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Thread: Habor Frieght Powder

  1. #1
    Boolit Master ACC's Avatar
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    Habor Frieght Powder

    On Youtube some say HF Powder is no good, some say it better than sliced white bread. Well is it?

    ACC

  2. #2
    Boolit Master
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    I hear most people on this site say Smokes powder is the cats meow. Not too expensive and he can provide samples.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master
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    It works but the pigment doesn't cover well. The clear coating does coat the bullet, mostly doesn't look pretty. Some colors cover better than others. Smokes Blue, Red, Black & clear seem to cover well. While White & Yellow not as good.

    HF powder




    Smokes powder



  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    atleast for the shake method, Ive never sprayed anything, its just not worth it imo. 1 pound can coat a massive amount of bullets so why not just get something that coats easily.

    it might work for some in their circumstances, equipment, environment, humidity and so forth. but id rather spend 1 penny more per batch shaked and make it easier on myself

  5. #5
    Boolit Buddy
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    I use HF red in the bullet tumbler. Doesn't always make pretty bullets but it certainly makes shootable ones. Fortune Cookie did a series of videos and dependent on the color he seemed to have a lot of variance in quality.

    I tumble for 15 minutes then I throw em in a toaster oven at 350 for 20 minutes. A lot of the time they get dunked in some cold water when they're done some times they don't if I forget. The .45 ACP I did didn't look good but typically the 9mm and the .357 does. It may also be I don't really measure powder and the stuff I have is a few years old at this point. Probably did almost 10K bullets on a pound. At 6-7 bucks I can't complain the cost is almost nothing.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master


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    Tried HF, it's lousy.

    Tried Smoke4320, it's Fantastic.

    But said
    I HATE auto-correct

    Happiness is a Warm GUN & more ammo to shoot in it.

    My Experience and My Opinion, are just that, Mine.

    SASS #375 Life

  7. #7
    Boolit Master ACC's Avatar
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    Got a Web Address for Smoke?

    ACC

  8. #8
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by ACC View Post
    Got a Web Address for Smoke?

    ACC
    Ive been wondering how to order from him also.

  9. #9
    Boolit Buddy
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    Here is the link to Smoke's powders. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...owder-For-sale

  10. #10
    Boolit Master
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    Isn’t HF getting out of the whole powder deal?

    I would suggest using what you have left of HF stuff and move to another source.

    I have a friend/forum member locally that has enough local sourced powder to probably last us all our remaining shooting days but he also has shared some of his powder he bought from Smoke and I used that on my very first try at PC’ing and it worked very well!

    I am sold on Smoke’s powder!

    Three44s
    Quote Originally Posted by Bret4207

    “There is more to this than dumping lead in a hole.”

  11. #11
    Boolit Grand Master

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    HF red is very good if you spray, but if you tumble, Smoke is your man. He's got the best powders anyway for any method you use to coat boolits.
    KE4GWE - - - - - - Colt 1860, it just feels right.

  12. #12
    Boolit Grand Master fredj338's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Beagle333 View Post
    HF red is very good if you spray, but if you tumble, Smoke is your man. He's got the best powders anyway for any method you use to coat boolits.
    ^^THIS^^ You can tumble with HF red but in most instances it is a PITA. The 1/2# I have left gets mixed in with Smokes other colors just to use it up.
    EVERY GOOD SHOOTER NEEDS TO BE A HANDLOADER.
    NRA Cert. Inst. Met. Reloading & Basic Pistol

  13. #13
    Boolit Master

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    HF red works fine, not great. Like Fred, was sprinkling a dash or two of it in with the good stuff to use it up. Smoke's works well enough that I gave most of a pound of HF Red away to a friend and never looked back.
    "There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something."
    ~Thorin Oakenshield

  14. #14
    In Remembrance - Super Moderator & Official Cast Boolits Sketch Artist

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    HF is great stuff if you want to try PC and a store is local and you use Red. I have never gotten any from Smoke but have gotten better powder from a local shop that PC. The stuff he was tossing works better then HF but both work this is a case of you get what you pay for. Smoke has tried the different powders he sells and knows they work I think he even notes which ones work better with the shake and bake method so that alone will save you some headaches.
    I have and still will use the HF I spray my bullets and have not tried any other method even with older powders or some that do not work to well if I heat my bullets then spray it really dont matter how crappy the PC is because it will stick.
    Reloading to save money I am sure the saving is going to start soon

  15. #15
    Boolit Grand Master


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    The best thing that happened to me is that HF refused to ship their PC to me in Hawaii. I bought some of Smokes and could not be happier.Attachment 250816
    Old enough to know better, young enough to do it anyway!

    Men who don't understand women fall into two categories: bachelors and husbands!

  16. #16
    Boolit Buddy
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    My first attempt at PC was with HFR. The shake and bake worked but I didn't like the coverage. Looking at the bullets done by others with other powders convinced me to give the HFR away and move on (up?).

    This brings me to my question. I see many references to the great quality of Smoke's powder and I'm sure the reviews are sincere and honest. However, for those who have used Smoke's and powder by the pound, is either demonstrably superior?

    My PBTP Super Durable has given very good results but would there improvement with Smoke's?

  17. #17
    Boolit Grand Master fredj338's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by longcruise View Post
    My first attempt at PC was with HFR. The shake and bake worked but I didn't like the coverage. Looking at the bullets done by others with other powders convinced me to give the HFR away and move on (up?).

    This brings me to my question. I see many references to the great quality of Smoke's powder and I'm sure the reviews are sincere and honest. However, for those who have used Smoke's and powder by the pound, is either demonstrably superior?

    My PBTP Super Durable has given very good results but would there improvement with Smoke's?
    I like Smokes powders, others work too though. My buddy gave me 1# of powder by the # & it works quite well.
    EVERY GOOD SHOOTER NEEDS TO BE A HANDLOADER.
    NRA Cert. Inst. Met. Reloading & Basic Pistol

  18. #18
    Boolit Buddy
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    As others have posted, HR Red can be used to "shake and bake", but does not do as good a job as other powders. Nevertheless, HR Red produces very good results if sprayed from a powder coating gun. Another thing I have noticed with HF Red, is that when it is used for shake and bake, it ends to change from Red to Maroon...which I suspect is caused by lead of the bullets being abraded by the powder and mixing with the Red pigment.

  19. #19
    Boolit Buddy PBaholic's Avatar
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    I've been shake coating with HF for years, and it works well. I use a #5 small Tupperware container, and fill it mostly full of lead bullets. Just a teaspoon of powder, plus a few plastic beads (the ones you shoot from a bb gun) and shake it for 30 seconds. Coating comes out perfect.

    That said, I'm out of HF Red, so I go to the store, and they don't sell it anymore. They've got white and flat black, neither of which will work very well.

  20. #20
    Boolit Master
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    So when people say Smokes works so much better than HF red - I think they mean that the bullets look better. I have never read a complaint that HF red gives poor results at the range ugly though the bullets may be.

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BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
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