simple Hi-Tek coating

[TonyN]

Tony.....Mate...
How about posting some photos of what you have and what you are doing??

You said once you take bullets put in oven put another tray on top to heat up. I have done that for about 10 min if that and they are hot to where I can't handle them and they start to get sticky.

Would going 1ML less be ok for for first coat so there is a thinner coat?

[HI-TEK]

I know I'm sorry for this repeat of questions. I'm just over loaded with this and how it's going. Of been trying 3 coats as some of the bullets barely have coating so it's taking 3 coats to totally cover bullets. Almost all pass on the wipe test and the smash test is hit and miss. The kryptonite green flakes really bad and the bronz isn't near as bad. Would going 1ML less on first coat be better? 5 ML instead of 6?
I'm using acetone from Wal-Mart

Tony N,
1. Do only one coat. Dry well. (DO NOT MULTIPLE COAT, UNTIL YOU GET CORRECT RESULTS WITH FIRST COAT)

(When placing tray on top of oven, use a separator such as Aluminium Egg rings, so hot air can rise from oven through tray, but there is no direct heat transfer taking place)
If your tray on oven is too hot to touch, and coating is sticky, you have already started crosslinking process. THIS IS NO GOOD.

When you think that tray on top of oven has dried, then bake only a few (test samples) out of this tray. DO NOT PUT IN THE WHOLE TRAY TO BAKE.

Do smash test on first coat after baking. It has to pass before you coat again. If it fails, do not re-coat, it is a waste of time and cannot be fixed.

Only bake the rest, if first test sample passes test after bake.
If test samples do not pass after bake, it was not ready to bake in the first place.

2. DO NOT TRY TO FIX IT BY RECOATING.... IT WILL NOT WORK AND FLAKING WILL BE MORE PRONOUNCED.
Find out first, why test sample failed.

[Ausglock]

Spacers on top of oven.


tray on spacers on top of oven.


Other oven.


My bad for assuming people wouldn't put the actual tray directly on the oven top......

[Frank38]

I have approximately 1500 105gr swaged bullets .357. They are SWCFB with no lube grooves. After ploughing through this thread it doesn't look good. They are about 15 year old and the lube has dried out and is falling of in places. As they are swaged and to the best of my knowledge they have never been through a sizer. Question is if I clean all the lube off that is left will I be able to Hi-Tek coat them. I did clean some up (petrol wash, Mineral turps wash and then rinsed with Metho). I sprayed them with etch primer and it stuck, (finger nail scrape) As an after thought I should tell you that they left lead from the forcing cone to the muzzle. (I did load and fire 10 in my Ruger 357.

[Gremlin460]

I would not trust it Frank, although you may "Seem" to get all lube off them I seriously doubt you will.
Best to add to pot and make new fresh one you know will be fine.
I have 3500 grease lubed ones here 2000+ old ones , so old the lead has gone dark grey, 1000+ nice shiney but loobed 38s.
All given to me by a shooter who left the sport. ALL of these will revisit the pot before I use them in my gun.
Its not worth the risk, the hearache of cleaning out lead, and the ruined day to use them as is.

But thats what I am going to do... you make up your own mind.

[Ausglock]

Frank.
Old mate in South Africa washes his bullets in a caustic solution......I think....

Might be worth a try after boiling the hell out of them...

[Frank38]

I would not trust it Frank, although you may "Seem" to get all lube off them I seriously doubt you will.
Best to add to pot and make new fresh one you know will be fine.
I have 3500 grease lubed ones here 2000+ old ones , so old the lead has gone dark grey, 1000+ nice shiney but loobed 38s.
All given to me by a shooter who left the sport. ALL of these will revisit the pot before I use them in my gun.
Its not worth the risk, the hearache of cleaning out lead, and the ruined day to use them as is.

But thats what I am going to do... you make up your own mind.

Grem I have only one problem, I have never casted a bullet in my life. You reckon nom is the time to start?

[Frank38]

I do have some caustic soda. I will give it a try. I usually use it for killing Cane Toads.

[ioon44]

TonyN
If your bullets you are drying are so hot that the coating is getting sticky then I guess this too hot. When I dry with heat I keep the temperature 140 deg F to 100 deg F for 30 min or if on a warm day placing them in full sun shine the temperature will hit around 130 deg F.

Get a surface thermometer and see what the actual temp is.

[TonyN]

Sorry I assumed that you put the tray directly on the oven lol. So this by putting on oven is to get the moisture competly put of the coating?

[TonyN]

My oven that flips up not your normal oven. I could put bullets in front of my heater that I use here in the winter. I start to sweat sometimes if I keep it on. I could put them in front of the heater. What do you think would be a good distance ? I would have to experiment with this. I think there would be a very light white powder on the bullets. I can tell for sure but I'm thinking there might be. My spru plate gets a white color on it as I can wipe it off Some.

[TonyN]

First coat 5lbs with 4 ML coating. 12 min. At 200C. Looks like it passed smash test. Passed wipe test. I'll add 5 ML on second coating.

[TonyN]

2Nd coat.

5 ML 5 lbs. 12 min. Baking.
No wipe off and to me it looks like there over baked. First coat was 12 min. So I tried 12 on 2nd coat. Is this chipping or flaking to you guys? To me it looks ok but I'm no pro lol.

[TonyN]

Seems like less coating in the lube grooves then other times.

[Ausglock]

Looks OK to me.
Instead of using the propane heater, how about using the oil heater in the photo behind it?

Just sit the tray of bullets on to of it.
if you have coating in the grooves, you are using too much.

[TonyN]

I think I always have line in the grooves. I used 1 ML less in the first coating.
If there is a very thin white powder residue what is that from? I have it on my spru plate and I believe I might have a very thin layer on the bullets.

[Ausglock]

No idea what the white powder is. Post a photo.
If you have white powder on the bullets before coating, wash them in acetone first to see if the powder comes off.
Also... Be aware that acetone will ignite. I'd be very careful with naked flame from a propane burner...

[HI-TEK]

I think I always have line in the grooves. I used 1 ML less in the first coating.
If there is a very thin white powder residue what is that from? I have it on my spru plate and I believe I might have a very thin layer on the bullets.

I have a suspicion, that it is metal oxide. I think it may be Zinc Oxide, as it is a white powder. Your wheel weights/scrap Lead, may have Zinc metal in it. If that is the case, it will also explain the peculiar results you are getting. Zinc is a very reactive metal and will oxidise rapidly with heat used in your alloy melt. The Oxide will end up on surfaces as it is very light and fluffy.
You can pre-treat melt to remove Zinc, (if it is not grossly contaminated with Zinc), using Cupper Sulphate. Simply melt your alloy, and add 2-3 tablespoons of Copper Sulphate, stir well (CAREFULLY).
There will be a colour change, where Zinc will displace the Copper from its salt. Then, remove/skim off powder, and again add same amount of Copper Sulphate and stir well, (CAREFULLLY).
Have a look at scum that is formed on surface. It should change colour again. Repeat this until you get a different colour residue on molten metal surface. That is it.
Re cast from this treated alloy, and see if you get better results.
This process, removes "active" metals, and introduces Copper Metal into alloy.
This will also help increase hardness.

[marky123]

Howdy
this is the result of 10 rounds of cast range lead
And this 10 rounds of COWW.
I'm going to bake them again and water drop.Dont know the BHN yet.

[Hi-Performance Bullet Coatings]

Joe, I am sending him a few lbs of bullets cast from commercial alloy to see if we can find the reason for his failures.