Guns & Outdoors Forum

Sorry no pics, only vids that I can't post here...

Son-in-law and I went to the desert to try new toys/loads including his new Garmin Chrono. First off, I LOVE THAT DAMN GARMIN!!! And it's even better when someone else pays for it and you get to use it anytime you want.

He's been playing with loads for new toys so we worked our way through a bunch of test loads before he commits to loading a few thousand rounds of each.

We tried a .45 Colt 200gr FP at 800fps out of multiple Single actions. Super pleasant to shoot and very accurate load that hits POA with all 3 gun I tried it in. Uberti 1873 in 4.75 and 7.5" barrels and a 7" Schofield. That was a good warm-up and will be a great SASS load for me.

The we moved up to a Ruger Super Blackhawk 7.5" and tested 240Gr FPs at 1,200fps. Very comfortable to shoot with good enough recoil to let you know you shot something but not a killer. Also very accurate.

Then we got serious with the .480 Ruger loaded with 400gr SWC loaded to 1,100fps. That let you know you touched off something but still really comfortable with the Bisley grip frame. I might actually get to like those. Found out you really need to crimp that round/load hard, last bullet of the cylinder crept out far enough to lock the cylinder.

And last but not least we unleashed the beast, 10.5" S&W 500 Mag Performance Center revolver pushing 440gr FPs to 1,500fps. That gun was a total surprise because the only 500 I've ever played with was my old 4" original model. While it was NOT a pussycat, it was REALLY manageable and very accurate!

My SIL was busy religiously writing down numbers, groups etc. I was too busy giggling like a little girl every time a gallon of water got vaporized and launched into orbit.

The whole point of this post is that EVERY one of the bores was clean, and I don't meat like oh, look, no leading. Nope, I mean CLEAN as if I was shooting FMJ's through the damned guns!!! He bore scoped all the guns today and not just no lead, not even a hint of the fluorescent green PC he used in any the bores. DAMN!

While before I considered PC bullets something of interest, I am now a CONVERT!!!!! None of these were any kind of sexy alloy or specifically hard cast bullets. I asked what he was casting and he said it was literally range recovered lead with no special treatment like quenching and no gas checks. It's just generic stuff extracted from a burm that he bought a few tons of a while back.

Next time he's casting I'm going in to learn his casting/coating routine because I'll be shooting coated bullets pretty much exclusively in the near future.

This boy is SOLD!!!

But but but! Slug the throats! Slug the bore! Only use the exact alloy specific to caliber and speed! ONLY lube with a mixture of extra virgin pig fat, axle grease, (no need to be extra virgin, regular virgin will do) and Utah soaker beeswax!

Otherwise, you’re wasting your time!

I pretty much only load powder coat or copper jacket/ plated bullets. There are a couple of bare lead ones I load from Matt’s Bullets because they are weird, but outside of that… no bare lead

Did you run a brush or patch through the bore after to see what was left over?

CPJ 2.0 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 23, 2025 1:15 am But but but! Slug the throats! Slug the bore! Only use the exact alloy specific to caliber and speed! ONLY lube with a mixture of extra virgin pig fat, axle grease, (no need to be extra virgin, regular virgin will do) and Utah soaker beeswax!

Otherwise, you’re wasting your time!

Well he did rub the PC coating smooth using the harvested foreskins of Crimean orphans…

Japhy wrote: ↑Wed Apr 23, 2025 1:50 am Did you run a brush or patch through the bore after to see what was left over?

Did you read the post?

Wambli Ska wrote: ↑Wed Apr 23, 2025 1:51 am

CPJ 2.0 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 23, 2025 1:15 am But but but! Slug the throats! Slug the bore! Only use the exact alloy specific to caliber and speed! ONLY lube with a mixture of extra virgin pig fat, axle grease, (no need to be extra virgin, regular virgin will do) and Utah soaker beeswax!

Otherwise, you’re wasting your time!

Well he did rub the PC coating smooth using the harvested foreskins of Crimean orphans…

I KNEW IT!

Casting can’t be as easy as casting, coating, loading.

Yep measuring vs eyeballing

Japhy wrote: ↑Wed Apr 23, 2025 1:50 am Did you run a brush or patch through the bore after to see what was left over?

No he went straight to the bore scope and happily declared no cleaning needed.

CPJ 2.0 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 23, 2025 1:57 am

Wambli Ska wrote: ↑Wed Apr 23, 2025 1:51 am

CPJ 2.0 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 23, 2025 1:15 am But but but! Slug the throats! Slug the bore! Only use the exact alloy specific to caliber and speed! ONLY lube with a mixture of extra virgin pig fat, axle grease, (no need to be extra virgin, regular virgin will do) and Utah soaker beeswax!

