dood91g Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 I have used Xtreme 124gr RN plated and Acme 124gr RN coated, both with Titegroup powder, for target shooting. I cannot notice any difference between the two and would like to make a bulk purchase. If they were nearly equal in price (say within $5 per k), which would you buy and why? I reload mostly for cost savings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 I'd go for the coated, easier on barrel and - usually - can use less powder for same velocity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1sickPuppy Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 Acme or SNS got a blackfriday sale 10% off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kells81 Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 I started out with acme but was constantly fighting seating issues with scraping the coating and not fitting in the case gauge. I followed a lot of advice in a bunch of threads about a fix and the real way I fixed it was using a 38 super die as my seater. Anyway the real issue was the Acme bullet size and lack of similar tolerances. Some bags were good to go. Some were oversized which is a coating thickness issue I would think. I I posted all that because I like the Acme bullets but I've switched to Extreme just because it's one less headache to deal with. If you can get played for about the same cost then go for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldfish Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 For titegroup i go plated. For coated during matches the RO tells me that its smoky and stinks. I dont notice it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowdyb Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 you answered your own question, you reload for cost savings. which one is cheapest? now if they were exactly the same $xx.xx then I'd pick the plated bullet. simply because my press and dies like plated bullets better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeinctown Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 15 minutes ago, goldfish said: For titegroup i go plated. For coated during matches the RO tells me that its smoky and stinks. I dont notice it. Is your RO buying your bullets for you? I'm with rowdyb on this one. All being equal, go with the one your press likes the best or runs smoothest with. (and produces most consistant OAL) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dood91g Posted November 23, 2016 Author Share Posted November 23, 2016 (edited) Thanks for the quick replies...I am looking for a Black Friday deal, so time is of the essence. I only have experience with Acme, Xtreme, Berry's, and American Reloading. The only trouble I have had with Acme was due to user error. Failure to return to battery in a stock Glock 19. I was unaware of the plunk test and was running Acme at the same length as other plated RN projectiles, 1.130", and it was too long for the more blunt Acme profile. 1.100" was the solution. I am not seeing a universal preference toward one type, so it may come down to cost for me. But I will read all I can before making the purchase. I do notice a little more smoke from coated, but no smell and not enough smoke to bother me. An RO did ask me if the coated were live rounds at first glance because simunitions are also red, which I though was a fair question. Edited November 23, 2016 by dood91g Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeinctown Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 I was hoping for a Blue Bullets black friday deal but someone else posted in another thread that they were told there wouldn't be one. the coating on the Blue Bullets is awesome, at least on the 45s I buy so I wanted a case of 9mm. Going to have to compare the costs of the others now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustybayonet Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 23 minutes ago, rowdyb said: you answered your own question, you reload for cost savings. which one is cheapest? now if they were exactly the same $xx.xx then I'd pick the plated bullet. simply because my press and dies like plated bullets better. +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B_RAD Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 My experience has been both are equal in accuracy. Plated are easier to reload and don't smoke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJGary Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 Cost is no comparison if buying by the case , coated all the way. Acme, bbi and blues are the ones I've used and very happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskapopo Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 Coated all the way. Cheaper and more accurate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowrider Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 My experience has been that coated are more accurate. Plated is iffy, some of my guns shoot them well enough, some shoot shotgun patterns at 25. I've had to work less to find an accurate load with coated in all cases. ACME seems to be the best deal price wise, but Bayou, S&S, Blue, BBI, and ACME all make good bullets and give good CS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDescribe Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 Go coated. Cheaper. Easier to extract accuracy from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullets Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 Plated aren't bad unless you start cranking up the velocity. they are also more forgiving during reloading. however in my experience the coated are more accurate and require less of a charge to make same power factor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iflyskyhigh Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 When I started reloading I started with lead. Never again. They are by far the most accurate bullets in my tests, but it's not worth the mess. My G34 makes one hole groups with 147 subsonic plated bullets (I've used Frontier, Xtreme, Berry's, and RMR) . I also shot them suppressed. They are quite, clean, and accurate. I've found most other plated bullets (no matter the caliber) to be "okay" but nothing to right home about.I recently started buying FMJ and JHP in bulk from Precision Delta, Montana Gold, and Rocky Mountain Reloading. 