Super Accurate Eggleston Munitions .401 Cal 180gr Bullets

[GrumpyOne]

1 hour ago, muncie21 said:

Here's a picture of my primers shot from a TSO .40 and loaded with 4.3gr Prima V, Bayou 180 at 1.11 OAL.  These chrono at 950 on average, which gives me an average PF of 171.

 

I took the picture below to show how firing pin spring weight impacted primer appearance, however looking at these again from a 'flattened' primer perspective, I'm not seeing any signs of over pressure.  Am I missing something?

 

Here's another picture, same load of Prima V, same gun. The edges of the primers are still curved/rounded.  At least to me they appear that way.

 

I've got some SV on the shelf.  Maybe this winter I'll work up a load with this powder.  Although, I did hear a 'rumor' that Grafs was going to stop carrying the Vectan/Noble Sport line of powders...not sure if there's any truth to this or not....

 

 

Some primers in the top picture are showing signs of cratering, but otherwise look normal.

[CHA-LEE]

The primer cup flow around the firing pin hit is indicative of pressure issues. The double dimple or swipe firing pin hit marks are due to a weak or worn out firing pin spring. 

 

When I was testing Prima V I observed flattened outer edges of the primer cups. Not all of them were flattened bad. About 50% of them were though. I didn't have that same flattening issue with Prima SV.

[CHA-LEE]

The thing I really like about the Prima powders is how resistant they are to temperature changes. They also produce a single digit standard deviation in velocity so you can get away with using a lower base velocity. I am using a 930fps target velocity now instead of 950 simply because the standard deviation is so minimal. There is no way I could reliably do that with WST. 

 

Lastly the Prima SV powder burns super clean. I can easily do 3 - 4 times the shooting with Prima SV before it produces the "dirtyness" of WST. In my last, shoot it until it's dirty enough to need cleaning test I went 5000 rounds. With WST you are pushing it at 1000 rounds. Granted not many people go 5000 rounds between cleans on Limited guns, but it is possible with the Prima SV powder.

 

The Prima SV powder performs very similar to VV N320 but at half the price. You can't go wrong with that.

[IDescribe]

You really need a history with the pistol to judge primer flow.  I have a pistol that when stock, the firing pin was particularly small relative to the hole in the breech face through which it passed.  It would show primer flow with loads that I was confident were under SAAMI max.  It concerned me at first, when I had no idea what might cause that other than exceeding safe pressure limits, but I learned to live with it.  Then, I swapped in an extended firing pin, and the primer flow disappeared.  I guessed what had happened, and when I measured them, the new extended firing pin was a couple thousandths larger in a diameter.  Mystery solved.

[72stick]

On ‎4‎/‎2‎/‎2017 at 9:15 PM, Lazr111 said:

I appreciate the info. What charge weight did you start at and is the any particular reason you load at 1.165?

Sent from my SM-T230NU using Tapatalk
 

 

I too would like to know more about the 1.165 OAL. I'm having some freebore issues with the .401 bullets. I can't load past 1.165 without getting into the lands and it needs a little more crimp to chamber reliably. I was thinking of having the barrel throated.

[CHA-LEE]

I use 1.165 OAL because that is the proper length for my 2011’s to mechanically feed properly. Every gun requires a unique OAL to feed reliably. You need to figure out that optimal length yourself.

 

The bullet shape can effect how deep the rifling lands need to be. I ream the lands forward on my barrels so I can use a 1.200 OAL and the bullet shoulder still doesn’t touch the lands. This additional free bore doesn’t affect the accuracy in my guns.

 

I think setting the OAL based on where the tip of the bullet hits the feed ramp is far more important than tuning the OAL to match a stock lands position. 

 

[72stick]

10 hours ago, CHA-LEE said:

I use 1.165 OAL because that is the proper length for my 2011’s to mechanically feed properly. Every gun requires a unique OAL to feed reliably. You need to figure out that optimal length yourself.

 

The bullet shape can effect how deep the rifling lands need to be. I ream the lands forward on my barrels so I can use a 1.200 OAL and the bullet shoulder still doesn’t touch the lands. This additional free bore doesn’t affect the accuracy in my guns.

 

I think setting the OAL based on where the tip of the bullet hits the feed ramp is far more important than tuning the OAL to match a stock lands position. 

 

 

Thanks Cha-lee, that's good to know. I've always wondered why everyone talks about 1.200 OAL as the limiting factor to making a 2011 run. Mine actually feeds well on some of the shorter OAL rounds. It loves the 1.120 OAL Winchester white box 165g ammo. If I want to validate a new bullet combo I use WWB as my standard for acceptable accuracy. If my reloads meet or exceed WWB 165s, I'm a happy camper. So far only the PC cast bullets have equaled the WWB 165s.

