Kentucky Armory Club

I will be posting step-by-step instructions for powder coating bullets over the next few days. Powder coating a cast bullet eliminates the need for lube. The powder coat (PC) acts like a jacket, preventing the lead from coming in contact with the bore. I can cast and PC bullets for 45 Colt or 44 Special for less than 4 cents each. Loading 50 rounds costs about $5 compared to $40-$50 for factory ammo.

Equipment needed:
1.Toaster oven (can find at yard sales for $10 or $30-$40 new in stores)
2. Plastic Cool Whip or sour cream bowl and lid. Must have #5 in recycle triangle on bottom
3. Polymer TGIC powder
4. Non-stick aluminum foil or baskets made from wire mesh. I made several baskets from 1/4" hardware cloth from Lowe's. Unfortunately it only comes in a 25' roll.
5. An oven thermometer ($5 at Walmart). Actual toaster oven temps can be 50° different than dial temperature setting.
6. Black airsoft BBs. Other colors may work, but black seems to work best.

Great idea, Swede.

Bigger thrift stores (Saint Vincent de Paul, Goodwill) are great places to check for project appliances... blenders/toaster ovens you don't have to worry about.

I buy my powder from this guy. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthr ... r-For-sale


I have also bought powder from "Powder by the pound" dot com. Make sure you buy TGIC polymer powder.
Some people use Harbor Freight powder, but many have had poor results.
1 pound of powder costs $12-$15 and can coat 10-15,000 bullets.

The baskets I made

Powder and BBs from link posted above.

#5 in triangle on bottom of sour cream bowl. This type of plastic is needed to produce static to make paint stick to bullets. The airsoft BBs help produce static too. Some people do not use the BBs, but I get better results with the BBs.

Place BBs in a clean bowl, 2 layers deep.

Add about 50 bullets ( these are 45 cal. 255 gr.). Note this bowl has powder left from previous batch.

Add 1 or 2 teaspoons of your favorite powder. One teaspoon = 5 cc.
Place lid on container.
Shake up & down a few times & in a circular motion for 30-40 seconds.

Using tweezers, place bullets in a basket, making sure they do not touch another bullet.

Carefully place in toaster oven preheated to 375-400°.

Allow 5-10 minutes for bullets to get up to temperature, then leave in for 10-15 additional minutes.

Take basket of bullets out of the oven and allow to cool. When bullets are cool, they can be removed from basket.

It is normal for bullets to stick to the basket. Resulting marks do not affect the coating.

I take one bullet from each batch and smash it with a hammer (you can also use a vise). This is done to verify powdercoat has properly adhered to the bullet. No chipping or peeling should occur.

Here is a bullet recovered from being shot into a box of magazines & catalogs. Note the coating did not chip off even though the bullet was deformed.

Learn something new every day. Good stuff

Very well done. Thanks.

Hmmmm, what else could this be applied to??? This has my imagination whirring! Thanks, Swede!! Awesome.

I've always understood it's ok if they touch when baking. Just dump them on the tray and bake. Then break them apart with a hammer or dropping them.

Out of curiosity, can you place them upright? That way you can fit more and if any powder sticks to the pan it comes off the bottom where it doesn't touch the barrel. This is a legitimate question, not a criticism.

Some people just pile them together and break them apart after baking. Some people stand the bullets upright in a cake pan or cookie sheet. There are several ways to do this. Use whatever method you prefer.

Would this make the safe to shoot out of a Glock ?

Originally (4 years ago) people would stand bullets up and use an electrostatic spray gun to apply the paint. Someone came up with the idea of swirling the bullets & paint in a bowl. This is a new process and new methods are being created almost daily.