simple Hi-Tek coating

[DerekP Houston]

I haven't done any coating for a while so after casting about 400 or so (mostly .38 and some .44-40) figured I should coat them. All went well (of course) other than over-baking the Zombie Green slightly :roll:. I set the timer for 12 mins, eventually remembering I normally only use 10. I noticed the temp was staying a bit above 200C and taking a while to settle down so I'll have to re-train the PID next time. The Bronze looks good but the ZG looks more like a light Olive Drab with a slight golden sheen! I love how I can get slight colour variation with just a minor tweaking :lol:. Needless to say they passed the smash test so will work fine.

I fought with the ZG for awhile before finally getting the proper color. For me....it was an 8 minute bake cycle. I was doing smaller test batches at the time, when i do bulk they usually come out slightly olive colored as well. I gave up chasing perfect colors as long as they function 100%.

[dikman]

I gave up chasing perfect colors as long as they function 100%.

I'm the same, the "accuracy" of the colour is really pretty irrelevant, I just find it intriguing, the variations I can get. As long as they work is the important thing.

[220]

I have never had good results with micro groove bullets (tumble lube bullets).... just saying..
Ive had very good results with the 158 in 38/357, no trouble keeping 10 shots in the 10 ring of a ISSF target from my 686 and half that size from my marlin.

Has been 6 months since I checked in on this thread and spent all afternoon catching up. Haven't coated anything for 12 months, I did tens of thousands once I sorted my technique and am working my way through them.
Used a bit of Hitek coated stuff last weekend at a forum shoot here in Aus and came home with a few medals.
Son was using Hitek coated @1850fps in his 375H&H, has put 3 into less than moa a few times at 100 and I cant every remember a group bigger than 2". He also stole my little 1894 marlin for the running boar comp using 180gr NOE WFP with a couple of coats of the old liquid copper and won it. I had to settle for 3rd using my 45/70 and NOW 405 with the same coating.

[HI-TEK]

I fought with the ZG for awhile before finally getting the proper color. For me....it was an 8 minute bake cycle. I was doing smaller test batches at the time, when i do bulk they usually come out slightly olive colored as well. I gave up chasing perfect colors as long as they function 100%.

May be, I should have been like Mr Ford. Stating, that you can have any colour, as long as it is Black. This would have sorted all out from the beginning.:D

[DerekP Houston]

May be, I should have been like Mr Ford. Stating, that you can have any colour, as long as it is Black. This would have sorted all out from the beginning.:D

Seems like a solid plan ;). ZG was the only color that gave me issues! Bronze, Gold, Black, and Red all worked great! Still trying to use them up ;).

[Hi-Performance Bullet Coatings]

fivel 976

You mean about this color .193659

Joe is working on that one and this one 193660 as we speak.

Edison 10,000 tries and the light bulb. Almost there.

Avenger,
PM Sent

[Avenger442]

I'm going to load up several Hi Tek 45-70s hopefully tonight to see if I can repeat the results on that last target. The point of posting it was that I had a 1 1/2" group going and messed it up with the last shot. The other target mentioned was the same only the flyer was further out. It seems lately, no matter how hard I try, there is always a flyer. I've tried segregating bullets by weight, they are all cast with a pot controlled by PID, all charges are measured within 0.1 of a grain, cases are prepped the same, loaded with Hornady dies and press.......
I think I'm going to try cleaning up flash holes and segregating cases by weight next. Seems an extreme measure to stop flyers but anyway.

I never thought I would get to the point of trying so hard to get the tight groups. I started out wanting to make my own hunting bullets. Accuracy was always a question but you only need maybe two inch groups at 100 yd to hunt anything I would hunt. Passed that point.

This week going to try to get around to casting some hollow point .308 with a copper enriched alloy. Will be putting a new color on these I hope. Kind of tired of the old black, olive drab, gold colors. OH NO! I've turned into my wife with the Vera Bradly purses:bigsmyl2:.

[slide]

Good Luck!!!!!!!!!!

[Gremlin460]

I always get fantastic extremely tight groups with all my casts... right up untill I pull the trigger a second time. However even then my groups are unbeliveably tight, I just started another group in a different location on the target!

You see its all in the perspective!.

[Avenger442]

Joe
Want you to know that I'm not asking for another color. But I suppose a white or clear color is not possible? Was just thinking that if there was a white we might be able to lighten up some of the dark colors. Like on a color wheel. And if there was a clear you could do some different adjustments.

Gremlin; You know I never thought of it that way. Start an new group at each trigger pull. Going to try it and post photos.:kidding:

Got thirty loads ready for the range tonight. But it may be a week or so before I get to use them.
Try applying a piece of masking tape around a few of your bullets after they are coated. Mash it on them real good and then pull it off. Let me know what happens to yours.

[HI-TEK]

[QUOTE=Avenger442;4034085]Joe
Want you to know that I'm not asking for another color. But I suppose a white or clear color is not possible? Was just thinking that if there was a white we might be able to lighten up some of the dark colors. Like on a color wheel. And if there was a clear you could do some different adjustments.

Avenger, all whites turn out various shades of yellow to tan. Clear transparent coating is a honey yellow, and turns darker with extended bake time, and at higher temperatures.
Adjustments/mixtures, generally do not work, and are not predictable. I have had same ideas some time ago, but ended up with unexpected strange results and colours.
Some are simply not mixable and are not compatible. Sorry.
I tried that approach with every shade of Blue known to man. Had no good results. The ones that appeared OK, all went either extremely dark or dark Green and some ended up Black.
I have heard of people mixing all types of colours and ended up with OK colours.

[Avenger442]

[QUOTE=Avenger442;4034085]Joe
Want you to know that I'm not asking for another color. But I suppose a white or clear color is not possible? Was just thinking that if there was a white we might be able to lighten up some of the dark colors. Like on a color wheel. And if there was a clear you could do some different adjustments.

Avenger, all whites turn out various shades of yellow to tan. Clear transparent coating is a honey yellow, and turns darker with extended bake time, and at higher temperatures.
Adjustments/mixtures, generally do not work, and are not predictable. I have had same ideas some time ago, but ended up with unexpected strange results and colours.
Some are simply not mixable and are not compatible. Sorry.
I tried that approach with every shade of Blue known to man. Had no good results. The ones that appeared OK, all went either extremely dark or dark Green and some ended up Black.
I have heard of people mixing all types of colours and ended up with OK colours.

I figured it was a long shot. Pun intended.
I guess you are still looking at other chemicals you can combine with the coating? R&D never stops.

[Grmps]

Trevor,
A while ago you promised us detailed videos of the complete process you use to hand-coat and machine coat Hi-Tek.
With you being a factory Hi-Tek tester I'm sure we could all learn from the videos and they would be a great reference tool for new coaters.

[HI-TEK]

Trevor,
A while ago you promised us detailed videos of the complete process you use to hand-coat and machine coat Hi-Tek.
With you being a factory Hi-Tek tester I'm sure we could all learn from the videos and they would be a great reference tool for new coaters.

Grmps,
That is a great idea. I believe that several people had offered such video methods, but I am aware of only a couple.
I do however see a possible problem, as Ausglock is a perfectionist, and his set up may be far more than what average home user/caster/coater would set up to do their casts.
Ausglock, has his testing so precise and reproducible, that each test can be matched over and over again and reproduced with his equipment and pass or fail results can be relied upon. The products he makes and supplies, are in great demand, as users can rely on that reproducible quality aspects for performance.
When other methods or equipment is used/adopted, the methods and results as obtained by Ausglock, may only supply a guideline of what product should look like with an ideal set up.
However, you are correct, a video type instruction would be of great service and assistance, as viewing instead of reading, is far better as viewer can see immediately what is happening.

[dikman]

I mentioned earlier about the colour variation in my last batch of coatings, well I got curious and did another batch today, using my usual 10 mins. Same results (olive colour) the only thing I can think of is this batch of mixed coating is probably 12 months old so I'm guessing it changes a bit as it ages? I also tried some Gunmetal (same age) with interesting results. When I first started using the Gunmetal it always came out dark green at these settings, and to get the actual Gunmetal colour I had to crank the temp up to 140C plus. This time I got what I consider close to my expectations of a gunmetal colour, using my "normal" settings. The "aging" process, if that's what is happening, is adding another variable to the product.
Most interesting.

[Grmps]

dikman,
Am I missing something mate, you said crank the temperature UP to 140C? The temp needs to be 200C in the middle of the shelf you bake on. I believe Joe said hi tek will darken with age but still function well. Gunmetal coming out green is undercooking. Double check the oven temperature with a thermometer set in the middle of the shelf you bake on.

[HI-TEK]

dikman,
Am I missing something mate, you said crank the temperature UP to 140C? The temp needs to be 200C in the middle of the shelf you bake on. I believe Joe said hi tek will darken with age but still function well. Gunmetal coming out green is undercooking. Double check the oven temperature with a thermometer set in the middle of the shelf you bake on.

Grmps.
Right on.
I have had to twice re-test the Gunmetal, after receiving public criticism about that colour not working as advertised. Each re-test confirmed that product was OK. Re test results were posted. Results were ignored.
Colour changes, with that specific coating requires good temperature availability and control. In the oven, coated alloy must get to at least 180C and held there for at least 3 minutes longer thereafter. Having oven at 200C, only speeds up baking process. Poor air circulation, guarantees, that alloy is not getting to required temperatures.
I have had commercial casters "fast cure" at about 240C in about 4 minutes, in super high air velocity circulation ovens. This method is only suitable to speed up commercial production rates and this requires very excellent controls and retention times to ensure even colour production from batch to batch.

Darkening of coating liquid mixtures will occur. That should not affect performance.
From what I understand, if the Gunmetal after bake remains Green, or dark green, it is not processed correctly or at correct conditions.
Aging of liquid mixture will not produce a Green or Dark green coating, but age darkening will in fact help to obtaining the finished dark colour.

[Ausglock]

Yeah. Coating Vid. On my list of things to do.
Consistent results are from consistent process and appropriate equipment with repeatability.
I learnt early on that benchtop ovens, as bought, are poor in offering consistency of Temp control.
I now have 4 of these that have had the thermostat changed out for a bulb type thermostat. These are set at 195Deg C and all bake at 12 minutes. There are 2 ovens the same brand and 2 different brands. 2 have had rockwool insulation added around the oven enclosure. 2 haven't. All work fine for baking one tray each of 2.5KG of alloy.

See what I'm getting at here???? No matter how well insulated or good (or bad) your airflow is, Temp control is King, with Time a close second. I built a digital timer for around $20 from ebay parts. It is set at 12 minutes and sounds a beeper when time is up. I religiously change trays at this time. Not 30 seconds later, not a minute later....I can run these 4 ovens with consistent colour from all ovens.

Now... for the modified wall oven. I can bake 2 trays (5KG total) in 7 1/2 minutes. 3 trays (7.5Kg total) in 8 1/2 minutes.
All this comes from trial and error.

The gunmetal works as listed. no if's. Not buts. the colour is correct from 3 different samples send for verification testing.
If it isn't working for you, YOU are the problem. Check your process!

Aged coating. I have a bottle of un-mixed powdered Gold 1035 that has been sitting in a sunny place in my shed for over 12 months. It has turned orange from the sun exposure due to HITEK Joe sending samples in clear plastic jars. I have mixed this and coated with it.
The bullets are the exact same baked colour as fresh Gold 1035 coating. All pass wipe and smash tests.
This stuff is very forgiving.........Provided YOU do YOUR part.

[dikman]

Sorry guys, typo, I meant 240+. I'm far from an expert on this stuff, of course, but other than my very first batch which flaked every other batch I've made, regardless of colour, has passed all tests and worked, so I figure I must be doing something right. And yes, I have found that within reason it is quite forgiving. I only mentioned this out of curiosity. The fact that I have just done four batches with this ZG, and had consistent, repeatable results must count for something. It has been stored in a cupboard, out of the sun, although it did get a bit warm in the shed in Summer. Thinking about it, it must be older than 12 months 'cos it's gone through two Summers now (losing track of time :roll:).

This is not a complaint about the stuff (far from it) I'm just trying to come up with a reason for the variation.

[Ausglock]

Little bit of information for you all.
Did a bit of testing over the weekend.
Was trying to sort out the issue of touch marks on bullets after baking.
1st coat was 4mls to 2.5Kg.
second coat 6mls to 2.5Kg.
This resulted in a far shinier finish and no visible touch marks.
time and temp remained the same as did the mix ratio.

Touch marks are a sign of too much coating being used.
Also trying to use bullet count rather than weight.
100 to 135gn bullets, use 300 per tray and use 4mls 1st coat and 6mls 2nd coat.
145 to 170gn bullets use 250 per tray with 6mls each coat.
185 to 240gn bullets use 200 per tray with 6mls each coat.
It can get confusing if you don't keep a track of it...

[Grmps]

2.5 kg = 5.51156 lb :p

I read in several places a while back that the rule of thumb was 1 mil per pound and either Trevor or Joe said to back off on amount of coating on the first bake to improve adhesion and insure a smoother finish.

If my memory is correct HiTek Joe said the 1 coat will protect the bullet but-- is ugly in most instances , that's why most go 2 coats.

[flyingrhino]

Hello Gents,

I came across this thread while looking for an alternative to lubing for a specific boolit & gun.

