I would like to have some bullets coated

I have a request for a test I'm doing in the near future almost identical to a test I did in the past with 45 acp. This time I'm going to do it with a 327 federal revolver. I have a load I've been shooting for years that I have really dialed in. I have never done an accuracy test comparing lubes or coatings in the caliber. I have tried powder coating in the past, and I'm sorry to say it is a no-go.

I'm looking for a member here who is experienced with Hitek coating for high quality accuracy purposes who would be willing to coat 50 or so bullets for me. I'm not looking for someone who makes pretty bullets, I'm looking for someone who has experience with either accurate handgun or rifle shooting. I want to give Hitek coating as good a shot as I can, otherwise I'd just coat them myself. I will gladly pay with either lead, bullets, or even just a little money if you prefer.

Why didn’t powder coat work for you? I find that powder coating is a lot easier for me personally compared to hi tek coating. It would be interesting if you compared pc and hi tek as well for your test results.

If someone who is getting really good rifle accuracy with both powder coat and hitek, I would consider it. Powder coat simply has not matched the accuracy of wax lube in handgun or rifle for me. I have not tried Smokes powders though. I am also not impressed with the thickness of powder coat, and the resulting fitment issues it causes at all.

I'm intrigued by the accuracy Hitek has shown in competition, which is why I want to try it here. If it can at least match TAC1 wax lube, I'll try it in rifle.

Have you tried tumble lubing?

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Originally Posted by GregLaROCHE

Have you tried tumble lubing?

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Yes, and it will be in this test. I'm planning on TAC1 wax lube, 45/45/10 tumble lube, and Hitek coating. I'm undecided on trying my homemade lube, that depends on how many bullets I have. I already have them cast and weight sorted.

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Originally Posted by megasupermagnum

Yes, and it will be in this test. I'm planning on TAC1 wax lube, 45/45/10 tumble lube, and Hitek coating. I'm undecided on trying my homemade lube, that depends on how many bullets I have. I already have them cast and weight sorted.

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Looking forward to your results. Tumble lubing worked fine for me. I used it for 6.5 gas checked boolits because they were too hard for me to keep standing up to PC.

As far as I know, all users of HiTek use the same application process, varying only in scale: the liquid coating and a batch of bullets are tumbled together, then air dried and baked. The tumbling together of the bullets is feature in common with tumble lubing and ASBB application of powder coat, and I have always wondered if the beating the bullets take in the shaking doesn’t affect accuracy, compared to the less rough treatment the slug gets in lubrisizing or electrostatic powder coating. I imagine alloy hardness would change how much dinging a bullet might get.

The shake and bake still gets me close to MOA and frequently smaller so the little dents must not affect accuracy that much.

I know there are at least 2 methods of Hitek.

Would anyone be willing to send me a tiny sample of the stuff?

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Originally Posted by charlie b

The shake and bake still gets me close to MOA and frequently smaller so the little dents must not affect accuracy that much.

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Rifle I’m guessing? Gas checked or plain based? What hardness is your alloy (my pistol alloy runs only 11-12 BHN, and I tumble twice for two HiTek coats, and a third time to apply a sizing lube, with the bullets dropping into a bucket after going through the sizing die, so there are plenty of opportunities in my process to get really dinged up slugs. Maybe I should consider using hardball like the commercial folks, but if I get 2”-3” groups at 25 yards I’m satisfied).

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Originally Posted by megasupermagnum

I know there are at least 2 methods of Hitek.

Would anyone be willing to send me a tiny sample of the stuff?

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I can send you some powder, but, be advised: there is a learning curve to applying HiTek and getting satisfactory results (see the massive stickied thread for some of the growing pains some beginners deal with).

By satisfactory I mean proper bonding of the coating to the bullet, which depends on correctly applying the liquid and baking for the right time at the right temperature and with the right kind of oven. That often takes some experimenting, which means at least a few coating and baking trials, which uses up bullets. It’s best to test bake the same weight of bullets you plan on coating for your accuracy trials, since different weights of bullets bake differently (you can save casting time by just coating a few slugs in your trial runs and make up the weight with uncoated bullets.

You’ll change any heat treatment or quench hardening in the baking, if that makes a difference to your load.

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Originally Posted by kevin c

I can send you some powder, but, be advised: there is a learning curve to applying HiTek and getting satisfactory results (see the massive stickied thread for some of the growing pains some beginners deal with).

By satisfactory I mean proper bonding of the coating to the bullet, which depends on correctly applying the liquid and baking for the right time at the right temperature and with the right kind of oven. That often takes some experimenting, which means at least a few coating and baking trials, which uses up bullets. It’s best to test bake the same weight of bullets you plan on coating for your accuracy trials, since different weights of bullets bake differently (you can save casting time by just coating a few slugs in your trial runs and make up the weight with uncoated bullets.

You’ll change any heat treatment or quench hardening in the baking, if that makes a difference to your load.

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I would really appreciate it. I would rather have had someone experienced coat some bullets for me, but it appears nobody is going to step up this time. I've powder coated, so I hope Hitek shouldn't be too big of a deal. If anything, it appears easier than shake n bake powder coat since it is in liquid form. I want to give this coating as good as a shot at competing, so I will do my best. The hardness issue has crossed my mind, but there isn't a perfect solution. What I've done is I have cast and quenched all my bullets. My plan is to quench my coated bullets on the final coat. The hardness may be different, but that's the best I can do. I'll be testing hardness to see the difference. I do have plenty of substandard bullets I can practice coating on.

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Originally Posted by megasupermagnum

I would really appreciate it. I would rather have had someone experienced coat some bullets for me, but it appears nobody is going to step up this time. I've powder coated, so I hope Hitek shouldn't be too big of a deal. If anything, it appears easier than shake n bake powder coat since it is in liquid form. I want to give this coating as good as a shot at competing, so I will do my best. The hardness issue has crossed my mind, but there isn't a perfect solution. What I've done is I have cast and quenched all my bullets. My plan is to quench my coated bullets on the final coat. The hardness may be different, but that's the best I can do. I'll be testing hardness to see the difference. I do have plenty of substandard bullets I can practice coating on.

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Do you have the bullets? I can reach out to a friend who isn't on here and see if he'd be interested coating them for you. I'd offer but I've had pretty good success with PC and haven't tried HiTek.

Yes I have the bullets already cast and sorted, but at this point I have coating coming from kevin c. I'll be coating them myself.

I’ll get you some Black Cherry powder: it’s one of the easiest coatings to learn on.