PC'd bullets- Do they mark steel?

[AGunNut2]

The question came up as I was describing powder coating bullets to a friend. Those of you who pc bullets (Stilly), especially the bright colors red, blue, yellow, etc.,- Do they leave a significant color mark on steel targets ?

[stilly]

The question came up as I was describing powder coating bullets to a friend. Those of you who pc bullets (Stilly), especially the bright colors red, blue, yellow, etc.,- Do they leave a significant color mark on steel targets ?

Marks? Yes.

Significant? The jury is still out.

There IS and will always be that transitional period where the kinetic energy from the projectile hits the stationary piece of alloy you are aiming at and during the transfer of energy, some of the bonding covalency is broken up and the PC adheres to the target metal. Well, adhere is probably the incorrect term- no, I correct myself, it is proper. You will get a transfer of color from one substrate to another However it AINT gonna be like a paintball mark.- Or will it?

I have shot my walker a few times and noticed that it has a smudge or two from the blue or white, usually the brighter colors will show more. But I have not noticed it to the point of me thinking I am shooting a paint or chalk marker out of the gun.

Wow. Remember the chalk holders they had in grade school and the teachers would use them to keep their hands from getting all dry and chalky/dusty? Crazy... I remember the plastic ones... I wish I had stolen one for old times sake.

Yeah but the best markings will most likely come from the compressed edges of a hole when you shoot THROUGH the steel. Mostly arfs and aks only for that but I dunno if a PC HCL will penetrate steel. I know the jackets get scraped off and if you hit the edge of the steel it will scrape off, but not like a paintball.

If that is where you were thinking of going with this. Honestly though I have not tried ALL of the colors out there. I am willing to bet that there is a color out there that can rub off a bit more than the others- Maybe even if you only half cure it will transfer better, but then that kinda defeats the whole purpose of encapsulating your pills.

There are various types of PC out there, there is polyester, urethane, resin, hybrid and a handfull of others. I think the urethane is the softest, I will load some of my yellows up (they are urethane) and see if I can get marks next time.


I will go out in the truck and get my walker and look. My timer just went off for my chicken. (Peppered Honey Siriacha Chicken...)


I see a bit of a red mark and I think some white, but not certain, too dark and I need to look in better light. Myself and another shall go out to stealea peakea and shoot it up some and get back to yas...

[BillyGoatCrawler]

If they don't make a mark, it seems like a lot of extra work. Is there a purpose? Waste of time? Why not just make more ammo..? or paint easter eggs---

[rsrocket1]

If they don't make a mark, it seems like a lot of extra work. Is there a purpose? Waste of time? Why not just make more ammo..? or paint easter eggs---

I don't know if the OP is concerned about PC bullets making a mark being bad or wanting to make a mark, but the main reason for PC'ing bullets is not to make paintballs out of them.

The advantages of PC bullets is that it acts like plating (no lead fouling in the barrel) without the added cost. You can cast bullets for about 2-3 cents apiece (at current $1/pound prices or less if you can get lead for less) and the PC is very low cost. I'm about 3/4 through a $4 pound of PC paint and I've coated over 5,000 bullets. No need to deals with lubes of any type and it takes about an hour to coat around 500 bullets. The coating has a hardness of about 22-28 BHN regardless of the lead underneath which means for pistol shooting you can use just about anything and not be concerned with what lead you use.

[BillyGoatCrawler]

Ahh that makes sense.

[J-cat]

Can PC boolits leave a colored vapor trail like a tracer?

[BillyGoatCrawler]

You'd think the boys in San Francisco would make a law requiring stilly's bullets.

[rsrocket1]

Can PC boolits leave a colored vapor trail like a tracer?

No, but you can make bullets leave a vapor trail under the right conditions:


This was with a .308 lead bullet loaded with 10g Unique up in the mountains on a weekend after a fall rain. The air was humid but the sun was bright and it lit up the vapor trail nicely. The dark forest background also helped to increase the contrast of the vapor trail.

[J-cat]

I don't see a vapor trail

[rsrocket1]

Edited again with annotations where the bullet trail is formed. Easier to see when you click on the Youtube link in the lower right corner. It doesn't look like a jet airliner contrail, it's pretty faint but definitely there.

[AGunNut2]

Thx, Stilly. Would appreciate a pic or two when you go back out shooting em at steel (Walker??)

For the record, kids, I know why you PC the bullets and all that. Just wondering if the bright coating leaves a useful mark, any more than the usual dark dot mark, to see if you hit, from a distance.

And rsrocket1, that's a neat video. I've never seen that before.

thx,
Jon

[Pablo5959]

The range I go to has 3 lanes with a steel back stop at 25 yds.
There are NO noticeable marks on the back stop from my PC projectiles.

[Carcassonne]

Some pigments used in powder coating may contain abrasives which would mark/scratch the barrel. Pigments may also contain toxic materials like cadmium and chromium.


.

[AGunNut2]

Thx, Pablo.

[xtremetib]

I have shot thousands of pc boolits at steel AR 500 targets and the marks are no different then copper jackets just leaves grey lead marks on the steel.

They leave no paint marks but if you paint the steel targets it will remove the paint