I am interested in seeing if any of you are having success with the Hi-Tek coating and Lee TL309-230-5R in a .300 BlackOut rifle/SBR???...I am especially interested to see if any of you are having success with all of the previous and using a sealed 7.62 suppressor.

I am quite alright with continuing to lube my pistol rounds as I am currently doing.

If this process allows me to shoot the Lee TL309 at subsonic speeds through my YHM can (with accuracy), then I am most interested.

Secondary to this, if the Hi-Tek also allows above average velocity and accuracy in my .223 boolits...that would definitely seal the deal.

If any of you have experience with the Hi-Tek, subsonic boolits through a can in .300 BlackOut, please share.
I would request that you hold off on a fevered sales pitch..."re-read the thread" type comments.

I am looking for specific facts, not rhetoric.


Keep The High Ground,


G

I'm using Hitek coated 220's in my 300 SBR and they work great.

[HI-TEK]

Just Call me ....G

Quoted "If any of you have experience with the Hi-Tek, subsonic boolits through a can in .300 BlackOut, please share.
I would request that you hold off on a fevered sales pitch..."re-read the thread" type comments.

I am looking for specific facts, not rhetoric."

I am most surprised at your above post. You ask for assistance, and then you suggest that people on this site are nothing but "fevered sales pitch" persons. No one is trying to sell you any thing. I have found, that folks on this site, FOR FREE, are happy to offer/share practical advice based on their experience. If you consider that being a "sales pitch" then it is not appropriate for you to seek their advice.
If you are thinking that folk on this site are sales people, and, if you interested in trying the product/s, in specific applications, it would be more appropriate for you to contact supplier and discuss your needs. If satisfied with suppliers replies, then buy it and use it, and, if you are not satisfied with suppliers reply, don't buy it.
Sorry mate, but no one is twisting your arms up your back, forcing you to purchase any product.

[benellinut]

Yup, I had to chuckle, I thought the lack of responses was fitting. ;)

[Warhead]

Must have been a true Operator operating operationally on that one! :p

Now I have a stupid question, witch is the brightest of the reds made, Brick Red, Candy Apple Red, or Red Copper?

Thanks in advanced!

[HI-TEK]

Must have been a true Operator operating operationally on that one! :p

Now I have a stupid question, witch is the brightest of the reds made, Brick Red, Candy Apple Red, or Red Copper?

Thanks in advanced!

You have forgotten Red 122(Crimson type red) Blush Red Copper (Pinkish Metallic glittery), DD Red (flesh pink type) as well. My two cents worth is the brightest would be possibly Red 122 and Brick Red, followed by Blush Red Copper.
But final choice is what is in the eye of the beholder as being OK...

[Hi-Performance Bullet Coatings]

Must have been a true Operator operating operationally on that one! :p

Now I have a stupid question, witch is the brightest of the reds made, Brick Red, Candy Apple Red, or Red Copper?

Thanks in advanced!

Brick Red is the brightest Red I have in stock. It is what Acme Bullets and SNS Casting use.

[eljefeoz]

Anyone coated regular, jacketed pills with HITEK?
I tried some on 55gr .224 and they came out a bit paler than when they went in, while the cast came out all fine ( yeah, it was a mixed batch)

[HI-TEK]

Anyone coated regular, jacketed pills with HITEK?
I tried some on 55gr .224 and they came out a bit paler than when they went in, while the cast came out all fine ( yeah, it was a mixed batch)


Good question.
Coating Jacketed and plated alloys were done years ago here in Aus. by commercial caster.
They worked perfectly, and no Copper fouling. All it did is raise costs for ammo.
Copper can react with coating which may alter colour. As long as you got good bonding and it leaves no residues in barrel, all is well.

[Ausglock]

I have some 123gn HP Tigershark plated here.
Might coat 250 and see how they look.
Watch this space....

[Ausglock]

Just Call me ....G

Quoted "If any of you have experience with the Hi-Tek, subsonic boolits through a can in .300 BlackOut, please share.
I would request that you hold off on a fevered sales pitch..."re-read the thread" type comments.

I am looking for specific facts, not rhetoric."

I am most surprised at your above post. You ask for assistance, and then you suggest that people on this site are nothing but "fevered sales pitch" persons. No one is trying to sell you any thing. I have found, that folks on this site, FOR FREE, are happy to offer/share practical advice based on their experience. If you consider that being a "sales pitch" then it is not appropriate for you to seek their advice.
If you are thinking that folk on this site are sales people, and, if you interested in trying the product/s, in specific applications, it would be more appropriate for you to contact supplier and discuss your needs. If satisfied with suppliers replies, then buy it and use it, and, if you are not satisfied with suppliers reply, don't buy it.
Sorry mate, but no one is twisting your arms up your back, forcing you to purchase any product.

Ummmm. This post was from 2013... I'd say Old Mate has either pissed or gotten off the coating pot.

[AbitNutz]

This product has changed the way I shoot. I cast everything, well most everything and this product has caused me to mothball my 4-lubrisizers and good riddance to them. This product is far superior. I only have two issues, both stupid ones.

1. I have no idea why people are enamored with different colors. I use bronze...uhm that's about all I have to say about that.

2. The name. Hi-Tek is too generic a name. It can be applied to almost anything. When you tell someone you coat your bullets with Hi-Tek the conversation quickly degrades into an explanation of "No, really, that's the name".

You should have called it Ozzie Luv Juice or something...

[Ausglock]

It's actually called Supercoat.
Just like the dry Dog food I buy for my pooches....:bigsmyl2:

[HI-TEK]

This product has changed the way I shoot. I cast everything, well most everything and this product has caused me to mothball my 4-lubrisizers and good riddance to them. This product is far superior. I only have two issues, both stupid ones.

1. I have no idea why people are enamored with different colors. I use bronze...uhm that's about all I have to say about that.

2. The name. Hi-Tek is too generic a name. It can be applied to almost anything. When you tell someone you coat your bullets with Hi-Tek the conversation quickly degrades into an explanation of "No, really, that's the name".

You should have called it Ozzie Luv Juice or something...

AbitNutz
Thanks for compliment.
The colour craze started here in Aus. (you can blame us) lol lol. Each manufacturer wanted their "own" colour. It was then made worse, by people wanting Polkadot, Candy stripes, glowing colours, Pink to match the lipstick and handbag, and of course the magic Blue.

The Bronze varieties came about people wanting coatings similar in appearance to Jacketed ammo, and then some wanted it more Reddish some wanted it more brownish.

The Name, is actually Hi-Tek-Lube Supercoat. It was ground breaking some 25 plus years ago.

It has been called many names, (snake oil, Aussie Slime, Drop Bear blood, and others, not fit for publication. lol lol.)
I think Love juice is already taken lol lol.

[Lakehouse2012]

AbitNutz
Thanks for compliment.
The colour craze started here in Aus. (you can blame us) lol lol. Each manufacturer wanted their "own" colour. It was then made worse, by people wanting Polkadot, Candy stripes, glowing colours, Pink to match the lipstick and handbag, and of course the magic Blue.

The Bronze varieties came about people wanting coatings similar in appearance to Jacketed ammo, and then some wanted it more Reddish some wanted it more brownish.

The Name, is actually Hi-Tek-Lube Supercoat. It was ground breaking some 25 plus years ago.

It has been called many names, (snake oil, Aussie Slime, Drop Bear blood, and others, not fit for publication. lol lol.)
I think Love juice is already taken lol lol.
I didnt realize it had been around 25 years? Wow!

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[Ausglock]

Yep... We have been spoilt down here in OZ.

[HI-TEK]

I didnt realize it had been around 25 years? Wow!

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Lakehouse 2012.
It is amazing how time flies.
Just think, where we would have been if US had adopted the product some 15-18 years ago when it was first attempted to be introduced there.
All well, it is now history.

[ioon44]

It would have been interesting if I had picked up on the coating when I had my casting business in the late 1990's.

[Warhead]

You have forgotten Red 122(Crimson type red) Blush Red Copper (Pinkish Metallic glittery), DD Red (flesh pink type) as well. My two cents worth is the brightest would be possibly Red 122 and Brick Red, followed by Blush Red Copper.
But final choice is what is in the eye of the beholder as being OK...


Brick Red is the brightest Red I have in stock. It is what Acme Bullets and SNS Casting use.

Thank you both for the replies! I will get the Brick Red!

Donnie I'll have a order coming to you next week! :D

[eljefeoz]

You yanks ought to see my bronze coat-almost drop bear blood! ;)

[PAT303]

Well I've suddenly got a problem,I have been coating my boolits the same way for a while but all of a sudden the coating wipes straight off,smash test just fine but 10 sec's with a rag and acetone and my boolits are shiny clean,I even increased my bake time to 15mins and then the temp up to 220 but off she comes.I smelted up a new batch of alloy,I'm thinking I might have an extra ingredient or two.

[Ausglock]

I had the same thing awhile ago. The thermostat in the oven was not holding temp. Faulty heating element. replaced it and all was good again.

[PAT303]

More heat fixed it.My latest batch passed today,I just cranked the heat to max and it worked.

[Ausglock]

More heat fixed it.My latest batch passed today,I just cranked the heat to max and it worked.
Yep. I'd say the thermostat has had the dick.

[Grmps]

You gotta love OZ slang

[Avenger442]

Yea. I'm surprised we didn't get a moderator comment on that one.

I'm not sure why I have to log out and log back in in order to post a comment most of the time. Do they time me out if I'm not commenting?

Hope to be posting some test with new colors soon. Nothing other than what has been said so far on the color itself. But will be adding some feed back on running them through the .308. And maybe some target photos if the loads are right.

[Ausglock]

"Richard" is offended that you lot take his "handle" as a derogatory term.
Bloody heathen northern hemisphere residents.....:bigsmyl2:.
Very interested in your 308 info.
Toying with getting a mold to try some in my Parker-Hale 7.62 Target rifle.

[Avenger442]

Now you know I was referring to "the dick" comment. I think if we were posting in Britannia the moderator might have a problem with "bloody". Or if I threw up two fingers in the shape of a V with the back of my hand to you. Those Brits are really sensitive about that one. And the french, too.:bigsmyl2: But point made different cultures.

I'm hoping that three coats of the non-metallic coating will stand up to .308 pressures. First time I've used it in my rifles. May have to run them slow as I coated some new alloy which I don't know the BHN of, yet. What is it they say "only change one thing at a time"? Whoops!

[eljefeoz]

Woodleigh Hydros 400 Gr for my .404.
Got a beautiful shade of 'Drop bear blood' red -2 coats
complete, even coverage.

[Pass the acetone rub. NOPE. Am not going to smash test em. Pics -am trying...

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j1/eljefe06/IMG_3647_zpstpoxhttp://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j1/eljefe06/IMG_3653_zpsoddgjafg.jpg (http://s76.photobucket.com/user/eljefe06/media/IMG_3653_zpsoddgjafg.jpg.html)q6dr.jpg[/URL]
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j1/eljefe06/IMG_3647_zpstpoxq6dr.jpg (http://s76.photobucket.com/user/eljefe06/media/IMG_3647_zpstpoxq6dr.jpg.html)


http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j1/eljefe06/IMG_3653_zpsoddgjafg.jpg (http://s76.photobucket.com/user/eljefe06/media/IMG_3653_zpsoddgjafg.jpg.html)

[Avenger442]

Like I mentioned earlier, I've been working with some new color non-metallic coatings in the powder. They are the same yellow, green and orange that Joe and Trevor mentioned back on page 433. Donnie has some in stock.

I would post some photos but the site is having trouble right now with loading them up. Robert advised me "We have been doing software updates. Hopefully things will be better once updates are completed." Will do it later.

Just as Trevor said the yellow is basically a medium tan after it is baked. The green is a nice dark green. And the orange is burnt orange when baked, think Mitsubishi Eclipse burnt orange without the small metal flake. If you got to have purdy, I think I would pick the orange although all are nice. I will disagree with Trevor on one thing. He suggested using 150 ml of acetone instead of the usual 100 ml with the green because of it's intense color. In other words mix it more diluted. I did this and it would not give me good coverage until the fourth coat.

Coated, except for the green, with a mix of two tablespoons of powder and 100 ml of acetone. Did an open tumble when coating instead of my usual closed tumble. Used 1 ml of coating per pound of bullets. Everything measured, which is also not my norm. Did some fiddling with the bake time and temp and got best results with an 8 min bake holding temp. at between 190 and 200 C on my setup. Measured inside the oven. Started timer when bullets reached 195 C. Wipe and smash test passing with these. Lowered the temp 10 to try and keep the orange orange but it started failing the wipe test. Since I planned on using some of the bullets I was coating in the .308 all of them received three coats except the green which had four. The bullets were the copper infused lead combined with COWW and Tin. Was shooting for around 15 BHN and got just over 16 BHN.

At the range, the most important part to me, I shot 40 rounds of .308 through the rifle with no leading. I verified this with my El-cheapo bore cam. There was some kind of white residue about halfway down the barrel that cleaned up with my usual cleaning method. Groups were not all that impressive with lowest one coming in at about two inches. I think a little more load work with this new hollow point, a calm day and some correction in operator error will fix that. Wind was gusting up to about 15 mph and changing direction. Finally broke down and spent some of my gun money for something to tell me how fast they are going. These were several different loads and averages were between 2400-2700 fps out of the barrel. Wish I could recover some of the bullets. I really wanted to see how the hollow point worked. But real busy public range.

