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I have had good results with PC but have started heating the bullets before shake and bake. Seems that heating gets better results, not hot but very warm. Bullets seem to coat better when shaking and cure really smooth. Is this something you guys normally do and does it improve your coating ?
it does work but I haven't had to use it other than to check it out for myself
I use the black BBs in mine and that does a fine job of generating the static charge I need. 'course I live in Houston and it is on the warm side most of the time
I know some folks just put the bullets in the sun while getting set up and that's enough heat to do the job
I have heated to approximately 40C prior to shaking and baking. You don't want to heat them too high, as obviously whatever thermoplastic the airsoft bbs are made from with soften at it's glass transition point. But honestly, for the different I get from just shaking normally, it's not worth it to me. I've found a plast folgers can with about an inch of airsoft bbs in the bottom is enough to do about 50-60 38cal bullets at a time. I don't even worry about dumping my powder afterwards. Being in the folgers can keeps it fresh enough to use the next time I PC, which could be a month or two...
I usually cast around 14-15lbs of bullets, PC, bake and size the same day. I let them sit for at least 2 weeks before loading. The bullets have some residual heat from casting. I divide the cast bullets into 4 batches and drop each batch in an old Midway vibrating tumbler with powder to coat. No BB's. Run for 4 minutes. Dump in a wire mesh basket and sift off the excess powder. Put each batch in a separate mesh tray and bake all at one time for 30 minutes after the PID hits 375. Bake temp is 400. That's around 200 9mm bullets in each mesh basket.
I loaded the last of my PC bullets (around 500) which should see me through the next couple weeks. I had time to cast a couple days ago while it was raining. After the bullets had cooled I stuck them in a quart freezer baggie till the weather was clear to coat and bake. 2 days later, today, I did my usual coat and bake routine. Worked fine. No problem when sized but was a little harder to push the bullets through the sizer. Bullets usually come out .359+ on the same day routine. Today they were .3603-5 after coating. Still sized to .357 no problem. Just a little stiffer on the sizer handle. Usually it's like shoving butter through the sizing die.