My experiments with PC pistol and rifle bullets

Kevin Stenberg

Well-Known Member
Like usual i am late to the party. I skipped ahead from post 106. My usual process is to lube with BLL, install checks, size, shake & bake and resize. I never have had a problem.
 

wquiles

Well-Known Member
OK, making progress. I started by cleaning with soap and "fully" drying the container and the bb's:
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Added initial fresh/new John Deer green Smoke's powder - about 1/2 tablespoon:
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Shake:
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Started with the 180gr LBT:
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Shake:
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Pick each one, tap to remove clumps:
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Close-up:
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Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Looks like plenty of powder to me.
I use non BBS and get a bit less powder sticking but after baking it flows out well.

Maybe try more bullets at one time and see if the coating is a little lighter?
 

wquiles

Well-Known Member
Did all of them. Still need a little more practice, but got good coverage and no clumps on most of them:
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Then did the same with the Lee 155's:
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Unlike before, now that I am not lubing bullets when sizing and installing GC's before PC, now the powder does NOT stick to the bowl:
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Lee's ready to bake:
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wquiles

Well-Known Member
Bake and "air cool" with my fan:
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After cool down:
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Close-up reveals a few imperfections, but no clumps, and none of the problems I was having earlier!
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waco

Springfield, Oregon
I don't even take the time to stand mine up. They just get tossed into a basket and into the oven. I get a few bare spots here and there but it doesn't seem to affect anything.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Mine don’t stand neither. Dump on the wire mesh tray and bake. I get very few bare spots. Hard to tell they ever touched another bullet.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
I use a deeper cup and 'float' the bullets through the BB's.
if my cheeks ain't wiggling I'm not shaking hard enough.
 
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wquiles

Well-Known Member
Here are the Ranch Dog's after ...
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A little too bright (too close to the lamp), but shows a far more even coverage:
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Here is a short clip of how I tap to remove the excess:
YouTube
 

Ian

Notorious member
Try just a little less powder in the container, just a little more shaking, and possibly another layer of BBs to improve the coverage even more and minimize the warts. Basically you got it though.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
bout a tea spoon of powder and around 40-45 bullets.
yep.
I don't use quite that many BB's, but i do use a tall quart size cup so [shrug] close nuff.
 

Rick H

Well-Known Member
I do about the same, but use a nitrile glove on my hand to stand up the bullets. I just make sure there is a little powder on my thumb and forefinger then pick up the bullets to stand them up. No need to mess with tweezers or pliers. It is much faster and much less likely to booger up the coverage than metal implements. I reuse the glove until I tear it or otherwise get tired of messing with it.
 

Ian

Notorious member
I use the nodleneese pliers so I can whack the bullet on the edge of the container and free any excess powder. You can see in my photos that I get a few clumps, but mainly with this red/gold metallic powder which is twice as hard to get right as PBTP light blue or Kawasaki Green.
 

popper

Well-Known Member
Been cooking on a hot plate (with a cover and no PID) for a year or so, ceramic tile, NSAF coated steel plate. Lift the steel plate with pliers and set aside to air cool. Need to make some 'deep frier' type handles so I can set in H2O. Just dumping and I get some PC scraped off when they hit each other. Only a problem for accurate rifle.