Pewter melts at a lower temperature than most lead alloys. Unfortunately the melting point can interfere with the powder coating process.

For this reason I decided to perform some melting tests.

I have powder coated pewter with success at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, so this is where I will start.

Here I am using simple toaster oven controlled by my Universal PID Controller.

You can see the PID write-up here:

Universal PID Controller Project

After only 5 minutes the bullets were only puddles.

I am not going to be shooting these any time soon.

I kept lowering the temperature until I could heat the bullets for 30 minutes without any deformation.

I tried the following temperatures:

• 385 - Melted

• 375 - Melted

• 365 - Melted

• 350 - No melting or deformation

Before running a large batch I decided to test the powder coating on a set of five bullets.

While the coating did not flow as much as they do at 400 degrees, the did turn out very well.

It’s time to do a larger batch.

While I have done larger batches of bullets, I broke these down into four groups of about 30 bullets each.

I will be tumbling these bullets in this 3” schedule 40 PVC pipe.

The pipe is 7” long and has two 3” caps. One of the caps is pounded on very tight and the other is loosely fit so it can be removed.

A group of bullets is added to the pipe. I think there were about 25 in this batch.

Two tablespoons of Eastwood Dark Green powder is added to the pipe.

Note that the powder you use is very important. I have several powders that will not work to powder coat bullets this way.

You don’t need much. Two tablespoons would probably work on twice as many bullets of this size.

The end cap is added ...

... and the pipe is added to the tumbler.

Here I am using the Harbor Freight Dual Drum Tumbler.

Please note that I do not recommend this tumbler, as it requires a lot of work to get them to run smoothly and reliably.

After tumbling for about 30 minutes, I remove the lid from the pipe and check the bullets.

If the bullets are fully coated, they are ready to cure.

The bullets are dumped into a strainer over my powder container ...

... and shook to remove any excess powder.

I coat the fingers on a nitrile glove with powder and place each bullet on a pan lined with parchment paper.

The powder on the gloves keeps my fingers from rubbing off the powder.

The bullets are placed into my PID controlled oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Note that while my coated bullets are curing, I am tumbling another batch.

After 30 minutes the bullets are removed from the oven ...

... and let cool for 5 minutes or so. I normally cool them until they are warm to the touch.

Once cool to the touch, I shake them into a basket.

The process is repeated until all the bullets have been coated.

I do a second sizing once the bullets are at room temperature.

Since these will be fired from my Ruger GP100 .357 magnum, I am using the .358 sizing die.

The bullets sized beautifully. None of the powder coating scrapped or chipped off.

The powder coating turned out much better than I expected.

Here are a couple closeups.

The next process is to workup the loads for these bullets.

I did perform a smash test with a hammer and the coating did not chip.

Once the I work up the loads and capture a few bullets, I will have a better idea how the powder holds up.

That said the main reason for using a powder coating is to project the barrel from leading. And while there is little or no lead in this bullet, I will be checking the barrel after several shots.

Here is a video of the process.