Otherwise, you’re wasting your time!

Well he did rub the PC coating smooth using the harvested foreskins of Crimean orphans…

I KNEW IT!

Casting can’t be as easy as casting, coating, loading.

Exactly! Can’t give folks the wrong impression…

I do have a mild case of Magnum knuckle today

Poor baby...
I'll let you touch off a couple through my 45-70 Contender. It will, and HAS drawn blood when I forgot what I was about to touch off and put the index finger of my off-hand behind the hook on the trigger guard.
Sometimes stupid DOES hurt

CPJ 2.0 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 23, 2025 1:15 am But but but! Slug the throats! Slug the bore! Only use the exact alloy specific to caliber and speed! ONLY lube with a mixture of extra virgin pig fat, axle grease, (no need to be extra virgin, regular virgin will do) and Utah soaker beeswax!

Otherwise, you’re wasting your time!

PC works, but I think the only way I'd consider getting into that toaster oven process is if supressors suddenly started falling out of the sky in California.

Tumble lube molds are the mass-producer's friend.

Curious to see if anyone catches it.

If you caught it, you caught it.

Just trying to out my freaks.

I'm assuming the PC adds some to the diameter. Do they have to be run through a sizer after they're coated?

I run them through a Lee Sizing Die, unlubed because the PC is plenty slick. I did it under advisement because I use a plastic tub and shake, and they're probably not tound when you do them that way.

I would imagine someone who knew their way around a lathe or milling machine could fabricobble something, but I ain't a machinist.

Justsomedude wrote: ↑Wed Apr 23, 2025 4:37 pm I'm assuming the PC adds some to the diameter. Do they have to be run through a sizer after they're coated?

Yes.
Well, I do at least.

Bigslug wrote: ↑Wed Apr 23, 2025 2:57 am

CPJ 2.0 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 23, 2025 1:15 am But but but! Slug the throats! Slug the bore! Only use the exact alloy specific to caliber and speed! ONLY lube with a mixture of extra virgin pig fat, axle grease, (no need to be extra virgin, regular virgin will do) and Utah soaker beeswax!

Otherwise, you’re wasting your time!

PC works, but I think the only way I'd consider getting into that toaster oven process is if supressors suddenly started falling out of the sky in California.

Tumble lube molds are the mass-producer's friend.

Unless you're using a Harbor Freight small commercial cement mixer as your tumbler you are not "mass-producer" like my SIL is... He held an ammo manufacturer FFL for many years so we use his leftover business equipment to cast and load.

His last Starline order was $8,000 and he runs two motorized Dillon 1050s at the same time. Bullets are cast on two commercial Bullet Caster machines. He won't fire them up unless he's ready to do a 1-5,000 bullet run.

And yet, he coats EVERYTHING he casts, he did it even when he was selling commercially.

Justsomedude wrote: ↑Wed Apr 23, 2025 4:37 pm I'm assuming the PC adds some to the diameter. Do they have to be run through a sizer after they're coated?

Yes they do. Super easy!!!

GrapeApe wrote: ↑Wed Apr 23, 2025 2:41 am Poor baby...
I'll let you touch off a couple through my 45-70 Contender. It will, and HAS drawn blood when I forgot what I was about to touch off and put the index finger of my off-hand behind the hook on the trigger guard.
Sometimes stupid DOES hurt

Oh I do not doubt that your 45-70 is a beast. My bruise was the product of repetitive thumps, not a bad grip. It's all but gone today but the silly grin is still on my face...

Wambli Ska wrote: ↑Thu Apr 24, 2025 12:48 am

Oh I do not doubt that your 45-70 is a beast. <snip>

I'm fairly certain Ernie wouldn't shoot it with a rifle scope (At least not more than once)
It compresses the Pachmayr grip enough that I feel the steel hitting the web of my hand

So what’s the process your SIL uses to powdercoat?

I just dumped them in a plastic bowl and then shake em and bake em. Dump em out on a piece of mesh and into the oven they go.

I’ve got a PC gun, but that’s a lot of work to set them up and spray them.

He shakes them in a bag, bakes them and sizes them. I have not seen the actual process but will do it with him next time he’s casting and coating.

Wambli Ska wrote: ↑Thu Apr 24, 2025 6:01 am He shakes them in a bag, bakes them and sizes them. I have not seen the actual process but will do it with him next time he’s casting and coating.

Cool. I’m curious to see his methods.

Yeah me too, he makes it sound totally painless. He played with lube but said when casting for runs in the thousands of rounds it was just too complicated and “messy”.