[TonyN]

I cast now with Range lead and I seen to be getting some projectiles that will pass the wipe test and some that won't pass. I have my oven at 200C with a PID and I will verify with a oven thermometer and it's at 400 F like I want. The projectiles are all same colors so the oven doesn't have got spots. One projectile will pass the wipe test and another will fail. There will be spots that will have coating and spots with bare lead. So I'm done with this coating . I bake for 13 min. Thank God I have 2 large containers and 2 small containers full still. They will make a great decoration in my reloading bench. Back to wax lube for me.

[Avenger442]

I cast now with Range lead and I seen to be getting some projectiles that will pass the wipe test and some that won't pass. I have my oven at 200C with a PID and I will verify with a oven thermometer and it's at 400 F like I want. The projectiles are all same colors so the oven doesn't have got spots. One projectile will pass the wipe test and another will fail. There will be spots that will have coating and spots with bare lead. So I'm done with this coating . I bake for 13 min. Thank God I have 2 large containers and 2 small containers full still. They will make a great decoration in my reloading bench. Back to wax lube for me.

I can imagine your disappointment. Sorry to hear you have given up. You have given it a try for months now and it seemed like you were over the hump when you posted that you were completely happy with your results back in March. Maybe you can try powder coat since you already have the oven. After looking at your post over the last few months I'm just surprised that you have not been able to get Hi Tek to work consistently for you since it has worked consistently, in the way you are using it, for so many others myself included. It seems our help was to no avail.

Just out of curiosity, did you sell the buckets of wheel weights? What are you shooting the 10 BHN range lead out of?


Still trying to post photos for last post. Site is still giving an error message.

[eljefeoz]

I cast now with Range lead and I seen to be getting some projectiles that will pass the wipe test and some that won't pass. I have my oven at 200C with a PID and I will verify with a oven thermometer and it's at 400 F like I want. The projectiles are all same colors so the oven doesn't have got spots. One projectile will pass the wipe test and another will fail. There will be spots that will have coating and spots with bare lead. So I'm done with this coating . I bake for 13 min. Thank God I have 2 large containers and 2 small containers full still. They will make a great decoration in my reloading bench. Back to wax lube for me.

Mate, of all the variables in your process, look at the most basic one- the LEAD.
Then the polymer mix and temperatures.
I had some come out all spotty and leprous, BUT- they performed well.
And- I use a beat up, $ 10, toaster oven , with a separate thermometer..
Trev has put up the instructions very precisely.My first few batches DID NOT pass the wipe or smash test. I lubed em and let fly. By the 3rd batch I had done 200x .45/70 405 grain Lee for a mate-picture perfect. We checked out the barrel after 20 rounds- -just a faint grey residue which wiped off in a single pass.
I understand it can be frustrating, due to the expectations we have...Give er another go.

[TonyN]

The range lead is all pure. Everyone else that used range lead has zero problems. The oven thermometers that I placed in the oven both where at 400 F dead on. The lead is testing at 10 BHN with my lee tester. I would love to get great results with Hi-Tel coating and still support this product as the colors are great looking but all I get done Ida casting and resmelting. I have been shooting my glock 21 and 17 and my Sig MPX with horrable results. Even my MPX is leading. I'm sizing my glock 17 at .357 as the barrel was slugged at .356. The only time my 21 didn't lead was the kryptonite was more black and golden color. I had to cook them for like 18 min or so.

[Hi-Performance Bullet Coatings]

Tony,
Have you tried any alloy harder than the stuff you are currently using?

[Redwoode]

I use 14 BHN for 45 and 16 hardball for 9mm and 40 s&w. If I don't under-cure in the oven it's on to stay.

[TonyN]

Yes but it's WW that didn't work either. I'll try 15 minutes. Maybe burnt is the way to go lol.

[TonyN]

My friend that I bought the Range lead actually is on this board and he uses 9mm and 40 with Range lead with zero probs. I had this working before but now I'm having spots that whip off and spots that stick. I'll try higher temps and or longer time.

[Avenger442]

Tony
I would just use what worked for me. If I couldn't get the Hi Tek to work in my guns and the grease/wax lubes were working I would stick to it. If I could get the wax/grease lubes to work in my guns with 10 BHN lead and give me acceptable performance I would use it. Or I would try something else like powder coating to see if I could get it to work. I've never used them but I can imagine how messy the wax/grease lubes might be. I have several stored up in case I get into that situation where there is no electricity to bake the bullets. Probably would take me a year to use up the coated bullets I have.

I have read this entire forum on Hi Tek. Started back when the post were a much much lower number. There are some here that only use the Hi Tek in their handguns because they didn't get acceptable performance with their rifles when they tried Hi Tek. I have been getting acceptable performance in both. So I use it for both. It is typical for me to be able to work up loads coated with Hi Tek that will give me 1 1/2" groups at 100 yards in my rifles with no leading. And, on a really good day, 1" groups with, sometimes, a shinny barrel after one pass of cleaning. And I'm sure no professional at this. I think anyone can do it. There is no Ju Ju to it no magic. It's just for some reason some of us in our situation just can't seem to get it to work for us. I think it is what we can get to work for us in our guns that we use. You have been trying for six months to get Hi Tek to work for you. You tried it on wheel weights. It flaked off. Contamination maybe? You cleaned the lead. Had some success in March but still had problems. Switched to range lead which didn't completely solve all of your problems. I would be frustrated beyond the point....

Guys
I know we want everyone here to succeed with Hi Tek. But I looked back at what we have told Tony and what he has replied and I frankly don't see anything else we can tell him that would help.

[slide]

You gave it your best shot. Keep looking you will find something that will work for you. Good luck!

[Ausglock]

Yep. TonyN.. you have me beat, Mate.
I have no other suggestions.
IF you are doing everything as per the instructions and not cutting corners or assuming anything, then I have nothing.
Sorry.

[Grmps]

The hardness/ composition of range lead is a turkey shoot, literally.It all depends on who was shooting and what they were shooting.
You got Hi-Tek coating working, what changed; what are you doing differently now.
Are you fluxing your lead at least 3 times with sawdust and wax
are the cast bullets clean/smooth finish?
if your water quenching is the water and container clean and free of any grease/oil/etc
if your towel dropping is the towel clean and free of any grease/oil/etc
PID shows oven holding 400 degrees-
oven door closes tightly
the convection fan is running
hi-tek solution mixed properly and mixed again thuroughly just before applying
your using 1 mil mix to 1 lb of bullets
you agitate/swirl no more than 20 seconds
you make sure the bullets are completely dry then put on a grate on top of your oven and warm for 10 min before baking
you bake in a preheated oven @ 400F (200 C)
bullets are completely cool before re-coating

Something is wrong, something is being missed. Sometimes I need to walk away from a problem for a while the go back to the basics and start over again.

Good luck Tony, Let us know how it turns out.

[slide]

Hey Ausglock, have you ever mixed acetone and m.e.k.? A lady who I know gave me three gallons of acetone and three gallons of m.e.k. Her husband was a painter and passed away recently. Acetone alone dries pretty fast here in Oklahoma and I have mixed in some denatured alcohol. Will it work?

[TonyN]

Will I got it to work again. I turned my PID back up to 205 C and from 13 min up to 15 min and they are sticking with zero wipe off or flaking. The kryptonite green is green but I can tell it was starting to darken. I'll get pics up in a little while.

[Ausglock]

Hey Ausglock, have you ever mixed acetone and m.e.k.? A lady who I know gave me three gallons of acetone and three gallons of m.e.k. Her husband was a painter and passed away recently. Acetone alone dries pretty fast here in Oklahoma and I have mixed in some denatured alcohol. Will it work?

I have never mixed them together. But have used a mix with acetone and another mix with MEK.
When they both got low, I mixed the 2 mixes together to use it up. No issues with it..

[TonyN]

What's it cost to get new heat elements for small convection ovens? I wonder also if mine could be going out?? I have to bake for 15 min as of now. Most I see seem to bake for 12 to 13 min.

[TonyN]

My glock 17 9mm slugged at .356 so what's everyone sizing there projectiles at? Still 1mil over bore size or is 2 mil more opt.?

[Ausglock]

What's it cost to get new heat elements for small convection ovens? I wonder also if mine could be going out?? I have to bake for 15 min as of now. Most I see seem to bake for 12 to 13 min.

Where have you got the Temp probe located in the oven?
You might be getting incorrect temp readings.

Mine sits about 1 inch below the middle of the the oven tray in the centre of the oven compartment.

[TonyN]

Sorry.. Half inch above the tray as the tray is in the middle.

[TonyN]

Ausglock I relocated my probe half inch under the Rack in the middle.Is that what you mean that you did also? It's closer to the heat coils then it was before. I would think itb would be best to put it above the tray full of bullets. Am I not thinking correctly?

[Ausglock]

So... your oven doesn't have top and bottom heat elements??

Try a tray and see how they go..

[benellinut]

Just throwing some thoughts out there, I have yet to use Hi-Tek but have been following the thread for a long time. If my thoughts are on the wrong track please say so, I'm trying to help, not make things worse for Tony or anyone else.

My thought's are on Tony's oven and how oven's work, there are hot spots in an oven, less if it's a convection with a fan moving air/heat around. Some oven's will be worse then other's depending on their design including one of two heating elements. The other factors will be what's placed in the oven and where it's placed, bigger tray's will restrict air flow, placed closer to a heating element it will block heat. Then there temperature control, is the thermostat letting the temperature fall too far before kicking the heat back on, how accurate is it. If all those factors are minimized and the bullets still not fully curing with the recommend time, then "if it was me" I'd be looking at another oven, one properly set up, but before that I'd just try baking them longer, even if it mean's changing the color, what's more important, color or performance? I'd get them working, then I "might" think about setting up a better oven so I get full cure and good color, if color was important to me which it's not.

Hope this helps rather then muddy the waters.

[Avenger442]

Guys
I'm not going to be able to post any photos from now on with my post. So I will not be able to give you photos of the test and targets on the Yellow Green and Orange that I had promised. It seems that something has changed with this site and I have been advised to use a free host site in order to be able to post my photos. This has not been the case for the last three years. And I have posted directly off of my computer. I have a policy of avoiding storing anything, that I can avoid, in any off site storage host. All of my Apple devices are disconnected from the cloud and I only use storage for backup here at the house. So my post from now on will be word only and I will try not to use the thousand words to replace the photo. But not making that a promise.:killingpc

[popper]

back on page 433 Uh, post 433? is that just the 'dark green'?

[TonyN]

Yes Ausglock I have top and bottom elements. I had the prob on top of the tray that is in the middle. It was like half inch about the tray. I just moved the probe to go under the tray half inch. I'll see how it goes.

[Avenger442]

back on page 433 Uh, post 433? is that just the 'dark green'?

Popper
That is post 8644 and 8645 on page 433 for the three colors. This thing has become a monster to read. I think I started reading it back when it was under 3000 post.

You are one of the people on here that encouraged me to get something to find out how fast my bullets were going. Now I'm learning about other things like standard deviation. Maybe this will help me find ways to get more consistent in my loads. Thanks.

This place is a treasure trove for the casting reloading crowd.

[TonyN]

So it looks like the Kryptonite green takes 14 min to fully cure and the Bronz 500 takes 15 min. It take it It's normal for different colors and the time?

[Ausglock]

If that's what it takes on YOUR oven, so be it.

[slide]

Is the Texas T color still around?

[Ausglock]

Is the Texas T color still around?

Yep...

[Hi-Performance Bullet Coatings]

Is the Texas T color still around?

It is Black 1035 on my website

[slide]

Thanks!

[slide]

I just watched a video on youtube that was made by what I call a hotdogger. A lot of people subscribe to this guys channel. Somebody sent him two of the small containers of hi-tek. You could tell that he did not read the instructions and was negative from the start. Measured the powder by using a scoop that he had marked for grains instead of grams. Mixed up the solution and used it without letting it set. Did not use enough solution for the amount of bullets he was coating. Tumbled the bullets for 15 seconds and dumped them and on and on. I have to admit that it ticked me off. This in no way was a fair test.

[TexasGrunt]

How can you have a scoop marked for weight? A scoop of powder paint can have wildly different weights. Not to mention powder or Hi-Tek.

[TonyN]

Was it fortincookie lc? I seen his video. He had gold and black cherry.

[slide]

You got it. I couldn't help it. I had to comment. He wanted it to fail.

[Ausglock]

Some people should not breed. This poor fool is a wet dream pushed in with a spoon.

[ioon44]

How can you have a scoop marked for weight? A scoop of powder paint can have wildly different weights. Not to mention powder or Hi-Tek.

I find that 20 grams of Candy Apple Red is a different volume than 20 grams of Bronze 500, follow the instructions weigh the powder and measure the Acetone.

Most you tube video's are a waste of time and irritating.

