Coating For pistol comp shooting question.

[Russel A]

I can see pros and cons to both Hy-Tek and PC coating.

I have been reloading since the 80's. Previous years I have been using jacketed from Montana gold for the 9mm
As my Daughter shoots more and more I decided I was going to get into casting again. Starting with 9mm since that is what she primarily shoots.
This past season she has been shooting about 1000 rounds a week.

Does anyone here Hy-Tek for there competition guns but PC for the rest of there calibers?
Or would I just be better sticking to one or the other?

Just looking for some advice from those that might have in a similar situation.

Thanks

[ryanmattes]

I'm not in the same situation, and I don't need that kind of volume, but with the recent shortage and the price of 9mm going up to almost a dollar a round, I decided I'm not buying 9mm again until the prices go back to reasonable. Maybe never.

So I'm glad you asked, and I'm looking forward to some pros/cons around the different coatings. I know there are other threads, but a lot of them are thousands of messages long and pretty old. Hopefully you'll get some good summaries of the previous several years discussion, and hopefully it'll be more than "depends on what you like..."

I'll be following this thread with interest.

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[slide]

I have used both hi-tek and powder coat. I don't shoot 9mm but know a lot of guys who do. Some use hi-tek and some use powder coat. You could buy some hi-tek bullets. It is what most bullet makers use. I've got both hi-tek and powder coat. You can send me some bullets and I will coat them with both coatings. ( If you can trust me.) I can promise you one thing both coatings will be cured properly.

[cstrickland]

Personally I would stick with one or the other, as they should both easily meet your needs. When I shoot competition ( outlaw steel ) I only shoot 9mm and only about 200 a week . I have shot steel challenge and outlaw in the same week a couple of times and only shot about 450 rounds that week .

For me powder coating has worked the easiest and less hassle. I did try Hi Tek and just could not get the learning curb down. I got frustrated cause I had tried several times and they kept flaking. I originally started powder coat by shake and bake. I had usable bullets the very first time. One cycle coating then straight to bake.

I am not knocking Hi-Tek as I am sure it was me and how I was doing it, as many others seem to be able to master it.

[bangerjim]

I do not shoot competition, but all the 9mm rounds I have developed over the PC years since around 2014 are very accurate in the several 9's I shoot.

Once you figure out your loads and have your cast slugs of the right size for the barrels, the PC merely prevents leading, grease smoke, sticky greasy boolits (especially in the summer here in AZ!) and cleaning your barrels after every shoot.

I have no experience with HiTech coatings, although there are those on here that swear by them.

banger :guntootsmiley:

[Dvdmacdaddy]

I tried PC and found it to be to much of a hassle/mess. I then tried HITek and have stuck with it, and excellent results. All my boolits are HT coated, practice and competition. I shoot approximately 8-10k 9mm per year and 5-6k per year of various other pistol calibers; all are cast and HT coated. Haven’t done any casting/coating for rifle YET.

I’d say it’s just a matter of personal preference on PC vs HT.

I built a rotary tumbler, basically a mini cement mixer for the HT coating process. Toss in 5 lbs of bullets, turn it on, squirt in 5ml of coating, let tumble until the sound changes, dump, dry, bake, repeat 2x, and done. I have several baking trays and a old box fan, so I end up with several trays in various stages and can coat quite a few bullets in a short amount of time with this method.

[Russel A]

Sorry fighting a head cold over here. She is shooting both rimfire and 9mm for that 1000 ish rounds. She typically packs 450 rounds of rimfire and 300 rounds of 9mm. Some days she brings some home some days not and these are just practice days. On competition days she is to bring 250 rounds per discipline.

I have a PID controlled annealing oven that I am making 8 trays that will fit in at the same time.
I also have a small HF cement mixer that is for cleaning brass. I was thinking about getting a couple of buckets to use in it for coating be it PC or HY-Tec.
I'm sure both coating are acceptable in the long run. I was just thinking that the HY-Tec might be faster to apply air dry then bake.

[Conditor22]

HiTek was developed in Austrailia almost 30 years ago and is used extensively in shooting competitions over there.

I did a lot of HiTek coating when I cast at a higher volume. I liked to coat 5 trays at a time (apr. 35 pounds of boolits per session) once you get the basics down and follow the simple rules HiTek is easy and produces a consistently even coating --- But HiTek looks better with 2 coats .

