Coated Bullets?

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Perhaps Havok, you can explain what the advantage is, if you aren't getting any additional velocity, or accuracy out of coating the bullets. I do remember that the packaging was pretty poor as I ordered 500 9mm and 500 .45acp, and the .45 had broken the box (very thin cardboard) and spilled all over the reloading bench. I haven't experience any leading in any of my hand cast bullets and I can increase the velocity by simply using a gas check. Your right I could have tried a bigger selection of powder coated bullets, but my experience in using the green ones, and noting no appreciable advantage in accuracy, in fact after prolonged shooting all four of my firearms started to throw the bullets away from POA as well as POI. I also noted a build up of green junk in the lands and grooves, which I'm sure contributed to poor accuracy. So please explain the advantage of using powder coated bullets. Incidentally I've been reloading for well over 50 years, and am always anxious to try anything new, if it has an advantage, I just don't see any to be completely honest.
 
My experience is that coated bullets increase accuracy over lead or plated. Some of them do "smell" but there is none of the excessive "smoke" that comes from shooting lead. Also, less lead exposure during the load and shooting process. They do seem to not like fast and high temperature powers like TiteGroup. CFE, HP-38 and Ultimate Pistol Power seem good.
 
Tcruse said:
My experience is that coated bullets increase accuracy over lead or plated. Some of them do "smell" but there is none of the excessive "smoke" that comes from shooting lead. Also, less lead exposure during the load and shooting process. They do seem to not like fast and high temperature powers like TiteGroup. CFE, HP-38 and Ultimate Pistol Power seem good.
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I think coated bullets make a good fit pretty easy as you can let the coating increase the diameter of the bullet a bit without risk. But I don't have any problem finding accuracy with good plated bullets, with heavy-plate xtreme being my favorite. I would probably be using some Acme stuff right now but xtreme lost their minds a while back and clearanced out a huge number of perfectly good bullets for lower than Acme prices. I also like that coated reduces lead exposure, and like that about plated too.
 
I never had issues with lubed lead in my pistols but some people who have had leading issues (which of course can be addressed by various means) have had less issues with coated bullets.
So one advantage is if you have leading issues coated bullets may be one cure. (maybe maybe not)
If you cast your own you can size to what your gun needs, if you are buying commercial you can get some different sizes but generally commercial bullets are sized to what they think works for most people.
Coating makes sizing not quite as finicky IMO.
 
The purpose of lubing or coating bullets is to prevent leading in the barrel. For some reason, some guns like one brand or type of lube better than another -- but so far as I know no lube manufacturer touts his lube as producing better accuracy than other lubes. Similarly, some guns shoot one coated bullet better than another and so on.

The advantages of coating are:

1. It works. It prevents leading as well or better than any lube.
2. It allows you to tailor your bullets -- extra coatings increase diameter, which in some guns can be beneficial.
3. It's cheap.
4. It's easy to apply -- no special apparatus needed (beyond a cheap toaster oven.)
5. It doesn't gum up your dies.
 
Dudedog said:
I never had issues with lubed lead in my pistols but some people who have had leading issues (which of course can be addressed by various means) have had less issues with coated bullets.
So one advantage is if you have leading issues coated bullets may be one cure. (maybe maybe not)
If you cast your own you can size to what your gun needs, if you are buying commercial you can get some different sizes but generally commercial bullets are sized to what they think works for most people.
Coating makes sizing not quite as finicky IMO.
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Spot on. Coating makes it where a guy who doesn’t cast his own and has leading issues can run coated and probably have no issues. No benefit for someone who casts their own, but maybe you can shoot them in a Glock?
 
loose noose said:
Perhaps Havok, you can explain what the advantage is, if you aren't getting any additional velocity, or accuracy out of coating the bullets. I do remember that the packaging was pretty poor as I ordered 500 9mm and 500 .45acp, and the .45 had broken the box (very thin cardboard) and spilled all over the reloading bench. I haven't experience any leading in any of my hand cast bullets and I can increase the velocity by simply using a gas check. Your right I could have tried a bigger selection of powder coated bullets, but my experience in using the green ones, and noting no appreciable advantage in accuracy, in fact after prolonged shooting all four of my firearms started to throw the bullets away from POA as well as POI. I also noted a build up of green junk in the lands and grooves, which I'm sure contributed to poor accuracy. So please explain the advantage of using powder coated bullets. Incidentally I've been reloading for well over 50 years, and am always anxious to try anything new, if it has an advantage, I just don't see any to be completely honest.
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I'd be happy to explain as best as I can, although it appears several have beat me to it.

If you don't get proper bullet fit to your bore, no amount of coating will protect you. My theory here is that an undersized bullet will "wobble" in the barrel causing lead exposure near the base of the bullet, potentially causing leading. Further, using coatings that have been improperly applied from a manufacturer we can't ascertain defeats the purpose again. The area that is most critical for the coating is the base of the bullet, although coating at the ogive can also be a factor with certain loads.

With all that said, there are distinct benefits to properly coated bullets. First of all, the coating acts as a lube without worrying about the lube coming off or making a mess. This doesn't apply to everyone, but for those who store bullets in areas that see higher temps it can be a factor. Additionally, without the need for a lube, the lube groove can be removed from the bullet design, allowing for different bullet profiles. Leading can be eliminated up to about 2,700 FPS (rifle territory). Effectively this means you can now drive a bullet costing about as much as uncoated lead as fast as a jacketed bullet without the cost. A minor point, but for some the elimination of lead exposure on their bench is a benefit to coated bullets also. I personally don't think that's much of an issue and I wear gloves for corrosion protection anyway, but several people have commented on that in the past. A final (minor) point is that the different colors allow different loads to be identified easier, but this assumes a person is storing their bullets in bulk rather than boxes.

