Powder Coating Bullets To Increase Diameter And Or To Protect Plating.

[arakboss]

These .257 beauties are thicc, I might have to run them in a 308

 

[arakboss]

I might have went a little overboard with three coats, the last coat being applied to hot bullets?



13 mils of film build




11 mils of film build

 

[gsteele531]

This thread is spot on for a question I've had for a while. There are two different rounds that represent challenges for my reloading - .303 British and 6.5x52 Carcano. I suspect that 8mm Mauser has a similar problem, but 8mm .323" bullets are widely available in 150 to 220 grain.

In the former case, however, there are a few .311 diameter bullets available, ranging from 125 to 180 grain - unlike the case for .308, for which the variety available is dizzying, in weights from 90 to 220 grain, and in every BC and bullet composition configuration imaginable. If powder coating can be made to compensate for the groove diameter difference, that opens up a world of - in particular - lightweight plinking bullets and frangible to use in the notoriously battering .303 "Jungle Carbine," one of which I have but shoot less than I'd like both because of ammo and bullet availability.

In the case of the 6.5x52 Carcano, although it is described as a 6.5 mm, the groove diameter of the barrel is actually .268" rather than the typical .264" 6.5mm barrel groove depth, making .264' diameter 6.5 mm bullets a loose and inaccurate fit. The only bullet available is a .267' diameter 160 grain Hornady round nose, which is a) heavy, and b) round nosed - the latter characteristic being suboptimal in ballistic coefficient compared to the typical 6.5 mm aerodynamic bullets that it would be far preferable to use. So: this powder coating idea to increase bullet diameter is something to be explored!

 

[dangerranger60]

Have you thought about swaging the bullets a size or two up? Machine yourself a top punch to match the bullet nose and use the body of a push through sizer to open the sides of the bullet in an arbor or hydraulic press. and then run them through the sizing die in your reloading press to finish them off. DR

 

[gsteele531]

Have you thought about swaging the bullets a size or two up? Machine yourself a top punch to match the bullet nose and use the body of a push through sizer to open the sides of the bullet in an arbor or hydraulic press. and then run them through the sizing die in your reloading press to finish them off. DR

I've always thought of swaging down when it comes to resizing bullets - for example, making lightweight .30 plinkers out of .32 auto bullets for varmints and the like. The mechanics of deformation in sizing down would seem to retain and reinforce the jacket:lead bond, maintaining the integrity of the bullet - whereas swaging up would seem to require the lead to flow out to the new, larger diameter, and with a complex shape like a spitzer boattail, lead to an unpredictable result. I suppose with a simpler bullet shape like an open-base ball round it could be done - for the .303 British or 7.62x39 AK round, for example. You'd need a variety of top punches to handle all the different ogives of the 6.5 mm long-range, high BC bullets, though. Coating seems a more general solution.

 

[dangerranger60]

I've always thought of swaging down when it comes to resizing bullets - for example, making lightweight .30 plinkers out of .32 auto bullets for varmints and the like. The mechanics of deformation in sizing down would seem to retain and reinforce the jacket:lead bond, maintaining the integrity of the bullet - whereas swaging up would seem to require the lead to flow out to the new, larger diameter, and with a complex shape like a spitzer boattail, lead to an unpredictable result. I suppose with a simpler bullet shape like an open-base ball round it could be done - for the .303 British or 7.62x39 AK round, for example. You'd need a variety of top punches to handle all the different ogives of the 6.5 mm long-range, high BC bullets, though. Coating seems a more general solution.

Up until I retired I had access to a lathe, mill, and all the tooling. At that time I could turn a top or bottom punch in just a few min. for swaging up just a few thousands I got pretty predictable results. for flat bottom bullets I used a ball or dome as the bottom punch. it helped to get more predictable results. DR

 

[orygun]

I can appreciate the thought behind this thread. It's really interesting. Personally I could see great use of fattened up .308 bullets in a .311 bore.
But why in the world, @arakboss , are you using hard to find bullets (.257) in a common (6.5) bore?

 

[arakboss]

I can appreciate the thought behind this thread. It's really interesting. Personally I could see great use of fattened up .308 bullets in a .311 bore.
But why in the world, @arakboss , are you using hard to find bullets (.257) in a common (6.5) bore?

6.5 lead bullets are hard to find.