HiTek Coated bullets and correlation to leaded barrels

[igolfat8]

I’ve experimented with HiTek coatings for several years always with mixed results that puzzled me. I am now seeing a correlation between fouled barrels raw or barrel coatings. Specifically, my Glock stock barrels both Gen 4&5 are very clean after shooting HiTek coated bullets as are my 2 Atlas Titan barrels. Atlas uses KKM barrels with some sort of hard black coating. Yet my uncoated KKM barrels in my Glock 17 and two 34’s get considerable leading.

Recently I shot my CZ P-01 along side my G19.5 using the same load, bullets and HiTek coating. The Glock was extremely clean. However, my CZ was EXTREMELY fouled with heavy lead deposits the entire length. Both pistols were clean before shooting 200 rounds through each pistol.

My CZ TSO gets leading but my CZ Shadow 2 gets hardly any leading. The TSO is a raw SS barrel whereas the Shadow 2 has a black coated barrel.

I’ve slugged all my barrels which are all .355” and I size my bullets to .357”. The lead alloy is either 50/50 range scrap and WW or 100% WW With Three THIN coats of HT. I’ve used BE, Unique, TG, Sport Pistol, WSF, HS6, WAC and Major Pistol powders. There doesn't seem to be any correlation to powders either.

YMMV, but it seems HiTek prefers coated barrels over bare SS barrels, at least in my pistols. This is very frustrating. I think I’m going to toss in the towel with HiTek. I tried to like it and it does work well but only in a few of my pistols. Therefore, I’m going to stick with Smoke’s powder coat going forward because it works extremely well in every pistol I have.

[Conditor22]

Try posting this in the HiTek sticky

[ioon44]

To me you are using to soft an alloy for 9 mm, I run 6-2-92 alloy with 2 coats of Hi-Tek for all my 9 mm's sized .002" over barrel da with out any leading.
In my 1911" I can use straight coww with 2 coat's of Hi-Tek and no leading.

Do all of your guns have identical throats?

[Phlier]

To me you are using to soft an alloy for 9 mm

Agreed. 9mm brass is known for its horrible swaging of boolits below the desired diameter. You need to pull a boolit, and measure the diameter of it all along the drive bands. Chances are that, at a minimum, you'll see substantial swaging of the lower drive band. This swaging continues up the drive bands, but should gradually get better the higher you go on the bands.

You might very well see that the bottom drive bands are swaged to below the diameter of your barrel. If your alloy is really soft, that might continue to the top of the drive band(s), too.

Leading in 9mm is usually always caused by the boolit getting swaged to too small of a diameter for your barrel. Pulling and measuring will confirm it.

I use 14-16 BHN alloy for 9mm, and always powder coat. Anything lower than 14 BHN results in the cases swaging the boolits to too small of a diameter. I'm using .358 boolits, and even with 14 BHN, the base of the pulled boolits drive band will be .356, going up to .357 at the top drive band.

In addition to increasing the hardness of your alloy, you might want to consider switching to a different expander. The Lee 38 S&W (NOT 38 Special/357 Magnum) allows you to expand the case deeper, and just slightly wider, than the stock 9mm expander. NOE also sells a .360/.356 expander, which I also use. You need to make sure you're expanding the case to just below the depth at which you seat the boolit.

Always make sure you're getting adequate neck tension after changing to a different expander die.

The combination of harder alloy and a larger expander has worked wonders in eliminating leading in all three of my 9mm's. I load at least a thousand cast/pc'd 9mm's per week, and the harder alloy, larger expander, deeper expanding has completely eliminated all leading in my guns.

You also need to make allowances for the larger boolit diameter when you taper crimp. Using j word bullets, you want a loaded round neck diameter to be .380. With a .357 cast boolit, the loaded neck diameter should be .382. Don't over crimp, as it'll swage down the upper drive band.

[Balta]

Hm...so many CZ Barrels slugged at .355??you need to chek that again..
And l also think that your alloy is to soft..50/50 range scrap and WW can be at 10 Bhn ,if you dont pick up some fired hard cast bullets

[Ausglock]

Most CZ Sp-01 Shadows need .357" bullets to shoot clean and group.

I had KKM and Stormlake barrels in my G17 and G34. KKM shot clean. Stormlake fouled badly. Got the barrel throated and no more fouling. The sharp start to the rifling was actually cutting the coating off.
I have a Para GI Expert 45ACP did the same thing. got it throated and no more fouling and is pin point accurate to boot.
Kimber ST II in 38 Super has shot clean from the get go.
I only run 2,6,92 hardball alloy.
All bullets have 2 coats.

[igolfat8]

Thanks for your suggestions...

One of my TSO’s and the Czheckmate have been gunsmith throated but not the Shadow 2 because it’s too hard with the nitride coating. Both TSOs lead, one stock throat and one has been throated.

The Glock KKM barrels are stock and have not been throated and they all lead.

I have 2 TSO’s, a Shadow 2, a Czheckmate and a P-01 and they all slug exactly at .355”. I had a CZC barrel and it slugged at .356” so I sold it.

I have custom oversized powder funnels on my 550 and 650. Pulled bullets still mic at .357” with no removal of coating or signs of swaging. Tried .358” a few years ago and they would not chamber in a few of my pistols.

It doesn’t make sense that I can shoot the same alloy (14-16 BNL) and bullets in two guns and one leads and the other doesn’t. The P-01 leads the worst, the entire length of the barrel. The TSO’s and Czheckmate lead primarily in the first couple inches after the chamber. Zero leading in the Shadow 2 (coated barrel).

I can shoot Smoke’s PC in all my pistols with zero leading. I’m glad HT is working successfully for you guys .

[Phlier]

Never tried HT, just a PC guy here. No leading problems shooting .358 PC’d boolits through my son’s CZ SP01 (stock barrel)

[Petander]

Sounds strange.

FWIW I prefer stainless for cast guns,just in case of a leading disaster. An old habit. "The Dip" removes lead from stainless without harming the steel,without scrubbing.

So I've been shooting full house Hi Tek coated loads in a stainless Marlin SBL 45-70, S&W 500, STI Trojan with good success.

[Dvdmacdaddy]

I shoot a NOE ELCO 158gr, .358 diameter, 2 coats of HiTek in all my 9’s with zero leading. My alloy is pretty darn close to Lyman #2. I also use a Lyman M Die. I tried to use the Dillon powder funnel but the expander didn’t go deep enough and the bases were getting swaged to .354.

[kweidner]

Having made and shot 100s of 1000s of HT bullets (former manufacturer and will be again once retired from day job). Lead is too soft. Hardball for 9mm and 40sw, only thing i don’t run hardball in are the big bore HP designs