I started playing with Bayou's coated 44 Cal bullets

[SLT223]

So far I had the Bayou Bullets coated 240gr LSWC on top of 22.5gr W296 and 21.7gr IMR4227 in a mountain gun and an 1892 in 44 Mag. I have encountered absolutely zero leading in 250 rounds, and accuracy is top notch. No lead fouling, no copper fouling, and no lube smoke. What more could I ask for? I would not hesitate to shoot deer inside 100 yards with that little 1892 loaded with these slugs. I'm very happy with these and will definitely be ordering more. Just thought I'd share this experience with fellow 44 reloaders.

 

[venomballistics]

Yeah ... coating is an eye opener like that.
some of what it does in the tougher cases is almost magic.

 

[buckshotshorty]

I started using coated bullets from Bayou, Black Bullets International, and s & s for a couple months now, in 9mm, and They all work great! Same thing : no leading, and very little smoke, and non sticky to handle or gunk up your dies. Coated bullets are the only ones I'll buy from now on. My faves are the BBI 125 gr. Conicals; cheapest also. All prices on BBI Include shipping.
The s & s bullets smell a little funny when fired, like burnt electric cords, but I read that was due to not being cooked long enough.

 

[rwsmith]

I've got some 9mm

I've got 9mm 147 gr. SWC coated bullets loaded up and ready to try. Did it on the recommendation of another member here. Anybody know why the coating is thin as opposed to other bullets that look candy coated?

 

[catfish_dan]

I have to say huge thanks for this post. I too have a 629 mountain gun and almost gave up shooting it due to the ridiculous leading. Jacketed bullets are expensive and somewhat hard to come by for me in mass since we can't mail order components so I had been shooting cast bullets. After only 10 rounds the leading was so severe that the barrel appeared smoothbore. After inspecting the dimensions I found that S&W undersizes the throats, smaller than SAMI spec, which results in leading after the larger forcing cone dimension. I tried copper plating my cast bullets but the coating wasn't thick enough to survive the tight cylinder throats and was about to give up on the gun when I read this post. A friend of mine gave me some of the Bayou .44 coated bullets and they are amazing. No leading what so ever and agreed, they shoot really nice. I'm thrilled to be able to shoot the .44 again so many thanks. I now have to figure out how to be able to order them since I doubt any brick and mortar stores sell them around me. Thanks again.

 

[David R]

I started loading 44 special for my Bulldog. I bought a box of 500 bullets before I even bought the gun. I have not tried then yet, but soon.

I will report back.

David

 

[Harley Fan]

I too am pleasantly surprised.

I'm 150 rounds into using my first-ever coated bullets batch, this a .45acp 200 grain RNFP, From Missouri Bullet.

Leading was not a big issue with the Brinell 18 lead bullets in both .45 and .38 sp I've used in the past but the lube created smoke like an old west film.



I was amazed at the barrel on my ol' 1911 Colt after 150 rounds. Coated bullets are the ticket for me.

 

[scott1970]

I have fallen in love with powder coated bullets and shoot practically nothing else anymore. The benefits are many, and I can't find any negatives.

I happen to make my own...

.357 Mags.

.41 Mags.

405 grain .45-70 Govt.

Homemade or shelf bought, I highly recommend them.

 

[H Richard]

Same experience I have had with the 124 gr. 9mm and the 225 TC .45's. Unfortunately I have several thousand rounds of cast bullets loaded for all before I build up a stock of the coated bullets.

 

[jtcarm]

Is that a new offering? I hadn't seen it before.

Sweet, now I can shoot my 24-3 indoors.

 

[jtcarm]

I have fallen in love with powder coated bullets and shoot practically nothing else anymore. The benefits are many, and I can't find any negatives.

I happen to make my own...

.357 Mags.

.41 Mags.

405 grain .45-70 Govt.

Homemade or shelf bought, I highly recommend them.

Is that Bayous coating? I read the process on their site and it looked like more trouble than I wanted to fool with.

 

[venomballistics]

his are powder coated ... two different processes to the same result.
neither system is particularly hard.
I think you might be suffering from written instruction to reality conversion issues more than anything.
pick one and kick its tires. thats the only way you'll know if its too troublesome or not ... and honestly .. its not

 

[David R]

I bought some HI TEK coating. I can do it. If I can , anyone can.

