Getting HbN to work

[charlesasmith]

First attempts at coating with HbN in a rotary tumbler. Did not wear gloves when washing bullets in soapy water and cleaning SS BBs in alcohol. Did not use heat on 1st attempt. 2nd attempt used gloves. 3rd attempt used heat. Still have problems with coating all of the bullet. Have shinny portions and coated portions.

Last batch I used a small p-nut plastic jar, 2.5# of SS BBs, and 250 40 gr Noslers in .224 cal. Jar is packed in rags centering it in the tumbler and ran for 3 hours. Heated the SS BBs and bullets prior to putting in the jar and ran an electric heater next to the tumbler casing.

Do you have any recommendations for me.

Chuck

 

[JimPag]

I've been coating my 30 caliber match bullets in HBN for 3 seasons now. I have a Lyman turbo 1200 vibrating case cleaner. I just dumped a bunch of SS bbs in the hopper, dump about 2CC's worth of HBN, add about 150-200 bullets and let them go for about 4 hours, pull them out and put them on a bath towel, shake then back and forth and that's it. I take them right out of the box that they came in. I don't put them in any liquid what so ever because the bullet makers that I deal with, well they are all cleaned and no oils or anything are on the jackets. They come out of the vibrator in a spotty white color, but after the towel treatment they are slicker than owl shit.

 

[bdale]

I've been coating my 30 caliber match bullets in HBN for 3 seasons now. I have a Lyman turbo 1200 vibrating case cleaner. I just dumped a bunch of SS bbs in the hopper, dump about 2CC's worth of HBN, add about 150-200 bullets and let them go for about 4 hours, pull them out and put them on a bath towel, shake then back and forth and that's it. I take them right out of the box that they came in. I don't put them in any liquid what so ever because the bullet makers that I deal with, well they are all cleaned and no oils or anything are on the jackets. They come out of the vibrator in a spotty white color, but after the towel treatment they are slicker than owl shit.

I put my bullets right out of the box into a large plastic peanut butter jar with a large pack of BB's probably couple thousand and all the HBN I can get on the end of a Popsicle stick and slide the jar into my Thumblers tumbler, nice snug fit, and let it tumble for about an hour to hour and a half, come out all spotted with HBN and then rub them down in my old towel I use just for this purpose leave them with a nice satin sheen

 

[Scott Harris]

I use a similar method with consistent, good results: no pre-wash, Thumlers rotary tumbler, two large peanut butter jars. 3.25 lbs steel BBs & 4.25 lbs bullets in each jar, 12.0 grain HbN/jar, pre-warm the bullets for 30 secs with a heat gun, tumble 3 hours. Two jars fit perfectly in a Thumler rotary tumbler. I think the rags you are stuffing in the tumbler are cushioning the impact....making the tumbling less effective. HbN is applied via "impact plating"....you need impacts from steel bbs to do the job.

 

[bdale]

I use a similar method with consistent, good results: no pre-wash, Thumlers rotary tumbler, two large peanut butter jars. 3.25 lbs steel BBs & 4.25 lbs bullets in each jar, 12.0 grain HbN/jar, pre-warm the bullets for 30 secs with a heat gun, tumble 3 hours. Two jars fit perfectly in a Thumler rotary tumbler. I think the rags you are stuffing in the tumbler are cushioning the impact....making the tumbling less effective. HbN is applied via "impact plating"....you need impacts from steel bbs to do the job.

I'm not stuffing rags in the tumbler just wiping bullets down with it

 

[JRS]

I put my bullets right out of the box into a large plastic peanut butter jar with a large pack of BB's probably couple thousand and all the HBN I can get on the end of a Popsicle stick and slide the jar into my Thumblers tumbler, nice snug fit, and let it tumble for about an hour to hour and a half, come out all spotted with HBN and then rub them down in my old towel I use just for this purpose leave them with a nice satin sheen

That's the way to do it

 

[charlesasmith]

Thanks for the replies above. I suspect I cushioned the plastic jar too much. Will try it without the stuffing.

Chuck

 

[Shrek]

I'm just a little different in that I tumble the bullets in clean corn cobb for a half hour to clean them then heat and tumble with BBs and hBN for three hours. I don't use a towel but tumble with some corn cobb for ten minutes. Perfect bullets. I use new clean cobb to clean with but cobb with hBN over and over.

 

[people]

I just drop them into the tumbler with a bunch of BBs and just a little hbn. Mine come out spotted some I wipe down some just get loaded.

 

[normmatzen]

I have been using hBN for some time now. I use a vibrator tumbler with 3 10oz plastic jars held by a piece of black 3/4" thick plasrtic foam from Home Depot. I cut circles in the plastic foam and cut the foam sheet to fit in the vibrator bowl without any filler. When I clamp the lid on, the bottles are held firm. Three hours is my standard impact.
One difference, I clean all bullets with a swirl in alcohol. The discolored alcohol and slightly thicker texture says cleaning is not a bad idea.

 

[th82457]

I take a smaller quantity approach. I use about 20 steel bb's in a sealed vitamin bottle with about 50 to 100 bullets at a time (depends on caliber) with a small amount of HBN. I then put the bottle in my Lyman 1200 and let it run for about 4 hours. Remove bullets, roll them on a dry heavy duty paper towel and they are evenly coated and ready to load. Have not had any issues to date. I do not pre-clean bullets or heat them.

 

[zipollini]

What advantages have you seen coating bullets in HbN ?

 

[JimPag]

What advantages have you seen coating bullets in HbN ?

Easier to clean for one. It leaves less copper in the bore which I can tell from the patches and checking it out with my borescope. I can shoot a 2 yardage match without having to clean between yardages. I couldn't do that with non coated bullets. It's a highly inert material so it won't combine with moisture and leave residue inside your barrel to harm it. It lowers chamber pressure because you'll have to add a little more powder to your case to get the same velocity that you were getting shooting naked bullets, but it also allows you to stuff more powder in the case and it will reach peak pressure later than if you were shooting naked bullets. Suppose to add barrel life, I couldn't tell you if there is any truth to that because I have all my barrels cryoed after they get chambered.

 

[madderg]

I left HbN and went to wet moly coating. Wonderfully clean, great on the bore and cleaning is a breeze.

 

[CPorter]

Easier to clean for one. It leaves less copper in the bore which I can tell from the patches and checking it out with my borescope. I can shoot a 2 yardage match without having to clean between yardages. I couldn't do that with non coated bullets. It's a highly inert material so it won't combine with moisture and leave residue inside your barrel to harm it. Tung Dis will attract moisture, HBN won't. Lower chamber pressure because you'll have to add a little more powder to your case to get the same velocity that you were getting shooting naked bullets, but it also allows you to stuff more powder in the case and it will reach peak pressure later than if you were shooting naked bullets. Suppose to add barrel life, I couldn't tell you if there is any truth to that because I have all my barrels cryoed after they get chambered.

hBN has helped barrel life on my 6.5-284, .243 win and 6x47L. The 6.5 and .243 both have over 2500 rounds through the barrel and the lead has barely moved, no fire checking, and they still clean up quickly. According to my research Tungsten Disulphide doesn't attract moisture or devolve to H2SO4 like moly does and requires much higher temperatures to break down.