Powder Coat vs HiTek experiment

[ghh3rd]

My first attempt with Eastman Ford Blue, 400 F for 20 minutes after the powder melted.

I did the dump in the basket and bake method and got some missing spots so did a second coat. Overall pretty good but still some bare spots on a few, probably where they were stuck to other boolits.

220747

I also have some HiTek powder and acetone and will try that next after I cast some 454260 boolits, in an attempt to see which method works best for me.

By the way when I hear two coats of HiTek, does that mean two coats before baking, or coat and bake twice?

Thanks - Randy

[MyFlatline]

Randy, with the size of those bullets, I would stand them up on non stick foil or parchment paper, then it is a one time deal, good coverage no spots. A flea market pair of tweezers with the tips bent in do great.

Maybe one of these weekends you can drive up and see my setup and we can play..

Jim

[ghh3rd]

Thanks Jim. I agree that for these Lee 310 boolits I would probably stand them up to get a more perfect coating. These were some leftovers from a year or so ago and were test fodder. I hope to hunt with some soon and want the best boolit.

However for a few hundred 200 gr for the 45 I was hoping for a quick n dirty method that would allow me to feed the Walther with adequately coated short range boolits in bulk.

I may take you up on your offer sometime... I’d like to see your setup.

Ramdy

[MyFlatline]

220749

It is all relevant to the oven. I scrounged a small wall oven for my shop. Takes a large cookie sheet..

[DAFzipper]

Look good to me. Shoot them. Tried one time to stand them all ip. Not in my DNA. Never had any problems with bare spots. I'd rather spend more time shooting than standing up bullets to make them look perfect.

Sent from my LG-H700 using Tapatalk

[Boolit_Head]

I also have some HiTek powder and acetone and will try that next after I cast some 454260 boolits, in an attempt to see which method works best for me.

By the way when I hear two coats of HiTek, does that mean two coats before baking, or coat and bake twice?

Thanks - Randy

From my reading Hi tek must be baked after each coat. I'm going to try it myself to overcome a issue with pc on some long rifle bullets.

[dansedgli]

Hitek is coat, bake, coat, bake.

Make sure its fully dry first.

[evoevil]

Didn't care for the Hitek, much prefer PC

[475AR]

Hitek is coat bake repeat. My process is coat then bake then coat and bake then size and do a last coat and bake. All coats are thin and I have not had any issues. I am planning to order some of the aqualube 5000 and may not need the 3rd coat. One of the things I like most about hitek is you coat your bullets then dump them out and let dry fully then I dump them on a pan with a silicone baking sheet and then bake and I never have issues with bullets sticking together or un-coated spots and I don't have to worry about powder coming off while moving the baking tray to the oven. One other thing is I can coat several batches of bullets and if needed store them (labeled with coat # and need to bake) until I have time to bake them and finish the process.

[ioon44]

One key to Hi-Tek is to make sure each coat is dry before baking, I find that 120 deg F for 30 min will guarantee the coats are dry.

I tried P C and found Hi-Tek to be the better way to go.

[farmerjim]

I like both PC and Hi-Tek. Hi-Tek is faster even with 2 coats. PC has more vibrant colors. All bore rider boolets are Hi-Tek because PC makes the nose too big to chamber.

[squidtamer]

I like both PC and Hi-Tek. Hi-Tek is faster even with 2 coats. PC has more vibrant colors. All bore rider boolets are Hi-Tek because PC makes the nose too big to chamber.

I'm sure this is my inexperience here talking, but why not just swage em' down a thousandth or 2 before coating?

Is there much of a difference in the PC vs HT cost per lot that it matters much? @ 100,250,500 boolits, etc.

[Boolit_Head]

Sizing before supposedly can introduce the possibility that the coating would not stick well and seperate.

[MyFlatline]

One key to Hi-Tek is to make sure each coat is dry before baking, I find that 120 deg F for 30 min will guarantee the coats are dry.

I tried P C and found Hi-Tek to be the better way to go.

You just confused the heck out of me,,,you cook for and hour total ( 2 coats), where PC is 15 to 20 ( 1 coat) but yet you say HiTek is faster. I must have missed sumthing..

