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This. Between the lube in the die and also the fact that you have smeared and polished the lead via sizing it is too smooth and polished to adhere from what I’m told.You can't HiTek after sizing - the lubrication needed to size lead bullets will stop the coating from adhering after
You won't hurt the coating by sizing them unless your die is damaged
I would just spray them with a little case lube and try sizing a couple - if they go through easy enough then do them all. If not, you could heat them or just recast.
Couple questions on that:
1) Now that I am where I am, do you agree with Michael and Pastera above that I can put them in an oven to get them to a point where I can size them?
2) Any idea on what the thickness of Hi-tek coating is, so I can size accordingly?
Further information: I am casting .45 ACP for pistol only using wheel weight alloy. I plan on coating as I don't have any lubricizers available, as I'm just starting down the path of casting.
I think his issues isn’t with his alloy selection it’s due to the wait time after casting.I use strictly wheel weights.
If you have to heat these up before you size them, then theres something wrong. I don't ever remember ever having to do that. (edit- for pistol. Rifle you might have to because of the length of surface area)
I've never had to use any kind of lube to push them through either, so the mold is dropping big maybe?
You don't necessarily lose hardness after re-heating as much as it you will "de-temper" the outside "skin" (for lack of a better term), and the only way to really temper it is if you drop the cast from the mold directly into water (kinda similar to heat treating).
If you water drop, then heat (usually the case with powdercoating), it will de-temper the "skin" back to the original brinell hardness.
Keep in mind straight lead has a bhn of about 6 and you can push that to 6 or 700 fps?
The clip on wheel weight lead has a bhn or either 12 or 14
Hi-tek I think is more of a stain than say, a paint. You're going to size after hi-tek/ paint/ powdercoat anyways, so the sizing die (one of those lee push through will work) will set the diameter, no need to worry about coating thickness, just that the coating sticks.
I feel the same way. After the run on ammo during all the prior scares, I promised myself I would never be without. I hated going from store to store, a box here and a box here at rapey prices. 1st thing i did was I started reloading and when prices on ammo were down, I bought when I really didn't need it. Now that I can cast my projectiles, I feel so independent. I cant thank the crew enough that taught the seminar. Teach a man to fish and all that jazzBump. Bet you guys are glad you went to the seminar last year
If this keeps up, I think our gracious hosts may be looking at a two-fer for 2020 to keep all these guys shooting!
I thought I was an idiot for moving almost 100lbs of lead almost 1000 miles this past year, but it turns out it might have been the smartest decision I've made.
Is it wrong that I have a giant smile on my face, knowing that I have quite literally EVERYTHING I need to shoot for at least the next year or two (or three) right in my very own basement...all while other people are panic buying every case of bird shot left on the shelves?
I'm MOSTLY wrong pretty much all of the time, so it feels really good to have been right about getting into casting when I did.
Congratulations to all you guys that jumped in with both feet. Sit back and enjoy the show!
Bump. Bet you guys are glad you went to the seminar last year
If this keeps up, I think our gracious hosts may be looking at a two-fer for 2020 to keep all these guys shooting!
I thought I was an idiot for moving almost 100lbs of lead almost 1000 miles this past year, but it turns out it might have been the smartest decision I've made.
Is it wrong that I have a giant smile on my face, knowing that I have quite literally EVERYTHING I need to shoot for at least the next year or two (or three) right in my very own basement...all while other people are panic buying every case of bird shot left on the shelves?
I'm MOSTLY wrong pretty much all of the time, so it feels really good to have been right about getting into casting when I did.
Congratulations to all you guys that jumped in with both feet. Sit back and enjoy the show!
