Sound technical content, curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ
The authoritative public forum
for Metal Finishing since 1989
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Can bullets be nylon coated?
Q. For a variety of reasons, I'm a great fan of using cast lead alloy bullets in cartridge reloading. The chronic problem is the deposit of lead in rifling grooves beginning at the origin of the rifling in the breech. This is mitigated, but not solved through various practices in alloy composition, lubricants, and use of copper alloy gas checks crimped on the base.
It occurred to me that a coating, e.g. nylon or some other plastic would resolve this problem once and for all. This coating would have to strong enough to prevent the lead alloy from breaking through to the bore during the vigorous ride from breech to muzzle. The coating itself must not leave deposits that are difficult to remove. Maximum thickness would be .001" so that new bullet molds would not have to be designed.
Copper plating is a viable and widely used solution to this problem [ed. note: see thread 29414 for a good discussion of copper plating of lead bullets], but I'm looking for something simpler. This is a two-part question: what is the optimum material to use, and how can the coating be applied in a relatively simple and straightforward way?
Tony G [surname deleted for privacy by Editor]Sierra Vista, Arizona
1999
A. You can also reduce build up by cryogenically processing the barrel for both less lead & powder residue, along with the increase in barrel life and increase in accuracy.
F. J. Diekman- Streamwood, Illinois, USA
1999
A. I would think that a dipped on paint process with something like epoxy plastic paint with an additive like powdered moly mixed in would do what you want. The Nylon coating process is pretty involved, with casting, cleaning, phosphate coating, putting the Nylon 11 on, heating to fuse ... not an easy process.
AW Fisk- phoenix, Arizona, USA
April 3, 2008
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