 

When I get the gun back from hard chroming I'll check the feeding placement on the ramp to see where the 1.165 coated bullets start climbing the ramp.

[Goodonpaper]

The one thing I noticed about Eggelston is the coating thickness seems inconsistent where the Blues appear pretty consistent. 

Do you guys think this would affect practical accuracy?

[CHA-LEE]

There is a little inconsistency in the color coverage on the EM bullets. Especially on certain colors. But that has Zero negative impact to their velocity or accuracy.

 

The question you need to ask yourself is if winning a fashion show is a higher priority than winning matches. Personally I could care less what bullets look like if they produce maximum performance.

[Doublehelix]

I just tried my first batch of Eggleston 180 gr bullets and I liked them a lot. I really need to do a head-to-head accuracy comparison with Blue Bullets and Black Bullets (my other two go-to's).

 

Here are some really crappy (out of focus on one) cell phone snaps of the Eggleston side-by-side with the Blue Bullets 180 Gr:

 

 

 

 

Slightly different geometry for sure, and I also notice that the coating on the Eggleston bullets does not come off on your hands like they do with the Blue Bullets (I heard someone say once they had "Smurf fingers" after loading Blue Bullets! )

 

 

Edited March 10, 2018 by Doublehelix

[StuckinMS]

On 3/10/2018 at 11:17 AM, Doublehelix said:

I just tried my first batch of Eggleston 180 gr bullets and I liked them a lot. I really need to do a head-to-head accuracy comparison with Blue Bullets and Black Bullets (my other two go-to's).

 

Here are some really crappy (out of focus on one) cell phone snaps of the Eggleston side-by-side with the Blue Bullets 180 Gr:

 

 

 

 

Slightly different geometry for sure, and I also notice that the coating on the Eggleston bullets does not come off on your hands like they do with the Blue Bullets (I heard someone say once they had "Smurf fingers" after loading Blue Bullets! )

 

 

I just wear a surgical glove when loading the blues.  I really like the way they shoot though!

[Goodonpaper]

On 3/4/2018 at 10:18 PM, CHA-LEE said:

There is a little inconsistency in the color coverage on the EM bullets. Especially on certain colors. But that has Zero negative impact to their velocity or accuracy.

 

The question you need to ask yourself is if winning a fashion show is a higher priority than winning matches. Personally I could care less what bullets look like if they produce maximum performance.

I’m by no means laying awake at night worrying about the color (or the accuracy) of EG vs BB but if the price was the same I’d probably go with the Blues.

They both function well in my guns and the only accuracy problem lies between my eyes and index finger 

[CHA-LEE]

The thing I always wondered about the bullet coatings that come off on your hands or press is what is that kind of caustic gasses is getting generated from the coating when you shoot it and it vaporizes? For most of those other coatings you can smell the coating after people shoot. If you can smell it then you are obviously ingesting those chemicals.

That is another thing I really like about the Eggleston coating. It doesn't come off on your hands, press or smoke when you shoot it. No funky smell when you shoot either.

Edited March 23, 2018 by CHA-LEE

[Racinready300ex]

15 minutes ago, CHA-LEE said:

The thing I always wondered about the bullet coatings that come off on your hands or press is what is that kind of caustic gasses is getting generated from the coating when you shoot it and it vaporizes? For most of those other coatings you can smell the coating after people shoot. If you can smell it then you are obviously ingesting those chemicals.

That is another thing I really like about the Eggleston coating. It doesn't come off on your hands, press or smoke when you shoot it. No funky smell when you shoot either.

 

With Blue Bullets, the coating isn't really coming off on your hands. They size the bullet after it's coated, what is coming off on your hands is dust from that process.

[CHA-LEE]

The Eggleston bullets are sized after being coated as well and the coating isn't failing or getting shaved off.

[Racinready300ex]

Just now, CHA-LEE said:

The Eggleston bullets are sized after being coated as well and the coating isn't failing or getting shaved off.

 

#notthesamecoating

[GMB]

If their prices were comparable to Blue Bullets or Precision Bullets I would give them a try. Currently the accuracy I am getting out of Precision coated bullets is excellent. Blue Bullets just got delivered, will load and test against the precision.