I feel the same way. After the run on ammo during all the prior scares, I promised myself I would never be without. I hated going from store to store, a box here and a box here at rapey prices. 1st thing i did was I started reloading and when prices on ammo were down, I bought when I really didn't need it. Now that I can cast my projectiles, I feel so independent. I cant thank the crew enough that taught the seminar. Teach a man to fish and all that jazz
Nice! Thanks for the plug. It’s always good to let companies know who is promoting them and where their new customers come from.Ordered some Hi-Tek and left a comment on check out:
"I found out about your coatings through Michael Spanglers casting seminar in Fairhaven, Massachusetts before I left the state. He gave us free samples that you donated in 2018 and I've been using for the past 1.5 years. This is excellent stuff and I'm really thankful I was introduced to it."
Maybe this year he won't be such a jew with donations for the seminar if he knows it's actually leading us to purchase his products down the road. If my batch from the seminar 1.5 years ago didn't get all 'gummy' at the bottom of the container, I wouldn't have had to order more just yet. I'm looking at doing a LOT more casting this year though, so the order would have been inevitable anyway.
Got some 'fun' colors too...i'm usually a plane jane, but variety is the spice of life, right? I might actually use the different colors for caliber designation...we'll see.
Currently, I'm still cleaning my work bench so I have room to cast. Moving the way we did last year, I kinda just shoved everything into the garage when I made trips out to Indy w/the trailer...now I'm still dealing with the consequences. Things could be worse, I guess...I could still be living in MA?!?!?
I guess I worded that wrong. I know you didn’t call him a Jew. Yeah when I speak to him on the phone I just picture Jerry the whole time. He sound exactly like him and has the same Louisiana dialect. Super nice guy.i got black cherry, old gold, tru blue, and gun metal. i had the zombie green in my cart, but the plain jane in me pulled back on the reigns
for the record, I didn't call him a jew in my comment it was obviously very nice of him to offer the samples in the first place and I just wanted to 'incentivize' him to do it again if he's in a position to do so.
man, is THAT funny!?!? he's really Jerry Miculek's brother?
yeah, i might be sending him extra money for a tip just to make sure i didn't piss him off...can you imagine what Easter family dinner must be like at their house?
I do the same thing. I tend to water it down by maybe 10% or so that way it’s not too thick. If that’s even a thing. 3 coats looks so good and fills the lube groovesIt's amazing how fast you can go through Hitech if you OCD and put 3 coats on all of your bullets.
It's still cheap but goes fast - I'm pretty sure that two coats is enough but I like the look of three over cooked coats. And I like running one or two patches and having a clean barrel.
View attachment 347407So my daughter has reached complete boredom and now is peaking around me to see what I was up to.
I was trying to make some lube tubes for the lyman 450 and use what I have left of 2500+ lube.
She aays “ewh , whats that” bullet lube “ why is it so ugly”. IDK
You have any crayons “yes” go grab colors you like
We started with 1/4” piece of blue. Its crazy how little you need. Food coloring would probably work too?
Well the blue came out just to blah, added a 1/4 purple which changed it some, finally added 1/4 white and she was happy.
My mold failed. I dont have anything with a 1” dia around so i tried making it from cardboard tube, leaked!
Anyway daughter says, cant you coat the entire bullet? Why yes you can. Now she wants this light purple for the bullets.
just might do thatI guess I worded that wrong. I know you didn’t call him a Jew. Yeah when I speak to him on the phone I just picture Jerry the whole time. He sound exactly like him and has the same Louisiana dialect. Super nice guy.
I do the same thing. I tend to water it down by maybe 10% or so that way it’s not too thick. If that’s even a thing. 3 coats looks so good and fills the lube grooves
They do have a blue and a red Hi-Tek You can mix them and get a nice purple for her.
I have had min long enough to forget when I bought it 5 plus years now
saw dust is probably the best over all. i had some maple saw dust for a while and really liked that.I prefer to use sawdust or shavings. It keep a nice layer on top to keep the oxidation down and is supposedly a great flux.
Very generous karma.
Bullet mould karma here. Get in before I close it!
Very nice.
Bullet mould karma here. Get in before I close it!