So with all that said, it may well be that none of that applies or matters to a given person, in which case feel free to continue using whatever bullets and methods work best for you. I will freely admit that I was extremely leery of cast bullets at first (OMG the lead contamination!) and subsequently coated bullets (as you mentioned, I initially thought gimmick). In both cases I was proven wrong and with coated bullets now offered by at least a dozen bullet retailers as well as loaded ammo in the new Federal offering, I think it's safe to say that coated bullets are here to stay. That doesn't mean uncoated bullets are going extinct, they just have less support than in the past.
 
I looked into coated bullets and determined it offers no safety from lead exposure. I can understand that may not be the intended purpose of coating, but if it does not offer that exposure prevention, then I'm not interested. While coatings may limit lead exposure on the reloading bench, all the recovered bullets I've seen show the coating worn through to bare lead on the rifling. While the level of leading in the barrel may not be a nuisance, cleaning the gun will result in lead exposure.

Plated bullets do offer exposure prevention both on the bench and in cleaning the barrel. I shoot Berry's plated bullets at 1100fps or less and all the shot bullets I've recovered show no compromise of the plating at all.

I think the worst source of exposure to lead comes from lead styphnate primers. Lead-safe bullets probably offer a minimal benefit without lead-free primers. I shoot lead-free primers. Lead safety for bullets shouldn't be overlooked. I prefer solid copper, lead-free bullets like Barnes or Lehigh, but the expense is too high for higher volume. Berry's or Rainier plated bullets have shown to be very clean hygienically, although they do not protect the environment from lead pollution (something that is of no practical concern to me, but still relevant where lead is being banned for environmental reasons). Berrys have introduced a "thick plated" bullet in the caliber I shoot most which should allow higher velocities, but I'm still likely to prefer TMJ bullets for high-velocity applications where the volume precludes a solid copper projectile.

I have not found coated bullets to be any less expensive than plated for a given weight or if they are less, it is by $0.01 per bullet. Generally, I pay $0.09 for 125 gr. and up to $0.11 for 158 gr., with free or included shipping, and have not seen coated for less than $0.08 and $0.10 on similar terms.
 
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I just might try some more of the powder coated bullets, I went out into my garage to check and see if I could identify the brand of the green coated bullets I purchased, but I pretty well shot them all, or gave them to my sons, with a warning to check there bores if they had any unusual shooting problems with them, in regards to accuracy.. I'll have to do a little bit of research on the next company I use, and see if I can get a closer match to my bore diameters.
 
loose noose said:
I just might try some more of the powder coated bullets, I went out into my garage to check and see if I could identify the brand of the green coated bullets I purchased, but I pretty well shot them all, or gave them to my sons, with a warning to check there bores if they had any unusual shooting problems with them, in regards to accuracy.. I'll have to do a little bit of research on the next company I use, and see if I can get a closer match to my bore diameters.
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Order a Mould and sizing die from Lee, powder coating from Harbor Freight, and buy a toaster oven at Wal Mart. That's all you need.
 
loose noose said:
I just might try some more of the powder coated bullets, I went out into my garage to check and see if I could identify the brand of the green coated bullets I purchased, but I pretty well shot them all, or gave them to my sons, with a warning to check there bores if they had any unusual shooting problems with them, in regards to accuracy.. I'll have to do a little bit of research on the next company I use, and see if I can get a closer match to my bore diameters.
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Companies I can personally recommend (having tried large numbers from each) include SNS, Missouri Bullet, Bayou Bullets, Acme and Eggelston Munitions. In each case I ordered at least 2,000 rounds in a variety of calibers, although I only ordered one caliber from some of those companies. All have performed well in everything I have shot them through.
 
labnoti said:
I looked into coated bullets and determined it offers no safety from lead exposure.
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I am going to have to respectfully disagree with you. Not all coated bullet loads/applications rub all the coating off of the sides, and it protects from the hot burn against bare lead bases. As good as plated for this? No, but I can't agree it offers no protection. Also, my barrels are squeaky clean using coated and were when I shot lubed lead, so cleaning isn't much of an exposure.

That said, if you are so concerned about it that yu use lead free primers, I would agree that for you plated or jacketed only makes sense. I was concerned enough to stop shooting lubed lead for the most part, but don't worry about coated.

YMMV of course.
 
Walkalong said:
That said, if you are so concerned about it that yu use lead free primers, I would agree that for you plated or jacketed only makes sense.
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Plated is the real winner from a lead-exposure standpoint. Vaporization of the base is a concern, and most FMJs can't prevent this. A jacketed hollowpoint or soft point can, of course. Lead sheared off by the rifling will be in much larger chunks and does not pose much risk of inhalation. Lead-based primers are the worst offenders as they create very fine lead particles that are easily inhaled. Vaporized lead from the base of the bullet is the next largest concern. As the pictures shown in this thread witness, coating can indeed reduce or eliminate vaporization from the base, especially when coupled with cool-burning powders.
 
I had lead issues in the past so I switched plated or JHPs with no exposed lead at the base.
I don't panic about shooting bullets with exposed lead bases I just prefer to minimize my exposure as much as possible.
For those of you who shoot at an indoor range I would urge you to get your lead levels checked.
I felt fine but my levels were sky high, almost required chelation therapy. (would have if the insurance hadn't fooled around getting it setup. By the time they had it setup my levels were border line for therapy)
I traced most of the problem to the indoor range where I used to shoot.
Might have been ok if I shot there 1/2 hour a month but I was going a couple times a month and shooting for a couple hours at a time.
After a forced shooting timeout, I stopped going there and levels dropped.
Most insurances will cover the test, just tell the Doc why you have concerns.
 
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