[slide]

I guess most people don't think about such stuff as this. I am really sold on the hi-tek. Have used it for three years now and won't use anything else. Time and time again I see failure reports. Why is this? Recently I saw a video on youtube (yeah I know) about a comparision between hi-tek and some powdercoat. The application of the hi-tek was a total shamble. But, even at that the tester was impressed with the groups from the hi-tek. I commented on the video and then thought the right thing to do was try and help the guy. I sent him an e-mail and told him how I do hi-tek. One of the things I do comes from the mind of Ausglock. I drill a hole in the base of a bullet and insert the end of the thermocouple wire and secure it with hi-heat tape. It goes in with the bullets and I know exactly what the temp of the bullets is running. He e-mailed me back and said he didn't need anything that precise right now and would keep doing what he is doing. If I remember right he has a toaster oven which is fine but goes by the dial ( I could be wrong about this,he may use some kind of thermometer) Like I tell everybody about the hi-tek. It is not a difficult process but a precise process. Everything has to be weighed,measured, and temp doublechecked. It seems as a lot of people nowdays just want to throw some of this,and that and a if this is good more will be better,snap their fingers and there you go. With all these failure reports I guess I am worried some that hi-tek will be pulled from the U.S. because of low sales.I hope there are more people using it that I know about. My 12 year old granddaughter loves to help me when I coat bullets. She is not involved in any of the mixing but she can swirl a small amount of bullets with a lid on the container. We use all safety equipment and she is supervised very closely. Her main job is moving bullets from the tray to storage containers or sometimes she likes to size them. This is not a powdercoat bash. I don't know what is in powdercoat or what kind of fumes it throws off while cooking or shooting. I am not going to expose her to something like that. ( Yes she shoots too,getting pretty good) I know hi-tek has been safety tested and that gives me some peace of mind. I have rambled on enough.

[HATCH]

For those looking for the 220V ssr thread please look here -> http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?336537-SSR-for-220V-PID-setup

Please stay ON TOPIC

[Grmps]

G'Day Joe, Trevor
I hear you have a dark green Hi-Tek and possibly many other colors for sale in OZ that aren't currently here in the USA. Would it be possible to upload pictures of all the colors available? I'm sure others would be interested also.

[Avenger442]

G'Day Joe, Trevor
I hear you have a dark green Hi-Tek and possibly many other colors for sale in OZ that aren't currently here in the USA. Would it be possible to upload pictures of all the colors available? I'm sure others would be interested also.

Grmps
Not trying to butt into the conversation but Donnie at High Performance Bullet Coatings, here in the US, I think has some of the latest dark green for sale. He also has a yellow which turns beige when cooked and an orange that turns burnt orange when cooked. You can see the colors in post 8644 on page 433.

[Ausglock]

Yep. Donnie has far more colours than there are available here in OZ.
Home coating isn't very popular here. only a handful of people do it.

[Hi-Performance Bullet Coatings]

Ok, I need help posting pics to this website. What s the best photo host and can someone please point me in the right direction?

[Ausglock]

I've had no luck posting pictures direct from my PC.
Keeps saying upload failed...

[ballistim]

I've had no luck posting pictures direct from my PC.
Keeps saying upload failed...

197417

I'm trying a test to see if what works for me on another web site works here, and I'll edit my post if it doesn't, but one thing that I've found definitely helps is using an app for iOS called 'Image Size', and for example I reduced this photo taken with my iPhone to 750x750 pixel and am able to upload even with a lousy rural internet condition.

Possibly there is a way to accomplish the same with a PC, but since I am 100% Apple & have been for years I'm not up on what's available for Windows.

Someone following this thread should know how to do something similar on the Windows platform.

Hope this helps!

Tim

[TexasGrunt]

IrfanView is a great program for the PC.

Image viewer that also allows one to resize and crop. It's free also.

[HATCH]

Please refer to here for posting help -> http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?336714-Posting-help-June-2017&p=4072124#post4072124
PLEASE keep this thread on topic (coating boolits)

[HI-TEK]

I had a go posting pictures to see if it loads197425197426

[HI-TEK]

more
197428

197429

[Grmps]

I didn't see dark green or any new colors @ Hi-Performance Bullet Coatings. Donnie, did you discontinue Kryptonite?

[HI-TEK]

[QUOTE=Grmps;4072202]I didn't see dark green or any new colors @ Hi-Performance Bullet Coatings.

Dark Green picture197434

[Hi-Performance Bullet Coatings]

I didn't see dark green or any new colors @ Hi-Performance Bullet Coatings. Donnie, did you discontinue Kryptonite?

I only a small sample size of the dark green on hand not enough to list for sale. If you guys are interested in some I have an order pending with Joe and I can see about adding a carton or two to the existing order.
I have K. Green on hand it was deleted inadvertently from the website, I will get with the gent that handles my site and get it relisted asap.

[Landshark9025]

[QUOTE=Grmps;4072202]I didn't see dark green or any new colors @ Hi-Performance Bullet Coatings.

Dark Green picture197434

I think you just did many folk an unintended favor there with that pic. If bullets laying in YOUR hand without the lube groove completely covered don't put that question to rest, nothing will.

[benellinut]

Wish like hell the like button was enabled so I wouldn't have to waste space posting, Thumb's Up

[Redwoode]

Does the dark green have any metallic in it or all solid?

[Gremlin460]

Yep. Donnie has far more colours than there are available here in OZ.
Home coating isn't very popular here. only a handful of people do it.

I only know of 4 around here, and they are ones that I recruited, there may be more but I dont know of them

[HI-TEK]

Does the dark green have any metallic in it or all solid?

Redwoode,
The Dark Green in photos has no metallics, but Zombie and Kryptonite Green does.
There is a version of Dark Green with metallics, but it has not been tested or advertised.
May be, I can send some away to have tested and photographed.
Who knows, it might end up being a great product....

[Ausglock]

Send it....

[Grmps]

Thanks’ for posting the colors, Joe.
I also think a dark metallic green would be interesting.

[Hi-Performance Bullet Coatings]

197533

This is the Burnt Orange

[Avenger442]

Photos new yellow green and orange.

I want to preface this with I'm not a computer expert. But have spent close to 30 years doing my work with them. Since the new updates to the site I have had problems with posting photos from my computer and cannot post as I did from my computer many times before. I went back to the link about posting help that HATCH gave us read and, I believe, understood what he is saying. That post is correct in that you don't need to quote him on the below 3MB being no problem loading from your computer. All of my latest photos are below that mark none will load from my computer and I would imagine size is not the thing preventing load. I get an error message each time I try. Personal opinion, listing from my computer has become not possible for me at this time. I have a policy, based on recent recommendations of tech. people where I used to work, of not putting things in a cloud storage or off site storage due to the relentless efforts out there to get into those. And it really doesn't have as much to do with the document stored but the back door it starts to provide.

I may go back and look at IrfanView or something like it. I have a program on my older computer running Vista that can be used to modify photos. May see if I can load from there.

Until then you will just have to take my many words (1000) for it. LOL

Back on topic of coating, per HATCH, recommendation. During my last sessions of testing coatings I went to great lengths to measure everything and follow exactly the instructions that Donnie provides with all of his orders of powder. And I would completely recommend it to all of you guys just starting out. Those bullets looked better but, while performing as should, didn't perform any better at the range than usual. In my usual coating session I do measure the mix when combining components I usually don't measure the amount going into the tumble bowl (1 ml/lb recommended). I just squirt what looks right right out of the mixing bottle snap on the lid of the tumbling bowl and tumble. That's right, I usually close tumble. Didn't during last sessions. I don't recommend this either if you are starting out. They both can give you trouble with too thick a first coat and those after. Which can cause the coating to flake. First coat should look like you almost don't have anything on the bullet. Just a light staining. So why do I do it? Well I don't measure when putting coating into the bowl cause I am both impatient and lazy at times and just don't want to. I hate the screwing off the lid of the bottle and sticking that syringe down in the bottle to suck up the coating. I don't like the time it gives the particles in the coating to possibly settle. My idea, probably not what actually happens. I close tumble because I got tired of chasing around the basement those bullets that decided they didn't like being tumbled. Sometimes I put too many in the bowl for reasons previously stated. And I found that closed tumbling will give a little bit longer for the solvent to flash off. Which gives more time for coating to get into groves and hollow points. Not that it matters as far as performance goes.

So what is my point behind the above. Well Slide said something in a previous post about measuring everything and being careful with the process. I think this is necessary if you are just starting out and for some time after also if one of the reasons why you are using the coating is for the color. But this is not as necessary with certain parts of the process if you have had some experience using the product and your really not all that concerned about the color but the performance is the main concern. I have not tried cooking past 30 min. But I don't think at the 400F you can over cook the product. It just turns dark and the performance is not affected as far as I can tell.

I'll let another cat out of the bag. Which I will recommend that you not do at all. I have shot flaky bullets with no lead in the barrel. I had some bullets that I had coated in 2014 that probably had a smash test on the first coat and passed but not on subsequent coats, my lazy impatient self showing again. These were .308s that I had decided to just load up and leave ready should I ever need them. Usually try to keep 100 loaded and ready. I have forgotten exactly how I found out two years later that they were flaking. I think I noticed some small flakes in the bottom of the container they were in and decided to smash test a couple before I loaded them. Both failed, big flakes down to the lead. Coating too thick. So instead of melting down the rest I saw this as a test opportunity, I loaded some. Forget how many probably 10-20 or so. Loading process with lite crimp didn't seem to be causing any flaking. Shot them with my 1 1/2" load for this bullet. I had expected to spend at least an hour with the chore boy and my cleaning rod. But no lead and cleaned up with my usual cleaning process. I have used up almost all of those 308s.

I'm not sure where this product stops forgiving. It obviously does since we have seen people report some lead in the barrel. Some of those may have been firearm related. Just like the comment on not being a computer expert I'm not a coating expert either. But I do like the opportunity to tinker/experiment.

Use the instructions and get those beautiful bullets that Trevor and Donnie are showing you.

Was that a thousand words?

[benellinut]

Avenger, not to load the thread with picture software chat, just a quick tip. If you have Microsoft Office installed, click the Windows button lower left of the screen, go to list of your programs, click on Microsoft Office then look for Microsoft Office Tools at the bottom of that list, open that then look for Microsoft Office Picture Manager, you can edit and resize pics with that, it works great. If you have it and need help using it PM me and I'll walk you through it with screen shot photos.

[Avenger442]

Avenger, not to load the thread with picture software chat, just a quick tip. If you have Microsoft Office installed, click the Windows button lower left of the screen, go to list of your programs, click on Microsoft Office then look for Microsoft Office Tools at the bottom of that list, open that then look for Microsoft Office Picture Manager, you can edit and resize pics with that, it works great. If you have it and need help using it PM me and I'll walk you through it with screen shot photos.

Thanks

[Ausglock]

This is my STI Trubor and the Compenstor after firing 250 rounds of 38 Super loaded with 125gn Conicals coated with 2 coats of Kryptonite green. Loads chronoed at 174 power factor.
197602
197603

[Ausglock]

You, Sir, Are a dead set legend. Just tried the MS Pic manager... works a treat.
Thanks for the tip..


Avenger, not to load the thread with picture software chat, just a quick tip. If you have Microsoft Office installed, click the Windows button lower left of the screen, go to list of your programs, click on Microsoft Office then look for Microsoft Office Tools at the bottom of that list, open that then look for Microsoft Office Picture Manager, you can edit and resize pics with that, it works great. If you have it and need help using it PM me and I'll walk you through it with screen shot photos.

[ioon44]

Avenger, not to load the thread with picture software chat, just a quick tip. If you have Microsoft Office installed, click the Windows button lower left of the screen, go to list of your programs, click on Microsoft Office then look for Microsoft Office Tools at the bottom of that list, open that then look for Microsoft Office Picture Manager, you can edit and resize pics with that, it works great. If you have it and need help using it PM me and I'll walk you through it with screen shot photos.

And if a person doesn't have Microsoft Office?

[ioon44]

With the hotter weather here now I was starting to get too much coating with my Candy Apple red.
I went to a 125 ml/20 g mix and cooled the bullets down with a fan before 1st and 2nd coats, this keeps the Acetone from flashing as fast and produced a smoother coating on the bullets.

[TexasGrunt]

And if a person doesn't have Microsoft Office?

http://www.irfanview.com/main_download_engl.htm

Get IrfanView. I've used it for over a decade. Awesome program.

[Hi-Performance Bullet Coatings]

https://youtu.be/htv5LFkSEi4
Here is a quick and dirty clip of me doing a first coat of the new dark green.


https://youtu.be/MtfHcAH8hQI
Here is the 2nd coat being applied

[Redwoode]

Donnie, I'm signed into forum but get "This video is private" message.

[Hi-Performance Bullet Coatings]

Donnie, I'm signed into forum but get "This video is private" message.

Ok, try again. I think I fixed it.

[Redwoode]

Works fine now. Thanks

[Grmps]

A picture is worth a thousand words, thanks for videos Donnie, I think they will help a lot of people see how simple the coating process is.

The reason Donnie said to tumble/coat the bullets no more than 20 - 25 seconds is you will get grainy bullets. You're supposed to dump them when they are still wet.

1 teaspoon = 5 Milliliters

[Lakehouse2012]

A picture is worth a thousand words, thanks for videos Donnie, I think they will help a lot of people see how simple the coating process is.

The reason Donnie said to tumble/coat the bullets no more than 20 - 25 seconds is you will get grainy bullets. You're supposed to dump them when they are still wet.

1 teaspoon = 5 Milliliters
I learn something new everyday... [emoji2]

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[Vern Humphrey]

I can't hear the dialog. I clicked on subtitles, and they're in Portuguese!

[TexasGrunt]

I ordered a couple of colors of Hi-Tek I didn't have the other day. The package arrived today and there was a good sized sample of the new dark green. I'll get some pictures up tomorrow. I put the second coat on before I quit for the day and it's an awesome looking color!

