simple Hi-Tek coating

[glockfan]

It doesn't cause and issues. Just that it is wasting coating.
6mls to 2.5Kg of alloy works great for me with a 20mgs to 100 ml mix.

What colour is that? Gold 1035?? looks a bit light for Old Gold.

that's how it turned out this time,but the little pot was labeled as zombie green.when you look at it it's green but with some yellowiish reflects.

[HI-TEK]

that's how it turned out this time,but the little pot was labeled as zombie green.when you look at it it's green but with some yellowiish reflects.

Hello glockfan
Just a couple of questions on this batch.
When you made up coating mixture, how long did you mix and let it sit before use?
What I can see on one picture, is that a couple towards the bottom of picture seem more Tan than others.
Not a problem, but this suggests at this stage, a little too much baking, or a high temperature cook, or both, and heating was not quote even across your tray.
If it is over cooked, no problem at all, but you can expect product going towards a Yellow/Tan colour.
If it was Zombie Green, the extra heat or longer heating, or both, made the product more towards the Yellow shade which overcame the Green colour..
Your final colour then may be not exactly as it should be, but with all your tests, the coating seems to have bonded well.
Now load and shoot a few to see how you go.
Well done....

[eljefeoz]

Trev, I’ve been thinking it’s my fault. The no coating in the lube groove...
Ran a test batch of 0.285” and 0.423” with Texas Tea I got today. and find the lube grooves were not coated.this has also happened with same projjies using bronze 502


I’m using 5gr in 25ml acetone for a maximum of 3 coats. I Mix small as I run small batches.

[ioon44]

On my first coat most of the lube groove is not coated and I go heavy on the second coat to get the lube groove coated just for cosmetic and don't have problems with the smash and wipe test.

I have a question on drying in cold weather, in hot weather laying the screens of bullets out on my dark colored deck the temp gets up to 150 deg F(65 deg C) and need gloves to handle the screens.

I am thinking of using my convection oven on low setting to dry the coating in 32 deg F (0 deg C ) weather.

Question is at what point above 150 deg F will the coating go from drying to baking and mess up the process?

[glockfan]

Hello glockfan
Just a couple of questions on this batch.
When you made up coating mixture, how long did you mix and let it sit before use?
What I can see on one picture, is that a couple towards the bottom of picture seem more Tan than others.
Not a problem, but this suggests at this stage, a little too much baking, or a high temperature cook, or both, and heating was not quote even across your tray.
If it is over cooked, no problem at all, but you can expect product going towards a Yellow/Tan colour.
If it was Zombie Green, the extra heat or longer heating, or both, made the product more towards the Yellow shade which overcame the Green colour..
Your final colour then may be not exactly as it should be, but with all your tests, the coating seems to have bonded well.
Now load and shoot a few to see how you go.
Well done....

thanks for your interest on my experimentations.

did not let sit the product before application. mixed it,then applyed.

and i'm still into some sort of ''fine tuning''' of my recipe...and yes, since i'm not setting my oven temp to 385,the only other factor is the baking time which i will reduce to 9 minutes...then will try 8 minutes to see how it bonds...but so far, i'm really happy with the result because at least, i'm now in the right ball park. will shoot those peas on sunday at the range. was supposed to attend an IPSC match this week end, but had to cancel my registration because of family obligations grrrr.

[Ausglock]

When you mix the powder and acetone, Leave it to react for at least 1/2 hour.
It allows all the components in the powder to homogenise with the acetone.

Ion44.
So long as the coated alloy is warmer than your hand when you touch them is fine.
That is why I use a fan heater blowing warm air over the trays before they are backed. You get the same thing by sitting the tray on top ov the oven to prewarm them.

[HI-TEK]

On my first coat most of the lube groove is not coated and I go heavy on the second coat to get the lube groove coated just for cosmetic and don't have problems with the smash and wipe test.
What you are doing is just fine. Lube grooves do not really take any part in shooting, it was originally there for stuffing all sorts of lubes into it allegedly to lubricate the bore.

I have a question on drying in cold weather, in hot weather laying the screens of bullets out on my dark colored deck the temp gets up to 150 deg F(65 deg C) and need gloves to handle the screens.
150F is OK as long at it does not start to get higher. It will be certainly dry much quicker. I have not had any tests done to see what happens with coating at those temperatures, but if it works, then all is good.

