simple Hi-Tek coating

[marky123]

Nice work what's your alloy please?

[Ausglock]

Second coat.

All passed wipe test except 2 have very little that showed lead. I didn't take a pic as it would not show on the camera. All passed smash test except 2.

Show me a closeup of where you can wipe the coating off to show bare lead.

[TonyN]

Show me a closeup of where you can wipe the coating off to show bare lead.

I posted one as a example last night. Its the first picture from then. If you don't see it I'll repost it.

[Ausglock]

I see it. But it doesn't make sense!
How the hell can you have bright bare lead showing???? It is not logical.

[TonyN]

Maybe it rubbed off. The thing is I didn't see any wipe off. I did another batch and it didn't rub off. I think I'm good. I have a toaster convection oven now with a PID and it seems to hold perfectly. I trashed The oven I was using.
What other colors are the most popular?
I like the bronz because it reminds me more of a FMJ.

[ioon44]

The colors I like best are the Bronze 500 and Candy Apple Red. I have been able to shoot Bronze 500 t over 1400 fps with out any leading and use it mostly for 9 mm, the Candy Apple Red gives a nice solid color with 2 coats. All of the other colors I have used work great also.

[Avenger442]

I would have to ditto the Bronze 500. It's a good performer. Also like the Gun Metal. Attachment 186082Both shoot well in rifle and handguns.

Have wanted to try the Candy Apple and Zombie Green in my handguns. Thing is, I have five colors on hand. They will probably coat anything I would cast for the next five or six years. I only cast for me and this stuff goes a long way. My wife is already giving me a hard time about the number of molds and other stuff I have stored up. I just remind her how many purses and shoes she has. Seems to cut the conversation.

[TonyN]

Do I need to quench after last coat? My lead is testing at 10 BRN.

[Grmps]

Depends on caliber and speed you intend to shoot and sometimes the gun

[Ausglock]

Do I need to quench after last coat? My lead is testing at 10 BRN.

Well. that is probably why you can scratch it off......Lead AND coating scratching off....

[Avenger442]

Do I need to quench after last coat? My lead is testing at 10 BRN.

Tony

Do you know the composition of your alloy? Is it 1/20 Tin/ Lead? Or does it contain some antimony? Maybe wheel weights both clip on and stick on?
Quenching the tin lead alloy will not get you much in the way of added BHN. Some?
With some antimony you might get 1 or 2 BHN more after quenching after last coat.

You can also heat treat the bullets with antimony after you coat. But it will make the color much darker. Did this to some .308 bullets the other day. Depending on how hot you get them for how long, this will really help. Look up heat treating on this forum. It doesn't hurt Joe's coating except for color.

[Scorpius]

Best advice for first time hitek coater. Use your thermometer that you use for casting ingots, I have the rcbs one. Watch your oven and don't let it get above 400. About 380 or so you'll see the outer perimeter of bullets starting to change color and look like they are wet. Heats good right there. It will spread to middle, when middle is wet start your 8-10 minute timer. Keep your temp at wherever it was, as the bullets heat the temp rises some. I open door a quick sec if needed and try to keep mine around 390.
This is my experience. Having read most of this thread and mixed first time results I was not 100% sure my first ones would do well.
They turned out perfect. I did move up to three coats for a better look though.

When tumbling, wet about 1/3 of the bullets and toss like a salad chef. That way bottom ones come to top. Eventually your pool of liquid at bottom goes away and that's about the time you dump and spread them.

To dry....leave 30m if you want to be extra sure just place in your oven for 30 min at about 125 degrees.

Mix ratio....figure 1 powder part to 4 or 5 parts acetone. For pouring make sure you have something that pours from the mouth upside down as that's where your mix settles and it begins to settle quickly. Shake real good and immediately turn over and pour small bit while its mixed. For 150 bullets I'd guess I threw in approximately 2 tablespoons worth. A bit more on my 2nd coat as I could better eyeball the coverage then.