Thanks Donnie!

[Hi-Performance Bullet Coatings]

A picture is worth a thousand words, thanks for videos Donnie, I think they will help a lot of people see how simple the coating process is.

The reason Donnie said to tumble/coat the bullets no more than 20 - 25 seconds is you will get grainy bullets. You're supposed to dump them when they are still wet.

1 teaspoon = 5 Milliliters

I used a syringe to verify that the measuring spoon I used was indeed 5 ML. I find it easier to use the spoon/dipper in lieu of a syringe, but that's just me.
The powder should be weighed out as different colors have different volume to weight ratio.

[Ausglock]

Nice Vid, Mate.
Well done.

[dikman]

Gremlin/Ausglock, there's two of us here in Adelaide coating our own, a third guy in the club tried it but reckons he couldn't get it right (!) so has gone back to powdercoat (I suspect because he makes a solution and sprays it on - he's a spray painter by trade - and couldn't spray the Hi-tek). I don't know of anyone else doing it, but with the amount of ammo we can use in Single Action it just seems logical to "roll our own". Hell, the amount of powder I've got will probably see out my shooting life!!

Donnie, nice videos, didn't occur to me to use a measuring spoon. Like Avenger, I can't be bothered with a syringe and just give it a squirt. Works for me, but I might try the "spoon method", just for the sake of consistency.

[TexasGrunt]

I use a scale and a syringe. It makes an amazing difference.

[Ausglock]

Consistency comes from repeatability.

[Avenger442]

To state the obvious, neither consistency or repeatability will give you success. There are some people in our world that are crazy and will consistently and repeatedly do something getting a failed result and wonder why? [smilie=b:

[benellinut]

https://www.brainyquote.com/photos/a/alberteinstein133991.jpg

[Avenger442]

Has anyone tried to apply Hi Tek to the bullet with a small paint brush? I know your thinking why do this. But I have an idea.

[slide]

My granddaughter and I tried it. The hi-tek didn't want to adhere to the bullet very well. But,this doesn't mean that you can't get it to work. You never know what you can do until you try!

[Grmps]

Avenger, to stand a chance of this working I think you would have to use a high percentage of denatured alcohol to acetone to slow down the rate of evaporation to get the HT stain applied smoothly. -- Just my 2 cents worth.

[Avenger442]

Thanks guys

[Gremlin460]

I use a scale and a syringe. It makes an amazing difference.

"thumbs up"

my syringe is also the stopper for the bottle i mix in, so when not applying coating, its stopping any evap' from the mixture.

[Grmps]

I use short piece of bamboo put in a drill press and sanded to size as stoppers for my bottle's fill tubes

[cityofthesouth]

197533

This is the Burnt Orange

What mold? They look just like the Lee bullets I've been casting. 90457.

[Hi-Performance Bullet Coatings]

What mold? They look just like the Lee bullets I've been casting. 90457.

Those were dropped from a Magma Engineering Mould. 115 gr rn

[Hi-Performance Bullet Coatings]

For those that may be trying to contact Joe Ban directly, he is having a lot of trouble with accessing the internet. He is in the process of changing service providers and hopefully will be back online in the very near future. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you think I can be of assistance to you.

[Kitika]

Ahh that explains why he hasn't answered my emails this week. Thanks for the update!

[Ausglock]

ha... was talking to him this morning.
Internet providers are worse than used car salesmen for him at the moment.
He is not a happy old fart...:bigsmyl2::bigsmyl2:

[SAndy37]

LOL He should try connectivity out here in the colonies... Darkest Africa is not for the internet savvy!
Good luck Joe, chat soon! Your Green that you sent me is a huge success.

[HI-TEK]

LOL He should try connectivity out here in the colonies... Darkest Africa is not for the internet savvy!
Good luck Joe, chat soon! Your Green that you sent me is a huge success.


Hi all,
Finally I am back on line but at a different email address.
I have satellite Internet, that is supposed to be the ants pants.
What I found out is that my previous supplier was conning me, as soon as each month account started, in 2-3 days I was out of data download during peak period, then, they simply shut down my ability to get emails and surf the web.
They never advised me that I only had 4 gigs of data available despite selling me a plan of 40 gigs. The 36 gigs were only available at 2-5am in the mornings when I am trying to sleep.
They took my money but I did not get the service.
NOW they are gone, good ridding's.....

With your Green, I am glad that you have had success.
In what ammo are you using it? Can you please supply more details.
Joe

[slide]

Welcome back! We were about to send out a search party!

[squints]

Hi all,
Finally I am back on line but at a different email address.
I have satellite Internet, that is supposed to be the ants pants.
What I found out is that my previous supplier was conning me, as soon as each month account started, in 2-3 days I was out of data download during peak period, then, they simply shut down my ability to get emails and surf the web.
They never advised me that I only had 4 gigs of data available despite selling me a plan of 40 gigs. The 36 gigs were only available at 2-5am in the mornings when I am trying to sleep.
They took my money but I did not get the service.
NOW they are gone, good ridding's.....

With your Green, I am glad that you have had success.
In what ammo are you using it? Can you please supply more details.
Joe
hay Joe what is you new email larry from Nowra or squints you have my email

[Beau Cassidy]

I am just figuring this tapatalk stuff so let's see if this picture of a few Bronzed Saeco bullets goes thru...https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170702/95429b481cec7bbfdaad1f52f7be5c44.jpg

[HI-TEK]

I am just figuring this tapatalk stuff so let's see if this picture of a few Bronzed Saeco bullets goes thru...https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170702/95429b481cec7bbfdaad1f52f7be5c44.jpg

They look great.
How did smash test go?
Have you sized them as yet?
I have had no problems with posting some photos as JPEG types but it does take a while to load onto site.

[Beau Cassidy]

They gave the best smash test I have ever had. ZERO and I mean ZERO flaking. They sized great. This was my first batch with bronze and was small- maybe 800 bullets. I just cast a good bit more and they have near 100% coverage. They sized great.

[Grmps]

G'Day Joe,
Resize your pictures down to apr 50 kb and they will go faster.
Beau, Boolits look great, would look better on my bench :drinks:
Try cutting back a little on the first coat and swirling a little less before dumping

[TexasGrunt]

It's going to drive you nuts sorting those.

I'm guessing one of those is the Lee 155 SWC?

[Beau Cassidy]

Saeco 160 SWC and 230 RN. It doesn't take long to sort them

[slide]

They look great! If they pass the smash and acetone test and shoot without leading don't change nothing.

[SAndy37]

With your Green, I am glad that you have had success.
In what ammo are you using it? Can you please supply more details.
Joe

Hi Joe

I'm using the green on Magma NLG molds; 147gr 9mmP; 180gr 40; 158gr 38/357 and 95 gr 9mmK. Some of the 147gr Hi-Tek coated bullets look like they are going to France next month for the IDPA World Shoot! I'll keep you updated as the competitors in question are doing their final testing this week. Without a doubt the most accurate bullet I have ever shot. (No, I'm not going to France, some of my customers are.)

[Ausglock]

Hi Joe

I'm using the green on Magma NLG molds; 147gr 9mmP; 180gr 40; 158gr 38/357 and 95 gr 9mmK. Some of the 147gr Hi-Tek coated bullets look like they are going to France next month for the IDPA World Shoot! I'll keep you updated as the competitors in question are doing their final testing this week. Without a doubt the most accurate bullet I have ever shot. (No, I'm not going to France, some of my customers are.)

Same here. A few of my Sponsored IPSC shooters are going to the World Shoot in France. Susan Island Bullets and the Kryptonite Green Goodness will rule the world....hahahahahaha

[HI-TEK]

Same here. A few of my Sponsored IPSC shooters are going to the World Shoot in France. Susan Island Bullets and the Kryptonite Green Goodness will rule the world....hahahahahaha

Well,..... now you are in trouble, releasing Kryptonite in Europe.
Trying to take over the world, huh.....
I don't envy the outcome.....

[Beau Cassidy]

Third coat of kryptonite green on some Accuratemolds .40 bullets before being baked. Second pic is the smash test. Very happy with it. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170704/9302b459abcd62802f3d36afe9242b90.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170704/83307203534880ae517f44ae3cae0920.jpg

[Drew P]

Wow! I like that green. You wanna trade some for my bronze?

[Avenger442]

To all you guys here in the US of A; Happy Independence Day!:guntootsmiley:

[dikman]

Happy July 4! Drink lots of beer and eat lots of food!

[Avenger442]

Quit drinking about 40 years ago. But there will be plenty of food eaten.

[slide]

It has been about that long for me. Used to be a big beer drinker. Better off without it. Nothing better than a big glass of ice water!

[TexasGrunt]

It has been about that long for me. Used to be a big beer drinker. Better off without it. Nothing better than a big glass of ice water!

Ice water is my addiction.

20 years carrying mail on a walking route got me hooked. There's nothing better than the feel of ice cold water going down my throat.

[Ausglock]

But.........Fish fornicate in water...:mrgreen:
I prefer a nice aged Scotch.
Beer.....Yuck!!!

[Grmps]

If you ever see "King Of Kings" scotch and it's not too bloody expensive you should give it a go.

[Avenger442]

So you guys would rather drink grass rotted for ten years in your water?:kidding:

I've run out of ways to test Hi Tek. I think I'm going to take something Joe said a while back and just apply one coat on some pistol bullets to see if it works. Has anyone tried this?

[Ausglock]

So you guys would rather drink grass rotted for ten years in your water?:kidding:

I've run out of ways to test Hi Tek. I think I'm going to take something Joe said a while back and just apply one coat on some pistol bullets to see if it works. Has anyone tried this?
Yep. Works fine on the 230gn 45 pills out of my Para 1911.

[Michael J. Spangler]

Third coat of kryptonite green on some Accuratemolds .40 bullets before being baked. Second pic is the smash test. Very happy with it. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170704/9302b459abcd62802f3d36afe9242b90.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170704/83307203534880ae517f44ae3cae0920.jpg

Now that's how it's done. I keep seeing a certain YouTube channel testing Hi-Tek and he keep screwing it up horribly and claims how much better, easier and quicker powder coating is.

Someone needs to find a youtube channel that has more subscribers and send said youtuber some free samples of hi-tek to set the record straight. I can't stand seeing the crusty poorly coated bullets. It looks like he takes 300 degree bullets fresh from the moulds and pours 3X as much hi-tek as is needed and give sit a shake for about 4 minutes. Bad stuff.

[ioon44]

I have done 1 coat of Gun Metal on 200 gr SWC for my PPQ 45 and 1911, it worked fine just wont win the pretty bullet contest.

[dikman]

I'm pretty sure neither the gun nor the target care what the boolit looks like!:lol:

I must give it a try next time I do some coating, out of curiosity. I'm only shooting Single Action cowboy stuff so pretty low velocity.

[HI-TEK]

Colours that are soon to be travelling to the US.
VO2 and Dark Green Pearlescent.

199309199310

[HI-TEK]

So you guys would rather drink grass rotted for ten years in your water?:kidding:

I've run out of ways to test Hi Tek. I think I'm going to take something Joe said a while back and just apply one coat on some pistol bullets to see if it works. Has anyone tried this?

Avenger,
A single coat was tried many years ago and worked, however cosmetic appearance was not great. Buyers want pretty bullets as well as functional.
My suggestion is that a single coat should work with cast that have high bearing surface area. The expansion of alloy during shooting, would transfer load over a large surface area.
I am reluctant to advise that a single coat would be similarly successful with the alloys with many mini grooves, or having smaller bearing surface.
As the actual bearing surface contact with barrel would be much reduced, this may cause more deformation taking place and more of a possibility of Lead being exposed.
The 2 coat system was mainly adopted, to make product more appealing to the buyer, and provided a more uniform colour and coverage.
The range of shapes and styles you guys have in US are far greater than what we have here, so it is difficult to predict results.
The more experienced cast coaters had success with single coat, but finished product did have lesser smooth finishes. They worked just fine.

[Grmps]

G'Day Joe, like the looks of Dark Green Pearlescent! Is it metallic?

[HI-TEK]

G'Day Joe, like the looks of Dark Green Pearlescent! Is it metallic?

GRMPS
Yes it is "Metallic", this was previously requested as a colour on the blog, (cant remember who).

[Grmps]

Thanks, Joe. I'll need to check on Donnie's site. Looks like you just got off work, Have a great weekend.

[Ausglock]

Thanks, Joe. I'll need to check on Donnie's site. Looks like you just got off work, Have a great weekend.

Work??? Work???? Him???? Hahahahahahaha.. He sits in his Lab all day brewing moonshine and making coating. He is retired... He doesn't work.....

[benellinut]

Work??? Work???? Him???? Hahahahahahaha.. He sits in his Lab all day brewing moonshine and making coating. He is retired... He doesn't work.....

LoL, I want to hear how life is a year after you retire someday!

[Hi-Performance Bullet Coatings]

Thanks, Joe. I'll need to check on Donnie's site. Looks like you just got off work, Have a great weekend.

It will be about 6-8 weeks before that Dark Green Pearlescent arrives here.

[TexasGrunt]

Colours that are soon to be travelling to the US.
VO2 and Dark Green Pearlescent.

199309199310

There goes my allowance again.

