Powder coat or hi-tek??

[Vettepilot]

I welcome all opinions on this subject!

Thanks,
Vettepilot

[Ausglock]

G'day.
Depends on how many you plan to produce.
I HITEK coat. but I produce large volumes of cast bullets.
HITEK is better commercially as you get fast, easy to handle production.
If you were doing small volumes, the Powdercoat would probably get the job done.

[popper]

Powder coat has a much shorter learning curve and booboos can be fixed. HiTek - nope. It works or not. PC is much less expensive. Rifle or pistol?

[Vettepilot]

Thanks for the replies.

Looking at for both 30.06 rifle and 44 mag revolver. I am interested in possibly getting full power loads in both. (Personal use, but I use a lot.)

I am very handy, and have a well equipped shop.

Thanks again,
Vettepilot

[popper]

44 isn't a problem. I run top end 308W & BO with PC. Avenger has gotten HiTek to work, I didn't - for rifle.

[tagunn]

I powder coat my 357 sig and my 45 acp.

[Petander]

Hi Tek works for me in 45-70. This is RCBS 45-325-FN @1975 fps,my plinker load. Shoots clean.



308 Hi Tek coated I have loaded only subsonic.

I chose Hi Tek for the simplicity, it's a true and tried coating method designed for coating bullets. I get uniform,repeatable results.

[owejia]

Just cleaned out my bullet trap this week and from the recovered boolits both hi tek and powder coating work, about the only evidence of them being shot, unless hit by another boolit, was the rifling marks in the respective coating, this is after going through two 1/2" plywood boards with a 1/4" rubber mud flap in between, before hitting the rubber mulch. Haven't tried the hi-tex method yet but I know it works well.

[farmerjim]

What Ausglock and popper said. Hi-Tek is faster but it must be done correctly. All the steps with Hi-Tek need to be done just right, but once you get the process down you have it. I have used Hi-Tek in 223, 45-70 and 308 with no problems. Powder coat works great, it is easy to do but is a little more time consuming. If you do a batch of Hi-Tek and they don't pass the smash test, you can tumble lube them with BLL or Recluse 45-45-10 and they will shoot fine without leading. No need to recast.

[Willbird]

Somehow I never got around to Hi-Tech.

I did get around to Powder Coating and it seems to work for me so far. One can try the Powder coating buying stuff at garage sales (toaster oven) and local. I do recommend a convection toaster oven and Smokes powder is nicer than HF.

Bill

[ioon44]

I have done PC and Hi-Tek and for me the Hi-Tek is faster and easier, the learning curve depends on how well you follow the instructions.

[razorfish]

It’s Hi-Tek for me. As long as you can follow instructions precisely and have a convention oven that can maintain a precise temperature, Hi-Tek is faster for a large volume of bullets.

For me, a single color is just fine. I consider coating bullets just another chore that cuts into my shooting time so Hi-Tek is my choice. I also coat in 45 or 90 pound batches and it rarely takes more than a few hours. If you want a lot of different colors or require small batches of bullets then powder coating might be a better process.



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[Vettepilot]

Thanks everyone. Keep 'em coming.

I have picked up a used toaster oven. Once the Hi-Tek are coated, there is no particular hurry to get them in the oven; right?

If they both work well, or comparatively, the one thing that I like about Hi-Tek is that you don't need to stand all the bullets up on their bases. (I know, not everyone stands them up for PC either but I don't like those results.)

Vettepilot

[Ausglock]

The longer you can leave the HITEK coated before baking, the better. The coating needs to be ABSOLUTELY DRY before baking. this is the biggest problem people have with HITEK failure. I warm my coated bullets so they are warm when you put your hand on them with a fan heater. I have left coated bullets sitting around for a month before baking them, so there is no hurry once they are coated.

[Stephen Cohen]

I don't begrudge anyone their thing, but for me I Hi-Tek my bullets and PC my garden furniture. As others have said, the results you get with Hi-Tek depend on how well you follow simple instructions, I coat 458wm 45/70 460SW 375Whelen 357max 303 and 308. Velocity up to 2400fps with accuracy has been easily achieved. That's my take on the matter and may not be yours and I respect that. Regards Stephen

[T-Bird]

+1 for Hi Tek. Been doing it for a little over a year (I think) I find it easy to get good results. For me it shoots amazingly clean, and you don't have to worry about sticky boolits or the lube drying up. I did find that the color I'm using -- gunmetal needs to be baked a little hotter than the other colors to get it to work best. Actually "I" didn't find it out, I read it here.

[asmith80]

I've done both and both work. I started Hi Tek coating when I had a heavy-for-caliber 9mm bullet that wouldn't chamber correctly when I used powder coat. Hi Tek doesn't really add much to the diameter of the bullet and it goes on smooth and even every time.

For me PC ended up being easier, as I don't need to coat that often and as long as I keep it sealed up, the PC doesn't go bad. Hi Tek that you've mixed up will eventually go bad and I didn't like that I kept having to throw out old Hi Tek and mixing up new.

I'll probably stick to Hi Tek with my rifle bullets, since I can't seem to get PC to coat them as well as pistol bullets.

[Stephen Cohen]

I've done both and both work. I started Hi Tek coating when I had a heavy-for-caliber 9mm bullet that wouldn't chamber correctly when I used powder coat. Hi Tek doesn't really add much to the diameter of the bullet and it goes on smooth and even every time.

For me PC ended up being easier, as I don't need to coat that often and as long as I keep it sealed up, the PC doesn't go bad. Hi Tek that you've mixed up will eventually go bad and I didn't like that I kept having to throw out old Hi Tek and mixing up new.

I'll probably stick to Hi Tek with my rifle bullets, since I can't seem to get PC to coat them as well as pistol bullets.

Put unused Hi-Tek in the refrigerator and it will keep till needed next. Regards Stephen

[ioon44]

I have been using Hi-Tek for 3 years or so and have never Hi-Tek mix go bad, I an not even sure what you mean by going bad. I never have had to throw any of it out.

[jmort]

I find myself agreeing with popper most of all.
PC may be slightly slower, but the ability to increase the diameter can make life sweet.
Hi Tek is more of a science project.
It is nice to have both.
Always will use both, but PC is best for me with large flat based bullets.
One coat, done.
Hi Tek two coat, minimum.
So the speed difference is minimal.
It allows sloppy fast bullet dumping.
I do not like PC bullet dumping, stand them up, or use Hi Tek
I think it unwise to say one is better than the other regardless of circumstance.
We all have our preferences but I am agnostic on this issue, with a slight bias for PC.