A thicker coat for gas ports?

Like many of you, I've done many thousands of shake n' bake PC bullets and have shot them in all kinds of handguns and rifles.

My 30 cal bullets will lead the gas port in my auto loading rifles, even with a gas check.

I'd like to make some .225 cal bullets but I want to push these faster and get much less or no leading on my BCG or ports.

I'm not sure if it would make a difference but I'd like to try using a powder gun to coat the little pills to get a thicker more even coat.

My plan is to take two aluminum 1/4" plates and drill holes the size of the gas check to stand up the boolits. After a spray I'm going to transfer them to my second identical plate so I don't get baked on coating on my plates. Then size with a GC.

Has anyone tried this and if so was there any leading in your gas system?

I have shot many PC'd boolits through a 180 model Mini 14, M1A, AR15, AR10, and an M1 Carbine. I've experienced zero PC fouling in any of the gas port systems. All of the rifles had seen previous jacketed bullets except two AR15s, one in 5.56, one in 300 blackout. I am a fastidious cleaner, usually before I leave the range. If or when I do get PC fouling I'll use acetone and then the usual cleaning solvent. For me, it seems PC fouling behaves like powder/carbon and blows through without sticking.

Your PC jig idea sounds good. Mine is similar but only one sheet of aluminum flashing with holes drilled for the gas check shank, and the ends bent to raise the tray. I place the whole tray in the oven after spray coating and bake. Sure, PC gets baked on the tray but it doesn't affect the grounding for the PC on subsequent runs. Aluminum flashing is cheap, the holes easy to drill, and the boolits stay upright. Good luck, happy shooting!

I finished my plates and did a few trials. The first time I sprayed I tried to transfer the boolits to another tray. There was no way of doing this without disturbing the PC. Spraying is much more fragile than shake and bake. Those boolits I can handle roughly and the PC stays on.

The second time I tried putting non stick foil over the plate. Boolits seated fine and baked just fine. There's a lot of flashing that I hope will come off. I might try some other powders to see if anything works better.

I tried the spraying/baking plates long time ago. I shot AR10 308, several 300BO ARs. NO problem with gas port. Carbon and lead can cause a problem. Mine are adjustable, tweak the screw every once in a while to prevent sticking. I don't spray anymore - too much trouble and shake results are fine. I load my cast pretty hot.

I've run quite a few PC bullets through a Remington R15 with no issue. I use fairly hard alloy bullets I haven't hardness tested but they don't scratch easily. I swage alter the profile a tiny bit when I seat the gas check (I swage my own jacketed bullets and use the point former die to do this). I then coat them (Eastwood's or Harbor Freight Red) and run them through a Lee Bullet sizer die at .224. They are accurate enough, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 at 100 yards. I load them to a velocity that functions the rifle with no problem using 748 powder. I do the same with .308 PC but only shoot them in Bolt actions and keep them down around 2200 fps. No fouling issues so far. In fact, accuracy with jacketed bullets afterward with no barrel cleaning seems equal to or slightly better than before I shot the PC's. That may just be my imagination though.

I'm guessing that OPs rifle has either a rough cut gas port or a burr at the gas port. Try slugging the bore and looking the slug over for scratches or other marks.