Is there a way to plate bullets at home, without a lot of expense and fancy equipment?
I'm talking about copper plating bullets the same way some rim-fire ammo is done at the factory!

I've wondered the same, but haven't actually tried it. What I suspect is done is plating by ionic substitution; bathing the clean lead bullets in a solution of copper salt. Common copper sulfate might work, but lead sulfate is insoluble and might cause a problem with the copper adhering to it. A solution with an anion that's soluble with both copper and lead, like copper acetate or nitrate, would be preferable I'd think. That's why I've never tried it; it was just more trouble than I thought it was worth. I have tried some commercial cast 405 grain .45-70s that were plated like .22s, BTW. They shot fine at ~1800 FPS, but they would have in plain lead, too. I found one of the bullets in the backstop and it looked like the plating stayed in place. (As did that ridiculously hard blue lube.)

I shouldn't think it would cost a fortune to create your own "plated bullets." I think it's done much the same as one would plating anything.. But this isn't the problem as I see it.

First off, what will you use for bullets? Cast bullets are designed for bullet lube. Only gum soft swaged bullets are plated to my knowledge.

Secondly, why bother? All the plated bullets I have shot were far inferior to normal cast bullets. I've never seen a plated bullet that would tolerate the velocity of a good cast bullet.

For my money, you might as well spray paint a bullet. I think it will achieve about the same benefit.

I agree, there's no real practical advantage that I can see. But the plated ones do look cool. And it's just another thing one can experiment with if so inclined.