I am thinking of using my convection oven on low setting to dry the coating in 32 deg F (0 deg C ) weather.
Just be careful here, you are heating solvents inside an oven and it can become a dangerous situation with a hot element and go BOOOM

Question is at what point above 150 deg F will the coating go from drying to baking and mess up the process?

I would not go above this temperature. I cant predict what will happen. May be this is another experiment for someone.

I think that warm air drying of first coat may be OK if temperatures of coated alloy are warmed to between 120F and 150F for about 20-30 minutes. (preferably not inside enclosed ovens, flammable solvent vapours can build up) This is particular important if conditions are cold, or damp/humid. We have had experiences where wet clothes would not dry because of saturated humidity at 35 degrees Celsius. We had to turn on a fan to get some sort of forced drying. Locals here use cheap fan forced heaters to blow warm air onto trays when it is cold/wet and or humid.
Thanks much for your input so far, much appreciated.

[dikman]

ioon, I'm faced with the same issue in Winter (although not quite as cold as you get) so I set the oven to about 80*F and leave them in there for a while to dry. Once I start the baking process, and the oven is hotter, I sit the next tray on top of the oven to dry while the one inside is baking (like Trev said). It works ok for me.

[HI-TEK]

Trev, I’ve been thinking it’s my fault. The no coating in the lube groove...
Ran a test batch of 0.285” and 0.423” with Texas Tea I got today. and find the lube grooves were not coated.this has also happened with same projjies using bronze 502


I’m using 5gr in 25ml acetone for a maximum of 3 coats. I Mix small as I run small batches.

eljefeoz
Thanks for your updates. Just a quick point, don't be afraid to make up more coating mix. You will find that mixing small amounts can produce some variations as you are dealing with small quantities, and Acetone evaporates very fast, so making 25 mls mix, a great deal of your Acetone will simply evaporate and you will be unsure of your final mix concentration.
Larger made up ready to use mixes, can be stored in tight sealed bottles/containers out of sunlight or heat. Then, when needed again, all you do is mix well, take your quantity required to coat, and when finished, re-seal container and put it away for next time. I have been told that pre made mixes have been used months after they were made up and worked OK, but colour was darker and brew was a little thicker. No worries, simply add a little more Acetone to thin, and coat again.
That is it. As we have said many times, it is not rocket science.
Happy coating.

[eljefeoz]

Thanks , Joe.
Mixed up a normal 100 ml 20 grams batch. The Texas tea went a little darker. I overcooked it by a few minutes, I guess. But all fine with the acetone rub and smash.
Now to look for a bigger oven. The little guy can’t handle more than 50 at a go. Either insulation inside,or smuggle in an op shop oven into the man cave.
Rocket science it’s not.

[ioon44]

I would not go above this temperature. I cant predict what will happen. May be this is another experiment for someone.

I think that warm air drying of first coat may be OK if temperatures of coated alloy are warmed to between 120F and 150F for about 20-30 minutes. (preferably not inside enclosed ovens, flammable solvent vapours can build up) This is particular important if conditions are cold, or damp/humid. We have had experiences where wet clothes would not dry because of saturated humidity at 35 degrees Celsius. We had to turn on a fan to get some sort of forced drying. Locals here use cheap fan forced heaters to blow warm air onto trays when it is cold/wet and or humid.
Thanks much for your input so far, much appreciated.

I tried the convection oven to force dry the coated bullets after setting them outside for 30 min so most of the acetone flashed off, the oven would not operate below 170 deg F so after 2 to 3 min the bullets were almost to hot to touch 150 deg F + or - . After doing a few trays I baked them and they passed the test, not the way I would want to do it all the time but it seemed to work with the ambient temp at 30 deg F .

I use a fan forced heater to blow warm air onto a cabinet which holds up to 16 trays but this only works if the ambient temp is 40 to 50 deg F, when it is hotter I just put them out in the sunshine where they can reach 120 deg F or more in 30 min.


As to placing the trays on top of a oven my oven is a builtin style so the top just barely gets warm.

This to me is a credit to the product, with so much different equipment people have to use and most every one gets it to work as it should.

It seems that if the coated alloy is warmed to between 120 deg F and 150 deg F for about 20-30 minutes this guarantees the coating is dry and ready to bake, provided the alloy is clean and the coating is mixed correctly.