Its easier than the instrutions. I baked them a little longer, they passed the hammer and acetone tests.

David

 

[catfish_dan]

anyone with experience coating care to elaborate on the steps/process? I'm interested, has to be easier than what I went through plating copper at home.

thanks,
Dan

 

[Nick B]

I have to say huge thanks for this post. I too have a 629 mountain gun and almost gave up shooting it due to the ridiculous leading. Jacketed bullets are expensive and somewhat hard to come by for me in mass since we can't mail order components so I had been shooting cast bullets. After only 10 rounds the leading was so severe that the barrel appeared smoothbore. After inspecting the dimensions I found that S&W undersizes the throats, smaller than SAMI spec, which results in leading after the larger forcing cone dimension. I tried copper plating my cast bullets but the coating wasn't thick enough to survive the tight cylinder throats and was about to give up on the gun when I read this post. A friend of mine gave me some of the Bayou .44 coated bullets and they are amazing. No leading what so ever and agreed, they shoot really nice. I'm thrilled to be able to shoot the .44 again so many thanks. I now have to figure out how to be able to order them since I doubt any brick and mortar stores sell them around me. Thanks again.

Ten-Ring Precision charges 45 bucks to open up cylinder throats .3 day turn around .

 

[David R]

Mix up the acetone an powder. Put the bullets in a jar, add the recomended amount of mix. Shake well.

I dump on parchment, dry and bake 10 minutes @ 400 in a convection oven.

Some feel the need to stand them in a row like little soldiers. I don't. Besides if I touch them, it leaves blank spots of coating.

David

 

[catfish_dan]

thanks for the reference Nick. I've considered sending it out for machining.

David,

That process sounds pretty simple. Do you use a toaster oven? How many can you "bake" at one shot?

Thanks, Dan

 

[David R]

My toaster oven is big as most. I lucked out we had just got a new one and mine was convection. I have done some 30 cal and 22 cal.

I started out with about 50, then 100 22 cal.

It IS easier than the instructions make it look. Mix some powder and acetone, shake and bake.

Cast Boolit has a whole section dedicated to powder coating.

Some use forceps to pick up the bullets and stand them up, some use a rubber glove. I just dump em.

I use Bayou coated bullets in my 308 with a light charge of Promo (Red Dot) and get about 3" at 100 Yards.

With the 22 caliber I had terrible luck. Sheet of paper size group at 25 yards, but that is a whole different game. This gun shoots conventional cast bullets well out to 50 yards.

David

 

[catfish_dan]

thanks, I'm going to check it out

 

[Forrest r]

I use the "dry" powder coating method to pc bullets. Didn't want to play with acetone. The dry pc coating is extremely easy to do & uses the same convection oven. PC powder is cheap, around $10 a # and 1# will easily do 12,000+ bullets.

Convection oven/I bought mine new for $60 @ wal-mart
#5 (recycle #)/free coolwip bowl
black airsoft bb's/$5



Put a hand full of bb's in a coolwip bowl.
Put a tablespoon of pc powder in the coolwip bowl on top of the bb's.
Put bullets (around 40 @ a time) in the bolw, put lid on & shake while counting to 50.
Remove lid, put coated bullets on a tray ( I use trays that hold 100 to 150 bullets @ a time) and pre-heat the oven to 400*. Put tray full of bullets in the 400* oven and bake for 15 minutes. Let cool use the lee push thru sizers to size the coated bullets after they've been pc'd.

Some 30cal's (left), 38spl hb bullets (center), 357 hp's (right).



Some 44spl's:
top left/220gr hb swc's
top right/250gr hp swc's
bottom/ 200gr wc's



A 10-shot group with "plinking bullets/125gr h&g #50" shot @ 50yds with no gc.



One of many projects for this winter. Testing different bullets for extreme accuracy in the 9mm. One of the test bullets, a 147gr hb rnfp cast from a 1920's lyman mold. This bullet was originally designed in the 1890's for use in the 38s&w. It should prove to be an excellent target bullet in the 9mm, we shall see.



Coating bullets has taken lead/cast bullets to the next level. They're well worth looking into.