Quite a Dilemma

OK, let me explain my situation. Because of the bullet shortage, I bought 500 Hi-Tek coated .38/357 RNFP bullets from a seller with questionable quality. When I got them and opened the bag, I noticed a really pungent odor. I tested them with acetone on a piece of paper towel, and all the coating came right off. I tested a few more by soaking in acetone for about a minute, and all the coating just dissolved off, except for one that still had about half the coating left. I think I will remove the coating from all the bullets by soaking them in a bucket of acetone. Do you guys think this will work?

Now to my second question. I have never coated or even lubed bullets before. I am at a crossroads as to what to do with them after I clean them. The people I've talked to say that Alox is pretty easy to use, but I'm considering just lubing them or getting some powder coat from Harbor Freight and trying my hand at that too.

What would be the easiest way for me to get these bullets back to work?

Go the easiest route first.

Tumble lube in Lee Liquid Alox first. If those shoot fine with no leading, problem solved.
If not, you have choices, pan lube (you will need to buy lube and a cutter, or make a cutter), buy a sizer/lumber, or try the PC method.

I can send you a bit of LLA for you to test that method out.

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Originally Posted by Mr_Flintstone

OK, let me explain my situation. Because of the bullet shortage, I bought 500 Hi-Tek coated .38/357 RNFP bullets from a seller with questionable quality. When I got them and opened the bag, I noticed a really pungent odor. I tested them with acetone on a piece of paper towel, and all the coating came right off. I tested a few more by soaking in acetone for about a minute, and all the coating just dissolved off, except for one that still had about half the coating left. I think I will remove the coating from all the bullets by soaking them in a bucket of acetone. Do you guys think this will work?

Now to my second question. I have never coated or even lubed bullets before. I am at a crossroads as to what to do with them after I clean them. The people I've talked to say that Alox is pretty easy to use, but I'm considering just lubing them or getting some powder coat from Harbor Freight and trying my hand at that too.

What would be the easiest way for me to get these bullets back to work?

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I would suggest using powder from the powder Coat store.com or smoke. Smoke has outstanding powders that work in almost any condition. Don't use harbour freight.

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You might be able to bake them and cure what is there. Buy a toaster oven at a yard sale or goodwill. I bought a nice one for 5 bucks a few years ago. Look up HiTech coatings and bake a few to see if they can be salvaged as is. Otherwise I like powdercoating. And you can soak them as you said. You may need to pour them out onto an old tee shirt and rub them dry to get some of the coating. Not one at a time but say 50-100. I'm not a fan of Harbor Freight powder coating. I started with it but bought some from Smokes years ago. Still using that supply. I removed some Alox coating from some bullets just this week and powder coated them. I bought some plastic bowls that are abought 6" across I use to swirl them in. Don't eat enough cool wip to get those bowls. I have a candy blue I like but I'm about out. I bought a bag of black gloss. It covers well but the black can be uneven. But there is clear coverag.

If you don't plan on getting into powder coating you could look up the Johnsons paste wax/Alox recipe. I liked that better than pure Alox. But plain alox works too.

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Thanks All. I have an old toaster oven in a shed that I haven't used in years. I'll dig it out and try to bake/cure them first. If that doesn't work, I'll probably try removing the Hi Tek and use Alox or get a sizing die and lube them. As powder coating them is the most expensive option, I'll save that in reserve if the other methods don't work.

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Originally Posted by Mr_Flintstone

Thanks All. I have an old toaster oven in a shed that I haven't used in years. I'll dig it out and try to bake/cure them first. If that doesn't work, I'll probably try removing the Hi Tek and use Alox or get a sizing die and lube them. As powder coating them is the most expensive option, I'll save that in reserve if the other methods don't work.

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Bake a small batch first. The trick with Hi-Tek is if the first coat is cured properly, it's good. If the first coat was baked but wasn't cured properly, the coating is probably trash. Once it's cured, though, there's no removing the coating, acetone won't touch it. Nothing to do but throw them back into the pot.

Preheat that toaster to about 400F and then bake for 10 minutes. They might come out too dark, but if they're cured properly and they pass the acetone test and the smash test, they'll shoot fine. The color is just cosmetic, over-baked shoot exactly the same as perfectly baked.

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I tried baking a few today. It was a no-go. They were a little better, but the Hi Tek still came off with acetone. I looked online, and Harbor Freight has white powder coat for $7. I know it may not be the best, but I think I may clean a few and try powder coating them. Who knows, it may get me started with casting.