2000-4000 bullets at a time. When buying in bulk (bulk is the key) the FMJ's are about the same or a couple bucks more per/1000 than plated, and the the JHP are about $10-12 more per /1000 than the FMJ's. If you spread that out over 2000-4000 bullets it's factions of a penny per bullet. The JHP are the way too go. Clean, accurate, and awesome bullets. I shot a G17 Open gun, and they tops in that. They only place I found this doesn't translate is .45 Auto 200GR JHP, and 147gr JHP/FMJ 9mm projectiles. For some reason they are WAY more expensive than other FMJ or JHP.I went with 230gr FMJ's from Precision Delta for .45 Auto and 147gr Match Plated 9mm from Rocky Mountain Reloading. In each case those were the most cost effective/best bullet. The plated from RMR are some of the best plated bullets I have found and the price is right. Frontier is probably second best, but they are harder to find. Xtreme are the "prettiest" bullets, but the least accurate. Berry's are pretty good, but I just don't find their prices to be competitive for the product offered. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
technetium-99m Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 Xtreme 9mm are mostly good to go. I had terrible results with their 180gr 40's, and so so results with 230gr 45's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iflyskyhigh Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 Xtreme 9mm are mostly good to go. I had terrible results with their 180gr 40's, and so so results with 230gr 45's.I second this. I had the exact same experience. 165/180gr from Extreme in both my 40S&W and 10MM at very moderate velocities were less than great. I didn't try the 230's from Extreme but did try 200gr FP and 200gr Hp in 45 Auto, and again, weren't great. Just okay. I had issues getting the 200gr FP to feed in my 1911 and G21 Long Slide no matter what COAL I tried. And I tried a million. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dood91g Posted November 24, 2016 Author Share Posted November 24, 2016 Thanks for the additional replies (I read and consider all of them, it's helpful) and Happy Thanksgiving! Leaning toward Acme coated 124gr RN at this point, but will wait until tomorrow to check for any and all deals on plated and coated. I have had zero problems loading or shooting the 5k of Acme that I have gone through to date. Maybe 5 per bag of 500 are missing a spot or two of coating, but they overpack by 10 to 15 per bag which compensates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsa Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 Coated all the way. They will do everything required at a fraction of the cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewilson224 Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 I coat all of mine now. I haven't really shot plated in a while, but for the price of lead bullets that I get from a local friend, coating is the best route for me. I actually pick up feet per second, the smoke is minimal. Coating is an easy process. The time consuming part is sizing those bullets when they are coated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mont1120 Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 It may not be a big issue in 9MM, but for us .45 shooters, using the coated will almost give you about 15-25 fps faster rounds. When loading for power factor for major that can mean a serious amount of points. I have seen shooters go minor, and two go completely sub minor at major matches. For me that gives myself a lot of cushion when stepping up to the chrono. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcc7x7 Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 Bayou's are my favorite. SnS, BBI, and Blue's all have done well also Never been successful with plated past 20 yds, so I don't have much confidence in them. I keep trying every couple of years with different loading techniques and up close good to go past 20 yds they start spreading, maybe 2018 I'll give them a try again. Never a problem with Bayou's, 0-50yds they are consistent and the group size is track-able with the distance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aircooled6racer Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 Hello: I have been using the Acme for major and minor 9mm. I am even using them in my PCC right now. I have seen a lot of plated bullets over the years have tumbling problems. I have never seen a coated bullet tumble. I am using Tite Group for the minor loads and HS-6 and Auto Comp for major. I am using 115, 122 and 125 Acme and want to try the 147's next for the PCC. Thanks, Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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