I’ve been a caster for some time. I’ve learned to master powder coating as the best alternative to shooting lead. Does anyone in the community powder coat their lead balls for muzzle shooting or is that too taboo?
Has anyone ever done this.
- Thread starter NavyDoc76-80
- Start date
Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:
No reason to. The patch prevents leading.
So to your point KISS? Keep it simple stupid. Makes sense
Only reason I could maybe see is to increase diameter some but seems like a lot of work for that. It may also make it harder for the rifling to impress into the ball also.
True and true but maybe not so much as a rifling issue. Atleast not in a modern weapon but maybe in a musket? Maybe worth an experiment some day. I’ll add it to the list.
I think some of the modern m/l guys do it…
Personally I can’t see the advantage in doing it..
Cleaning the burnt paint from the rifling could be more of an issue than cleaning out the lead…
Personally I can’t see the advantage in doing it..
Cleaning the burnt paint from the rifling could be more of an issue than cleaning out the lead…
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2010
- Messages
- 729
- Reaction score
- 316
Since the ball never touches the bore I cannot see a reason to do this other than to increase the size by a couple of thou.
No, never had that issue. I’ve cast and powder coated thousands of projectiles. From 800 fps in 38spl to 2300fps in .223. Zero powder coat residue. If I shoot it, big bore or small bore, cast and powder coat is just what I do, otherwise it would just be too easy. Ha!I think some of the modern m/l guys do it…
Personally I can’t see the advantage in doing it..
Cleaning the burnt paint from the rifling could be more of an issue than cleaning out the lead…
Last edited:
I’m replying to this because I really am a newbie to shooting musket balls. In my common sense thinking, with the patch the ball really doesn’t engage the rifling right. I can’t see running a patched ball large enough to engage the rifling able to actually stuff all the way down. When I loaded my 45cal the other day, the recommended.020” patch wouldn’t let me do it. Found some linen at .012” which worked. Will try .015” soon. With no patch, the .440 ball enters without resistance and with zero wiggle room. So, when you say never touches the bore, you also mean rifling as well right?
I also powder coat and thought about it for muzzleloader but I can’t see any advantage for round balls.
The advantage of powder coating is the lead hardness doesn’t matter as much in a PC’d pistol bullet and you don’t need to lube it. I’m running pure lead in 9mm coated with smokes (cast boolits) powder, shake and bake at a 132-135 power factor. Never a problem, no fouling in the barrel and it shoots nearly as accurate as my plated bullet loads.
In muzzleloader application the general consensus is you want the round ball to be as soft as possible. Powder coating the ball would effectively be the same thing as using a substantially harder lead. I don’t know the reasons for the use of soft lead round balls but I suspect it has to do with the ball deforming easily during loading to provide the tightest seal between the patch and ball while allowing the patch to fill the remains space without being excessively compressed and or damaged during loading.
Would it work in a muzzleloader bullet? I don’t know, never tried. I never tried round ball either, I can’t see the point in it.
The advantage of powder coating is the lead hardness doesn’t matter as much in a PC’d pistol bullet and you don’t need to lube it. I’m running pure lead in 9mm coated with smokes (cast boolits) powder, shake and bake at a 132-135 power factor. Never a problem, no fouling in the barrel and it shoots nearly as accurate as my plated bullet loads.
In muzzleloader application the general consensus is you want the round ball to be as soft as possible. Powder coating the ball would effectively be the same thing as using a substantially harder lead. I don’t know the reasons for the use of soft lead round balls but I suspect it has to do with the ball deforming easily during loading to provide the tightest seal between the patch and ball while allowing the patch to fill the remains space without being excessively compressed and or damaged during loading.
Would it work in a muzzleloader bullet? I don’t know, never tried. I never tried round ball either, I can’t see the point in it.
Last edited:
Right. With a proper patch and lube after being fired the patch should be intact. No tears or holes where the ball could touch any part of the bore. Start with some .015" pillow ticking. It provides the seal needed to propel the ball. Dozens of lubes out there for the patches. Some common ones, spit, dawn and water, ballistol, mink oil, windex. Check around and use whatever you think works best.
Thanks, so I’m not crazy. So, this kinda answers my original question. Really isn’t a need or an advantage to powder coating, except as mentioned.
Pillow ticking patches was my original find.
Are you using a patch with the powder coated balls?
longcruise
70 Cal.
I have powder coated 445 balls and 50 cal 370 grain Maxi balls.
Shot the 445 balls with the same patch and loads as the the uncoated ones. I thought they would be harder to load but not so and the uncoated ball is a pretty tight load. Accuracy was the same. My thoughts on this were to make the ball a bit larger. I didn't come to any conclusions on the PC balls other than it made no difference so I would not do it any more.
The maxi balls shot very well and while I'm not a conical enthusiast I would do it for hunting with the maxi's. I know the jury is out for many as far as leading by conicals is concerned by I have pulled lead out of barrels after shooting conicals so I've no doubts on that and the PC does eliminate leading.
I'm not sure about the legality though so before hunting with them I would get an opinion from the enforcement people in the wildlife dept.
I can’t see any other way to do it. If it were a mini ball and coated then maybe not, but as of yet, I have no experience with either.
