG. with WW) & .002" Avg. Length Variance Great! I tried to get a decent photo of them up close. I find it amusing that most all of them have a "Silver Dot" left in the Hollow point.
View attachment 2830241

I had a question as to using a media tumbler for powder coating. I have read a little online and wanted to know if anyone on here has any experience with it. Time, amount of BB's if necessary, should the boolits go in warm/hot?? I was able to snag a HF 5lb Tumbler yesterday from a trader for $20! If anyone has any experience with using a tumbler for PC which would you recommend I sacrifice? The Frankford Arsenal or the Harbor Freight?
View attachment 2830245
I have some HF White left I might give another whirl in one of em'. My mother always said once you go Black, you never go back.. I'm not sure what she was referring too, but if it doesn't work out I could always try cleaning it out with 100% Alcohol. Thanks for any tips in advance, Happy Casting, and Powder coating :)
I have seen both used successfully and let them go for About 15 to 20 min. I use mine a little different. I set a #5 bowl in the tumbler. I will see if I can get a pic. I never had much luck with hf powder. White being the worst coverage of hf colors. Heating the pills before coating helps but the white still came out splotchy. Of the hf colors the red is the best. Did you have any problems with the hollow point filling with powder?
 
This is how I use my tumbler
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I use a sandwich meat plastic container recycle #5
20200920_122136.jpg

Less see if I get this right. #5 is polyethylene it helps create static electricity. I use enough black airsoft bb's just to cover the bottom of the container.
 
Awesome, thanks for the info on tumbling. I never thought of just sticking a bowl in it, I seen some guys wedge them in a Frankford rotary tumbler. I ruled that out as my wet tumbler is a 5gal bucket. I'll just have to fore go the HF White then. I honestly just get tired of shaking/spinning around a container. I work construction and feel like im in good shape but tossing around boolits for 15min. Really does a number on my wrists and forearms. I keep all of my stuff in a climate controlled room and bake in the garage to avoid humidy, but it still seems to take about 2min. Per 2 big handfuls to get good coverage on the shake.

Outta the 660 hollow points I really only had to clean out maybe 20 with the tip of some jewlers tweezers. That Lyman devistator hole is pretty generous. I double ice water dropped them, from mould, and again after baking. I'm eager to see the bhn hardness after a few weeks and of course blastin' some jugs with em'! I've read some reviews that WW work perfect for expansion/fragmentation.

Next up will be some 210+gr .30cals for a buddies sub .300blk and a chance to try out the bowl in tumbler mehod.
 
The best powder I have found is Eastwood's Henry light blue, Henry dark blue, mirror red and smokes powders.
I pour out on a screen to screen the excess powder and give a gentle shake then take tweezers to stand them up on a silicone baking mat. I used parchment paper for a bit but that get wasteful after awhile. They just fall right off the silicone baking mat.
 
I tried the tumbler with some taller #5 containers I have, it worked so so.. I was using a tall round yogurt container and a 2lb sour cream container. I think the space is too confined to allow good tumbling action. I need to get lunch stuff for the week and I'll grab some lunch meat with one of those containers :)

I will most definitely have to try the silicone baking mats, I've been only getting 2/3 uses out of foil and it drives me nuts when it tares off and I need to use a razor to get a chunk off a boolit base. Can the silicone mats be found local or is online the way to go?

The Sherwin williams black is still looking good. I think I will look over the cast boolits forum and get some other colors from smoke (the OD Green I glanced at looked cool). I did these up with WW (217.4gr) Air cooled on drop & bake. We're gonna jug test em' and see if pure would be the way to go. Sitting on top of 15gr of Ramshot Tac for 1,100fps 600ft lbs.

LYMAN210.jpg
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Try the CAST BOOLITS website.... all the info you ever wanna know plus somemore you will never read in a lifetime ! Lol.

Great site for casters, tumblers, whatever. If it is a boolit then it is there!
 
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