quick question from a PC rookie

[ShaneLyall]

I'm working on my second batch, first with HF black though, of PC boolits. The red turned out great after one coat, the black, not so much. I've read the black is much harder to get right but I had to give it a shot anyway. It covered ok after a second coat but feels very abrasive to the touch. I'm going to run them thru the sizing die since I did two coats so maybe it will slick them down.

My question is, will them being so abrasive hurt anything? I know the PC has to be softer than a copper jacket but will the roughness cause any harm to my pistol? I'd hate to see my M&P IDPA gun that, I've spent WAY more than "the boss" knows about, turn into a smooth bore mini shotgun.

It's 145 swc and 175 tc, ww alloy, from a Lee mold, in 40 S&W. I dry tumbled them and sprad them on a pizza pan to bake @400 for 20 mins. Any ideas? Not a big deal if the HF pc just wont work with dry tumbling but, since I already have them cast, I'd like to shoot them. If not, I'll melt them down and PIF if someone wants to try the black.

[Walter Laich]

Hi Shane,
welcome to the madness.

The HF mat black will not hurt anything unless you shoot something with it. Then the target will have a hole in it (poor attempt at humor)

there has been no evidence of problems with it. It has 'stuff' in it to make it non-shiny and this causes the rough feeling but isn't a problem

I'm guessing you are using a ES gun to put it on? very few have had luck tumble coating the HF black. Everything else does well with the ASBB and Glad #5 containers.

Smoke has some great powder for sale and it's well worth the cost--after all you are using so little to coat the bullets

[mannparks]

Use the PC with confidence,(except black) we have used a form of plastic for years i.e. Shotgun wads and muzzle loader sabots (2200 fps)
charles

[Loudy13]

I bought the HF powder because it was local and I could get instant gratification of having it and PCing some bullets. I did however place an order with smoke and now that I have that powder I am going to toss the HF red. The HF leave a little bit of residue in the barrel and the powders I got from smoke shoot really clean.

Smokes blue looks great
His Black looks wet
Havent tried the other 3 colors I got in a sampler pack but maybe tonight...

[bangerjim]

I have been "messing around" with PC for over 3+ years.

HF matte black has NEVER worked for me with wet or dry tumble coatings. EVER. Only ESPC works. It works GREAT with both my ESPC guns. Excellent smooth coating and performance. BBDT/Piglet ends up very rough and blotchy. Not to my high stringent quality control needs.

If you really want black boolits, get a gloss powder from Smoke that works. Or buy an ESPC gun and spray your HF matte black like I have been doing for 3 years. Ninja Matte Black is one of my standard colors! And it does NOT wear out your barrels as some Doubting Thomas's on here moan about.


banger

[firefly1957]

One note I have had decent luck with all the harbor freight powders however the yellow needs a longer bake time then the others.

[ShaneLyall]

Thanks for the info folks,

After two coats to get complete coverage of the black, it left bare spots going thru the sizer die. I just pitched them back in a bucket to get re-melted (do I need to clip them in half like a jacketed bullet or will the pc melt without popping from internal heat). I may try to piglet the black sometime but, for now, the red is working perfect for me.

I loaded up about 200 rounds with HF red to go play with a new pet load today. I've shot about 300 rounds so far with red and can about clean the gun with a dry patch. There is ZERO leading and it even cleaned up a spot I didn't get out on the first round.

I'm off to the range and plan to shoot them thru my crono just to see where I'm at with PC. I grabbed one mag full yesterday and hit a 10 inch target (from a rest) at 100 yards with every very soft recoiling round. If I can make power factor, I've found my new pet load.

[jimb16]

I've tried HF PC and am not entirely happy with it. With the pound that I's been working with, I've noticed that I can get complete coverage with the red, but the distribution of the pigment is splotchy. You can see that the coating is complete, but some areas just don't have good color coverage. Is this typical of HF red? I don't have this problem with any of the better grade PC I'm using.

[Beef15]

One note I have had decent luck with all the harbor freight powders however the yellow needs a longer bake time then the others.

20 min @ 400 does yellow fine for me.
I do everything wrong except using a #5. Copper washed BBs out in the humid garage, with a supposed inadequate PC. They won't win a beauty pagent but they shoot straight and don't lead. Two coats will actually make them pretty. I should ty black just cause.

[mongoose33]

Here are a couple pics showing Smoke's black powder. Gorgeous shiny black. Works great using ESPC. The other powders are his as well. The two on the right were tumbled just to see what the colors looked like. The bacon grease one I mixed with a bit of the CopperSD, which is known to not work well tumbled. Doesn't work all that great tumbled with bacon grease, either.

[bazzer485]

Here are a couple pics showing Smoke's black powder. Gorgeous shiny black. Works great using ESPC. The other powders are his as well. The two on the right were tumbled just to see what the colors looked like. The bacon grease one I mixed with a bit of the CopperSD, which is known to not work well tumbled. Doesn't work all that great tumbled with bacon grease, either.

Do you have any shooting results of these great looking boolits? Fouling for example?

[bangerjim]

Of the many MANY thousands of rounds I have shot with HF red, Smoke's blue, and mixes of HF matte black/white/yellow, the only fouling you will ever see is from the powder you use. I use ETR7, the cleanest burning powder I have ever found, and after 3-4 range trips, 2 patches cleans out the teeny powder residue, mainly caused from uber-lite loads I shoot.

PC will actually clean the barrel.

BTW........all matte black references above are with ESPC.....and NOT BBTD!!!!!!

banger

[mongoose33]

Here are a couple pics showing Smoke's black powder. Gorgeous shiny black. Works great using ESPC. The other powders are his as well. The two on the right were tumbled just to see what the colors looked like. The bacon grease one I mixed with a bit of the CopperSD, which is known to not work well tumbled. Doesn't work all that great tumbled with bacon grease, either.

Do you have any shooting results of these great looking boolits? Fouling for example?

They are very accurate, certainly within the limits of my skill level. I'm always amazed at how little fouling there is--one swipe of a boresnake and usually the bore is shiny bright and clean.

I won a small competition last fall shooting the .45s in blue powdercoat (the color doesn't matter, I suspect ). It was bullseye shooting and we had to do 5 rounds each at 5, 7, 10, 15, and 25 yards. It was the last two where I pulled away from the others.

I like 'em so much that here's the current supply: