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Are coated bullets all pretty much the same?


vnboileau

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Do you buy purely based on price?  Or have you actually found any significant difference in accuracy, etc?

 

I just finished up the last of my Acme bullets and need to stock up.  i thought about doing a few different sample packs, but am I actually going to see any noticeable difference?  I'm loading for a CZ Shadow and Glock 34, FWIW.

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Bullet to barrel fit is very important,   In general, but especially so with lead and coated lead, and different manufacturers tend to make bullets slightly smaller or larger than on another — maybe a thousandth difference, maybe half that, or half again more than that.

 

Blue Bullets sizes their 9mm bullets .355.   Most companies size .356, but some companies tend to fall a little under .356 and some over, so maybe .3555 - .3565.  ACME tends to be in the larger side of .356.  Some BBI have been reported .357.  Which is fine. Some 9mm pistols will do best with .357 diameter lead bullets.  MY CZ-75 Shadowline does.

 

And some

manufacturers do a better job than others curing the Hi-trk coating.

 

And Blue Bullets are undersized for lead at .355 and use their own proprietary coating that some people can’t stand the smell of.  

 

And Precision Bullets uses swaged lead instead of cast lead.  

 

So the answer is no, they are not all the same, and yes, there is a reason to try different makes and models from different manufactures. ;) 

 

I personally don’t buy sample packs.  100 bullets is two ladders. I don’t expect any of these bullets to perform poorly.  I typically buy at least 1000 my first purchase.

 

You also shouldn’t expect your Glock and CZ to prefer the same bullet.  They most likely won’t. ;)

 

Good luck. :)

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I tend to buy a case of ~3k and run with it for any new bullet. But I'm kinda a dumb-a that way. In my guns I've yet to find a coated bullet that did not perform well.

 

Blue, Bayou, BBI, SNS, have all run well through a Glock, CZ 75, Tanfoglio Stock 2, Tanfo Limited/Open, Springfield RO, and Sig P320.

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I'm not as lucky as SCT.  The only coated bullets that perform as I expect come from Precision Bullets.  I won't mention the other brands I have tried (at least 12).  Some were better than others.  Some were more consistent.  None were as accurate as the Precision Bullets.  Another advantage of Precision Bullets is they don't stink to high heaven when you shoot them.

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@zzt truth be told, I've never bullseye grouped any of my load/bullet combos. Everything worked up to the PF range I wanted, doesn't tumble/key hole, and generally gave (gives) me a 2" or so group at 15 yards and hits where I expect at 25 yards.  To those discerning folks, they may have strokes with my method!

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About 8 or 9 years of coated bullets here.  Like other have said some shoot better than others based on size and uniformity of coating

 

I've found Bayou the best day in and day out.  use them in everything from Revo to my open gun and they will size to your liking at no extra charge.

Blue Bullets next but don't like the blue fingers when loading LOL

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I started with SNS. Worked well. Then at the WI Sectional we got 100 147gr. FP from ACME in our bags. They worked well and I found them to be the least expensive of all of the ones out there, so I ordered 5000 and shot them exclusively through my CZ Shadows. I did not have any issues and accuracy good. I just ran out and re-ordered from ACME again. 

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I haven't tried multiple brands for 9mm, but I did for .40. All of them had to be seated differently to reach the same OAL despite all being flat point and the same weight. The accuracy differed  on all of them despite having the same lot of powder behind them and the same charge.

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I wonder what Bullet Jerry M used on those 9 mm 1000 yard shots.  LOL  If it will stay on an 8" plate at 50 yards its go to go.  

 

Precision Bullets uses swaged lead instead of cast lead, they are about all I shoot in .40 Limited the 185 grain with 4.3g of WST, it just don't get no better.

 

9 mm my FAV is the Bayou 135gr, next up the Acme LipStick 125gr.  

 

None of them fail to make regular deposits in my Comp on the Open gun at any velocity, ok Drimmel time.  

 

All of them will deposit in the barrel if you don't get the flare right and over crimping is a nono. 

 

45 Single Stack Precision Bullets 200gr  Semi Wad Cutter, never fails to feed in my LA Gator Classic match gun, Round Nose forget it!  The holes are awesome.  I need to make some soon.

