First test 9mm coated 125gr

[Nevada Ed]

Started off easy with the .356 dia. and the .357 dia. both set at 1.12" OAL.
The .356 was light target starting loads with Bullseye, Red, Green, CFE and HS6 powders.
The fps went from 916 up to 945fps on two loads but I discovered dirty hulls at this low speed with the coated bullets.
I also noticed that neither the fast Bullseye or the slow HS6 powders were very accurate compared to the medium burning powders.
Green Dot hit 945fps and had top accuracy and also POA.
Interesting to know that the hi/low on my first try on these five "Guess loads" was only 29 fps.

Next came the full loads c/o Lyman's date with the .357 dia. bullets.
In my CP 3.5" tube I got from 1013 up to 1115 fps on the larger bullet. As you will see in the following picture, the groups were all over the place with good, bad and the ugly at hand.
For those that think that ES has a lot of impact on groups and accuracy, I think you need to take a good look at this data. It does not mean a hill of beans to my pistol.

I am still scratching my head on the "Coated" bullets as to if they will be the new kid on the block. I will extend the bullets out to 1.16" on my next test to see if things improve or go through the roof...........
Looks like I open up another can of worms..........!!
later

 

[rwsmith]

Yes indeed......

Thanks for sharing! That is a worrying report about coated bullets.

I had said I would never jump on a bandwagon like 'moly' lube but I was very quick to accept coated bullets after I had very good luck with a 'clear' coated Bayou Bullet (I think it was Bayou)
I don't really know what this coating was but it came in colors and mine were greenish in tint.

Since then I've gotten a bad batch of 'candy coated' bullets which flake very easily.

Nyclads were so popular that I always wondered why they didn't continue them, except they were pricey. Also why can't today's coated bullets equal Nyclads except the nyclclads were made under factory conditions and the powder coated of today is more of a 'batch' process'.

Is there any 'fouling' associated with coated bullets?

Am I opening a can of worms with this?

Except for the flaking, I'm having trouble evaluating the coated RN bullets I got. One gun seems not to want to 'plunk' them. It's back at the mothership getting it's leade and chamber checked. I may be able to add more when it comes back.

Should we be scrutinizing coated bullets more? It's plain that improperly cured coatings are pretty bad, but how do we make sure that we get good bullets.

 

[Nevada Ed]

After the 50 bullets down range......................
I ran a white patch down the barrel and it was very clean with
just a little "Gray" powder res..........on the patch.

I showed it to two shooters near by doing LE fast draw/timing stuff and they agreed that it was "Mighty fine" for a bullet going down a barrel.

50 more to go.........ten mini test and we will see.
Curious to see how the fps does vs the Hodgdon/Lyman data with the 1.06" oal seating with three powders.

 

[moxie]

Those groups really aren't that bad!

I haven't tried coated yet, but I intend to start with regular cast data when I do.

My favorite cast load is the MBC 124 RNL "Smallball" at .356." Over 4.3 grs. Bullseye it clocks 1121 out of my M&P 9c. OAL is 1.116." It shoots very well but I have no targets to share.

This load approximates the Speer Gold Dot 124+P load that gives 1157 out of the same gun. Recoil feels the same. So it is perfect for practice.

 

[Wee Hooker]

"Opening the can of worms is" what makes reloading fun , isn't it?
I'm getting ready to try some coated pills as well and look forward to the development process (and the finding of others.)
p.s That Red dot group looks like a keeper to me!