simple Hi-Tek coating

[DDriller]

I have soaked some coated bullets in acetone overnight just playing around and the coating would not come off. I love this stuff along with the mold release.

[Brassmonkey]

I like how this Mega thread has quietened down. Everyone that uses HITEK has now got their process sorted out.

A mate in town tried powdercoating some of his hand cast bullets. He came around with his "bullets" to show me.

All I can say is that the "bullets" had more bumps on them than a WW2 sea mine. I run him through the HITEK process while he watched me process a few 1000. He came back the next day with a few 100 of his cast. I then let him coat/bake with my setup while under instruction.
Needless to say, he has thrown the powdercoat in the bin and is using some of the bronze sample Joe sent me a few years ago. He is now a happy HITEKer...

He couldn't believe how clean the HITEK process is.
He said he had powdercoat all over the place... floor, walls, bench, him, the dog, the cat, the kids, the car.....everywhere.....lol

Funny, I wanted to powder coat my bullets, as I didn’t want to mess with acetone but I couldn’t get the color I wanted in PC so high-tech it was. I’m very pleased with my results using kryptonite green.

[Ausglock]

K green is very good.

Brass Magnet..... Mate..... if you can remove the baked coating with acetone, you have not done it right.....no where near right.

[HI-TEK]

Funny, I wanted to powder coat my bullets, as I didn’t want to mess with acetone but I couldn’t get the color I wanted in PC so high-tech it was. I’m very pleased with my results using kryptonite green.

With powder coat, you have one chance to get it right if it is electrostatically applied.
It is also difficult to get smooth finishes and thin coats that actually work.
It is not possible to get Cammo type (two or 3 colours) finishes.
As far as I am aware, that can only be done using Hi-Tek.

[Gremlin460]

[Avenger442]

A few weeks ago I tested my first 300 PRC rounds in cast and coated three times with Hi TeK. Had problems with stabilizing the bullet and accuracy. But there was no lead in the barrel.

Joe mentioned earlier about the 1900 fps and Hi Tek. It will allow you to push them much faster than that. I've had my .308 up to 2700 fps (best accuracy is around 2600). This 300 PRC was up to 2700 fps with a 228 grain bullet. I have had my .223 (which I haven't shot much lately) up to 3000. This stuff is great on rifle cast.

A little input on PC vs. Hi Tek and accuracy. I don't do PC but have a friend who used to be on this thread that is very competent at it. A few years back Benny PC coated some .38 for me that I had cast. Good looking purple. I coated the same bullets with Hi Tek. Loaded both, same everything, and took them to the range. The revolver was mounted in a stand to take away shooter faults. Now I have to say that at 10 yards it was hard to see much difference. When we took it to 25 yards the Hi Tek had an edge on the PC. If I remember it shot average 1/8" better groups (may have been more). That was (again from memory) 4 groups of 5 for each at 10 yards and 4 groups of 5 each at 25 yards. That has been several years ago but it is posted somewhere in this massive thread. Now think about this. If you use that 1/8" at 25 and stretch it out to 100. That is 1/2 MOA. Which means that you would be shooting 1 1/2" groups instead of 1". My .308 will do groups at a 100 yards that you can cover with a quarter with a Hi Tek coated bullet. Now I have to do my due diligence in consistency in all of the loading process, but it will shoot accurate. I have run it out to 200 yards and it still is accurate.

That's a Hi Tek Bullet five rounds at about 2600 fps at 100 yards. 4 shots in less than 1/2" and 1". overall.

[HI-TEK]

A few weeks ago I tested my first 300 PRC rounds in cast and coated three times with Hi TeK. Had problems with stabilizing the bullet and accuracy. But there was no lead in the barrel.

Joe mentioned earlier about the 1900 fps and Hi Tek. It will allow you to push them much faster than that. I've had my .308 up to 2700 fps (best accuracy is around 2600). This 300 PRC was up to 2700 fps with a 228 grain bullet. I have had my .223 (which I haven't shot much lately) up to 3000. This stuff is great on rifle cast.