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I don't mean to hijack this thread, but why does Blue Bullets undersize 9mm at .355?

 

Ive always wanted to try BB, but all of the other cast/lead/coated are always .356 which shoot very well in my gun and didn't want to mess with something that worked.

 

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

 

 

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black bullets and bayou use the same hitek coating. i prefer the bullet profile of black bullets. i have shot bbi's exclusively for the last few years and dont plan on changing any time soon. i love the accuracy, the consistency and the customer service. plus their prices are great.

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3 hours ago, CocoBolo said:

I wonder what Bullet Jerry M used on those 9 mm 1000 yard shots.  LOL  If it will stay on an 8" plate at 50 yards its go to go.  

 

Precision Bullets uses swaged lead instead of cast lead, they are about all I shoot in .40 Limited the 185 grain with 4.3g of WST, it just don't get no better.

 

9 mm my FAV is the Bayou 135gr, next up the Acme LipStick 125gr.  

 

None of them fail to make regular deposits in my Comp on the Open gun at any velocity, ok Drimmel time.  

 

All of them will deposit in the barrel if you don't get the flare right and over crimping is a nono. 

 

45 Single Stack Precision Bullets 200gr  Semi Wad Cutter, never fails to feed in my LA Gator Classic match gun, Round Nose forget it!  The holes are awesome.  I need to make some soon.

Jerry shot a hornady at those 1,000 yard balloon.   

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Not all coated bullets use the same type of coating.   Blue bullets uses a liquid coating that is different than the hitek coating bbi and bayou use.  Precision uses a film coating kinda like a moly coating.  Not sure about Eggleston.   You should buy a sample pack and find what you like from each.  Profiles will differ slightly from each company.  I have used from all the above but prefer the Blues. A surgical glove will take care of Smurf fingers just like it does the black finger from bbi.  All of them leave a mark on your fingers, but wash off with regular soap.

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3 hours ago, jschweg said:

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but why does Blue Bullets undersize 9mm at .355?

 

Ive always wanted to try BB, but all of the other cast/lead/coated are always .356 which shoot very well in my gun and didn't want to mess with something that worked.

 

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

I don't know why they chose SAAMI spec, but in my experience they work just fine. I've used them in five different brands of 9mm barrel and one .40S&W.

Possible reasons for SAAMI, less failures when gauging with mixed brass, can seat longer.

Why the smaller diameter doesn't matter, could be their coating, could be their alloy, which they told me is very soft when I stopped by the shop years back, rapid obturation means less gas gets to the coating.

 

I've also had perfectly acceptable results from SNS and Gallant. All will shoot less than 4" groups at 25yds without much development.

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HiTek coating is all the same product. What's different is the application and curing cycle between the various bullet makers. The trick is to get it as thin as possible. In my experience, Bayou is the best.

 

So what was the holdover for a 9mm pistol at 1,000 yards???  A standard velocity 9mm drops 3,000" at 1,000 yards. Yikes, 250 feet of crank needed to get it on the target. Must have added a bunch of shim to that dot, or was aiming at the sky line...

 

Here is a blip on that

 

http://blog.joehuffman.org/2014/08/12/1000-yard-shot-with-9mm/

Edited by 9x45
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9 hours ago, 9x45 said:

HiTek coating is all the same product. What's different is the application and curing cycle between the various bullet makers. The trick is to get it as thin as possible. In my experience, Bayou is the best.

 

So what was the holdover for a 9mm pistol at 1,000 yards???  A standard velocity 9mm drops 3,000" at 1,000 yards. Yikes, 250 feet of crank needed to get it on the target. Must have added a bunch of shim to that dot, or was aiming at the sky line...

 

Here is a blip on that

 

http://blog.joehuffman.org/2014/08/12/1000-yard-shot-with-9mm/

I believe Jerry said he was holding approximately 75 yds high.  

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Yes...and no.  In my experience, they are all the pretty much same in that I have gotten acceptable results from a lot of different brands without any leading.  Most use the same coating with a few exceptions.  Precision Black Bullets (the only ones I was unable to get good results with), Blue Bullets, and Eggleston Munitions all use their own coatings.  I like the EM and Blue Bullets coating a lot more than the hi tech coating.

