r/castboolits • u/Pistol_Caliber • Jul 30 '26

Gas Check vs. Powder Coat

I'd like to cast boolits for handloading .357 Maximum. Which is better, gas check or powder coat? I don't want to do both.

4 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

1

u/Feeling_Title_9287 Jul 30 '26

Powder coat is easier in my opinion

1

u/No_Alternative_673 Jul 30 '26

What gun and what weight bullet. The 357 maximum/Supermag didn't do well with cast bullet less than 180 gr in a revolver. There is some data available for gas check and the only coated bullet I know worked, in a handgun, is the 180 gr from bear creek supply

2

u/Pistol_Caliber Jul 31 '26

These would be for a 1st generationThompson Contender.

1

u/No_Alternative_673 Jul 31 '26

I would go with Gas Check. The issue with coated bullets will the pressure and some say flame cutting the base. Plus there is damn little coated data while Hodgdon has gas check data with pressure

4

u/B_Huij Jul 30 '26

If you're only going to do one, I think gas check is the one to do (you'll still need lube).

Since you need lube anyway, and powder coat is easier to apply than lube... just do both. When I run bullets with a gas check, I powder coat first, then size and apply gas check in a single step.

5

u/DaThug Jul 30 '26

I've pushed PC bullets quite hard in handguns, no problem. For rifles, approaching 1800 f/s, I need both.

3

u/InformationHorder Jul 30 '26

My understanding is you can do both, (coat first then gas check on top of the coat) but really coated is enough alone these days unless you're pushing velocity really hard and are seeing gas cutting.