Hy-Tek Problems

[gdkmedic]

I am having leading issues with my hy-tek. My alloy is 5 pounds stick on wheel weights, 15 pounds clip on wheel weights and 4 ounces tin. My hy-tek coating is 20 grams in 100 ml of acetone. Three coats baked at 430 degrees for 15 minutes. 9mm bullets sized to .357. Barrel slugs at .356. Not sure why leading is happening. Any help would be appreciated. Alloy should be hard enough. They pass the wipe and smash test.

[Grmps]

Your boolits look pretty good, I assume they passed the smash and rub test and were smooth.
Sometimes you need to go 2 if not 3 thou over to eliminate leading.
Your alloy looks OK
Mixed Alloy Tin % Antimony % Arsenic % Copper % Silver % Lead % Weight Est. Hardness
1.67% 2.22% 0.19% 0.00% 0.00% 95.9% 20.3 11.1

what gun are you shooting them out of
How many grains of what powder are you using (how hard and fast are you pushing them)

[Ausglock]

Humour me and use a bullet puller to pull a loaded round and look for bare lead.
Also... Have you started to use a Lee Carbide Factory crimp die? or changed any of you reloading practices

[gdkmedic]

Shooting the bullets out of a CZ Shadow with 3.5 grains of tightgroup. Not chronographed but they are on the low side.

[gdkmedic]

I have pulled the bullet to make sure my crimp was not cutting into the bullet. Using Dillon dies. How can I tell if I have a little Zinc in my alloy. I don't think i do. I have been casting for 10 years and am pretty anal when it comes to sorting and melting. Where I live, getting a block of commercial alloy is not an easy process.

[popper]

If you are WD from the mould then coating and cooking, your BHN will be same as AC, ~ 10. Might try some 231 to see if it's the fast powder. I use WST but WD after coating, using isocore alloy. a little Zn actually helps.

[Grmps]

A little zinc won't hurt anything and won't affect leading.
Trevor was wondering if your crimp die was sizing down the bullet.
If the bullet you pulled is .357, then you can try going to .358 and/or using a slower powder

[gdkmedic]

Crimp die is not sizing bullet. .357 going in and same with pulled bullet. I have loaded bullets that I made last year with the tightgroup and they shoot fine. The only difference now is new Hy-Tek powder and I added 4 ounces of pewter to the alloy. Is there something in the pewter that has contaminated the lead?

[Grmps]

Pewter is basically 90-92% tin + lead. Pewter/tin Harden lead a little and helps it flow/fill out molds. when you combine equal amounts of tin/antimony you get a new alloy much harder than the some of the orriginal alloys.

If the bullets cast clean and the first coat of Hi-Tek passed both tests it's not adhesion to the alloy.

3 coats seems a little excessive. when you coated the bullets did you go 1 mil of the coating to 1 pound of bullets?
coating .
hard to see from the picture but if the coating is not smooth then you swirled the coating to long 15-20 seconds is all it takes, you dump them when their still damp this way you get a smooth finnish) and got a thick surface that might come off

you are baking a little hot 400 degrees is recommended and a little long 10 - 12 min but this doesn't affect function, just makes the coating darker.
when you tested the finished boolits. you got now flaking (it didn't look like it) and no rub off.

what weight bullet are you shooting? looks like 120-125gr so 3.5 grains of titegroup is a starting load around 1000fps.

the bullets from last year were they lubed or aloxed? what weight and profile were they and how much titegroup did you use
these are smooth bullets for either hi-tek or powder coat so these most likely weren't the same one you shot last year

The easiest test is put 1 more coat of hi-tek on them and don't size, will add 1 thou more and see what that does.

[snscasting]

Try turning your oven down to around 390. I've found that too hot can lead to failures... and I've coated millions!