Coated Bullets @ 50 yards

[jc91087]

In an effort to cut ammo costs I have been looking for a cheaper 9mm bullet that can perform at 50 yards.

Has anyone had success using coated bullets at the 50 yard line? What bullet weight and profile?

Edited March 3, 2016 by jc91087

[BaggerJoe]

What caliber?

[RippinSVT]

I was shooting coated 147 conicals for practice in my 38SC open gun, in lieu of the 147 XTP's I usually shoot in it for matches. Although the XTP's would shoot sub-1" at 50, the coated would still shoot 2" or so without any new load development, good enough for practice fodder. For Production and Metallic 9mm, I did the same thing with roundnose coated 115's, even if I shot Zeros for a match.

[RippinSVT]

I should add that I wouldn't feel out of place shooting coated in a match, and I have, but when you pay hundreds or thousands to shoot Bianchi, you're not gonna fret over paying $40 for proper jacketed bullets for the accuracy edge. I should've added above, the coated 115's shot around 4" at 50 from a factory Glock, and around 3" from my TargetMaster.

[gm iprod]

I found going to 125gr instead of 115gr worked better with coated and plated bullets. The extra bearing surface gained is the key. Plated and Coated bullets are shorter than JHP of the same weight as they don't have a giant hole full of air in them.

[Service Desk]

122gn truncated flat point lead boolit in 38 Super with 4.6gns 231 will do 2" in most action guns. 4.3 gns of 231 works good in 9mm.

[Ross Carter]

122gn truncated flat point lead boolit in 38 Super with 4.6gns 231 will do 2" in most action guns. 4.3 gns of 231 works good in 9mm.

I found the same thing, I think it's a H&G mold but I can't remember the number. I had one pistol they shot incredible in, unfortunately as the lead built up in the comp the 50 yd zero would change enough to make it not worth the trouble. I don't think a coated bullet could beat that one.

[DWFAN]

The 115gr truncated cone from Black Bullets International shoots pretty good for me. 3.8gr Titegroup. I had been looking for a 115gr coated conical for practice, the blunt round nose 115s never work very well for my gun. These will work pretty good.

He will size them however you want.

[RippinSVT]

The 115gr truncated cone from Black Bullets International shoots pretty good for me. 3.8gr Titegroup. I had been looking for a 115gr coated conical for practice, the blunt round nose 115s never work very well for my gun. These will work pretty good.

He will size them however you want.

That's the same as my practice load, exactly.

[DWFAN]

They may shoot better than my Zero load. I'm 'fraid to find out.

[RippinSVT]

They won't outshoot my Zero load (which is identical minus OAL). Those damn things outshoot XTP's in all my testing. They seem to be more forgiving to seating depth like a tangential ogive rifle bullet. The XTP's have a sharper shoulder.

[ramairbrc]

I use Georgia Arms 125gr hard lead in my Open gun. And they preform great! They make a couple hard lead bullets for open shooters, much cheaper than jacketed. And don't forget about Berry's plated bullets.

Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk

[gm iprod]

I am trying to forget Berry's,

I have found any decent lead (coated or otherwise) will work beter than Berry's. For plated try CamPro from Canada or Extreme, anything else and you are just wasting powder. The difference unless you are shooting 25K plus per annum is just not worth it. Use the better bullets where ever possible. 5 good shots is better than 6 shitty ones.

[pskys2]

Bayou has a coated 160 RN that is a tack driver in my 627, I tried a few rounds, 358 160 RN, in my G34 with a Dot and at 25 yds off a bench there was 1 hole. Didn't see any leading. Going to try them when I need to load some more ammo, after a few hundred I should have a better idea of how they'll work.

[stardust tommy]

I don't know about the availability of German H&N (Haendler & Natherman) bullets in the US, here in Europe (Belgium) they are the go to bullet for many top PPC shooters.

http://totalammo.com/21-bullets

I know some shooters that have sub 2" groups @ 50 meters (not yards) with sig P210, S&W PPC9.

for us a verry good bullet for a fair price

gr T

Edited March 24, 2016 by stardust tommy

[RippinSVT]

Was toying around my reloading bench a few days ago and found a box of 500 plated Rainier JHP's alongside probably 4000 assorted 357/40/45 plated bullets that I've never had much luck with. I decided to roll up a few dozen in lieu of my 115 XTP/Zero load to see if they were as bad as I remember. They weren't. These particular pills had a MUCH more consistent coating than the Berry's and such I had used so miserably years ago. Took them out at 50yards and they grouped downright GOOD! Not as consistent as the jacketed bullets, but good enough. One thing I've noticed is the presence of more fliers, but nothing bad. I'd shoot 4-5 into 1.5", then toss one or two a couple inches outside the group. But still, I can remember 4" 25yd plated groups in the past. Not too bad at all...

oh, then I priced them, and I can buy HAP's and Zero's for the same...

[Service Desk]

I have had mixed results with plated, the best were the Berrys 115 TC then the 125TC. They would hold the X ring at 50 while I used 5.2 grains of 231 with 115's and 4.8 with 125's, but the price difference between the plated and Zero's made the plated a lost cause.

They worked OK out to 25 yards and were excellent on plates with no noticeable lead splash back.