[Grmps]

Trevor, he hangs out with you! Some people would consider that work [smilie=l:

Thanks, Donnie, Would you please post when the Dark Green Pearlescent comes in.

[Ausglock]

Honestly???
Neither of these float my boat.
But I am spoilt with the Kryptonite green...:mrgreen:
Ran 300 rounds of 38 Super Major P/F through the Trubor today.
125SWC and 125 Conicals. 2 coats of the KG. Comp is clean and lead free.
Velocity was around the 1370fps mark.

[HI-TEK]

LoL, I want to hear how life is a year after you retire someday!

benellinut,
Ausglock will never retire, he is trying to conquer the world with Kryptonite....:violin::mrgreen:

[popper]

Did about 300 165TC 40SW yesterday using the liquid green from a few years back that's been in the fridge - mixed a new batch yesterday. Passes smash & wipe but color is copper-brown. Sized fine. Don't really care about the color but hard to check the wipe test. Got to heat up the pot and make more.

[Avenger442]

Had time to go to the range yesterday. Been raining almost every day here. Shot about 20 rounds of the .308 hollow points coated with the Yellow and Orange. Also 10 rounds of the Lee C309 160 R coated with Bronze 500. Targets at 100 yards. Haven't had time to look at the barrel yet but performance didn't indicate any leading. Also took foot per second and standard deviation readings but, again, haven't had time to sit down and look at them.

I am trying a set of Remington cases that I have uniformed the primer pockets and deburred flash holes. These were loaded with the Lee C309 same load that produces typical 1 1/2" groups with this bullet in this gun. For some reason the groups were more in the 2 1/2 - 3" range. I think I'm going to have to adjust the load after deburring the flash hole. Standard deviation were lower, so speeds were closer to the same. Does anyone have experience with this? Is it common for the flaring of the deburred flash hole to cause a change in the burn of the powder, pressure, (or as Glenn would say the RPM) etc causing the groups to spread?

Best group was 4 of the hollow points in just under an inch (all four almost touching in a vertical line) with the fifth making the group slightly over 1 1/2". These hollow points punch holes like a paper hole punch. Reminds me of the SWC pistol bullets.

[slide]

:goodpost:

[HI-TEK]

Did about 300 165TC 40SW yesterday using the liquid green from a few years back that's been in the fridge - mixed a new batch yesterday. Passes smash & wipe but color is copper-brown. Sized fine. Don't really care about the color but hard to check the wipe test. Got to heat up the pot and make more.

Popper,
You reproduced what I had found with a retention sample that I had stored for several years.
It sat on a shelf (no fridge) in a plastic bottle. It was a Dark green coating originally. When I looked at it, it was now a brown chocolate colour and thick as Treacle.
After dilution, coating mixture was used and we found similar results to what you found.
That is the peculiarity with this polymer system. Over baking is also OK but colour does suffer.
Attached is an over bake picture of a dark green coating.199588

[HI-TEK]

Popper,
Here is another colour, Bronze 500 with normal cook time and over cooked for about 20 minutes.
You can see effects,
199589
199590

[popper]

Joe, just posted to provide some long term shelf life data. It appears the color particles settle and don't dissolve easily after long term storage but the lube characteristics remain. I mixed this batch in a clear Coke bottle and I can see sediment on the bottom that gets suspended but not dissolved in the mix. I just use acetone, may try adding some MEK next time I coat. I tend to cast large batches & coat for pistol, which I don't shoot much, so long time between coating sessions. Don't think it is a problem for volume coaters.

[HI-TEK]

Joe, just posted to provide some long term shelf life data. It appears the color particles settle and don't dissolve easily after long term storage but the lube characteristics remain. I mixed this batch in a clear Coke bottle and I can see sediment on the bottom that gets suspended but not dissolved in the mix. I just use acetone, may try adding some MEK next time I coat. I tend to cast large batches & coat for pistol, which I don't shoot much, so long time between coating sessions. Don't think it is a problem for volume coaters.

Thanks much Popper.
The stuff that settles, will re-suspend, but it takes some effort to mix it all up.
Many use a couple of cast as mixing aid.
You can also use a couple of glass marbles that rattle around whilst mixing sediment.
Lead alloy may be better, as it is very dense and smaller in size, ideal for getting stuff off the bottom.
You probably coated with mostly resin with small amounts of other ingredients.
As you rightly pointed out, it still works OK, but colour is not so good.

[dikman]

I use a couple of round balls (for my muzzleloaders) to agitate the mix. Small round fishing sinkers might work better, or several large split shot?

[HI-TEK]

For all who don't know, it is Ausglocks birthday today.
As I said to him, he looks great for a 120 year old...lol..lol
Happy Birthday Trev...

[Grmps]

Congrats mate, you survived another one

[Ausglock]

Yeah. Thanks. 57 is old enough thanks.

[Avenger442]

Happy 57th Trevor.
Can't post my usual birthday cake due to photo posting privileges being revoked.:kidding:

[slide]

Happy Birthday!!!!!!!:drinks:

[benellinut]

Cheer's Trevor! https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/b-day.gif I had vision's of you doing some bang and clang in celebration! :Fire: Hope it was a good day! https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/styles/ecflight/xenforo/clear.png

My 60th is days away. https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/shock.gif I just hope after this, everyone forgets and the day just passes quietly. https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/tumbleweed.gif

[eljefeoz]

Have a great day and year, Trev. Here's to many more.

[Ausglock]

Thanks, everyone.
Bit of pew pew pew today. a few 100 rounds through the STI Trubor..

[TexasGrunt]

Joe, just posted to provide some long term shelf life data. It appears the color particles settle and don't dissolve easily after long term storage but the lube characteristics remain. I mixed this batch in a clear Coke bottle and I can see sediment on the bottom that gets suspended but not dissolved in the mix. I just use acetone, may try adding some MEK next time I coat. I tend to cast large batches & coat for pistol, which I don't shoot much, so long time between coating sessions. Don't think it is a problem for volume coaters.

I've had this happen with some mixes. The color portion seems to turn into a thick tar and is really hard to get mixed back in.

[benellinut]

I'm betting evaporation of the solvents is most of the problem, yes there is settling but it's hard to keep some of these fast evaporating solvents once the container is open. Multiple times I've had can's of acetone evaporate bone dry on the shelf once I broke the factory seal even though I've replaced the pry off cap under the screw on cap and cranked it down with pliers. It's even worse when trying to keep it in anything other then a tin can.

[wlkjr]

I mix mine in small portions but if I have any that looks suspect I just dump it since it's so cheap and easy to mix.

[Avenger442]

I have had some color changes in mixes that were in the 3 month old and up stored. Some more like six month before change. I have one mix that is close to a year old. Haven't used it lately. But since performance never seem to be affected in any of these finely aged mixes I just, more or less, ignored the color.

If I mix correctly and well (when first mixing or picking up something that has been sitting around a while I shake it for about five minutes), put the coats on thin (a good reason to add solvent to old mixes) and bake long enough at 390-400 F there are no issues with performance. They can be over baked to the point of almost turning black. The mix can be used for a long time after you mix it up. And I don't see any reason the unmixed powder shouldn't keep for years. I have loaded and shot rifle bullets recently that were coated about three years ago with no leading or accuracy changes.

As I have said before, when I started casting I was looking for a lubricant. I read a lot about waxes and greases and cleaning. I looked at powder coating. I even looked at copper plating. Boy that would have been a chore. Like I said I did a lot of reading. Was close to coming up with a decision when I happened up on this site while doing research. This Castboolits site is a treasure trove for the caster and hand loader. There is not much about making and shooting cast bullets that you can't find here. Anyway, I happened on this section "simple Hi-Tek coating". It was all the liquid version back then. It looked relatively simple and is even simpler now with the powders. I ordered some used it and haven't used any other lubricant on any of my cast bullets in rifle or hand guns. Stuff has worked for me since I first started using it. I have had zero issues related to the coating that were of any consequence.

I have the waxes and greases but have never used them. Figure if I get in a situation where I run out of coated and have no electricity then I might need them. Then the other day a see a guy demonstrating a sun stove. Guess what the max temp was; 450 F. I might just start being a true prepper and buy that thing, when the price comes down. By the way, just made my first batch of real pickles, not the refrigerator version. Took eight days of waiting on slices to soak in different mixes of alum, salt, spices and vinegar. After about seven pounds of sugar they have a nice sweet tart taste. Not bad for a first try. Better than my first hand loads.

I was at the range couple of weeks ago shooting some SWC 38 special coated in the Bronze 500 at 25 yard targets. Was practicing both bench and off hand single and double action. When I first got there no one was on the 25 yard range. At about the end of my practice a guy showed up and kept hanging around talking to me. Seemed suspicious at first because he didn't have a gun with him that I could see (one of the few places that might be suspicious to me) and he kept talking to me. Turns out he was waiting on a friend that was going to do some shooting with him. While we were talking he asked me was that my target. I'm not sure if that was in awe of the great groups or a dis on my shooting. Probably the later. Donnie, if you get an order from a new guy in Gadsden, Alabama it's probably him.

[dikman]

I mix mine in small portions but if I have any that looks suspect I just dump it since it's so cheap and easy to mix.
I do the same. Compared to some here I only do relatively small batches, every so often, so only mix the minimum amount. Thus far it's been fine, just need to add a bit more acetone occasionally, the colour has darkened slightly but that's no big deal. If I have to throw it out doesn't matter 'cos what I've got powder-wise is going to last me a very long time!

[Avenger442]

Back when Gunoil started this thread I bet he never dreamed it would grow this big. Almost 9000 post. Wow.

[pd.dangelo3006]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170719/f98ca3d27be0ca2d291e40d392a880b9.jpg

Brand new to this stuff followed the directions closely they looked good and passed the wipe test but not the smash test. In the instructions it say if they flake it either baked to hot or to long or was put on to thin, I kinda figured the opposite coating being to thick could cause this flaking. Any advise would be most appreciated.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Grmps]

I don't know where you got the instructions.
you should coat 1 mil solution to 1 lb of bullets, a little lighter on the first coat helps with the adhesion. Your coating looks too thick to me! You are correct, to thick coating will cause flaking
swirling too long will give you a grainy finish. 15 to 20 seconds works. The bullets must be dumped before the sound changes, it is OK to dump them wet.
Cooking too long will make the coating darker, it will not affect adhesion.
You should test you over with 2 oven thermometers set in the middle of the shelf you bake on, adjust the oven dial/temp until the thermometers read 400.
are you using a toaster oven or convection oven? Convection has a circulating fan and will spread the heat more evenly and allow you to bake larger batches.
12 min in a convection is a good place to start. If the bullets come out dark and you know the oven is @ 400* cut back to 11 min.
The coating MUST BE COMPLETELY DRY AFTER EACH COAT BEFORE BAKING. setting the freshly coated bullets in front of a fan speeds up drying. It is also recommended to put a spacer on top of your oven and place the tray of dry coated bullets on it for 11 min the pre warm the bullets and make sure they are dry (I use an oven shelf type grate for the spacer.

You're doing great, if you browse this thread you will see detailed instructions for coating and a link to a video by performance on how to coat.

Welcome to CB forum and welcome to HT coating

[HI-TEK]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170719/f98ca3d27be0ca2d291e40d392a880b9.jpg

Brand new to this stuff followed the directions closely they looked good and passed the wipe test but not the smash test. In the instructions it say if they flake it either baked to hot or to long or was put on to thin, I kinda figured the opposite coating being to thick could cause this flaking. Any advise would be most appreciated.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Please refer to the attached coating instructions that you would have been supplied.199994

[Ausglock]

Too thick. What colour is it supposed to be??

[wlkjr]

From the pic it looks like the coating is too thick. Maybe add more acetone to thin it a little. Some of my first tries I added a little more powder because I thought the mixture was too thin. That was a mistake, but adding more acetone corrected my problem. A little bit goes a long way.

[Avenger442]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170719/f98ca3d27be0ca2d291e40d392a880b9.jpg

Brand new to this stuff followed the directions closely they looked good and passed the wipe test but not the smash test. In the instructions it say if they flake it either baked to hot or to long or was put on to thin, I kinda figured the opposite coating being to thick could cause this flaking. Any advise would be most appreciated.


Will echo previous welcome to cooking boolits. Looks like you are headed for something you will love shooting.

When first starting out it is important to read the instructions and follow them. Keeping that first coat on the thin side, meaning you can still see the lead it's just stained a little, will give you better coating on next coat and following coats. Coating too thick will cause a failed smash test.

But, can you smash another one with something white under it? A white paper towel would be good, something white and flat. Just place it between the bullet and what ever you are smashing it on. Then take a photo with the bullet still laying on the towel so we can see if the flaking is just small flakes. I'm seeing what I call dusting. Don't necessarily want to be the voice of dissent in this but I have shot bullets out of my guns that were just dusting a little when smashed with no leading. A smash test that really fails will come off in big flakes. Think scraping peeling paint from wood, type of flakes. Would post a photo of what I'm talking about. But can't do that right now on this site with this software update. I have posted photos of this previously and a really bad failed smash test. If you want them will email them.

Or you could just not take the chance you can use them as is and melt them down and go again. That's the safe bet.

[pd.dangelo3006]

Red copper and my oven is not a convection oven so that might be my problem. Also the instructions that I have say to do 3 or 4 thin coats but from what I'm reading two sounds more like the norm. I mixed the according to the instructions that I have but I will try it a little thinner. Thanks for the advice


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ausglock]

Where the hell did you get the "Instructions" From????

