After about 30 seconds of shaking I tap the lid to knock any powder off the inside and look at my bullets to see how they are coated. If they pass my inspection they should look like this or the ones in the white clear coat above.
NOE 220 gr. 45 ACP HP Smokes Yellow Green PC
Arsenal .311" 170 gr. FP Ranch Dog clone, Smokes Carolina Blue
NOE 45 ACP HP local OD Green PC.
Next I take my baking sheet and line it with a piece of Reynolds Non-Stick aluminum foil, non-stick side up, there are cheaper brands of that type foil but I think the Reynolds works best and I get around 7 to 10 uses out of a sheet before I toss it, other like silicone baking mats but powder residue tends to build up over time on those, so I just use the foil. I take a pair of long tweezers and place all my bullets base first onto the foil, it takes some time to do it this way but I can easily have the next tray of bullets ready to cure by the time the first batch is done. Many just dump the bullets into a screen tray, shake off the excess powder and dump them on the foil and bake, but I like the results I get standing them up individually and the powder flow and migrates evenly with no lumps or flat spots. Then I pop them in a 400 degree preheated oven for 20 min. Then I size and gas check as needed.
Powders I like to use.
Smokes Yellow / Green, Super Durable Clear or Carolina or Signal Blue are all excellent powders to coat with. Smoke will sell you a pound of powder divided into 3 1/3rd lb. of any of his colors if you like but these are the colors I like and that have worked for me the best with no fuss.
VS - Hi quality Powder for DT or Spraying bullets
Eastwood powders I like.
Hotcoat Powder Coat Lime Green
Hotcoat Powder Coat Ford LIght Blue
Hotcoat Powder Coat Maroon
Hotcoat Powder Coat Medium Green
A few notes on cast bullet air cooled or quenched from the mold and how the curing process will anneal the cast lead bullets using an alloy that responds to water quenching or heat treating. Your results may vary depending on the original alloy used and the as cast BHN and at the time the bullets BHN is tested.
1. If you air cool your bullets when cast then PC them an allow them to air cool again the second time there is no change in the as cast BHN of the bullet.
2. If you air cool your bullets when cast then PC them and quench them right out of the toaster oven they will gain a hardness of about 75% over the as cast BHN.
3. If you quench your bullets out of the mold to begin with then PC them and allow them to air cool they will soften around 50% from the original first quenching BHN.
4. If you quench your bullets out of the mold to begin with then PC them and quench them right out of the toaster oven a second time you only loose around 15% hardness from the first quenching.
Some good videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqD8CcnzBOA
https://youtu.be/ehvOtKHQ204
https://youtu.be/1-JELVcNNCo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb2zzAG0cJc
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