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[ioon44]

When tumbling after swirling a few seconds I toss the bullets like a salad chef I think this gives better coverage than just swirling .

Drying times have a lot to do with the ambient temperature, in the colder weather here I put them in a drying cabinet, 30 min at 125 deg F does the trick every time.

[TonyN]

What is the most popular color for hi tel coating?

[Gremlin460]

What is the most popular color for hi tel coating?

I use colours to keep a record of batches . Gold, bronze, green, etc etc... that way I can track how long they have been on the shelf. Also helps keep track of mixes that I might try from time to time.
I suppose I kinda saying they all work fine for me, so I use the colours for "Other" reasons than looks.

[Ausglock]

G'day All.
Marky 123 Has been having problems getting his bullets to coat.
So, he sent me a handful to try.
Collected them today from the post office and had a look at them. They are a .359 dia Round Nose flat point with a flat base and 1 lube groove and a crimp groove. Bad flashing at the base, but fixable.

I was coating and baking some 160gn RN 9mm bullets, so threw these into the coating/ baking cycle to see how they went.

Applied first coat with 4mls of Kryptonite green. Only 4 mls as there was only 1.5KG of bullets. Let them sit for 30 minutes to "dry" while other trays of bullets were being baked.

They were placed under the heater fan to wait for the next bake. Even though it was 29Deg C here today, Humidity was up at 85%. So the heater fan was used.

Into the oven they went, along with a tray of 160gn as well. 7 1/2 minutes later, out they came and sat under the box fan to cool. 5 minutes later, one was wiped with acetone for 30 seconds... ZERO wipe off!!!!!!!!
Another was smashed....ZERO flaking!!!!!
Now... due to the flashing on the base, I sized all these bullets at .358 after the first coat.
Second coat applied and processed exactly like the first coat.
After cooling from baking the second coat. more wipe and smash testing was done.
ZERO wipe off and ZERO flaking!!!!!!!

One bullet was placed in the milling machine and had it's side machined flat. This bullet was used to do the hardness test using the imprinting of a 5/32 steel ball with the Lee hardness tester.
The imprint measured 0.086" this equals a BHN of 6.7.... Bloody soft!!!!!! Pure lead is 5BHN!!!
No bloody wonder you could scrape the coating off with a fingernail. You were actually scraping lead off too!!!!

Now.... how to fix your coating woes..
1. Use harder alloy
2. Follow my instructions to the letter
3. Verify your oven temp with a good quality thermometer.
4. Get a fan heater.
5. if you can't comply with point 2, just buy jacketed or commercial coated bullets. HITEK coating isn't for you.

Photos.
First coat baked.


First coat wipe and smash test.


Second coat baked.


Second coat Wipe and smash test.


Lead hardness test imprint.


Final product.


As you can see, the Kryptonite green is a nice mid green with gold fleck. Some of the photos posted here for KG are dark brown. Way over temp or baked too long.

This is not rocket science. It is simple and easy to do.
If the instructions say " blah blah blah" DO IT! don't think you know better and can shortcut it down to " Blah " You will fail and get the schites because it fails and then bad mouth the HITEK coating to anyone that will listen.

HITEK coating isn't a "fix all" for poor alloy hardness and poor bullet to bore fit.

You don't have to wait days to apply 2 coats. I applied and baked 2 coats with a sizing in between in less than 1 1/2 hours by using the fan heater to "dry" the coated bullets and pre-warm them prior to baking.

Any questions? Give me a PM.
That is all

[Gremlin460]

When tumbling after swirling a few seconds I toss the bullets like a salad chef I think this gives better coverage than just swirling .

Square containers do something similar naturally.

[Grmps]

Or you could make a cement mixer style coater. put in the bullets, turn it on squirt in the coating, wait 15 - 20 second, turn off, dump to dry ... done. very consistent and easy. Exact same coating motion every time.

[marky123]

Thanks Trev
I knew it wasn't me.
PID fitted
Smashed n dashed

[Ausglock]

Marky...
You want these back??
Pm me an address or I'll throw them in the melt down pot.