[fredj338]

From my reading Hi tek must be baked after each coat. I'm going to try it myself to overcome a issue with pc on some long rifle bullets.
Yes, coat, dry, bake for 10m, cool a bit, coat, dry bake again for 10m. I size after baking, HT or PC.
I find HT easier to use but you bake twice. You can literally dump the HT bullets into a basket & bake them without bullets sticking together. When I PC, I stand them up on their bases. I use empty ammo trays as jigs & drop bullets in nose first with large tweezers, goes very fast. Turn the jig over & 100 perfectly standing bullets.

[fredj338]

One key to Hi-Tek is to make sure each coat is dry before baking, I find that 120 deg F for 30 min will guarantee the coats are dry.

I tried P C and found Hi-Tek to be the better way to go.
I just set my wet HT coated bullets in front of a fan for 10m & they dry fine. Then bake. More handling & baking time with HT but you just tumble, dump, dry & bake.

[jmort]

PC is like a jacket and can add .002"
Hi Tek is a coating and not significant increase in diameter
Clearly HI TEK is faster and easier
But, PC is fast enough for me.
As usual, use what you like. I do not see a clear advantage to either method and argument either way seems to be complete waste of time.

[razorfish]

I do not see a clear advantage to either method and argument either way seems to be complete waste of time.

The main advantage for me is that coated bullets run cleanly through my bullet feeders when I’m loading. The other advantages are the greatly reduced smoke when shooting and once they’re coated they be handled without getting lead on your hands.

For the record, I Hi-Tek my bullets. I won’t coat a batch less than 45 pounds. I can coat a 45 pound batch of bullets in about an hour so it’s not too big a deal.

[squidtamer]

Sizing before supposedly can introduce the possibility that the coating would not stick well and seperate.

I'm thinking you are assuming the sizing is lubricated, correct? Now I'm sitting here imagining trying to size after the fact.
Having not tried that ever, I'm now curious if that's even possible. Does it destroy the coating?

[Boolit_Head]

I size after PC all the time with no issues. The PC comes out looking polished.

[fredj338]

I'm thinking you are assuming the sizing is lubricated, correct? Now I'm sitting here imagining trying to size after the fact.
Having not tried that ever, I'm now curious if that's even possible. Does it destroy the coating?

Not at all. Applied properly the coating is tough. You can smash bullets flat & the coating doesn't come off so sizing is not an issue. The coating itself has a bit of slick to it, but if the bullets are really oversized, I spray on some Oneshot case lube & away you go.

[Taterhead]

Until now, I've been using PC. Smoke's and HF red, but have a preference for Smoke's. I stand mine on bases to bake since I've never been happy with the dump-'em-out method.

Lately I've been suspecting that Hi-Tek might be quicker overall when doing large quantities -- even though it requires multiple coats. The fact that a large quantity can be swirled and dumped in one big batch might save time overall since individual bullets need not be handled separately.

I have some red HT in powder form onhand and some trays made. I'll get to it soon.

Fred is right that the sizer won't bother the coating unless it is applied incorrectly. Otherwise, it would perform poorly when engraved by the barrel.

[ghh3rd]

I think that’s sizing after powder coating is almost a necessity, since it adds substantial amount of diameter to the bullet. Powder coating does size nicely, and as mentioned above it does almost give it a polished looked where it’s been sized.

Even if I do decide to use HiTek, I think I’ll always be powder coating my Lee 310 boolits since they always cast smaller than they should. With PC coating on them I can size them to the diameter that I actually want them to drop at.

It’s nice to have more than one tool available in the toolbox.

[kbstenberg]

When the HT started to get main stream. I bought what they had at the time. The large Almost quart size can. I got really tired of the same color and haven't used it in a couple years. I wish back then they had the smaller quantity containers.
I still have way over 3/4 of a can of pigment. Kevin

[509thsfs]

I decided to try hitek after comparing procedures. Glad I went with hitek. I do batches of 150 .45 slugs at a time in a small toaster oven and run a sort of assembly line so continuously pumping out bullets. Application is as simple as you get. Put slugs in plastic container, I add 3ml of liquid, swirl for 10-15 seconds the dump out on screen. about 10 mins later they go in oven for 12 minutes. While they are baking, another batch is coated and drying. 1st batch comes out to cool, next batch goes in and 3rd batch coated and drying as 1st batch cools and 2nd coat applied and repeat. Shake and bake. No mess, no fuss. Thinking of making two more screen trays just to have even more just waiting their turn in oven

221284

[WheelgunConvert]

I use both methods but have some dislikes about HT in 9mm. Leading is less an issue when sized 358 but is no issue at 357 using PC...this is consistent with 3 different projectiles 115 LRN, 123 TC, and 132 LSWC. If you want to add a bit of diameter back after sizing, no problem adding another layer of PC...you can add more HT layers but it takes several additional coats for the size change to be useful.