None That I have ever seen, read or written has ever said 3 to 4 coats!!!!!!

[Grmps]

Check this out for help with coating http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?204174-simple-Hi-Tek-coating&p=4074376&viewfull=1#post4074376

pd.dangelo3006 I am curious where you got the instructions you followed. I'm sure Joe (HI TEK) the manufacturer would like to know to prevent others from having the same problems you are having.

With a convection oven, it's suggested that you stick with smaller batches.

When (not if) everything comes together you will be surprised how easy the process really is.

[Grmps]

Little bit of information for you all.
Did a bit of testing over the weekend.
Was trying to sort out the issue of touch marks on bullets after baking.
1st coat was 4mls to 2.5Kg.
second coat 6mls to 2.5Kg.
This resulted in a far shinier finish and no visible touch marks.
time and temp remained the same as did the mix ratio.

Touch marks are a sign of too much coating being used.
Also trying to use bullet count rather than weight.
100 to 135gn bullets, use 300 per tray and use 4mls 1st coat and 6mls 2nd coat.
145 to 170gn bullets use 250 per tray with 6mls each coat.
185 to 240gn bullets use 200 per tray with 6mls each coat.
It can get confusing if you don't keep a track of it...

2.5 kg = 5.51156 lb

Trevor, did you do this in your coating machine? if so how many seconds did you run it after adding the ht coating?

[Avenger442]

Where the hell did you get the "Instructions" From????

None That I have ever seen, read or written has ever said 3 to 4 coats!!!!!!

Come on man, guy is just starting out.
He has probably been reading some of my post.:kidding:


dangelo;
It does look like you have gotten some incorrect instructions. Recommend you read Joe's link In his previous post for correct start. He and Trevor are our on site experts for Hi Tek.
You are correct that most of the guys on here are using two coats for pistolas.
Because I always want to know if I can I'm about to try a one coat rifle bullet in my .308. This stuff is fairly forgiving. You cannot over bake it as you mentioned earlier. Over baking will change the color but not the performance as far as I can tell.

Hey guys. About to load up some more of the Hi Tek .308 in the cases I have been working on to remove some of the inconsistencies. Hoping to get rid of that flyer that always takes my one inch five shot groups and makes two inch groups out of them. Wish me luck. Haven't got the one coat bullet ready yet.

[Grmps]

Avenger442 I'm sure your inspecting each bullet carefully for any flaws, try weighing each bullet and only keep the ones in a certain range to help prevent fliers

[asmith80]

Took the plunge yesterday and coated my first boolits with some kryptonite green. Really like the color, and after reading all the info on here about best practices, it was a snap. Coated, sized and coated again. This batch is already loaded and shot, so I guess I need to cast up and coat some more

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s142/adamjsmith80/IMG_20170721_113713313_zps41its4ys.jpg (http://s151.photobucket.com/user/adamjsmith80/media/IMG_20170721_113713313_zps41its4ys.jpg.html)

[HI-TEK]

Took the plunge yesterday and coated my first boolits with some kryptonite green. Really like the color, and after reading all the info on here about best practices, it was a snap. Coated, sized and coated again. This batch is already loaded and shot, so I guess I need to cast up and coat some more

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s142/adamjsmith80/IMG_20170721_113713313_zps41its4ys.jpg (http://s151.photobucket.com/user/adamjsmith80/media/IMG_20170721_113713313_zps41its4ys.jpg.html)


Well done. They look great. You got it first time.
How did you find your barrel afterwards, and what did you use?

[Ausglock]

What calibre and bullet?
I'm looking for a nice 220gn FP for 40S&W.

[Avenger442]

Avenger442 I'm sure your inspecting each bullet carefully for any flaws, try weighing each bullet and only keep the ones in a certain range to help prevent fliers


Already tried that. Have been weighing a segregating bullets for some time now. I'm thinking now that I need to look at the cases. So I have headed in that direction.

Going to the range tomorrow. Report to follow. Hope I can keep the gun cool. It's running close to 100 F here with humidity making the "feel like" temps around 105.

Trevor
I've got a nice hollow point for a .308:mrgreen:

[Grmps]

Avenger, try pointing the rifle up between each shot to see if powder locations have any effect if it does then maybe you need poly filler.

Nice job asmith80 shows what can be done when someone reads and follows the instructions

[asmith80]

Well done. They look great. You got it first time.
How did you find your barrel afterwards, and what did you use?

Thanks! I was using a CZ 75 SP01 and working up some loads with VV N320 and Clays. Barrel was clean as a whistle afterwards. I really like this mold, it's a 358-155 from NOE. I got it to have a heavy bullet to use in my 9mm for competition, but I may try it out in my .38 as well. Seems to be a really versatile boolit

[Hi-Performance Bullet Coatings]

Took the plunge yesterday and coated my first boolits with some kryptonite green. Really like the color, and after reading all the info on here about best practices, it was a snap. Coated, sized and coated again. This batch is already loaded and shot, so I guess I need to cast up and coat some more

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s142/adamjsmith80/IMG_20170721_113713313_zps41its4ys.jpg (http://s151.photobucket.com/user/adamjsmith80/media/IMG_20170721_113713313_zps41its4ys.jpg.html)

Adam,
Nice job. That bullet should shoot quite well in .38 also.

[Avenger442]

Avenger, try pointing the rifle up between each shot to see if powder locations have any effect if it does then maybe you need poly filler.

No appreciable difference. The H4895 doesn't seem to have that problem. Or It may be that my ammo is stored on it's butt before using?

Range Report:

Shot 30 rounds of .308 coated with Bronze 500 in four, five and six shot groups.

Was testing the effects of doing some modifications to the cases; primer pocket uniforming and flash hole deburring. Cases were trimmed to length, weighed, and segregated to within two grains. Also shot some cases with only the primer pocket uniformed, trimmed and segregated by weight. The last time I fired the deburred cases I wasn't impressed with the groups but this time one of the loads gave me an inch and a half group. Average speed was 2586 fps standard deviation 17.7. Looks like the one to use with the deburred flash hole.

What was really interesting was a group I shot with a some cases that didn't have the deburring done. They did have the primer pocket uniformed and were segregated by weight. I got four shots in less than 1/2" at 100 yards the fifth shot made it a 1" group at 2600+ fps standard deviation was 10.9. This has been my usual 1 1/2" group load. Point, which has been made before, you can have all the accuracy you want with Hi Tek.

Wish I could post some photos. Sent the one with the four in one hole by email to Donnie.

[Grmps]

AVENGER TO POST PICTURES
It took a few tries but I finally got it.
create an IMGUR account https://imgur.com/
simply drag and drop pictures
select picture
select "Linked BBCode (message boards)", copy and paste in the body of your post

[Avenger442]

AVENGER TO POST PICTURES
It took a few tries but I finally got it.
create an IMGUR account https://imgur.com/
simply drag and drop pictures
select picture
select "Linked BBCode (message boards)", copy and paste in the body of your post

If you wish to correct my understanding I welcome the comment but I'm not going to hijack this thread with a bunch of computer discussion. So if you want to reply to me on the below PM me. Thanks.

Understand that I am not a computer Tech and what you do with you photos is up to you.

Up until the last month or so I was able to post photos direct from my computer to this site. I had been advised by security programs on my computer that this site was not secure. But considered it a low risk for hacking and was posting photos. Recently Castboolits installed new software, probably to up grade their security. At about that time I ceased to be able to post directly from my computer. Understand I'm not complaining, this site certainly needs to protect its security. So you Administrators don't get stirred up. I'm just telling you what I understand of what has happened. I don't exactly know why. It may have been an administrative decision to stop allowing direct posting. I guess that if your posting from your computer that this site becomes the storage agent. It may have become just too much data to store on their server? Doesn't matter, result is the same.

While posted photo code is accessible on this site and can be accessed by a hacker it is more likely that a cloud storage out on the web would be a better target for them, more accounts and information or code. I was advised by Techs at work several years ago not to create a storage out on the web. Their reason was that code embedded in the items you were storing off your computer could be used as a door into your systems. At the time they were more concerned about someone accessing their main frame than my computer. Because of this educated opinion I do not use web storage systems like I-Cloud. I have I Phones and I Pads but do not link them to this type of service. I don't know of any web services that help you post photos to a site that are not also storing the code for those photos on their site so I don't use them. So I guess you could say that it is me keeping me from being able to post photos.

I do have a small complaint about this site though. I keep it pulled up sometimes in the tabs on my computer. While it will show me logged in at the top of the page I am actually logged out at times as far as being able to post a comment. When I try to post I get an error message with instructions which I have followed with no success. So I go to the top of the page actually log out log back in go back to the page I was on to post a comment. Just had to do that for this comment. May be something timing me out or another security feature but it is, never the less, inconvenient even though it might be safe. Like taking off your shoes at the airport.

[kevin c]

OK, new to casting, new to HiTek. What I've done so far works great, but a few questions to those in the know. Do I need a new oven (I think so)? Is a little wipe off from the Black Cherry OK?

I used Rotometals hardball to eliminate alloy concerns. Finally I am getting the hang of using my slick side 147 grain molds from Accurate. I'm using the HiTek release. Two coats of Black Cherry, mixed with a weighed 20 grams to a measured 120 ml acetone (reading the thread [all of it, twice], I got the impression that 20 to 100 was the equivalent of 5-1-5 of the liquid, and wanted to match the 5-1-7 that Ausglock was using). The mix was left to stand to react. Had a couple reject bullets in the container for agitation. Used a long tube on a syringe to pull up the solution from the middle of the bottle, but didn't delay after shaking. 6 ml on 5# of casts, shaken in a closed container for about 20 seconds, another 5 or so with the lid off, dumped on mesh before the sound change but with the container not wet. Dried over night.

The oven is a 15 dollar used convection toaster oven. Temp measured via K probe on a DVOM, preheated, and with the probe left in the oven during the bake. Bake times ran 12 to 22 minutes for each of the two coats.

The reason for the prolonged bake times was that I kept getting wipe off. Not a lot, but a little, that only went away when the bake time hit 20 minutes. Despite having the probe verify the temp (200 to 205 C through out the bake), the bullets did not darken much at all - I got the nice cherry color that is shown in the photos in post 8595. All smash tests fine, and no leading through my Glock factory barrels.

So I am very happy with the HiTek, but am wondering about the long bake times. I did note that the temps I got were with the probe right over the tray, but with the probe just under the mesh tray it was 20 degrees cooler. The fan seemed to work, but I don't know just how much the temp should vary vertically in a convection oven.

I read that some of the powders were color saturated - could that explain the wipe off? I also read comments that maybe the powder components can separate. I didn't shake up the dry powder before measuring it out.

New oven (Breville) on the way. Any comments/suggestions? TIA

[HI-TEK]

No appreciable difference. The H4895 doesn't seem to have that problem. Or It may be that my ammo is stored on it's butt before using?

Range Report:

Shot 30 rounds of .308 coated with Bronze 500 in four, five and six shot groups.

Was testing the effects of doing some modifications to the cases; primer pocket uniforming and flash hole deburring. Cases were trimmed to length, weighed, and segregated to within two grains. Also shot some cases with only the primer pocket uniformed, trimmed and segregated by weight. The last time I fired the deburred cases I wasn't impressed with the groups but this time one of the loads gave me an inch and a half group. Average speed was 2586 fps standard deviation 17.7. Looks like the one to use with the deburred flash hole.

What was really interesting was a group I shot with a some cases that didn't have the deburring done. They did have the primer pocket uniformed and were segregated by weight. I got four shots in less than 1/2" at 100 yards the fifth shot made it a 1" group at 2600+ fps standard deviation was 10.9. This has been my usual 1 1/2" group load. Point, which has been made before, you can have all the accuracy you want with Hi Tek.

Wish I could post some photos. Sent the one with the four in one hole by email to Donnie.

How are you doing Avenger 442?
Thanks much for your report and findings.
Can I please ask you to supply more details?
I would be very interested in various aspects and main ones that are of interest is;
1. Which alloy did you use?
2. What was powder quantity?
3. Were they gas checked?
4.How did results compare with Jacketed ammo?
I ask this as I was told, that commercial Jacketed ammo offers about a 4 inch accuracy spread at 100 yards. Is this correct?
Can you please supply any other information that may assist other users to get similar results to what you obtained.
Thanks much
Hi-Tek

[Ausglock]

Does the oven have top and bottom heating elements?
Show a picture of how much wipeoff you are getting?
A little will not hurt.

[slide]

Avenger442, You are doing one heck of a job on this project. Shooting down a lot of misconceptions about hi-tek. Again I salute you.:awesome:

[HI-TEK]

Avenger442, You are doing one heck of a job on this project. Shooting down a lot of misconceptions about hi-tek. Again I salute you.:awesome:

Hello Slide,
I agree with you 110%.
Avenger442 is doing a great job with this.
What is now very pleasing is, that I have stated many times, that the Hi-Tek coating, is not what fails or not performs, but all engineering areas require to be fixed first, and all should be well. The coatings cannot correct engineering problems.
Avenger442, has now confirmed such things as an independent tester, and has proven, that if all care is done, the results will be just as expected.
Also, that coated Cast alloys can be used in high velocity applications without being a Jacketed Lead.
Thank you all for your great work.

