Jacketed vs Lead?

Looking to start loading .45 ACP, .40SW, and 9mm. Colt 1911, HK USP40 Compact, and Beretta 92FS. Does it make much of a difference between using the two? What's the difference in accuracy, wear and tear on the barrell, etc...thanks in advance.

EB

You probably don't want to shoot lead in the HK, IIRC they have polygonal rifling and it isn't lead friendly.

That leaves the 1911 and the M92. Lead bullets are very accurate, and every bit the match of a jacketed bullet. Swaged lead bullets are the ultimate in accuracy in most guns, as good or better than the best 'match grade' jacketed bullets. Barrel wear with lead bullets is very very low, barrel life is longer than the typical gun will last from cycling wear and so on. Barrel life with jacketed bullets is quite long, especially in a service grade gun. With typical service type loads I very much doubt you will be able to discern any accuracy change due to barrel wear in the first 20K rounds shot.

I shoot a lot of lead bullets, and a few jacketed bullets too. Both have positives and negatives.

I agree with Hsmith.

There's also a third option, plated bullets. Available from Rainier, West Coast Bullets, Montana Bullets, and probably others. Plated bullets will work well in your HK or in Glocks. I use a lot of lead in .45 ACP, but mostly plated in .40 and jacketed in 9MM.

Try 'em all and see what works for you.

I don't like the extra smoke from lube or exposure to lead from lead bullets so I usually use plated or jacketted. If you're going for maximum power get jacketed. I have made some very accurate loads with the plated bullets in both 40 and 9mm. I get Rainiers most of the time through Grafs.com or MidwayUSA.com

If you are buying in BULK (5000+) Grafs will work you a better deal than most any other place I've found and they carry one of the largest varieties.

I have shot thousands of rounds of lead out of my H&K without a problem. Due to rumors of lead causing problems, I thoroughly clean the bore after every range session (about 300 rounds).

Jacketed bullets can be pushed faster than their lead bretheren, so if you're looking for velocity, go with jacketed bullets.

You probably don't want to shoot lead in the HK, IIRC they have polygonal rifling and it isn't lead friendly.

The older USPs, like the one I got from CDNN, have the normal land and groove rifling. If it is newer, then it will be the polygonal.

Unless I get a real cheap deal on jacketed, I use plated, which as long as they are not pushed to the limits of speed, work fine. But a majority of what I use is lead simply because of the price difference. Clean up is a little longer, but outside, they are fine. Inside, the smoke from the lead/lube burning is a bit much.

Depending on the particular gun and barrel, accuracy can be good for all styles. Some will prefer lead, some will prefer jacketed, some will work great with plated. Buy a little of each and try them if you are really looking for the ultimate accuracy, and try each load with 5 different powder charges... but in the end, all will probably shoot better than most of us can standing or with a rest even.