I am going to attempt to make my cast bullets polymer coated. When I load them, should I use cast bullet data or jacketed data?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

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Judge control not gun control!

I use cast data.

Any coated bullet manufacturers I have bought bullets from has recommended using cast bullet loads.

What kind of polymer coating are you going to use? Do you currently cast?

I powder coat and the bullets are sized and just as soft as regular lead bullets. There shouldn't be any reason to change load data for polymer coated bullets.

I shoot a lot of the Coated Lead from Summers, Missouri and SNS. I usually start my loads using cast data, but have wound up with loads that match jacketed data with no problems. I normally stop at around 1200 fps to avoid leading but have heard of others pushing harder with no leading

Cast data. There is virtually mo diff in vel/pressures.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

Upon re-reading the OP's question, I think he is going to try to poly-coat his own cast bullets. If that is the case I would use the cast bullet load data, and slowly go up checking for lead fouling. I currently buy poly-coated bullets that I load and shoot at magnum velocities without lead fouling. The manufacturer had tested and improved and re-tested and re-improved the poly coating and the application method and guarantees his poly coated bullets to 2200 FPS velocities.I have heard some horror stories where do it yourself poly coating didn't hold up to the higher velocities.

Seriously, look at the loading manuals and compare lead with jacketed data! Be sure to compare the data from the same book/manufacturer. You will find that lead and jacketed data is so close, with lead data often .1-.2 gr higher, that it makes absolutely no difference.

This is another area where everyone simply parrots what they have read without checking references themselves before posting!

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Gunsmithing since 1961

I use cast bullet loads, but I am sure I could push them if I wanted to. In normal loading manuals, Speer, Hornady, Nosler, Barnes, etc I have yet to see any coated bullet loads, as they don't sell any. A newer Lee manual has a few coated recipes. Start with cast loads and work up if needed.

...don't worry about pushing them too hard. They can be shot at a velocity any jacketed bullet can take. My favorite is the Hy Tek coated bullets from Missouri Bullets.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

There actually is quite a diff at the top end between jacketed & lead or ciated lead. You can use lead data for jacketed, but mot the other way at max levels.
Based on my own testing, Hi-tek coated can be pushed to 1500fps with good accuracy. PC coated can go to 2000fps with the right alloy & no gc.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

Cast lead data and methods. For answers to just about any question asked about coated bullets look here; Coatings and Alternatives

I was not parroting without bothering to check my references. Simply quoting what several coated bullet manufacturers have stated. I would assume they have as much knowledge as most of us here. The OP did not specify any particular caliber and for some there can be a huge difference in load data between cast and jacketed bullets. With 125 grain cast in .357 a max load listed by Hodgdon for titegroup is 5.4 grains and 7.5 grains for jacketed. That is a significant amount. For some calibers not as much of a spread but I would never just offhand tell someone that they can use jacketed load data with a cast bullet and that it makes no difference.

Actually I was talking about cast lead bullets, not the soft swaged variety commonly listed in the loading manuals. Hornady, Speer, etc. down-load their products significantly to reduce leading, NOT because of pressure! You have to compare older manuals which are not prejudiced by manufacturers concerns, such as Lyman and Hercules. Note I said Hercules, not Alliant!!!! Back in the day when everyone understood the hazards of handloading and most who did so had at least a modicum of common sense. If you refer to those sources you will find what I refer to, data so close as to make no difference, and, yes, often maximum cast bullet loads even higher than jacketed because pressure was the consideration.

Why does everyone believe "plated" bullets are a special situation? Ever hear of Speer Gold Dot or Uni-core bullets? Guess what, they are plated! Have you ever seen a restriction on loading Gold Dots? Plated bullets are not copper-washed like the old Winchester-Western "Luballoy" that leaded just as bad as bare lead.

Try loading Berry, Ranier, X-Treme, etc. bullets to full jacketed loads and see if they fail. I have, they do not! I have experimented with plated bullets to see just how valid the velocity and crimping "warnings" are. The test was the most extreme possible for a revolver. 9mm 125 gr. plated over an absolutely maximum charge in .357 Magnum. Crimped as heavily as possible in a roll-crimp die. You could actually feel the plating pop on some as it was cut by the heavy crimp. Over the chronograph the velocity was just slightly under 1800 FPS from a 6" Model 27! Did they fail? Not surprisingly out of 20 rounds a few, 6 as I recall, did, resulting in interesting holes in the target with several petals sticking out. Most did not. Accuracy was not good, but overall that wasn't the purpose of the test. Would I drive them this hard for general use, of course not, but again that wasn't the point!

Plated bullets can withstand normal full-power jacketed loads in any situation I can envision, I have loaded thousands with full charges and have been completely satisfied with the results. The plated bullet manufacturers are doing themselves a huge dis-service with this "Lead bullet" nonsense, their products are far better that that! The copper plate on this type bullet is at least as strong as either a powder coat or polymer coating on any cast bullet! Someday I will give my opinion just why the various coatings work (sometimes)!

BTW, WTH is "ciated lead"?????????

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Gunsmithing since 1961

I use cast bullet data for my cast/coated bullets because I cast them and use the data the mfg's have for that bullet. If I don't have data for a specific cast bullet I try to match it with a bullet with "known" data.

I haven't had any leading with the cast/coated bullets. Did loads ranging from 700fps to 2900fps+.

If you get any leading with coated bullets then something is wrong. You have to "mechanically" scrape the coating off (think knife edge) the cast bullets. Some recovered bullets from the berm that were loaded from mild to wild in pistols/revolvers. The only time the coating came off is when the bullet made hard/solid contact with something hard.


Rifle bullets from a 308, that 2300fps bullet is a 230gr/50,000+psi load.


That 230gr bullet started life as a lee 230gr long nosed boat tailed bullet for the 300 blackout. I put it in a bump die that swaged the base into a gas check design and shortened the nose. As you can see the coating stayed where it was supposed to, on the bullet while being swaged along with being shot out of a 308w with a 50,000psi load.


Don't know about plated bullets, with free lead I've used/shot cast since 1985.