I have been using Acme powder coated 255gr SWC and RFP in 45 long
colt.
Loading both low velocity trail boss and higher velocity BE86.
I am getting good results but haven't shot enough to determine if there is any advantage to the coating.

Does anyone have experience with coated bullets?

Not a great deal, but they seem to keep the barrel cleaner and I don't think they are any more or less accurate.

I've shot a number of coated cast bullets through a 9mm and several 44 mags. I think performance is dependent on who makes the bullet, the fit to your bore and the quality of the coating process. No simple answer, like most things in life. The 9mm bullets have performed well accuracy and leading wise. The 44 mag bullets are quite accurate but seem to lead more than I expected in 4 different revolvers. But that was with one bullet manufacturers bullets. I was loading the 44 mags at what I would call medium performance loads- that is around 1000-1100 fps.

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Regards,

Tom

The are smooth, clean and hold up with high velocities.

If I don't use a jacketed bullet, it's Hi tec coated.

Missouri makes good 'uns. Very consistent.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

I coat my own and have very satisfactory results. Makes the range smell like burnt plastic, but other than that, they’re great.

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USS Brewton FF1086
SWCA#3597

Coated bullets are all I use in my handloads now, in everything from 9mm to .44 Magnum.

I have reloaded and fired thousands of coated bullets in 9mm, 40S&W, 45acp, and 357 magnum. I find them to be less finicky than plated bullets and they smoke considerably less than traditional lubed bullets. Below is a pic of a 9mm from SNS that I pounded flat with a hammer with zero coating loss.

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Advantages are; clean handling, clean shooting, and possibly higher velocities (meh?). Much better than my cast and lubed bullets for accuracy, handling, overall performance? Nope.

I have purchased about 500 coated and PCed bullets and PCed perhaps another 1,000. I might purchase more (I do like Hi-Tec bullets in my 9mms and 45 ACPs), but my cast don't lead the barrels, are very accurate and if I want high velocity SD bullets, I'll buy jacketed...

Gotta be careful with those ACME products.

Sign;

Watch out for 300..........

"Squish"

... pound falling Anvil !


Beeep, Beeep !!

Can lead scavenger's use the coated bullets? They are cleaner and seem to be just as accurate.Smell of plastic is only downside i know of.

Coated bullets definitely keep the gun smoke down. Most have an odor and might not be that pleasant to shoot indoor due to the odor. The one coated bullet manufacturer I've found that doesn't emit an odor is IbejiHeads (good bullets, weird name).

Sure. The coatings burn off in the pot - just like dirt and most other contaminants.

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Send lawyers, guns & money...

I have recently started using coated bullets and the TWO main advantages are that there is no wax lube in the grooves which has substantially cut down on the smoking. The second one is that I don't have the lead exposed against my skin. Other than that - they shoot about the same although they are slightly more expensive. All in all I like them.

I like powder coated myself. Helps keep the gun cleaner.You never see any sign of color when cleaning. A gun shop near my old house had a sale before Christmas a few years ago. 1/2 off all coated bullets. Of course I stocked up on some that I did not need at the time. One of the workers at the store that had been there a long time made them! Bob

Coated bullets are all I load. I see no downsides and my dies and hands stay clean. Like plated you have to be sure to expand the case mouth enough so the coating doesn't get peeled back.

When I started reloading again a couple of years ago the first thing I did was sell off all of my old hardcast, wax lubed bullets and ordered powder coated bullets from different companies--Acmes were the most expensive (not by much, but still the most expensive) and the powder coating was chipped on most of the bullets. To their credit they sent me a brand new box, no questions asked. Unfortunately those were chipped as well so no more orders to them.

Brazos .45/200 gr. swc are excellent! They almost never have then in stock but my orders have always shipped in 4-6 weeks. I like their 38/158s and 44/240s as well.

Bear Creek also makes excellent bullets--their proprietary coating with moly is very, very slick. Very accurate bullets. They make a lot of old-time designs you're not likely to see from other companies.

PC bullets smoke way less and leave no lead in the bore--I'm sold!

I've never tried coated bullets, but I do have an interest in accuracy. I've noticed that the Cast Bullet Association competitors continue to use conventionally lubed cast bullets in their matches. Many of the competitive events are with rifles, but I think there is also some handgun competition.

Looking over the load and bullet data from their matches, I found one competitor out of many that used coated bullets. I'm not implying coated are less accurate, but the cast bullet guys usually go with what is most accurate. The coating process is comparatively new. I suspect coated bullets will shoot as well as conventionally lubed ones, but it may take some fine tuning to get there.

For the handgun shooting most of us do, coated bullets may be more than adequate.

I am happy enough with PC'd pistol caliber bullets that I will very soon be reloading some for my 30-30. Going to work up some accurate plinking loads (I hope). As others have stated, they're not necessarily any more accurate than lubed cast but they are easier to deal with.

The real advantage is in the making of them imo. They allow the caster to use lead of unknown hardness without fear of leading the bbl at most any velocity as the pc coats the boolit and is between the bore and boolit. The only issue that I’ve run into is the increase in the diameter of the ogive. Even though you resize them [don't lube them] you can’t resize the ogive so the oal and the rifles throat must be correct or your loads won’t chamber.