[dlightning]

On 3/10/2018 at 10:17 AM, Doublehelix said:

I just tried my first batch of Eggleston 180 gr bullets and I liked them a lot. I really need to do a head-to-head accuracy comparison with Blue Bullets and Black Bullets (my other two go-to's).

 

Here are some really crappy (out of focus on one) cell phone snaps of the Eggleston side-by-side with the Blue Bullets 180 Gr:

 

 

 

 

Slightly different geometry for sure, and I also notice that the coating on the Eggleston bullets does not come off on your hands like they do with the Blue Bullets (I heard someone say once they had "Smurf fingers" after loading Blue Bullets! )

 

 

Why do you like the Eggleston?

[KrymSIX]

I'm quite pleased with the Eggleston bullets. I use the .400 variety because that's what my gun runs best. 

 

It's very nice to have the option for .400 or .401 or even .402 from the same company. I think one reason a lot of folks use Blue bullets is they size to .400 and their price is generally pretty competitive. 

 

As Cha Lee said the coverage or depth of the color can be a little different with different colors. The test bag I got were in the lime green and were really staurated with color. The purple color I ordered for my main reloading has a bit of a translucent effect (you can see the lead beneath the color a bit) but the coating is still fine. Bore is still spotless after a training session. 

 

I've been really happy with the accuracy I'm getting with these. They certainly are more accurate than I am. 

[StuckinMS]

2 hours ago, KrymSIX said:

I'm quite pleased with the Eggleston bullets. I use the .400 variety because that's what my gun runs best. 

 

It's very nice to have the option for .400 or .401 or even .402 from the same company. I think one reason a lot of folks use Blue bullets is they size to .400 and their price is generally pretty competitive. 

 

As Cha Lee said the coverage or depth of the color can be a little different with different colors. The test bag I got were in the lime green and were really staurated with color. The purple color I ordered for my main reloading has a bit of a translucent effect (you can see the lead beneath the color a bit) but the coating is still fine. Bore is still spotless after a training session. 

 

I've been really happy with the accuracy I'm getting with these. They certainly are more accurate than I am. 

The blues shot very clean and accurate.   I have never smelled them while shooting and have dug some out of the berm to find that the coating was still intact and no lead visible in the rifling marks.

[Doublehelix]

11 hours ago, dlightning said:

Why do you like the Eggleston?

 

They work quite well, and the coating doesn't rub off on your finger like the Blue Bullets do. They are bit more expensive than Blue or Black Bullets (0.09 per round vs. 0.12 per round).

 

Accuracy-wise, they are great, but I am not sure that I could actually see an accuracy improvement vs. Blue, but I was very pleased with their performance overall.

 

I just got another batch of Black Bullets in for testing, I have not shot any in a while, and I want to compare them against Blue and Eggleston.

[Novagunner]

I just got a 2nd test bag of 180s from EM to test their .400 vs .401 and not sure how I feel about their coating. It seems very inconsistent quality based on color. Sometimes clumpy/streaky.  

 

They seem to shoot ok and about the same as blue/black but I do wish the finish was a bit better. I really want to like the purple ones. 

 

 

Bag #1 .401

white - coating scratched all to hell down to lead while shipping

blue and red - no scratching. A bit clumpy/streaky

 

bag 2 .400 

Purple - a fair number with nicks down to lead (5% or so). Coating doesn’t seem as durable.  

green - few with some scratching. coating a bit clumpy/streaky in spots

blue and red - no scratching. A bit clumpy/streaky

 

 

[CHA-LEE]

If you want to win a bullet coating fashion show then the EM bullets are not what you want. If you want to win matches and hit what you are aiming at then EM bullets are what you want.

[Dutchman195]

33 minutes ago, CHA-LEE said:

If you want to win a bullet coating fashion show then the EM bullets are not what you want. If you want to win matches and hit what you are aiming at then EM bullets are what you want.

Not knocking anything here, but is $60 more a case worth the slight increase in accuracy (Bayou vs EM)? I'm pretty sure Steoger shoots Blues and he does ok. 

Generally I feel like its the guns connection to the ground as opposed to the equipment. I put 3 inside a dime last night at practice freestyle with a STI and Bayous. I surprised myself with that level of accuracy, even though I know the gun will forever be more accurate than me.

 

So the question again is...What is a acceptable group size before you decide the equipment pairings dont match? 

60 bucks is to much for me, but thats also why I dont shoot JHPs like some people do. 

[Don_B]

41 minutes ago, CHA-LEE said:

If you want to win a bullet coating fashion show then the EM bullets are not what you want. If you want to win matches and hit what you are aiming at then EM bullets are what you want.

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