A little input on PC vs. Hi Tek and accuracy. I don't do PC but have a friend who used to be on this thread that is very competent at it. A few years back Benny PC coated some .38 for me that I had cast. Good looking purple. I coated the same bullets with Hi Tek. Loaded both, same everything, and took them to the range. The revolver was mounted in a stand to take away shooter faults. Now I have to say that at 10 yards it was hard to see much difference. When we took it to 25 yards the Hi Tek had an edge on the PC. If I remember it shot average 1/8" better groups (may have been more). That was (again from memory) 4 groups of 5 for each at 10 yards and 4 groups of 5 each at 25 yards. That has been several years ago but it is posted somewhere in this massive thread. Now think about this. If you use that 1/8" at 25 and stretch it out to 100. That is 1/2 MOA. Which means that you would be shooting 1 1/2" groups instead of 1". My .308 will do groups at a 100 yards that you can cover with a quarter with a Hi Tek coated bullet. Now I have to do my due diligence in consistency in all of the loading process, but it will shoot accurate. I have run it out to 200 yards and it still is accurate.

That's a Hi Tek Bullet five rounds at about 2600 fps at 100 yards. 4 shots in less than 1/2" and 1". overall.

WOW that is impressive. I cant recall such comparisons being made with Hi-Tek and powder coating. From your results, it seems that the Hi-Tek produces best accuracy and take such high velocities as well. Thank you for posting... much appreciated.

[Avenger442]

Joe

Satisfied customers sell products. And I have been one for ten years. And I have told many about the product. Ran into a guy the other day at a store that I frequent who shoots Hi Tek coated hand gun bullets from a seller here in the states. He was interested in the do it yourself use of Hi Tek coating. He may be contacting High Performance bullets.

As to the comparison Hi Tek vs PC, those post were back in 2017-2018. Remembering six years back is not very good when you get old like you and me. Guy helping with the PC went by Slide on this forum. He is a heck of a nice guy. But I've lost touch with him over the years. My fault, I'm not one of those stay in touch kind of guys. Even with family. If anything ever happens to my wife, Lord forbid, people would never know what is going on with us. She is a Facebook addict. Think I'll send Slide a PM.

Someone on here recently mentioned using a $15 dollar used oven. That is what I started with(someone once asked if I was Scottish). I couldn't control the heat very well with that oven so I had to bake them hot as it would go and long on time. Of course that didn't do much for the color. But I was mainly looking for performance anyway. My wife was asking me about her lipstick color one day last week. Told her it looked like what she always wore. She said it was the wrong shade. Who Knew???? I bake with a different oven now (still not expensive) that is PID controlled. Colors are better and more consistent due to air flow and heating control. It will handle 10 pounds of bullets at a time I know and still produce good results.

[Mortonspoint]

Almost 15k posts on this topic so excuse me if these questions have been asked. I'm new to this sport and don't want to waste time figuring it all out.

Questions... If you were going to buy an oven to cook the Hi-Teked bullets in what would you buy? I'm looking for a used garage sale model if possible to keep costs low. From what I've read it sounds like temp control is most important. You want consistent accurate temps. Right?
Second question... I have quite a few cast bullets that have the wax lube in the groves (I bought them this way). Should I just shoot them all off or does it make sense to melt off the lube and Hi-Teking them? Can that even be done successfully? or am I wasting my time?
Next questing... IF I need to size my cast bullets, do you size them before Hi-Teking or after the coating is applied?

Thanks!

[Ausglock]

G'day.
Any benchtop oven with convection fan will do. just remember that the thermostat on the oven will not be accurate. you will need a seperate thermometer to set the temp.

Shoot the wax lubed pills. you can not remove the lube and HITEK coat.

Coat and size after coating.

[Avenger442]

Ausglock is the pro on this. Follow his advice. And I'm not giving you the following to upstage him. He has years more experience with this coating and commercially produces for match shooters. He has nice quick answers. For those of you who don't mind the wordy answer read the following.

I started with this oven



Bought it for $15 at a yard sale. It would produce good results as far as performance of the coating. For me that was keeping lead out of my barrel. It was not so good with the color. Color was uneven across the tray. You see that oven thermometer on top in the bullet basket. That showed me that the temp setting on that ovens dial was 50 degrees low to cook the coating. I had to set the oven wide open and watch the thermometer through the window. These oven thermometers can vary some, too. I got lucky and got an accurate one. Think I paid about $1.50 for it years ago. So I had roughly $17 In my first baking setup.

The other thing with the oven is air circulation. A non convection oven will cook the bullets for performance (no leading). Just get the bullets in the middle of your oven to the temp you need to bake at and do the time. Then acetone test the lighter color bullets. If pass good. if not put back in oven. If your after a uniform precise color on your bullets you are going to need a convection oven to circulate the air for even temps. The more even the temp in the oven the more even the color.

Obviously more temp control and even heating will be best if you just got to have the color just right. I started with that cheap oven and got my performance (no leading). Later I moved on to a $120 oven with much better air circulation and later heater coils wired to a PID controller. PID is basically a cheap much closer electronic control of the temp. You can look them up on how to wire to your oven(I believe there is some info on the castboolits site). It's not difficult for someone with a little DIY skill.