These are 148g WC I cast and then powder coated. Very little smoke.

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"Gimmee back my Bullets..."

I've had mixed results from my on-line coated bullet purchases.

If the manufacturer does the coating right they're pretty good.

Unfortunately some do (have done) a sloppy job which leaves you with a bullet that's only slightly better than a non-coated bullet & subject to leading at velocities it shouldn't.

My experience with Acme has been favorable.

Missouri Bullet Co disappointed me twice.

I use plated bullets now for my casual target shooting. They're not infallible but more constant IMO.

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Waiting for the break of day

I cast and coat my own. I use Eastwood Ford
Light Blue (valve cover color). They're cured
In a $5.00 Goodwill toaster oven . I then size
them if needed. More accurate than I am
with no leading at all.

I've found with powder coating I can get by
with a lot softer alloy since leading is not
an issue with PC bullets at handgun speeds.
One of my buddies runs an 8mm Mauser at
2300 fps with his PC bullets. Good enough
for elk with 200 grain bullets.

I'm waiting for a mold on back order for the
30-30's. Hitting 2000 fps accurately should
be no problem.

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never get out of the boat

The reason I switched to coated from hard caste lead is because I shoot a lot indoors and the coated bullets produce much less smoke. At the close distances and generous accuracy requirements most have, they are fine for practice. I tried a lot of different brands and settled on Precision Bullets. precisionbullets.com – The Difference is Precision!

Bought some .45 BlackMaxx pc’s that were very good.

What brands of powder coating have you used and the pros/cons of each?

Anybody else feel free to tell their experience in DYI powder coating.

Thanks

Just a comment: if you are seriously considering getting into powder coating you had best be seriously involved in ALL that is involved in casting bullets...

Cheers!

Good point. Without any criticism, it appears that some, maybe many who do powder coating, may not have much of a cast bullet background and may be looking for an alleged shortcut offered by the relatively new powder coating process. There are many opportunities for frustration and disappointment if that's the case.

Those with an extensive cast bullet background understand this; they'll likely be more successful in the powder coating endeavor. If you don't have much experience with casting and cast bullets, read all you can find, as in the Lyman cast bullets books, etc. This is detailed and better information that you'll get from most online sources like YouTube. Take the time to do it right and you'll be successful.

I did my own powder coating for a while. Very time consuming. Had good results. I retrieved some that I shot into a tube of water and they showed no loss of coating. I now use Acme.

I’m not casting yet. I’m planning on it, but just not there yet. I buy “as cast” bullets that are unsized and unlubed that average about $.08-.10 each. I PC them with Underwood powder and a powder coating setup from harbor freight. PC usually runs about $10-$15 a pound, depending on how fancy you want your bullets to look. The powder coating machine from HF was $65 on sale and I use nitrogen through a regulator instead of having an air compressor. I got rid of all my pneumatics and air compressor several years ago and use all battery/corded tools now, so it didn’t make sense to buy a new compressor when I can get nitrogen cheaply. The PC gun doesn’t use much volume at 15-18 psi. I use a Lee sizing die in an old Lee “O” press I had lying around and size before coating. I made a little acrylic box that’s open on top, like a little spray booth to contain the powder, then I bake it in a toaster oven I picked up from craigslist.

That’s a pretty brief synopsis of the process. When I started doing it, I started a thread that goes into a little more detail. You can check it out here:

I’m going to try my hand at powder coating

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USS Brewton FF1086
SWCA#3597

One of these days...
Yeah, I’m gonna do it. I just need to do some shop rearranging and upgrade. In the meantime, I’ve found a good source of “as cast” bullets to feed the hobby.

__________________
USS Brewton FF1086
SWCA#3597

I like HiTek-coated for 40sw & 9mm. I have coated some MBC 155gr .40 HiTek-coated lswc with LLA to stop leading because the HiTek was misapplied.
I buy more from Brazos now, and only HiTek coated.
I want to try some HiTek-coated 300gr WFN 44mag from MBC when they open up fully again.

I just finished up a batch of 122 grain .356 flat points to load .357 Sig with. I’m experimenting with mixing powders to get different colors. I mixed candy apple red with black and got a nice deep maroon color. I think they turned out pretty well.

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__________________
USS Brewton FF1086
SWCA#3597

Anyone ever use blue bullets? They are coated. Had a guy tell me about them at an IDPA shoot, I just never tried them.

After 35 years of casting bullets and lubing/sizing I recently got into coating. I started out by getting some Hi-tec coated bullets from MBC. That went well. I chose to go with the hi-tec process rather than PC. Following the instructions to the letter I've been pleased with the results and may completely retire my Lyman 450 (but hang on to it).

After an accident induced hiatus from casting, I plan to resume casting this spring. The greatest anticipated advantage is that PCd bullets will increase my bullet options for use in a Glock in GSSF matches. Technically, bare lead bullets in a Glock are discouraged because of the polygonal rifling.

