I use Powder By The Pound 400 degree TGIC polyester. You can get the PBTP powder in 2 ounce bags for little to nothing. I have been told that Harbor Freight powder doesn't not work well with this method.
Here is my method.
Step 1:
Put powder coating powder in the vibrating tumbler. Adding too much doesn't matter
Step 2:
Add the bullets
Step 3:
Turn on the tumbler
Step 4:
Wait until all bullets look coated
Step 5:
Turn off tumbler
Step 6:
Pour bullets into a screen type strainer
Step 7:
Shake and tap the screen of bullets over the tumbler for about 30 seconds so excess powder falls back into tumbler
Step 8:
Pour coated bullets into a wire basket
Step 9:
Bake at 400 degree for 15 minutes
Step 10:
Remove the bullets from oven and allow to cool
I do not try to separate the bullets before baking. I do not worry about the bullets sticking together. There will be some that do but this does not affect performance at all. My last batch was about 3 layers deep of bullets, probably 150, and they turned out fine. The basket was something I made using hardware cloth that fits my oven. The basket itself is about 2" deep, 8" wide and 12" long. I normally fill it 1/2 to 3/4 full of bullets before baking.
Something else I have started doing is spraying the coated bullets with my case lube after they have cooled. This helps with sizing as well as when seating them. I have found that sometimes the resistance is so great when seating that it deforms the nose of the bullet. This stops that without affecting performance. As far as sizing goes I have been sizing my coated bullets to .309"-.310".
And with all the different ways of powder coating I have tried they have all performed equally well even though some look better than others. For me performance is my top priority, more so than looks, so I am looking for the quickest, easiest method and dry tumble lube is the best for me.
Here is a picture representing the evolution of the powder coating for me. Again, the performance was identical between them regardless of how they looked.
The green are ones that I did using the dry tumble method.
The blues were also done using the dry tumble but they were coated with pink using a gun first.
The small copper colored ones were done using the acetone powder coating method
The large copper colored were done using the lacquer thinner method
The loaded ammo uses bullets I coated using a powder coating gun.
I may make a video the next batch I do so people can see how easy it really is. Here is a video someone, not me, made using this method. The only thing I would do differently is to leave the bullets on the screen or in a basket for baking.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sr6oi3xJ7Bg