May not be Rocket Science but it is Bullet Science.

Thanks for the replys

[dikman]

As has been said many times, if what you're doing is working for you then that's all that matters.
Using it may not be rocket science, but I reckon you could class it's actual development as in those realms! It's really got me intrigued as to what it is and how it's made, but I suspect I'll go to my grave never knowing .

[shootinxd]

Wanted to see if anyone has compared the accuracy of the Hi Tech coating to traditional size and lube method. Many years ago I struggled with my 40 cal, I don't want to go backwards.

[HI-TEK]

Wanted to see if anyone has compared the accuracy of the Hi Tech coating to traditional size and lube method. Many years ago I struggled with my 40 cal, I don't want to go backwards.

shootinsd
Very good question.
To answer this, we have to first identify, what is "traditional" lube?
From exposure to this industry over many years, there appears hundreds of lubes, with all sort of mixtures/recipes that has been used, that can be broadly claimed as being traditional.
Then once we narrow down to what can be accepted or relied upon as being a standard traditional lube, we have to carry out accuracy tests using that lube, with a known load, known alloy, sized and loaded with accurate powder load, and also measure speed of fired projectile.
Then repeat accuracy test using the Hi-Tek coating.
The problematic areas that may require attention is, that in some guns, sizing to suitable diameter using "traditional" lubes, will not the same with using the coatings.

Then, to test other possible traditional lube/s, the whole process is needed to be repeated.
This way, you can get a direct comparison between the two lube types.

If you consider all the "traditional" type lubes on the market, and try to produce accuracy results comparing them and the Hi-Tek coating, you may be doing this comparative testing for quite a while. (Another possible research programme for someone)

It is possible, that someone has already done some testing, and hopefully can advise on your question.

[Ausglock]

First hand experience with 45ACP.
Lee 230gn FP lubed with White label lube and sized .452 in Lyman 450. shot out of Para GI Expert 1911. Did 8 shots at 50 metres from a rest into 60mm dia group.
Same bullet with 2 coats of HITEK Gold 1035 sized .452 with Lee push through sizer, out of same gun did 60mm dia. group.

Velocity was higher with hitek coating by 45fps average.
Far less smoke and shiny clean barrel afterwards.

[wlkjr]

I got an order yesterday of some Black K-15. That powder is about the blackest stuff I've seen. Looks like printer toner. Hopefully the rain holds up for a spell the next couple of days so I can test.

[glockfan]

First hand experience with 45ACP.
Lee 230gn FP lubed with White label lube and sized .452 in Lyman 450. shot out of Para GI Expert 1911. Did 8 shots at 50 metres from a rest into 60mm dia group.
Same bullet with 2 coats of HITEK Gold 1035 sized .452 with Lee push through sizer, out of same gun did 60mm dia. group.

Velocity was higher with hitek coating by 45fps average.
Far less smoke and shiny clean barrel afterwards.

waiting for milder temps,then will proceed to some chrono tests with my competition electronic pro chrony,but i suspect an increase of like 3-4% of velocity with my boolits coated with hi tek. as for accuracy,it,s like with any commercial boolits, diameter consistency and weight is the key,assuming the load is perfectly replicated with each round.

[eljefeoz]

I got booted a bit more with the cast .404 loads. 380 gr Hoch mould, coated with 2 coats of Zombie green. Powder was 28 gr AP70 (Unique/Universal) as compared to the old Blue Dot loads of 28 gr
QL projected velocity of 1500 fps.
2 on paper at 100y with iron sights.Then I realised I had the 150m blade up.
just a wisp of grey came out on the scrub. Bore is shiny as ever.
Now to coat and find me a load. AND-remember to use the proper rear sight blade. I've been shooting with a scope for a while and simple precautions like sight check need to be reinforced.Bullet fit is good at 0.4255",I size and check them in a home made lee style push through sizer after 2 coats

[glockfan]

can't wait to try some triple coated 7.62's in my sks . might cast a little harder to be able to push a 125 grainer to 90% of the chart with probably better results than commercial FMJ steel cores .

[eljefeoz]

Glockfan,as long as the fit is right, all will be well. make sure they fit in the throat...whats your load for these? I run non coated lee 155 0.312" with 11.5 gr Blue dot. now I need to check out a 'coated load'