Powder that coat well in one coat

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
I am currently using white aluminum powder from Smoke. It seems to always need 2 coats to really work well. I would prefer a powder that gives good coverage with one coat.

Suggestions? Powder willlikely be ordered from Smoke, it is just too easy to go that route.
Wild colors need not apply.
 

Hawk

North Central Texas
I use his Black. Black PC'ed bullets just look bad a$$ to me. Just takes one coat.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
green, red, clear, and blue.
yellow is splotchy.
silver greys do good, and orange is usually okay.
 

Wasalmonslayer

Well-Known Member
If you would like to try some dark grey I have a few extra #’s I could bag some up for you to try.
It costs super easy with shake n bake
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
I think the jet black will work. Carolina Blue is just too Carolina blue. Jet black will make a much better looking bullet.
 

Wasalmonslayer

Well-Known Member
I have tried several and this grey I have is fantastic!
Just pm me your shipping info and I’ll head some your way sir.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
if it's the same grey I have it's worth getting.
it looks like an aged lead bullet, and flows out super nice.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Bacon Grease is supposed to be good, too. Black as always been a little more difficult for me with shake/bake, the key is use the highest gloss you can get regardless of color.

My best luck has come from a milky blue (not sure exact color) Polyester TGIC gloss from Powderbuythepound. Their 350°F cure Kawasaki Green has been pretty good, too.
 

mattw

Active Member
Carolina Blue and the wet look black are the best for coating in 1 pass. He has a new dark red that does very well, just takes a longer shake.
 

popper

Well-Known Member
I have his original black and red, red is great but the black goes on pretty thick. Looks a lot like the blue above. I prefer the thinner red which seems to flow better.
 

RKJ

Active Member
I like his black mixed with a little of the bacon grease. It gives a lightly speckled gray. Goes on good and 1 coat coverage.
 

wquiles

Well-Known Member
Do you guys use the "shake and bake" method? That is how I PC mine, but I never can get perfect coverage in one pass as those nice looking 22-cal bullets above.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
I am shaking in a cleaned out Coolwhip container. I do not currently use any BB’s. I shake and swirl for 30-40 seconds them dump on a mesh screen for baking.

I have tried more powder and I do not get better coating, I just end up with more powder in the bottom of the container.

I do believe that the specific powder, and color, used makes all the difference in the world. Some powders just give a better coating with our methods than others.
 

wquiles

Well-Known Member
Thanks Brad. I will start my own thread to share my photos and process so that you guys can perhaps give me additional guidance.
 

Ian

Notorious member
I found one way that works (copied what someone somewhere wrote years ago) and stuck with it. If I deviate too much, it doesn't work, so I didn't bother to do too much other experimentation.

The shaking technique seems to be the whole secret for the poly powder I use. Things that have to be "right" are bullet to bb ratio, and powder ratio. Also, the residual powder and lead dust needs to be cleaned out periodically for best results, about every 15-20 batches for me. I use a sandwich container with snap flaps and silicone seal, and about three BBs deep. BB weight has made virtually no difference for me. No more than 80 .22 bullets and no more than 25 45/70-500 bullets at a time. "Toss" the mix so the contents slaps the lid and sides of the container mildly for about a full minute, then about half a dozen very hard, straight up/down shakes to really slam everything around. End on a down stop and let everything sit where it fell. Open lid and inspect. If there are lots of dings/pits showing lead, repeat the toss a few times and end end with the hard slams again. Eventually an even coat appears with very, very few defects. After picking the good ones, shake again a few times and pick more. Usually twice gets it, but near the end with few bullets the coating can get very fuzzy and thick when re-shaking, so be careful "overshaking" them. Pick with small needlenose pliers and tap every single one a couple of times hard on the lip of the container (hit with the hinge area of the pliers) to shake excess as a QC measure. Set on bases on non-stick foil stretched over a thin piece of sheet metal and bake.

The way I do it as described above, if you take a finished bullet out and wipe off the powder, the bullet surface will appear the color of freshly-broken cast iron and will have a surface texture similar to bead-blasted aluminum. I believe the abrasion of the oxide layer and the surface texture created by a brisk and extended shaking make for superior adhesion and depth of coating, as if the paint is actually embedded into the surface of the bullet.