Anyone observed bad performance with speckled coverage?

[30CalTy]

I ran a couple searches and haven't found any real answers. I have only shot a handful of PC'd bullets--mostly beautifully done with an ES sprayer. I've shifted over to the shake and bake. I'm mixing 2 HF colors--red and matte black. The black is older and for whatever reasons, doesn't do well with shake and bake--I'm just trying to get rid of it, plus the bright red looks a little silly (a thought just came up on this that I'll discuss at the end).

I'm getting 80% or better coverage as shown in the picture below (357). I'm shooting modest rifle calibers (25-20, 38-55, 44-40) plus some pistols (44spl, 45ACP). My thinking is that coverage isn't all that critical. Does anyone have experience to the contrary?





Thought on bright red (this is more of a note to myself):
I got the idea the other day that I could estimate velocity with in iPhone using the slo-mo video (120frames/sec). It worked ok, shooting in the 1500fps neighborhood over 200yds. Vel is estimated by measuring time between the first frame with smoke and the first frame w/moving dirt, then iterating velocity through a calculator till the time of flight matched (that gives me a little under a half second of flight time, or 60'ish frames). Need to bring a gong next time (painted white and black on a diagonal)--would show the strike a lot better than dirt. Back to bright red: I did note in 2 of my attempts when the camera was in tight with the line of sight, that I could see the bullet in 2 or 3 frames. Bright red probably shows up a lot better--not useful for estimating velocity, but cool to see).

[Beagle333]

Matte black doesn't shake and bake. Old or new, it just doesn't make static. Splotchy or speckled doesn't matter, as long as the driving bands are covered. Anything that rubs the barrel should be covered. Bare lead will rub off and stick to the barrel. Very small dimples or thin spots in the coating will usually iron out to be nice and shiny and slick in a pass through the sizer. I would assume the forcing cone would do the same thing, but I can't really verify something like that.

[Walter Laich]

I gave my matte black away on this forum. The buyer paid for shipping and we both were happy at the outcome.

all this to say life is too short to mess with HF powder.

[OS OK]

'HF' means 'high frustration.'

[runfiverun]

my guess is the black is falling off the boolits leaving bare spots.
try just the red alone and see what happens.

better yet buy some powder from smoke.

[Dragonheart]

When you mix polymers you can end up with a weaker polymer. I personally have found when I mixed the resulting polymer could not pass the scratch test. Take a razor knife held at 90 degrees and lightly scrape the polymer, you will find a difference is polymer hardness, especially ones that have been mixed and not for the better.

Since Smoke has a number of very good colors that are proven to work and Prismatic Powder has literally thousands of color choices why not just buy the color you want?

[Beagle333]

Smoke's powders won't let you down. He's the man!

[aaholland]

Smoke's powders won't let you down. He's the man!

I agree

[reddog81]

Most of those look like they'd work but some have minimal coverage. I'd do a second coat on some of the ones with the lightest coverage. Most of them should be OK assuming they were baked appropriately.

[shoot-n-lead]

'HF' means 'high frustration.'

Suit me if everyone got frustrated with it...I got the HF powder from Walt and I will pay shipping for any HF powder that anyone else has...as I have no problems using it. It covers all bullets with one coat, that I tumble in it and they shoot excellent. It ain't the powder's fault that YOU can't use it.

[OS OK]

There you go again shootin-yer-mouth instead of shoot-n-lead... I thought you Georgia Boys were above all that...
It was not because I couldn't use it, it was because it can't hold a candle to a quality manufactured PC...HF coverage and smooth even finish is liken to comparing a turd to a tootsie roll.
As I said before, I'm willing to go the distance and take the time to make a superior product...you on the other hand are satisfied with 'mediocre' and 'good enough' and it takes 'less time' and all that 'short-cut hurry-up' mentality....then for Sam's sake, 'go for it'!
That is the beauty here on this forum..."You can ask why and people can explain, over and over till your blue in the face...but nobody is going to force you into anything you don't want to do...and there's an end to it!"

And...I'd ship it to you for free but I already gave it away and 'good riddance!'

"I still say, HF means High Frustration...not only in the PC that they sell but in general towards all their 'Poser-tools' included. I have worked with 'quality tools' for my entire career, fine calibrated instruments through wrenches and socket sets, screw drivers, cutting/threading tools even hammers...
I still own most of the very first set of wrenches I bought with my lawn mowing money when I was a 12 year old kid. My uncle told me to never buy 'Jap-junk' and it would last me a lifetime...he was absolutely correct. When I use my tools they do their job without 'half stepping' and are a pleasure to use."

You on the other hand...well, let's just say 'Good Enough' and let her go at that!

