nevadabob Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 This may be an unanswerable question (for here) and I've recently inquired (email) of several coated bullet makers as to why only one diameter choice. Per my barrel slugging, my Taurus 9mm G2 & Walther 9mm PPX need 0.357's. One website says "call" for other diameters while several have the option built in to the online order process. I really don't want to call as I have "voice issues" (paralyzed vocal cord). You should here me at a fast food drive-thru speaker box. I'm the guy in front of you that holds the line up. I would think that with the necessity of barrel slugging, all makers would offer diameter choice up front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobT Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 Good question, but I suspect most regular shooters just don't go through the trouble to slug and measure, so it would only be a small part of the business. I just buy mine from the ones that do offer different sizes up front. IbejiHeads, Black and Blue and Lucky13 are the ones I use. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grapemeister Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 (edited) What that guy said. .356 and .357 is standard with many only listing .356 at the websites, or listing it as the 1st choice on a drop down menu. Edited November 29, 2015 by grapemeister Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yeti Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 Less demand. The manufacturers simply carry what sells. If a few bullet manuf. make & stock .357 because they have a following...just buy from them. Or send a purchase request to a manufacturer that will run some for you. I would encourage you to buy from a stocking manufacturer for convenience sake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasref Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 Drop Donnie a note at Bayou Bullets. He offers different sizes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atbarr Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 Drop Donnie a note at Bayou Bullets. He offers different sizes. Donnie sold Bayou Bullets to Dennis Olson. Donnie is only involved with the coating now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ES13Raven Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 Ibejiheads offer .356 and .357 as standard options, as well as different colors: https://www.ibejiheads.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nevadabob Posted November 30, 2015 Author Share Posted November 30, 2015 I did get a response back yesterday from Nathan @ bluebullets. He said the different diameters are not a stock item (only 0.355's) but that they could special order them. He then asked me why I wanted the larger diameters. I emailed him back (because of barrel slugging outcomes) and am awaiting a reply. Two years ago I bought some lead balls from Darda's, slugged my barrels, and sent them back for measuring. My M&P fs came in @ 0.356 and I bought 0.357's from him. Since he doesn't do coated, I have purchased from the above mentioned suppliers (Bayou, B & B, Ibejiheads, & Lucky 13). I have a sample pack coming from Eggleston. Interesting is that on the Lucky 13 & Eggleston sites, 0.357 is recommended. Of the 4 manufacturers listed above, their products are excellent and have been good to do business with. What prompted my thread was that I wanted to try some 0.357's from bluebullets, blackbullets, and acme. And that the simple task of calling is not a preferred option for me. Thanks for the above responses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooterDrew Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Not to take over the thread, but I'm not really too familiar with this stuff. I shot a few cases of bayous last year, some BBI and then tried some jacketed and played. I never really paid attention to the diameter. Mainly I just picked 9mm and then went for the weight bullet I was looking for.... Am I missing out on something big here? I just made a pretty decent sized purchase from blue bullets due to their sale, and I'm hoping that I have nothing to be concerned about with a .355 diameter bullet. They'll be fed to a CZ shadow and I've never slugged the barrel.. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 The big question is which diameter bullet is the most accurate from your particular barrel !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ES13Raven Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 I never really paid attention to the diameter. Mainly I just picked 9mm and then went for the weight bullet I was looking for.... Am I missing out on something big here? It can affect accuracy, velocity, standard deviation and possible leading in the barrel. Have you tested groups out to 25 yards? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motosapiens Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Not to take over the thread, but I'm not really too familiar with this stuff. I shot a few cases of bayous last year, some BBI and then tried some jacketed and played. I never really paid attention to the diameter. Mainly I just picked 9mm and then went for the weight bullet I was looking for.... Am I missing out on something big here? I just made a pretty decent sized purchase from blue bullets due to their sale, and I'm hoping that I have nothing to be concerned about with a .355 diameter bullet. They'll be fed to a CZ shadow and I've never slugged the barrel.. I've never slugged my barrel, but I found out through empirical testing that while my cz's eat .355 bullets happily, my 9mm 1911 is very erratic, and is much happier with .356's. With the .355's, my 1911 had wide groups and literally 2 out of every 10 bullets not even on paper at 25 yards. Same exact load in my P01 put every round in the A-zone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 I've found that with LSWCs the best accuracy comes (for me, at least) with bullets .003 to .004 over bore diameter. Since coated bullets are cast bullets with relatively soft lead and a very thin coating the same pertains to them also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ES13Raven Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 I haven't slugged my Shadow barrel, but many who have come up with .3555 so you should be shooting at least a .356 bullet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterthefish Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Since coated bullets are cast bullets with relatively soft lead and a very thin coating the same pertains to them also. Most of the coated bullets I've shot are hard cast lead. SNS quotes 16-17 BNH. Blue bullets uses the same alloy so probably same BNH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 That is relatively soft compared to pure linotype, there was a company around here - Bridges Bullets - which used to offer those and they were the best cast bullets I ever used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooterDrew Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 I haven't slugged my Shadow barrel, but many who have come up with .3555 so you should be shooting at least a .356 bullet. Hmmmm. Well I guess when my order comes in I'll quickly find out if I just bought a bunch of hoser practice lead! I've only shot bayou 135s and MG 124jhps thru my shadows to this point but never had any noticeable accuracy issues with either. I will definitely do some more testing with the new bullets and see how they do. Fingers crossed they're good to go... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techj Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 Haven't had a problem yet with blue bullets - just ordered a couple of more cases. no accuracy or leading problems through a block or 1911 with several thousand rounds of them thru each. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garmil Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 I've had at least a dozen different 9mm guns. Always used standard .355 .356 from various companies coated, plated. Always had acceptable accuracy in every combination. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ES13Raven Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 I've had at least a dozen different 9mm guns. Always used standard .355 .356 from various companies coated, plated. Always had acceptable accuracy in every combination. That depends on how you define accuracy. For me, an accurate bullet will group 5 shots less than 2.5 inches at 25 yards from a rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nevadabob Posted December 4, 2015 Author Share Posted December 4, 2015 I've just got bitten by the "good offer" bug. Palmetto Projectiles has their 125 gr. lube groove rn on sale with the cybermonday code (good week long). Their "one choice only" diameter is 0.357. They've a short video of the smash test. Seems they're a fairly new bullet maker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMiculek Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 The general rule of thumb is cast bullets should be .001 over bore diameter. Some barrels like .002 over bore diameter especially in 9mm. With cast bullets whether they are coated or traditionally lubed one must often try different diameters to obtain best results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcc7x7 Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 Ordered some more from Bayou a few weeks ago. Dennis is following the tradition at Donnie started of good bullets and great customer service. He'll get you the size you want if you need them and they offer options any how If your gun isn't shooting the way you would like Order some sample packs and shoot the different diameters to see which groups and FEEDS the best One of mine will shoot 358 the tightest but chokes on them feeding so it gets 356 or 357's , both of those will group 2 -21/2 inches at 25 from a shooting bag rest. I can't hold that in a match so it's very acceptable accuracy for me JMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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