Coated Rifle Bullets?

[steve4102]

I'm fairly new to bullet casting and even newer to Coating with HI-TEK. So far I have only cast and coated handgun bullets.

I'm thinking about starting to cast and coat some rifle bullets and I have a couple questions. .309 for my .308 bore 7.62 x 39 to be exact.

Gas checks.

Are these applied before coating or after? Will the gas check even fit if applied after coating?

When I cast my handgun bullets, I size them after coating by pushing them through a Lee sizing die. Can I do the same thing and apply the gas check at this time?

I would like to start out with a cheap Lee 7.62 x 39 mold. It says it's .312, I need .309. Can I reduce a .312 bullet to .309 with a Lee sizing die, or is that to much of a reduction?

Thanks

 

[CS86]

I think you can apply a GC either before or after coating depending on the size. I prefer to GC after I powder coat, but the coating has to be thin enough. I don't have experience with Hi-Tek, but think Hi-Tek is a pretty thin protective layer. The only way to find out is try a few coated slugs and see if they will accept a GC.

I think .312 down to .309 is doable, but once you get to about .004 oversized you start to have problems. Depending on your alloy also can get a little harder to push those large bullets through a small hole.

I can't tell you if putting a GC on through a lee sizer works. I've only used a LAMII to seat, size and lube if applicable.

Keep in mind you want to be .001 to .002 over your groove diameter.