[Dragonheart]

I would have been happy to give away the only bottle of HF powder I ever purchased. I bought the HF wrongly assuming the plastic bottle would fit my HF gun, but the threads on the powder bottle will not fit the gun, go figure. As far as the powder, spotty uneven thin coverage and I had to do two coats to finish the batch. I threw the remainder of the powder in the trash as I see no point in wasting what us old guys have so little of and that is my time.

[Smk SHoe]

I agree with OS OK on the HF Tools. You only cry once when you buy quality tools. Have wrench sets that I bought when I enlisted in the army (retired 4 years ago after 26 years Active), You spend more money replacing cheap tools that break over a lifetime than spending more on a quality set. Only thing I buy at HF is expendables. ( tape, paint brushes, zip ties)

[Dragonheart]

When I blast HF powder it doesn't mean I am blasting HF across the board. I have to give credit where credit is due and HF has given us a lot of tools fit for purpose for a fraction of the cost of name brands. Yes HF has a lot of junk but among the junk there are treasures, you just need to know where to look. There are many product that serve well with limited use and others that can be retrofitted and sill be a fraction of the cost on a name brand. As far as name brands most now are selling the same Chinese made stuff as HF at several times the price. "Made in the USA" is getting harder and harder to find, but powder is not one of them.

[RogerDat]

The quality powder I purchased from smoke does coat more evenly and provide a smoother and more consistent coat than the HF red when used with shake and bake. However the HF red was a cheap way to get started, does work to cover the bullet, does pass the hammer test, and leaves a clean bore when applied correctly. I don't think it works as well in Lee TL design bullets as better quality fine powder from smoke, the HF powder is coarser does not work as well to cover those fine grooves. Have settled on using the HR red up in 223 or 7.62 Russian blasting ammo. DIY wolf ammo you might say. Bolt rifles or revolver is 100% smokes powder or TL (have a bunch of Johnson Wax to use for quicky lube)

HF is certainly good for consumables, why I would pay 4x as much for sanding pads is beyond me. For tools I won't use beyond a single job or two such as air stapler for installing insulation in addition. I don't need tool to be good for constant or repeatable use and the $20 was worth it for all the effort and time it saved over a hand stapler. Haven't touched again in 10 years. Or tools that I want to try on a job at hand without the big price of a higher quality tool since I'm not sure if I will like or want the tool. Oscillating tool for cutting and sanding, bought for one job to try and have used for dozen jobs since the first one. Might buy a better one if this one dies. Or another HF one since this one seems to be doing pretty good.

HF Nitrile gloves on sale rule! HF Dutch oven ++, the cheap welding gloves eh? Not so much. Too thin and come apart. Use the heck out of the free LED flashlights. The free tape measures are disposable - but gave grandson something to use helping me on a job. Lot of folks have bought the ES guns for powder coat with good results. So it takes some thought to get good value from HF but then as someone already pointed out unless you do some researh you can get cheap junk anyplace, just paying more for it.

[rsrocket1]

I usually have great coverage with HF red


But a couple of weeks ago on a humid morning, I got terrible coverage:


But after sizing the bullets, the polymer showed that I had 100% coverage on the driving bands:


So I loaded them up and they shot just fine. No leading, no loss of accuracy (not that you would see any difference at 10 yards with a handgun)

[Tackleberry41]

Some HF works ok, depends on the color. But I let mine sit in the garage a while, it got clumpy. The stuff from powder by the lbs is works so well, I just chucked the HF I had when I was cleaning out the garage.

[destrux]

The tools at HF vary drastically in quality from one item to the next. After our local Snap On driver quit a few years back and we were left with a lot of broken Snap On tools that had to be mailed in for exchange, we ended up buying some HF tools to supplement in the interim. I have gained a huge amount of respect for their higher grade tools (their budget line is still junk). Their socket sets and wrenches are equal quality to Snap On, and better quality than most other US made tool brands (Matco sockets are weak garbage). I have not been able to break a single one of their sockets or wrenches, even using cheater pipes and drive adapters. Their premium line air tools are 1/4 the price and have no worse warranty than the Snap-On or IR air tools do (one year), and the HF have equal power output and longevity between rebuilds in my experience. Like I said though, stay away from their cheaper stuff because it is junk that will disappoint you. If they sell two grades of a tool, the better grade is absolutely worth the extra.

Back to powder coat though.....

I quit using the HF black after I noticed it was wearing the bluing off the feed ramps (and bore, I assume) of my pistols. I have heard reports of bore wear with it and I wasn;t taking any chances after seeing that first hand. I no longer have those pistols (I traded them away in pursuit of others), but all of my guns now see a steady diet of their red powder now, applied in two coats "dry" with some white cybergun "heavy" airsoft bb's. I have not noticed any problems with that when used alone. Their white powder also works fine, but I prefer the look of the red. It makes my bullets go faster while sitting still. Fact.

Also, store it in a dry cool location. Otherwise it will absorb humidity or clump from partially curing.