Ammunition & Hand Loading > Cartridge and Shotshell reloading
Powder Coating Lead Bullets
GreyGeek:
Pardon my ignorance ... Is powder coating lead bullets cheaper than buying Copper jacketed bullets, or making Copper jacketed bullets?
unfy:
--- Quote from: GreyGeek on April 11, 2013, 08:34:29 AM ---Pardon my ignorance ... Is powder coating lead bullets cheaper than buying Copper jacketed bullets, or making Copper jacketed bullets?
--- End quote ---
Jacketed bullets aint cheap. Well, still makes hand loads 1/2 or less the cost of factory ammo (for pistol... save even more for rifle).... but compared to lead or plated/gilded... they aint cheap.
Berry's bullets are pretty cheap, they're copper plated...
Lead bullets are even cheaper.
Casting your own lead bullets ? Dirt cheap assuming you have inexpensive supply of lead. At $2-$3 a pound for lead, that's between 5 and 6 cents a bullet. There are cheaper places to get lead than those prices though.
Powdercoating - you can get a pound of powder coat powder for $5. That $5 coats ALOT of bullets. There are more expensive powders ($10-$20 is fairly normal) too if ya really have to go that route.
So, yes... powder coating your cast bullets is cheaper.
More importantly though - it removes the leading factor / problem for lead bullets.
Well, at least in standard pistol cartridges it does.... and I've not noticed any particular drop in precision / accuracy.
Been varying degrees of success with rifle (some folks lose any form of accuracy, some do wonderfully).
We'll have to see what bradkroll gets out of his s&w 500 :).
Lastly, customizing ammo is fun.... as is tinkering.
bkoenig:
Brad - I use aluminum gas checks on cast rifle bullets with no problems. I buy them from thegascheckstore.com. I thought about buying a DIY tool but they're cheap enough that it wasn't worth it to me.
unfy:
Off topic, but i've looked into making own primers as well... or reloading existing primers. Can be done, but the only 'simple' mixture for ease-at-home and not too special ends up being corrosive primers (not a problem assuming you clean your gun after every range trip or day of hunting). Was going to take this further into looking into reloading 22lr heh.
I'm currently steering clear of it - got too many other things I'm working on ... and it requires a lot more attention to detail than I think I can easily give it at the moment.
Completely practical ? Not necessarily (although continued ammo and component shortages are making it more so). Very feasible, yes. Fun in customizing your ammo more completely ? Oh yes. Having more control from start to finish... or rather doing more of it yourself can be fun.
GreyGeek:
Thanks for the info, Unfy.
BTW, I really enjoy your postings about your experimentation, and they've been highly informative as well. They make me wish I still had a brain.
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