HT is dandy for 38spl/357, 44 mag, and 45 acp. I’ll also use it on MZ projectiles and the fishing weights to limit oxidation. I commonly just coat multiple sizes all mixed together and sort as I size after 2 coats. I coat sized 38, 44 &45 a 3rd time because I have a bit of HT mixed up left over and it’s not labor intensive...I don’t know if it’s actually needed it’s just that simple. I have come to like red-copper (EC#2 catalyst) dry powder 5 grams in 20 cc acetone with 5 cc isopropyl alcohol mixed very well. There was a black with tiny sparkles that also works well, but that one and the zombie green (did not like) were ruined in a flood so I don’t recall the product names or numbers.

If you’re in it for the colors, just go PC and have fun. I do use PC colors to differentiate my ladder loads...I’m admittedly a ladder junkie and would probably shoot a lot better if I wasn’t such an experimental geek.

Colors do have a special effect when introducing someone to our sport though. Those pink projectiles help personalize your special loads for ladies that may be timid about firearms. The zombie greens may present an opportunity for a meaningful conversation with a naive adolescent. Tar Heel blue, corvette red, other sparkling or shiny coatings can bridge a gap that will introduce 1 more to the “Silent “ 2nd Amendment.

Support project Gadsden- Don’t Tread on Our Schools

[dikman]

I'm thinking you are assuming the sizing is lubricated, correct? Now I'm sitting here imagining trying to size after the fact.
Having not tried that ever, I'm now curious if that's even possible. Does it destroy the coating?

If you size before coating with Hi-Tek the sizing closes the "pores" of the lead and smooths it down. There is a slight possibility that the Hi-Tek won't adhere to the surface. Having said that people have done it that way, it's just not the preferred way to coat. If the coating is applied correctly then sizing won't affect it.

Nearly forgot, you don't want anything contaminating the surface of the lead or you WILL have problems.

[Grmps]

PC is a coating and HiTek is a stain. It is OK to size hi-tek between coats ONLY if you use aqua lube or no lube at all; anything else and the hi tek will not stick seeing Hi tek is a stain and goes into the pores of the lead, like dikman said, you can't size before the first coat because doing so will close the pores. I like using Hi Tek only when I'm coating 40 pounds or more of boolits seeing I coat in 8 pound batches. I get 5 or 6 trays going and it goes quickly IF you ues a fan and drying racks to dry the coating between bakes. If your using Hitek for rifle or higher velocity boolits it's recommended to use a color with metalics in it seeing the metalics act as a heat sheild.
As of late I've been playing mainly with PC and have come up with around 50 different color combinations.
advantages- HiTek is more consistently even coatings
PC; quicker for small batches more color selection only requires 1 coat.

[ghh3rd]

Found a great way to dry the fresh coat of HiTek today. I placed the wire screen full of boolits on top of the air conditioner on the porch. The fan blows a great volume of slightly warm air through them.

[ioon44]

I can see how that would work quite well, I place mine on my dark red deck in full sunshine and they reach 140 deg F in less than 30 min and are ready to bake.

[hermans]

Great thread! Now I also understand the difference in the PC and HiTek processes, especially after reading posts #27 and #28 from dikman and Grmps. Very useful information, thanks guys!

[Time Killer]

Size after powder coat. I use non stick tin foil under my bullets. Two main issues if you use the dump and bake method. 15 min at about 375 heat. So a lower temp bake. Then keep and eye on them when you take them out of the oven and dump them when they are warm to the touch not hot in a cardboard box and shake. (The Elvis ammo method) You will have very few stuck together. Do not let them get cold and do not drop them when they are to hot. They will just stick back together if they are two hot.

[ghh3rd]

Time Killer, thanks for the tip. I was going to bake a batch of PC coated boolits tonight but fell asleep on the recliner instead. When I bake them tomorrow I’ll try what you mentioned and see if my sticking issues on the dump method gets better.