On sizing, the thought is that sizing produces a smoother surface on the bullet that might interfere with adhesion. I am a person that doesn't always take peoples word for things if I can test it. I have tested this and yes it can as proved by smash test. But not always. If you have a lube sizer you are thinking about using. You better make dang sure it has no grease left on surfaces that can touch the bullet. It will impact adhesion. I would avoid it. I just bought a Lee sizing die. At that time I believe I paid $18 for it. I shoot mostly rifle bullets but have shot many handgun calibers including magnum with this coating. I coat one time then size and (depending on round) install gas check then apply either one or two more coats.

You want to go cheap and get the process down? You can get a coating that will not leave lead in your barrel. You want that particular color (especially blue) to be just right and even across the tray? Your going to need good heating control and good air circulation. And you can spend more money for that. I understand that this is true for other coating systems. But this is the only one I know that to be true with. I've never used anything else.

[Mortonspoint]

Thanks for the information. I shall proceed accordingly.

[Coopaloop86]

I've had a jar of hitek sitting around for several years now and resisted. PC worked for me and I didn't see any reason to deviate. Well, I'm OCD and I have to stand them up up to bake because even the tiniest bare spot makes my eye twitch. Recent set up a Dillon 550 for 9mm and standing up 1k 9mm at a time just wasn't for me. Then I finally tried the hitek and the game changed. Sure I have to do 3 coats but I'm cycling a pan every 10 minutes and I don't have to be nearly as careful. Just toss em in the oven and go about your routine. There's definitely a learning curve to get started but no more than trying to convince the overlords of static to visit your old cool whip bowls.

[Ausglock]

I've had a jar of hitek sitting around for several years now and resisted. PC worked for me and I didn't see any reason to deviate. Well, I'm OCD and I have to stand them up up to bake because even the tiniest bare spot makes my eye twitch. Recent set up a Dillon 550 for 9mm and standing up 1k 9mm at a time just wasn't for me. Then I finally tried the hitek and the game changed. Sure I have to do 3 coats but I'm cycling a pan every 10 minutes and I don't have to be nearly as careful. Just toss em in the oven and go about your routine. There's definitely a learning curve to get started but no more than trying to convince the overlords of static to visit your old cool whip bowls.

G'day. For 9mm etc you only need to coats. I run 250 135gn bullets to 6mls of coating mix. or 300 125gn bullets to 6mls of coating mix. the 2 coats at this ratio gives excellent coverage. I use Kryptonite Green exclusively here in Australia.

[Coopaloop86]

I did have to do some tweaking with the solvent ratio but it wasn't anything major. Ran the first coat as instructed to create a super light "primer" like base and then I added a few mils of extra acetone for the following coats to get better coverage. It was flashing off before I could get the best coverage. I also think my container was too big for the amount of bullets I was tumbling.

[HI-TEK]

Coopaloop
it is easy fix, simply add a couple of mls of Acetone to container and shake coat again, quickly, 10-15 seconds should be enough, then drop the lot whilst wet, and dont keep shake coating until it becomes sticky and dull sounding. Adding a little Acetone wont hurt the coating and should allow you to finish the job.

[Coopaloop86]

That’s exactly what I did and it worked out perfect. Also, acetone releases gas… I forgot that and mixed up a batch in an old glass screw top jar. Several hours later whilst mixing it up, I repainted part of my patio when it burst.

[HI-TEK]

That’s exactly what I did and it worked out perfect. Also, acetone releases gas… I forgot that and mixed up a batch in an old glass screw top jar. Several hours later whilst mixing it up, I repainted part of my patio when it burst.

Wow that would be not good at all. When the coating is mixed with Acetone, the mixture heats up causing pressure build up, so I suspect that this is what happened. Most people mix this up in plastic bottles or jars, but it has to be non reactive with Acetone. Poly Ethylene or Poly Propylene bottles are suitable, and I have heard that used Coke bottles seem to be OK. Once mixed, release pressure slowly, by slowly unscrewing cap, and keep unused product in tightly sealed bottle in a fridge. It will work for many weeks.

[Berdar]

Im about out of powder coat and plan on using Hi-Tex from here on. Which colors give the best finish or do the best job of coating?

[ioon44]

All of the colors will give a smooth finish when done correctly, I use a lot of Candy Apple Red & Kryptonite Green, another nice color is to mix Gold 1035 & Black half & half and get what is called Texas Tea.