I built a simple rotary tumbler to coat my HiTek boolits in
https://i.imgur.com/yFjnYbQ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/OTtqxCK.jpg

and improvised a rack for cooling and drying the boolits
https://i.imgur.com/6ru8Q6X.jpg?1

PC is great for smaller batches and blending colors.

[Lloyd Smale]

dont think there's spit difference in accuracy with the various ways there coated. Pick one and go for it.

[Russel A]

Ok
Thanks for the suggestions and comments. I will get some Hytek ordered and give it a go.

[dikman]

Most folk generally use two coats of Hi-Tek, but that is purely for aesthetic purposes (they look prettier!). Trev, on the Hi-Tek thread, has tried shooting with a single coat and found it works just as well.

[gnappi]

I can't imagine not PC'ing bullets any more. One coat, stay away from high volume fans, stay neat, done. I cast a LOT yesterday and PC'd nearly 600 today. I'll start again Monday and finish that batch so when my new TC molds come in I can go on casting and coating straight away. Then it's off to the range to chrono them.

The only use I have for my old waxy lube is to flux my pot.

[igolfat8]

I’m a competition shooter donating between 15-20K rounds down range per season. I generally shoot 9 major and what I’ve found is that Hi-Tek will form deposits MUCH faster inside comps than PC will. If she is shooting production or limited then Hi+Tek is fine and a bit faster to apply. PC is a MUCH tougher coating while HT is thinner and easier to scrape off if your loading technique gets sloppy. Some barrels with sharp leades, lands and grooves will cut right through HT and lead your barrel while PC is less prone to. Smoother polygonal rifling will generally run both coatings without issue.

[popper]

I've used both, prefer PC for pistol and rifle. Note - the solvent for 'cured' HiTek is very pricey! Acetone/MS/MEK works for PC.

[ryanmattes]

I've used both, prefer PC for pistol and rifle. Note - the solvent for 'cured' HiTek is very pricey! Acetone/MS/MEK works for PC.I'm not following this. The solvent for Hi-Tek is acetone. Unless you're talking about the liquid Hi-Tek. I haven't been able to find any of that available in the US.

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[popper]

Acetone won't touch cured HiTek! Works fine on cured PC. He's asking about comp shooting and cleaning melted HiTek is a PITA!!!
I prefer PC as if you screw up it is fixable - HiTek - nope - just remelt and try again.

[ryanmattes]

Ah, ok. That makes sense.

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[gnappi]

I’m a competition shooter donating between 15-20K rounds down range per season. I generally shoot 9 major and what I’ve found is that Hi-Tek will form deposits MUCH faster inside comps than PC will. If she is shooting production or limited then Hi+Tek is fine and a bit faster to apply. PC is a MUCH tougher coating while HT is thinner and easier to scrape off if your loading technique gets sloppy. Some barrels with sharp leades, lands and grooves will cut right through HT and lead your barrel while PC is less prone to. Smoother polygonal rifling will generally run both coatings without issue.

Not that I'd use it in the immediate future, but THANKS for that observation on comp deposits and HT in general! As of now I've coated several thou but competition as yet seems to be closed till February so I'll only be able to benefit from PC during training till then.

.

[AndyC]

I haven't shot competitively in a few years but I do remember casting thousands for that - and while I have no experience with HiTek coating, my impression is that it's a lot slower to get the same number of finished boolits than PC, which is just shake 'n' bake.

[kevin c]

Hmm, my take is the opposite of AndyC's: that PC is slower than HT production wise. Like him, that's my impression, not my experience, having started and stayed with HiTek (I've never traditionally wax lubed a cast boolit), as I'd moved from jacketed to commercially HiTek coated cast years ago.

Anyway, before this current mess and a few health issues I'd shoot 25-35K a year in action pistol competition and practice. I'd gotten my casting and coating up to the same level when I had to rein it in, but it seemed sustainable, and my own cast and coated were all I was shooting in the past couple years. Based on that, I'm confident saying that you could cast and HT coat what you need for the two of you. I'd personally would cast and coat in batches big enough to last for a few months, rather than make it an ongoing process.

I'll let those with the personal experience comment on PC.