Acme v Missouri coated bullets?

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329

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I am looking to try some coated bullets and am having trouble deciding. Both see well regarded but I am unsure about the hardness for low power 38 special loads. If I go with Missouri I would get by 12 as opposed to 18. Acme only has 16. Am I over thinking this? Any experiences with both.
Shooting out of 3" 19 and 6 inch 27.
 
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I've used a lot of Acme bullets. Nothing wrong with those. I'm using Missouri bullets now. You won't need hard bullets for what you're shooting. 12 BHN should be fine for low pressure 38 Spl. loads. That's what their cowboy bullets are designed for. More choices with MBC. Just my 0.02
 
I'm using Missouri Bullets for my 9mm now. I'm not very happy with them. Out of the 3000 or 5000, or whatever I bought, there were just enough bullets that were undersized to catch my attention.

I've had good luck with Bayou Bullets previously and will be going back to them.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I have heard about inconsistent MBs.
 
I've found it doesn't matter much for the .38 Special, whether it's 12 or 18 or whatever, as long as the bullet is coated. My current supplier uses 16 but I've shot softer and can't really tell the difference. I switch suppliers all the time based on price/availability/bullet design. Honestly, they're all good.

I like Acme. The bullets come in really cool little wood boxes. I've shot thousands of Missouri bullets too. I currently mostly use SNS Casting. Sometimes Brazos.
 
I've shot Missouri Bullet .38s by the thousand and use only the 12 BHN. Actually, I think that is harder than necessary for .38 target loads. I have some 18 BHN for .357 Magnum loads. I like the plain lead bullets more than coated, but use coated for indoor ranges. Lots less smoke.
Whenever we get low, we just run over and pick up a few thousand!:-)
 
Eddietruett said:
I’ve had really good results with Brazos for 9mm, 38, and 45acp & LC.
Cheaper too
Click to expand...

Not the prettiest bullets, but performance is fine. Pricing is great once you realize they ship in odd quantities. I kind of stopped ordering from them when they dropped their .41 bullet.
 
Been shooting hundreds of Missouri High Tek Coated Bullets in .38 and .357 with good results both light and stout loads. I prefer those sized to .358 diameter. No leading in bore or cylinder. Good luck.
 
kev74 said:
I'm using Missouri Bullets for my 9mm now. I'm not very happy with them. Out of the 3000 or 5000, or whatever I bought, there were just enough bullets that were undersized to catch my attention.

I've had good luck with Bayou Bullets previously and will be going back to them.
Click to expand...

Did you call MBC and see if they will do something about your complaint or are you just going to post about them without giving them a chance to make things right?
 
Yep, you're overthinking it.
Hardness still matters, but not nearly to the degree it did before coatings.
Find a design you like ...
Load ...
Pack ...
Fire..
Repeat
 
329 said:
Both see well regarded but I am unsure about the hardness for low power 38 special loads. If I go with Missouri I would get by 12 as opposed to 18. Acme only has 16. Am I over thinking this?
Click to expand...
Yes you are.

I believe Elmer Keith considered 12 BHN as hard cast.

Rosewood
 
I'd use the 12bhn bullets.

Softer alloyed bullets tend to be more accurate/easier to find accurate loads with when using loads with 25,000psi or less pressures.

Been casting/shooting lead bullets for several decades now. Started coating my own bullets in 2014. To this day I use

8/9bhn bullets for load using 25,000psi or less in the pistols, revolvers & rifles.

I step up to +/- 11 bhn for full house/hot magnum pistol loads.

For rifle loads up to 50,000psi+ I use a 14bhn alloy.
 
Thank you all for taking the time to reply. It sounds like I will not make a mistake no matter which way I go. I am amazed at the amount of knowledge on this forum.
 
I have both Acme and MIssouri 95 grain bullets on hand for my 380 along with 95 gr. FMJ which was my latest purchase.

Each of these bullets were labeled as 95 gr. Round nose and had the same configuration. The difference in these bullets is the only bullets actually
Weighing 95 grains was the full metal jacket bullets……consistently!

Some of the coated bullets both Acme and MO varied as much as plus or minus .5 grains. I didn’t get a chance to compare accuracy among the three but I hope to do that soon. Right now I’m experimenting with a new powder.

I usually buy 1000 bullets at a time and the difference in price between coated and FMJ was about $10 per 1K which for me was an easy decision; from now on I will Only order FMJ.
 
Last edited:
If you are open to another make consider T&B Bullets. They make a poly coated bullet in many calibers & weights, are very inexpensive, are of great quality and are shipped free and fast. The owner is an honest gentleman.
 
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