I pulled a few 45-200LSWC bullets yesterday using my kinetic puller and noticed than all of them had the pain rubbed off. If such is the case, the exposed lead would rub off in my barrel. I took a hammer and smashed a bullet with a hammer, even at an angle and the pain remained on the lead without chipping off. I am thinking that maybe I should lube the bullets before seating them. Any opinions?
PC rubbing off bullet observation and solution
- Thread starter BJung
- Start date
When you trim and chamfer a case you get a sharp edge that can shave a coating off. But flaring a pistol case usually solves that. You could dip the bullets in a thinned solution of Lee Liquid Alox to lube them directly. You could also sprinkle motor mica powder on the coating while it is tacky to have a dry lube coating. It resembles using powdered aspirin to give the bullets something for the pain. 
You may be flaring the case, but I don’t think you’re flaring enough. Loading cast requires a healthy case mouth flare. You should basically be able to get a flat base bullet started straight by hand. If you can’t, you will get shaving of the projectile on at least one side.
Hmm. If you can fit it into the case by a bit the flare should be enough. I would still try adding a bit more. That’s what I did to stop shaving lead during seating. Most pistol brass is cheap, plentiful, and lasts forever anyways. If you cut your case life of 9mm from 30 firings to 20, you still haven’t lost all that much.
If we’re talking .38 S&W that is not cheap and hard to come by, then rock on I understand babying the case.
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DukeConnor
New member
That's doable I suppose. I'd have to buy the NOE tool and then turn it down to .451" since the case bullet is sized to .452". I will use Remington cases because the wall thickness is thinnest and as a result of resizing from the outside diameter, the inside diameter is the largest.
recoil junky
New member
Heaven forbid we get lead in our pistol barrels.
Am I just old and don't understand the craze of powder coating, still thinking my #45 Lubrisizer still does its intended job and doesn't create extra steps even when adding gas checks?
RJ
Am I just old and don't understand the craze of powder coating, still thinking my #45 Lubrisizer still does its intended job and doesn't create extra steps even when adding gas checks?
RJ
I use these for a couple cartridges. They work well. for .452 cast bullets I'd go with 454 x 450. The .454 step will open up the brass for easy seating of the bullet and the .450 section would be ideal for a .452 sized bullet.
I use the NOE expander plugs in the standard Lee Powder though expander dies. You can use an appropriate sized wooden dowel to set them in place so they don't float in the die.
jetinteriorguy
New member
I’ve always been curious about using the NOE expanders with the Lee powder through dies. Are they bored through for the powder like the Lee die?
There are several advantages to powder coating. Here is an article that lists some of them.
https://www.ssusa.org/articles/2017/3/7/coated-bullets-the-future-of-lead-bullets-for-handloaders/#:~:text=Coated%20bullets%20offer%20several%20advantages,your%20seating%20and%20crimping%20dies.
The ones I have are solid. I just use the Lee powder through expander rather than buying a new die to use.
If it is for handgun calibers, take a look at the Lyman Multi-expander. It is a powder-through die that comes with a set of M-profile tubes for all the most common pistol calibers (32, 9mm, 38/357, 10mm/40 S&W, 41, 44, & 45 calibers).
jetinteriorguy
New member
Ah, thanks UN.
One thing missing from this thread -
Are you putting the powder coated round through a sizing die before reloading? I find doing that is a must for lots of reasons from preventing scraping off the PC to preventing squibs.
As mentioned above - definitely flare the case mouth to prevent the PC being scraped off.
Are you putting the powder coated round through a sizing die before reloading? I find doing that is a must for lots of reasons from preventing scraping off the PC to preventing squibs.
As mentioned above - definitely flare the case mouth to prevent the PC being scraped off.
big al hunter
New member
When I loaded my first powder coated rounds I had a cartridge that looked off. I too was learning about how much flare I needed. I pulled that bullet with a kenetic puller. Like yours, it had much of the powder coating scraped off. It was a 44 mag, so I had a firm roll crimp. I was concerned about the coating coming off. When I tested the loads I found no leading of the barrel. I dug some of the bullets out of the dirt bank I was shooting into. The powder coating was scratched severely by both the barrel and dirt. I figured there are some differences between shooting them and pulling them in regards to what happens to the surface of the bullet. My theory is that the case expands and releases the bullet, rather than pushing it out and scraping the coating off. I may be wrong, but the results are showing no lead in my barrel. It works, that's all I need to know for sure.