Any chance they'll shoot OK the way they are?

You will be disappointed with the HF white.

Please post the name of the seller with questionable quality

so all who read this can avoid him.

I'm big on PC but for these and the most economical way to go I'd use the Lee alox (unless your set up for lube.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mr_Flintstone

OK, let me explain my situation. Because of the bullet shortage, I bought 500 Hi-Tek coated .38/357 RNFP bullets from a seller with questionable quality. When I got them and opened the bag, I noticed a really pungent odor. I tested them with acetone on a piece of paper towel, and all the coating came right off. I tested a few more by soaking in acetone for about a minute, and all the coating just dissolved off, except for one that still had about half the coating left. I think I will remove the coating from all the bullets by soaking them in a bucket of acetone. Do you guys think this will work?

Now to my second question. I have never coated or even lubed bullets before. I am at a crossroads as to what to do with them after I clean them. The people I've talked to say that Alox is pretty easy to use, but I'm considering just lubing them or getting some powder coat from Harbor Freight and trying my hand at that too.

What would be the easiest way for me to get these bullets back to work?

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You should really contact the seller immediately and let you know that the boolits you received were defective. Perhaps you will be able to receive some sort of compensation for it. Either way, it's important to let them know that there was a defect in their product.

I had an issue with a set of manufactured bullets, where their high tek coating crumbled off upon seating. I contacted the seller with my order number and he sent me another batch of Boolits gratis in compensation. That batch was perfect and they work like a charm.

Then it is NOT HiTek!! Poor first coat will crumble the second coat off but acetone will not dissolve it. White HF does NOT tumble coat. Use some LLA or BLL to coat & shoot - no need to clean off the 'coating. Or get your $ back.

These were Kimberlin Creek bullets, but they were bought second hand. I can’t get my money back because they were a gun show purchase. I’ll try the Alox then as the HF white isn’t appropriate.

Edit... I just went to their website, and it says they are Poly coated, but doesn’t say Hi Tek. The guy at the show said they were Hi Tek. Does Poly coat come off with acetone?

Why not just try them? I don't dip anything in acetone when I'm shooting or reloading.

Maybe a member close by will PC them for you. I'd do it but I'm in Maine so the shipping back and forth would cost almost as much as a pound of powder from Smoke.

You know, I'd send you enough powder to do 500. You've got the toaster oven. PM me if you're interested and I can get it in the mail Monday.

ETA:
Here, Elvis Ammo demonstrates PC bullets without standing them up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGqLzWzKfes

I'm in N Texas. I don't know what shipping would cost, but if you want to clean em up and send them to me, I'd Hi-Tek coat them correctly and send them back. The amount of Hi-Tek it takes to do 500 .38's is negligible, literally like 10 milliliters.

PM me if interested. Mine definitely don't flake, crumble, or wipe off with acetone.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1460c80efb.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1da4a19632.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...7149f75fec.jpg

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Originally Posted by ryanmattes

I'm in N Texas. I don't know what shipping would cost, but if you want to clean em up and send them to me, I'd Hi-Tek coat them correctly and send them back. The amount of Hi-Tek it takes to do 500 .38's is negligible, literally like 10 milliliters.

PM me if interested. Mine definitely don't flake, crumble, or wipe off with acetone.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1460c80efb.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1da4a19632.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...7149f75fec.jpg

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And they look great too.

Slim

PC will come off with acetone.

I took a couple bullets out to the anvil to hammer test them. The coating held good.
Attachment 279946Attachment 279947

That's rust off the anvil in the first picture, and the bright spot in the second picture is where my rooster tried to flog me while I was just about to hit the bullet with the hammer, and I broke a chunk off the bullet tip.

Lundmark liquid wax 50/50 with LLA, few drops in a tumbling pan with ~30 bullets. Let dry overnite. Do NOT use the mineral spirits with it. Coat over the poly will work fine. It's Ben's Liquid Lube, works great but the mineral spirits will degrade the poly. Lots less smoke than straight LLA (alox). Liquid version of the 50/50 paste wax stuff so no cooking needed. I would NOT try over coating those with PC.
Yea, got some poly coated 'blue' bullets that didn't work worth a darn couple years ago. IMHO it was some kind of poly paint, not PC.

The coating on those cast bullets look to be adequate. If they all look like that, load them em and shootem!!!!