simple Hi-Tek coating

[Petander]

I took a summer break from casting,also not much work so motorcycles took all my time.

Now I'm back. Also pictured is a 2019 S&W 629 V-Comp with a new hand on top of it. The gun is a complete mess with badly late timing, underclocked barrel , bad rifling with blow-by, .428 throats that make even j-bullets undersize, hammer and all internals dragging, nothing polished, horrible forcing cone... and all this from the factory "Performance Center".

It's a customer return that I've been examining. I may keep it, (maybe pay a little) and repair it but even then it will become very expensive. But I like the grip and like to "hobbybubba" so maybe... already polished rebound and some other dragging parts. Got rid of endshake etc...

No warranty to talk about here,overseas. All the licenses for shipping guns / parts back and forth make it economically impossible.

Modified TMG Gold here, a little overripe because I had forgotten my settings...

[Ausglock]

nice. hope it works...

[ryanmattes]

Coated about 14lbs tonight. I added a few ml of rubbing alcohol to thin it out a bit, and between that and it being cooler this evening I got a much longer tumble, and a much thinner coat. The first batch came out a little dark, so I adjusted the time down a couple minutes and the rest came out great.

After a single coat they stand up to the smash test, they look good, so... Is there any reason for a second coat?



Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

[Ausglock]

If 1 coat works for you, and doesn't lead your barrel, stay with the 1 coat.
2 coats make them look better.
From the look of them, you used a bit much for 1 coat.
I coated and baked (twice) 12,000 today. sizing at the same time.

[HI-TEK]

I thought I would make my point on the over baking of the coating and the old mixed coating. I was loading to test some case prep vs. no prep and Federal Match primers vs the usual CCI.

Attachment 269536

This is a mix of several colors being mixed two to six months before use, leftovers from other coating sessions. They were stored at room temperature. They were baked 400F for twice as long as normal. As you can see bullet is dark almost black. Partially due to old coating and definitely due to the bake.

Here are the targets at 100 yards. You can have as much accuracy as you want with Hi Tek.

Attachment 269537

Attachment 269538

Attachment 269539

Attachment 269540

And it looks like case prep (flash hole debur and uniform primer pocket) does help a bit. Case still out on the match primer.

They are great results. Years ago, a commercial caster had dozens of dropped coated cast left in his oven. They were baked for weeks, turned Black but were most accurate and no Leading as coating held onto alloy even with such temperature abuse.
I just want to clarify things with baking and over baking matters, If coating flakes off with normal bake or after over baking, then 99% of reason is inadequate drying before baking first coat.. simply, over baking alone, should not cause adhesion failures.

To Ryanmattes
The product looks great. You have mastered coating method. Now, the tricky requirement is to reproduce it over and over.

[Petander]

To Ryanmattes
The product looks great. You have mastered coating method. Now, the tricky requirement is to reproduce it over and over.

Make written notes on paper about the whole process.

It's so easy to think "I'll sure remember how this goes" ... don't ask how I know.

[Petander]

100 meter fun 44 Mag.

I don't know why but I find coating and loading for bigger calibers easier than small ones. Some guns have been spot on with the first bullet / coating combination. Like a 500 S&W, Marlin SBL 45-70, S&W m29 (pictured here, an -88 gun ),STI 45 ACP...

[dikman]

100 metres? With a handgun with open sights? Damn you've got good eyes!

[marky123]

Here we go again....BLAAAAAAAARGH!!!!

[Ausglock]

Here we go again....BLAAAAAAAARGH!!!!

Don't overthink it.
Do as told. Don't think you know better, cause you don't!
Follow the step...to the bloody letter.
It is easy!!!

[HI-TEK]

Don't overthink it.
Do as told. Don't think you know better,
cause you don't!
Follow the step...
to the bloody letter.
It is easy!!!

Are you becoming a poet? your advice actually rhymes......

[Petander]

100 metres? With a handgun with open sights? Damn you've got good eyes!

At 57 I do use reading glasses quite often but I can see okay to shoot with irons. I've been doing it all the time for decades.

To me,testing accuracy is easier at a little longer distance. Shooting groups @ 25 is boring and comparing small groups to other, almost as small groups can be difficult. I find it easier to find out about bad loads @ 100 m. Instant feedback on the berm -and the plate- shooter errors are somehow easier to see,too.

