Addition of prescribed amounts of alloyed forms of at least one of magnesium, calcium, strontium and barium, preferably calcium, to the core of a tubular composite self-shielded arc welding electrode balanced to produce a hard surfacing weld deposit results in attractive smooth spray transfer operation. With electrodes producing deposits containing titanium carbide, the addition also improves the weld metal fluidity to a significant degree. Preferably, small quantities of unalloyed aluminum and magnesium are also added to the core for their beneficial effect in minimizing or eliminating weld metal porosity.