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The only mistake I made was buying the large container. The small bottle would probably last me several years. It does work very well - if I run out of it, I will reorder. Lloyd S on Nov 26th 2022
I have tried the non bonded release also and believe that this bonded release actually works better. I got a new gun for Christmas and bought new molds for it. I coated the Lee aluminum mold with the recommended concentration of the product using acetone as a solvent and brush supplied with the coating. Then heated the mold on a hot plate. The bullets simply dropped out of the mold when opened.
Two cautions with this product. One, when mixing try to not be too messy. This stuff is a really fine dust and will not just wipe off with a dry cloth. Two, don't think you have to use very much on the mold. Just a light coat.If you have an air compressor blow it off after the heat setting to remove any excess. Unknown on Mar 5th 2022
Casting bullets has many advantages: getting access to those weird size ones no one casts, cheaper end product and just plain fun as an additional hobby.
On the down side, one of the major headaches is the bullets not falling from the molds. For whatever reasons, be it the wrong temperature of the lead or the mold or both sometimes you can’t get the bullets to fall freely from the molds—and there is a limit to how hard you can whack the mold before you damage it; never mind at that point all you really want to do is destroy it and move on with your life.
I ran across Hi-Tek-Lube, made by an Australian company J&M Specialty Products and distributed in the U.S. by Hi-Performance Bullet Coatings; talk about a game changer! Hi-Performance make coated bullets and, with this product I’m guessing, they have developed a way to use their coating on the molds, too.
They have two types of this: the Non-Bonded which needs to be applied each time and the Bonded method which, once applied and then cured with heat lasts for quite some time. Since I powder coat bullets, I had the oven needed for the Bonded method and liked the idea of not having to do it each time I had a casting session—some would call that lazy, I see it as efficient.
It comes in two sizes and I like to get the larger amount of product if the shipping is the same—a penny saved is a penny earned.
https://hi-performancebulletcoatings.com/bonded-release-50-grams/
This idea is something I have not seen before—a coating of the mold itself. Once cured, the release coating keeps lead from sticking to the metal parts of the mold. Now the overly hot lead doesn’t collect on the top of the mold blocks or the bottom of the sprue plate; nor do the lead bullets become ‘sticky’ within the cavities themselves. Think of this as smoking a mold but on steroids. And, like smoking a mold, it doesn’t change the size of the bullet!
The method is simple and doesn’t take too long. You first mix 5 grams of the powder with 150 ml of acetone and stir to thoroughly combine. I reduced the amounts quite a bit as I was doing a trial run and didn’t want to use up too much in the initial test so 0.8 grams in 25 ml composed my initial batch. In any event you end up with more of a “wash” than a heavy paint-like product. Also, one thing to remember is most plastics soften in acetone so I use a small glass jar with a metal lid.
I disassembled the mold and, using acetone, I cleaned all the cavities and the top of the mold blocks as well as the top and bottom of the sprue plate. As this was a mold that had been run hundreds of times, I wasn’t sure the cleaning was need but, hey, the instructions said to and it didn’t take long with a cotton swab. I could see the acetone flash off as I cleaned the parts.
Then using a small paint brush like you would find in a kid’s water coloring set, I “painted” everything I cleaned with the mold release/acetone solution. I set them aside to dry while I got my $20 toaster oven set up; this is what I use to powder coat bullets and with the addition of a PID it holds temperatures to within 1° during the heating sessions.
Once in the oven, the temperature rose to 400°F and as I also had a load of bullets cooking, too; waste not want not, I let my normal 25 minutes pass. After that I took them out and let them cool to room temperature—it takes a long time for them too cool—I learned this the hard way.
Upon reassembling the mold, I noticed that, while you really don’t see anything on the mold itself, other than a slight grayish color, there was something there that kept the bullets from sticking. I ran the mold as fast as I could to get it very hot and still the bullets dropped like rain. This also sped up the overall production of bullets which is always a good thing.
Long term results are unknown as of yet. The instructions do state, “The Bonded form requires the mold be heated to operating temperature to adhere and will last quite a while,” so this is not a one-time solution but will need follow-up applications. This is not a problem given how well the release agent works.
So, what do I think of this/how do I rate it? Even without knowing the longevity of the release in the molds I’m going with a
5-STAR ★★★★★ Rating for the following reasons:
• Easy to apply
• Bullets drop out much, much better than without the release coating
• Inexpensive
• Doesn’t affect size of bullets
• Adds even more enjoyment to one of my hobbies
Cheyenne Ranger, SASS 48747 on Mar 3rd 2022
I’m a commercial bullet caster, in business for over 20 years. I have tried every conceivable method on stubborn molds. Running a casting machine is different than hand casting. With hand casting, if a bullet sticks, you just rap the mold again. A machine doesn’t care. If bullets don’t drop, it just continues on. Pours on a full mold, makes a mess, or worse. One bullet sticks and holds the mold open. It fills the open cavity, held slightly open by the stuck bullet, building lead up on the mold face, creating fins and oddly cast bullets, making the entire batch scrap because it’s too time consuming to find all the bad bullets. Find the problem mold, fix it, it messes up again, repeat the misery. People think running a machine is brainless work that does nothing but make easy money. That’s far from the truth, if you ever ran one. When it’s running good (which is rare), life is good. When you have stubborn molds, it’s miserable enough to make a grown man cry like a baby after running out of energy hitting things and out of cuss words. I have tried everything on the market, and it all caused more problems than it solved. I was very hesitant to try this new product, having the casting experience that I do. It’s a process to apply it correctly, and I didn’t have high hopes, but I was beyond surprised and delighted! I have used it on three sets so far, one of which is a nightmare after casting 100 pounds of bullets. I ran out close to 600 pounds today without a single failure to drop. After that, I’m sold. It’s also worth mentioning that this stuff is dirt cheap. A little goes a very long ways. As good as it works, I would pay 10 times it’s cost or more. I’m not being paid to write this review, I just want to give real feedback on a new product that is revolutionizing my life. I should have not been as hesitant, knowing it was made by the hi-tek people. They know what they are doing. Travis Frick on Jun 16th 2021