An even greater advantage that I see is for the noobie bullet caster. By using PC, they don't have to incur the expense of a lubri-sizer, which can be a significant savings!

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Judge control not gun control!

Totally false.

I tried Blue Bullets. They have a good following and are ok. Acme were tops, but the most expensive.

For liability purposes, GLOCK, indeed, does not recommend (advise, allow, countenance, etc.) the use of (pure) lead bullets.

Nor does GLOCK recommend (etc.) the use of reloaded ammunition.

These are factual claims. So, the original statement by rifleman re: lead bullets is not "totally false". GLOCK has stated this is due (partially?) to the design of their barrels which are not the typical lands & grooves and are often described as having "polygonal and octagonal" rifling. They are worried about potential expossure to liability (and, most probably warranty) claim issues because of lead deposits possibly generating higher, dangerous pressures.

GLOCK is not the only manufacturer to do so, either as it reflects on the use of lead bullets or on the subject of using reloads. This is also factual.

Can one shoot reloaded ammunition SAFELY in a GLOCK? Of course.
Can one SAFELY shoot lead bullets of the proper (Brinell) hardness for the caliber and pressures expected? Yes, of course.

Should one determine the above re: correct Brinell hardness and insure that any use of lead bullets does not result in the lead fouling of the barrel in their firearms, whether they are GLOCK or ANY other firearm? Absolutely.

So, if one shoots lead bullets one needs to monitor whether there are lead deposits in their barrels and CLEAN THEM ACCORDINGLY.

No lead, no problem. Lead deposits when present need to be identified and removed.

Cheers!

I shoot .38 and 9mm indoors in the winter and no longer will shoot anything but coated bullets. There seems to be so much less smoke and fumes I have thanked and been asked if I changed powders (I haven't). Coated gives you less lead fumes, cleaner barrel, no real cost difference - where's the downside?

More falsehoods.

Read your manual and then post. Glock only advises against reloaded ammo.

OK, dla... As far as "More falsehoods" is concerned...

1. Please go to the us.glock.com website.
2. Navigate to their FAQs. (It is at the bottom.)
3. Read the 8th FAQ: it is a specific question.

The question is "Can I use lead bullets?"

Their answer is "No, we recommend the use of jacketed ammunition only."

Cheers!

And this is why Gaston Glock designed his guns with an unnatural grip angle. As a warning but the masses did not listen.

Does it void your warranty?

THINK.

Millions of lead bullets are fired out of Glocks every year with nary a problem. Yet the fables persist on these forums.

And yes, I'm one of those reloading lead bullets for 9mm and 45acp - no leading.

I have been curious about the coated bullets. Being an old gun guy, I have casted for many years and used to use cast for a lot of handgun applications. However, once I started loading my handgun ammo on a Dillon, the cast started to be a hassle and I went to plated.
I would certainly give the coated a try if it eased the problem of bullet lube on a progressive.

So... Was my post "more falsehoods"?

Did I ever claim shooting lead bullets from a GLOCK would "void your warranty"? No.

Have I personally shot lead bullets I have reloaded out of my GLOCK pistols? Yes, in 9mm.

Does the us.glock.com website not suffice as adequate confirmation ? Please advise a better, more official GLOCK source that contradicts my posts.

What, exactly, is "false"? Where is the fable?

Cheers!

P.S. PONDER

In my experience:

1. They keep your reloading dies clean. There's quite a bit less maintenance cleaning your dies.

2. They keep revolvers cleaner, especially the cylinder face.

3. They are just as accurate.

They are slightly more expensive than traditional cast bullets from most vendors but the above is worth it. They are still a little cheaper than plated. But it may depend on your vendor.

Hi Tec and pc bullets are good enough for most purposes. Precision shooters continue to use conventual lubed cast bullets. They don't even use plated bullets.

Almost everything I shoot now, I cast and powder coat. No problem with leading. As long as the bullets are sized properly to the gun I've had no leading with powder coat or tumble lube. I have gotten leading from tumble lube bullets that were not sized correctly. Size is the most important factor.

I also shoot lead bullets in my Glock, but I got a different match grade barrel with conventional rifling for that. I probably didn't need to do that, but just didn't want to get leading in my polygonal rifled Glock barrel that I keep at my bedside for home defense.

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What could possibly go wrong?

So, may we move this to non-GLOCK (or, aftermarket barrel) applications...?

Anyone who regularly shoots coated bullets in other firearms (S&W, SIG, CZ, FN, Ruger, Springfield, etc.) have any comments, please? Any problems with leading? I typically load for the same weight and bullet design (i.e., WC vs. RN vs.HP) somewhere between the FMJ and lead mid-range load data to start and go from there.

Those with experience using a progressive press should also please chime in as there are previous questions re: cast & lubed vs. coated bullets.

Cheers!

P.S. The last 3K coated bullets I bought were from MBC: 1,500 45cal & 1,500 9mm. I shoot the 45s from both pistols and revolvers, the 9mm exclusively from semi-automatics (pistols & carbines). Just luv 'em!