Why do I say that they aren't pretty much the same?  Well, among different hi tech coating suppliers, there seems to be a range of how well that coating is applied, how brittle it is, etc.  Some of the worst applications I've seen have been on ACME's, which also have the best prices.  Despite that, they have always produced some of the best results downrange though...

IMHO, just find something you like and stick with it, otherwise you'll just drive yourself crazy if you are constantly thinking the grass is greener somewhere else.

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On 3/16/2018 at 3:04 PM, IDescribe said:

Bullet to barrel fit is very important,   In general, but especially so with lead and coated lead, and different manufacturers tend to make bullets slightly smaller or larger than on another — maybe a thousandth difference, maybe half that, or half again more than that.

 

Blue Bullets sizes their 9mm bullets .355.   Most companies size .356, but some companies tend to fall a little under .356 and some over, so maybe .3555 - .3565.  ACME tends to be in the larger side of .356.  Some BBI have been reported .357.  Which is fine. Some 9mm pistols will do best with .357 diameter lead bullets.  MY CZ-75 Shadowline does.

 

And some

manufacturers do a better job than others curing the Hi-trk coating.

 

And Blue Bullets are undersized for lead at .355 and use their own proprietary coating that some people can’t stand the smell of.  

 

And Precision Bullets uses swaged lead instead of cast lead.  

 

So the answer is no, they are not all the same, and yes, there is a reason to try different makes and models from different manufactures. ;) 

 

I personally don’t buy sample packs.  100 bullets is two ladders. I don’t expect any of these bullets to perform poorly.  I typically buy at least 1000 my first purchase.

 

You also shouldn’t expect your Glock and CZ to prefer the same bullet.  They most likely won’t. ;)

 

Good luck. :)

 

I've never heard anyone complain about the smell with Blue Bullets. The biggest complaint I see on them is people hate to wash their hands after loading.

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35 minutes ago, Racinready300ex said:

 

I've never heard anyone complain about the smell with Blue Bullets. The biggest complaint I see on them is people hate to wash their hands after loading.

 

Interesting. I get comments regularly. At first I thought it might be the powder as when I switched to Blue Bullet 147 RN (from 124 FMJ) I also switched to Prima V.

 

But lately I've been using Alliant Sport Pistol and still get "feedback".

 

Only on indoor ranges though. I don't think anybody has said anything at an outdoor match.

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2 hours ago, Racinready300ex said:

 

I've never heard anyone complain about the smell with Blue Bullets. The biggest complaint I see on them is people hate to wash their hands after loading.

I've had it mentioned, not complained about. I think I've had comments while shooting Hi-Tek coated too, but not sure.

Generally not at matches, just at the range, people that haven't been around them, they smell slightly different than "normal" gunsmoke. I've heard it described as burning crayons and electrical, I don't detect either, just different.

 

The last batch of Blues I got were pungent when I opened the bags, that was a first, had me concerned they might not be fully cured, but the smell dissipated pretty quick and there was no effect on performance.

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20 minutes ago, Beef15 said:

I've had it mentioned, not complained about. I think I've had comments while shooting Hi-Tek coated too, but not sure.

Generally not at matches, just at the range, people that haven't been around them, they smell slightly different than "normal" gunsmoke. I've heard it described as burning crayons and electrical, I don't detect either, just different.

 

The last batch of Blues I got were pungent when I opened the bags, that was a first, had me concerned they might not be fully cured, but the smell dissipated pretty quick and there was no effect on performance.

 

It could just be that I don't shoot indoors or really run into many people that do, but it's the first I've heard that. There aren't many places to shoot indoors in this area.

 

I've read posts online of guys complaining about Boyue, but again never in person and I think their coating is the same as SNS, BBI etc and I never noticed a smell with those. But again I don't shoot indoors, so maybe that is it.

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If you're happy with them then I don't think you're going to see a difference with others. I did stopped using BBI 147 back when they were moly coated because I didn't consistent OAL with it.

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