Harbor freight Red

[frkelly74]

I got some of this , Harbor Freight Red , when it first dawned on me that there was something new to try. I was pretty happy with the Lee tumble lube regimen and had only had problems with one bullet being sized down during seating/ crimping for my 45 but that was not the fault of the lube. But here was something new to try, so I did. So here I am locked in and thought , " hey I have some boolits cast up for the 9mm, I should get them ready to load'' , That is what I thought. So I dug around and got things ready , found the oven, found the PC red, found the boolits. Here is a sampling of the result.



I know Harbor Freight PC is not thought highly of and agree when you are thinking of White or Yellow , but the red seems to work well, and I have quite a bit of it. I use the shake and bake and dump (onto a 1/4" mesh hardware cloth screen) method and I have tried to use the other colors and have tried to mix them to use them up and had interesting colors and effects but the red works best and easiest. I will size these to 357 and they will work I think. The as coated diameter is about .362 and they easily size down to the .357 which will chamber in my carbine. Funny thing... I have a few sizing dies that I have picked up here and there and the only one that is marked right is the .357. The .356 makes a nice .358 actual size boolit, the .358 makes .359 boolits, another 358 marked die makes .360 boolits. Some have had a little work I guess. Any way I will dig out the primed brass I have some where and load up some more to add to the stash..... or maybe go and shoot... which is more fun?????

[la5676]

Where and when did you get HF red. Red has not been in their inventory for more than a year now.

[frkelly74]

I have had it for about 4 years give or take. I know they don't seem to carry it any more, I guess they found out we were using it for ..... GUN STUFF.... and the lawyers said "too much liability".

[MOA]

Yes I miss the HF Red too. It always was a easy color to work with.

[Idz]

Probably the ChiComs stole the HF red formula from somebody and got caught so they discontinued it. I like the HF red but had splotches sometimes. By using the shake no BBs, dump-in-basket, and bake method its easy to just give bullets another coat and bake. The Lee 356-125-2R works great in all my 9mm pistols and the Lee TL452-230-2R works for my 45acp pistols. Other nose profiles would choke in some of the guns. Now if Lee would make those noses without grease grooves we'd be in heaven.

[fredj338]

It was an ok entry powder for shake & bake, but once you use better powders, just so much easier to get good results. I have about 1/2# left & I mix it with some Eastwood & Smokes to use It up. Mixed with Smokes JD green you get a camo look or with more red, olive look.

[slim1836]

Stopped in one today, they had matte black and white. I passed.

Slim

[jakemo]

Where is the best place to buy powder now? I went to Eastwood's website and 1 lb. quantities are back ordered. I don't have to have Eastwood but just don't know where else to buy it.

[la5676]

Where is the best place to buy powder now? I went to Eastwood's website and 1 lb. quantities are back ordered. I don't have to have Eastwood but just don't know where else to buy it.

Go here, you will not be disappointed.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...owder-For-sale

[derek45]

i stopped using it after i tried smokes

[mvintx]

Funny thing... I have a few sizing dies that I have picked up here and there and the only one that is marked right is the .357. The .356 makes a nice .358 actual size boolit, the .358 makes .359 boolits, another 358 marked die makes .360 boolits.

My NOE .356" and .357" sizers do the same thing - boolits come out .001" larger. Wonder what the chances are that a .355" sizer would size to .356"? Anybody out there have one that actually sizes to .356"?

[fredj338]

My NOE .356" and .357" sizers do the same thing - boolits come out .001" larger. Wonder what the chances are that a .355" sizer would size to .356"? Anybody out there have one that actually sizes to .356"?

I use the Lee sizing dies & they all size as listed. I polish the interior a bit but I doubt I got much more than surface polishing done.

[Valley-Shooter]

My NOE .356" and .357" sizers do the same thing - boolits come out .001" larger. Wonder what the chances are that a .355" sizer would size to .356"? Anybody out there have one that actually sizes to .356"?

Do you realized that your bullet alloy effects the sizing. Depending what you have in your lead mixture, the lead springs outward after being sized.


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[MUSTANG]

I still have two full bottles of HF Red (Bought a dozen 8 or 10 years ago). Also have 1 each white, Yellow, and Black I bought at the same period ago discovering they were NOT good for boolit coating.

I wrote Harbor Freight an E-mail last month asking they add back the HF Red, and also they seek out and sell a Green and Blue. Got a nice note back from them thanking me for my e-mail; and they would look into it. Not sure that will result in any real action; but If you do not ask - you probably will not get.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

I've got some red left I am trying to use up. Adding just a pinch of clear really makes it coat well. Might work for the other colors as well.