[Avenger442]

How are you doing Avenger 442?
Thanks much for your report and findings.
Can I please ask you to supply more details?
I would be very interested in various aspects and main ones that are of interest is;
1. Which alloy did you use?
2. What was powder quantity?
3. Were they gas checked?
4.How did results compare with Jacketed ammo?
I ask this as I was told, that commercial Jacketed ammo offers about a 4 inch accuracy spread at 100 yards. Is this correct?
Can you please supply any other information that may assist other users to get similar results to what you obtained.
Thanks much
Hi-Tek

1. Alloy is 88% COWW 10% Lino Type 2% tin. BHN is around 16.
2. Load that produced the four under 1/2" and one inch over all was 41.5 grain H4895, CCI large rifle primer. I was working with several loads with cases that had different things done to them to prevent some of the flyers I was getting. So I guess you could say that the group was under 1/2" with a flyer that made it 1" :bigsmyl2:.
3. Yes they were gas checked bullets. I don't know any other way to shoot lead at this pressure without them.
4. I have shot Remington Core Lock (hunting ammo) in this gun average groups would be 2 - 3". Have shot one box of Federal Gold Match ammo through it (and don't want to spend the money for any more) that gave me groups under an inch.

Understand that this is not me standing up holding the gun. Those groups would probably be in the 2 - 3" arena. Sometimes 4" depending on how many cups of coffee I've had or how cold it is outside :mrgreen: Because I'm testing the load and not me I'm securing the gun down in a weighted Lead Sled on a bench. Kind of like bench rest shooting but not exactly.

Future plan is to reload those same five cases in the same way and some more cases prepped the same way with exactly the same load and go back to the range to see if the 1" is typical. I'm thinking that some of these cases, other than those five, will probably spread the groups a little because of the metal left around the inside of the flash holes during manufacture. It causes the powder to burn different and speeds of bullet to differ more. If I can get the cases that I have removed that metal from to do 1" that will solve that problem. Either way, makes a killer hunting load out to 300 yards. Which is more than I will ever shoot anyway. Can't even see good with a scope at that distance.

A lot of work but it will be worth it if I can know that I can cast a bullet, coat it, load 20, for under a couple of bucks and get the same performance that I get out of a box of .308 ammo that cost $40. Because of my past training from my Dad, squeeze a penny till it screams Bill, I'll be very happy.

[Grmps]

OK, new to casting, new to HiTek. What I've done so far works great, but a few questions to those in the know. Do I need a new oven (I think so)? Is a little wipe off from the Black Cherry OK?

I used Rotometals hardball to eliminate alloy concerns. Finally I am getting the hang of using my slick side 147 grain molds from Accurate. I'm using the HiTek release. Two coats of Black Cherry, mixed with a weighed 20 grams to a measured 120 ml acetone (reading the thread [all of it, twice], I got the impression that 20 to 100 was the equivalent of 5-1-5 of the liquid, and wanted to match the 5-1-7 that Ausglock was using). The mix was left to stand to react. Had a couple reject bullets in the container for agitation. Used a long tube on a syringe to pull up the solution from the middle of the bottle, but didn't delay after shaking. 6 ml on 5# of casts, shaken in a closed container for about 20 seconds, another 5 or so with the lid off, dumped on mesh before the sound change but with the container not wet. Dried over night.

20 grams to 120 mil is generally used durring hotter weather, you can also substitute 20 mil M.E.K. or Denatured alcohol to slow down the drying time.
Quote Originally Posted by Ausglock
Did a bit of testing over the weekend.
1st coat was 4mls to 2.5Kg.
second coat 6mls to 2.5Kg.
This resulted in a far shinier finish and no visible touch marks.
time and temp remained the same as did the mix ratio. Your first coat could have been to thick

The oven is a 15 dollar used convection toaster oven. Temp measured via K probe on a DVOM, preheated, and with the probe left in the oven during the bake. Bake times ran 12 to 22 minutes for each of the two coats.

if the oven is reaching 200 / 400 degrees 22 min is excessive I would doubled check the temperature, your K probe could be off (it happens but not often. I like to use 2 oven thermometers set in the middle of the shelf I bake on and adjust the oven setting until the 2 thermometers reach 200 / 400 IF the 2 thermometers don't match, get a third to find 2 that match. Many controls the oven with a PID, I haven't found the need. If you do decide to use a PID you should wire the circulating fan to be on perminantly of you'll burn it out. Another "trick is to line the bottom of your oven with heat retaining media, I use ceramic BBQ briquettes, others use fire brick, metal plate ... this helps get the oven back to temperature faster after opening the door

The reason for the prolonged bake times was that I kept getting wipe off. Not a lot, but a little, that only went away when the bake time hit 20 minutes. Despite having the probe verify the temp (200 to 205 C through out the bake), the bullets did not darken much at all - I got the nice cherry color that is shown in the photos in post 8595. All smash tests fine, and no leading through my Glock factory barrels.

So I am very happy with the HiTek, but am wondering about the long bake times. I did note that the temps I got were with the probe right over the tray, but with the probe just under the mesh tray it was 20 degrees cooler. The fan seemed to work, but I don't know just how much the temp should vary vertically in a convection oven.

I read that some of the powders were color saturated - could that explain the wipe off? I also read comments that maybe the powder components can separate. I didn't shake up the dry powder before measuring it out.

New oven (Breville) on the way. Any comments/suggestions? TIA



Welcome to Hi-Tek coating. HITEK is the industrial chemist that makes it, Ausglock tests the coatin and Hi-Performance Bullet Coatings sells the coating. If they can't answer your questions, no-one can.

[popper]

145gr PB going 1800 fps @ 100, 300BO. H.T. isocore 3x gold 1035. Only recorded testing I did in rifle with the powder version. As you can see my shooting wasn't very good that day. I did find recently that when recycling coated, let them melt, then add some wax and burn it. Coating basically burns away. No skimming the remains out.

[Avenger442]

145gr PB going 1800 fps @ 100, 300BO. H.T. isocore 3x gold 1035. Only recorded testing I did in rifle with the powder version. As you can see my shooting wasn't very good that day. I did find recently that when recycling coated, let them melt, then add some wax and burn it. Coating basically burns away. No skimming the remains out.
200458

Popper
Good to hear from you man. Last time we talked you were using Hi Tek only in your hand guns and using powder coating in your rifles. Is this the target you showed us sometime back or have you started back trying Hi Tek in your rifle? Was this target shot off of a rest on a bench?

I've had some of my targets look like that when the powder load was wrong. And sometimes had to change powder to different one. Had several five shot groups with some of these modified cases that were 3-4" two that all of them didn't make it on paper. It seems that if you deburr the flash hole it makes the powder burn different. So I had to adjust the load to tighten. Was very disappointed in the first results with the modified cases. Even started a thread to see what I might do to correct. After adjusting the load down some they came into a 1 1/2" group. Which might me as tight as I can get this powder. Of course I'm the constant tinkerer as someone on this thread said. I still don't know how I got into this "have to have it one inch or under" thing. I was just hunting some good loads to take into the woods. Now I spend more time at the range than in the woods.

[benellinut]

Popper
Good to hear from you man. Last time we talked you were using Hi Tek only in your hand guns and using powder coating in your rifles. Is this the target you showed us sometime back or have you started back trying Hi Tek in your rifle? Was this target shot off of a rest on a bench?

I've had some of my targets look like that when the powder load was wrong. And sometimes had to change powder to different one. Had several five shot groups with some of these modified cases that were 3-4" two that all of them didn't make it on paper. It seems that if you deburr the flash hole it makes the powder burn different. So I had to adjust the load to tighten. Was very disappointed in the first results with the modified cases. Even started a thread to see what I might do to correct. After adjusting the load down some they came into a 1 1/2" group. Which might me as tight as I can get this powder. Of course I'm the constant tinkerer as someone on this thread said. I still don't know how I got into this "have to have it one inch or under" thing. I was just hunting some good loads to take into the woods. Now I spend more time at the range than in the woods.

I understand the drive to reload ammo that gets you those tight groups. When I started shooting Bullseye matches and had the determination to improve I knew I'd need more accurate guns and ammo to match them. I started reading and seeking advice from some of the best shooters, to my surprise I was told not to worry about loading ammo that would shoot clover leaf holes but rather spend my time honing my shooting skills. This never made sense to me, if the gun and ammo won't shoot where you aim each and every time how do you know if a bad shot was me, the gun or the ammo? Yeah, yeah, I know how to call my shots and I do, but calling a shot in the six ring and it's in the eight doesn't prove if you were in error calling the shot or if it was the gun or ammo. I dismissed the advice not to worry about accurate ammo and I strove to produce ammo that would shoot those tight groups consistently, when there was a poor shot I knew it was me!

At the age of 47 I was in my "Bullseye" prime, I climbed into the upper end of the Expert class and worked hard to jump to the next when the pain that had been in my lower back started showing up in my neck, wasn't long and my right arm was effected then the hand started to shake, my scores plummeted. After a couple years of frustration with further decline I gave up Bullseye, it just wasn't fun anymore. I miss it dearly, all I have left is guns that shoot far better then I can, awards, plaques, metals (that no one cares about) and some great memory's.

Anywho, to me, making ammo is as much fun as shooting. Tinkering to make the best ammo I can for each gun I own is as awesomely gratifying.

[popper]

Avenger - from a while back when I first tried HiTek in rifle. Haven't gotten back to it yet, PC works for me. Caldwell stand & bag. IIRC that was an upper with loose bore that I sent on to SIL as he only shoots jacketed.
Right hand holes are 1035 gold, others are Smoke's black and some Amaxes. I've been playing with alloys this year and it's just easier to BLL or spray them as I'm doing small batches. I changed uppers from 1:7 to 1:10 and moulds from 145C to 142C, just a slight adjustment that works better. Only posted as you seem to be the single OP that shows results in HV rifle, wanted to add that it does work well. I have noticed that uncoated bases shoot more accurately, GC or not, for HV rifle. Need a good flat base with even edges.

[Hi-Performance Bullet Coatings]

http://i.imgur.com/frL9U38.jpg (http://imgur.com/frL9U38)

This is the target Avenger442 sent me. Looks like some nice shooting and a very promising load!

[Hi-Performance Bullet Coatings]

http://i.imgur.com/ww6IgRa.jpg (http://imgur.com/ww6IgRa)

Here is another target from a gent in Kansas

[Avenger442]

Popper
We all use what works in our guns; right? That's what I do.

benellinut
I'm probably too old to shoot Bullseye. It's not so much the body as it is the eyes. I'm okay at 100 yards with a 24 X scope and probably 200. But beyond that and it's a guess. One of the guys I used to shoot with had a scope that was so powerful that a raspberry filled the scope at 100 yards. Didn't help his groups any. We do what we enjoy to the extent that we can. I used to weigh 160 lbs and ran cross country when I was 17. Have trouble running down the block now. Will not say what I weigh. :bigsmyl2: But I can still load ammo that will shoot as good as a $40 box of store bought for less than two dollars. And put those shells in tight group on target from a rest. It sounds like you enjoy it as much as I do.

Donnie
I knew that there had to be some other guys out there that were sending you targets. Nothing sells like accuracy in my book.
I"m like Popper, ifn it aint working and aint gonna ever work for me I don't use it. I'm still not sold on the deburring flash holes thing. Standard deviation is more uniform but that's not all you need for a tight group. I've only deburred 20 for that reason.

[dikman]

Sounds to me like you guys are having a ball! Getting old is a bit of a bummer, but there's not much we can do about it (not to keen on the alternative!). Keep up the good work, you're certainly pushing the limits of Hi-Tek, and it's great information for all of us.

[cityofthesouth]

Lee molds and black HiTek. I'm over 6k ... maybe 7K but it's getting hard for me to keep track without writing something down which just ain't gonna happen. Got Black Cherry on order because the range is littered with "black bullets" after a match (from unload, show clear) and I can't always tell which are mine.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4422/35929037060_7ccaa69327_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WJVGYd)9mm_HiTek (https://flic.kr/p/WJVGYd) by city_ofthe_south (https://www.flickr.com/photos/101646264@N03/), on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4357/35929034920_75cfabee78_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WJVGkj)9mm_HiTek5 (https://flic.kr/p/WJVGkj) by city_ofthe_south (https://www.flickr.com/photos/101646264@N03/), on Flickr

[Echd]

Is it normal for the gold color to seem to separate so quickly? My end result looked fine but I had to give my container of coating a vigorous shaking for every batch, lest the glitter settle at the bottom.

[slide]

Those look really good! Well done!!

[Ausglock]

Is it normal for the gold color to seem to separate so quickly? My end result looked fine but I had to give my container of coating a vigorous shaking for every batch, lest the glitter settle at the bottom.

Yes.........

[Grmps]

You're supposed to thoroughly mix/shake the solution immediately before you apply it. The metallic flakes (help with heat reduction and add to appearance) don't dissolve so constantly need to be re-incorporated.
It is recommended to have a couple plain lead boolits in the bottle to help with blending.

[snscasting]

Is it normal for the gold color to seem to separate so quickly? My end result looked fine but I had to give my container of coating a vigorous shaking for every batch, lest the glitter settle at the bottom.

I liked to mix up the gold liquid at least 4 hours before I used it. It tended to look like grape koolaid with glitter in it at first, but it will change significantly after sitting for a while.