Here is our 25 m range, nice for the rainy day.

[Petander]

Here is my Christmas Green™.

It has 25% (2ml) Tru Blu and 75% (6ml) Modified TMG Gold, mixed in the bowl with bullets pre-swirled with 2-3 ml of denatured alcohol. 8 lbs 10 min @ 190° C. Three coats.

[HI-TEK]

Here is my Christmas Green™.

It has 25% (2ml) Tru Blu and 75% (6ml) Modified TMG Gold, mixed in the bowl with bullets pre-swirled with 2-3 ml of denatured alcohol. 8 lbs 10 min @ 190° C. Three coats.

Petander
They are beautiful Green color. Well done.

[marky123]

Here is my Christmas Green™.

It has 25% (2ml) Tru Blu and 75% (6ml) Modified TMG Gold, mixed in the bowl with bullets pre-swirled with 2-3 ml of denatured alcohol. 8 lbs 10 min @ 190° C. Three coats.

Did 200'C baking temp fail?

[Petander]

Did 200'C baking temp fail?

No fail @ 200.

But I prefer 190°C oven temp because my bullet surfaces hit 190-200°C then. At 200°C they go higher and bake darker. 190°C gives a bit more time margin,too.

I have a temp probe bullet that beeps @ 185°C . IR meters read the same exact bullet (surface) around 195-200°C. I make sure they are 3 min @ 185... trusting my nose around six minutes, I can smell they start curing at "probe - beeping - 185". Even though the surface reads more.

I don't really know the absolute real temps. Every probe meter (I have four) reads a tad differently and there are hot and cool spots in the oven. Which spot do you trust? My IR:s tend to read equal, I also use them for drying and cooling. Oven is a 2000 W wall oven, a mechanical meter reads 190 when oven dial is 190...

It's been like this with many different meters and three ovens. Surface always reads more than the probe inside. I have s PID but it should follow the surface temp IMO, thus I never bothered to connect it. Plus this oven has two blowers,I don't know how to connect them. It's working good as it is , for me.

I open the door a couple of times to cool down -and shoot IR temp- , around 8 and 9 min. It's the radiant heat working on bullet surfaces. I can keep them under 200°C that way.

Here is a probe in the hottest spot.

[marky123]

Is your baking time 6 minutes and the hitek smells when its ready?

[Ausglock]

Is your baking time 6 minutes and the hitek smells when its ready?

Don't rely on the smell.

FFS... start at 10 mins at 200Deg C and work from there.
You MUST have a start point without fail before you go trying to speed up the process.
If you don't, and come back crying like a little girl about it not working, Expect no help!
I'm getting too bloody old and cranky to be putting up with clowns that can't do as told!

[HI-TEK]

[QUOTE=Petander;5011430]No fail @ 200.

I have a temp probe bullet that beeps @ 185°C . IR meters read the same exact bullet (surface) around 195-200°C. I make sure they are 3 min @ 185... trusting my nose around six minutes, I can smell they start curing at "probe - beeping - 185". Even though the surface reads more.

You have described exactly what occurs with baking coated cast
1.Coating temperature on surface will be higher than alloy as you have discovered with the inserted probe.
2. Curing begins at the 180C mark just as your probe is measuring similar temperatures inside alloy, and the "smell", is due to the curing/crosslinking taking place at the same time and temperature.


To Marky123
To be able to get reproducible results, you simply cant rely on the nose smelling changes inside your oven.
Your nose does not tell you what is temperature of coated cast.
To get correct curing, the coated cast, must get to 180C and stay there or above for about another 2 minutes. This is how a reproducible and reliable way to get satisfactory results.
Measuring oven air temperatures will not tell you what is coated cast temperature.
You must know the temperature of the baked cast, not oven air temperature.
It is important, that you find out, how long it takes your oven to get a certain load (coated cast) up to 180C. Once you know that time for a load, then add another 2 minutes to time in oven.
That should be adequate to cure coating. Then, simply reproduce that method using information (time required in oven to get to 180C) that you obtained.

[dikman]

Hey Petander, that's a very classy looking tray you've got there.