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Copper Plating by DanRickard

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hawcer
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Post by DanRickard Tue May 31, 2011 1:03 pm

fyi : i have tried the venegar prep bath and it seems to work out pretty well.

then, i tried a hydrocloric acid bath (battery acid) that was diluted 1:20 acid:water and that yielded a MUCH better result.

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Post by hawcer Tue May 31, 2011 2:04 pm

Isn't battery acid actually sulfuric acid? Substantially different than hydrochloric acid if I remember my chemistry correctly.

We did use HCl (hydrochloric acid)often in chemistry and a bath in the stuff is a must when it comes to any kind of plating...especially aluminum alloys.(anodizing)
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Post by DanRickard Tue May 31, 2011 3:06 pm

here are some pics after using battery acid for prep.

the shine was much easier to bring out than using just acetone or venager.
i tossed them into my case tumbler for about an hour.. took them out and gave them a light wipe with a clean towel to remove dust.

before when i wasn't using a battery acid prep, i wasn't able to put them into my tumbler, when i did the copper would flake off.

before plating, the two lead bullets where .452
and the two swaged bullets from 40 cases where .451

after plating, they miced at the following
the two lead bullets .453 - .454
the two swaged bullets .452

bath time was about 5 min.
bath temp was room temp, about 60 degrees F
plating bath was copper sulfate dissolved in distilled water at boiling point. then cooled to room temp over night.
voltage used 4.57 volts
amps used 230 MA.

this is how they looked before sizing
Copper Plating by DanRickard Pictur13

and this is how they looked after sizing.
Copper Plating by DanRickard Pictur14
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Post by kcatto Wed Jun 01, 2011 1:15 pm

was this car battery acid? cause they usually use sulfuric acid in a 35% to 65% water mixture....

Was it sulfuric acid? These turned out awesome... very nice....

did you have to hang them? or just dump them in and stir occasionally?
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Post by Mohunter Sun Jun 05, 2011 1:17 pm

Just my opinion and please don't take it the wrong way, but all this talk about "Backyard Chemistry" sounds like it could get somebody hurt.
I worked with chemicals quite a bit when I was in the water treatment industry and if you have sulfuric acid and water on the same bench or even in close proximity your just begging to lose an eye or suffer severe chemical burns and a trip to the ER.
I haven't read a single mention of PPE such as goggles, faced sheild, nitril gloves, ect. So basically it's suggested that somebody who may or may not know what chemicals react with what other agents, run out and get some sulfuric acid and just jump right into dropping objects in it?
Other than the copper plating I don't see how any of this has to do with casting or reloading.
There could also be some liability issues involved for ATG if somebody got seriously injured and decided they wanted compensation because they read about it here. I wonder if there are any youngsters that frequent this website and we don't even know they are here or how old they are?
I hope not, cause we probably need a disclaimer saying "Don't Try This At Home"

Sorry but I think this subject has lost it's luster for a reloading website and of course that's just my 2 cents worth. I just don't want Tommy to suffer because of someone else's suggestions that could get somebody seriously hurt.
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Post by wallenba Mon Jun 06, 2011 3:12 pm

A lot of my local indoor ranges have banned cast bullets. I watched a few videos on this subject where a coffee percolator, 3 amp power supply was used along with Zepp to plate cast bullets. One thing I keep missing is whether or not the cast bullets still need lubing after plating. Is it necessary or are the good to go just plated?
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Post by Reload3006 Mon Jun 06, 2011 3:18 pm

wallenba wrote:A lot of my local indoor ranges have banned cast bullets. I watched a few videos on this subject where a coffee percolator, 3 amp power supply was used along with Zepp to plate cast bullets. One thing I keep missing is whether or not the cast bullets still need lubing after plating. Is it necessary or are the good to go just plated?
I am told its not necessary. But what could it hurt. I remember reading some where that a lot of rifle shooters used to cannelure their bullets to hold lube its said to make them more accurate. Pre molly days.
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Post by kcatto Mon Jun 06, 2011 3:37 pm

I use a lot of copper plated bullets and i never lube them and they shoot fine and very little fouling.... but they are berry's
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Post by DanRickard Mon Jun 20, 2011 2:15 pm

hay everyone,
i've plated a bunch of 230 gr round nose lead bullets.. loaded them up and i'm taking them out today to go shoot.. i'll let everyone know how they do.

the plating thickness is .0005.. this increases the size of the bullets from .451 to .452, then i polish with fish tank rocks in my tumbler with soapy water for about an hour.. then re-size back down to .451.

here's some pics

Copper Plating by DanRickard 2011-06-20111145
Copper Plating by DanRickard 2011-06-20111118
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Post by kcatto Mon Jun 20, 2011 5:04 pm

dang dan,
Those look awesome.... I am eager to hear how they shoot....
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Post by DanRickard Tue Jun 21, 2011 12:19 am

ok.. here is the barrel before i shot these copper plated bullets,
now, i shot almost a 100 rounds of them through my barrel.

Copper Plating by DanRickard 2011-06-20165302

and AFTER i shot almost 100 rounds through my barrel

Copper Plating by DanRickard 2011-06-20165610


i saw, very little leading, if any at all.. what lead may have been there from before when i was shooting lead the last time i went shooting.

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Post by DanRickard Tue Jun 21, 2011 12:22 am

i recovered a couple of rounds.. they where fired into a pile of wood chips.. the results that i saw was that ALL of the copper plating came off of them in the wood chip piles. i found lots of copper flakes in the chips, and nice clean lead bullets sitting there.. one or two of the dozzen or so that i recovered had a little bit of copper plating left on them. so i was able to verify that they where in fact my bullets.. overall, not worth showing pics of them.. and i was not able to verify how the rifling grooves looked on the bullets after they where shot..

i did not find any copper flakes in my barrel, or anywhere where i was shooting.. we did not notice any flakes flying as we shot.. so i'm absolutely positive the copper was stripped off from the wood chips.

thanks,
DAn

but, if anyone wants pics of the recovered bullets, let me know, i can take some, i still have the bullets.
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Post by DanRickard Tue Jun 21, 2011 12:24 am

btw - the fish tank rocks where about $2.69 at petco. they where the small polished tank rocks.. they worked great for polishing out the copper plating.

i only filled about 1/2 inch of rocks into my tumbler.. just enough to cover the bullets.
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Post by kcatto Tue Jun 21, 2011 2:41 am

dan these are really good..... and your barrel looks great... i would say you have a keeper in these...
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