Copper Plating Idea

Here’s an idea I’ve been tossing around. (Yes, epoxy coating/PC is far more feasible but I like to tinker)

I think anyone who has looked into it seriously realizes that is not a feasible thing to plate your own cast bullets with copper. The big boys use things like Cyanide, scary strong acids, and economy of scale to plate lead bullets.

The main hurtle for us, is that it’s not really feasible to plate copper onto lead using Copper Sulfate as sulfuric acid reacts with lead. The copper won’t stick well to the bullet as a layer of lead Sulfate forms on the outside of the slug before the copper can adhere.

Here’s my idea of getting around it that I would like to get some feedback on. Take a cast bullet and hot dip it into tin. The tin should form a barrier between the lead and the plating solution. From there plate the copper onto the bullet.

Of course you would need to size the bullet afterwards, and the plating needs to adhere well enough to allow for that.

The problem is, I can find any information on how well copper plates to tin, or how well tin would adhere to the lead. Does anyone have any experience in plating that might be able tell me how big of a fool I am?

With all my casting equipment in storage, I’m not in the position to try it. So if someone who has some experience working with acids, and wanted to try it, I’d be interested in working with them to see the results.



Reloading...it’s like knitting for men.

Interesting idea.
Plating to lead directly will work, and there are a few companies out there that supply the plating solutions, and electro cleaning baths that could be of service for sure.
I was a certified Electro plater for many years, and did gold, silver, copper, and Rhodium.
:)

I’ve got to track them down. I hadn’t heard of that.

My trouble is, I have a town of scrap copper from processing range lead, plus scrap brass. I could definitely recycle it and get some money. I thought it could be fun to figure out how to reuse it and plate my own bullets.

Dunno if I ever will but I enjoy trying to figure out if I can be done. Economical or not.


Reloading...it’s like knitting for men.

Plating would be fun to try on bullets in bulk. I can do them 10-15 at a time, but it is a pain and takes time.
If you decide to go down that wormhole, keep me posted

Respectfully I say . . . Seems like the law of deminishing returns is applicable here. --- SAWMAN

Yeah, like I said, it’s not something that I want to do large scale, and I know it’s likely going to cost me more then it’s worth. For me it’s something to tinker with, I end up doing a lot of research and trial and error. Even if I never get it to work I’ve learned something.


Reloading...it’s like knitting for men.

Believe me sir . . . I totally understand "tinker". I am accused of that all the time by my wife. --- SAWMAN