Poly coated bullets leading up silencer

[Garrett]

I've loaded and shot around 5000 124 and 147 gr. poly coated bullets in the past year or so.  The majority of them have been shot through a couple of silencers.  

While I previously hadn't seen any leading in the barrels to speak of, I have found I get a pretty good buildup in the silencers.  Like as bad or worse than shooting bare lead.  Crimp is only enough to take out the flare in the case mouth.  And no, I haven't been shaving bullets as they seat.  

This was especially noticeable today.  I ran around 500 rounds through the Uzi & suppressor this morning.  Mostly short bursts and fast singles/doubles.  When I pulled the can and looked inside, I had a "cone" of crud built up on the blast baffle.  Noticeably more than when I'd started. 

 Also, I've got some heavy leading in the barrel.  

These are all commercially produced bullets using HiTek coating.  They are loaded with a mid-range book load of WSF.  

As noted, I'm not over-crimping. 

Have other people experienced this?

Based on feedback I've gotten here and other forums, I might try a different brand of bullets and see if I get better results.

Edited October 13, 2016 by Garrett

[Hi-Power Jack]

I wonder if it's "leading", or a buildup of the coating on the bullets?

Possible that firing a dozen fmj bullets might clean it all out?

[Garrett]

23 minutes ago, Hi-Power Jack said:

I wonder if it's "leading", or a buildup of the coating on the bullets?

Possible that firing a dozen fmj bullets might clean it all out?

It sure looks like the same buildup as from shooting plain lead.

And I highly doubt shooting more ammo, jacketed or otherwise, would clean it out. That so etimes works to clean small amount ts of .22 LR crud out of a .223 can. But that's more from the extra heat and pressure of the centerfire round. Shooting more 9mm won't do anything. Nice thought, though. 

If I can get a picture posted, it will be more obvious, I think.

[PhotoRecon]

I had the same problem with lead build up in the barrel and comp of my custom built 45.  The bullets I was using then sure looked like they had only one coat instead of two or three.

On my 9mm 1911 the barrel looked clean but my Outers Foul Out proved that despite the polymer coating that leading still occurred but not as bad as traditional lead.

I've since switched to some other brands with better results and no leading in the compensator.

 

 

[Garrett]

37 minutes ago, PhotoRecon said:

I had the same problem with lead build up in the barrel and comp of my custom built 45.  The bullets I was using then sure looked like they had only one coat instead of two or three.

On my 9mm 1911 the barrel looked clean but my Outers Foul Out proved that despite the polymer coating that leading still occurred but not as bad as traditional lead.

I've since switched to some other brands with better results and no leading in the compensator.

 

 

Care to share what brand you switched from and to?

PM if you don't want to publish it here. Thanks.

[Mully383]

Most guys around here run leather heads. Open guys love them. Got to visit there facility they are some stand-up guys. They walked me through setting up my press when I had a issue when I first started reloading. Been great ever since.

[jmorris]

There are a lot of folks using the coating now and it can be applied incorrectly.

I don't have any problems with the ones I coat but I always test each batch to make sure the coating is "stuck good".

I wack at least one out of each batch with a 2lb hammer and smash it, if the coating stays stuck with the bullet it won't come off on the ride down a bore.

This is an example.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o213/jmorrismetal/reloading/Coating/IMG_20130419_153715_752_zps29150319.jpg

 

[Garrett]

BTW, it's a little hard to see because it's so shiny, but here's what the can looked like before anything had been shot through it. 

[yellowfin]

So what does one do to prevent this?

[mikeinctown]

On ‎10‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 9:35 PM, jmorris said:

There are a lot of folks using the coating now and it can be applied incorrectly.

I don't have any problems with the ones I coat but I always test each batch to make sure the coating is "stuck good".

I wack at least one out of each batch with a 2lb hammer and smash it, if the coating stays stuck with the bullet it won't come off on the ride down a bore.

This is an example.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o213/jmorrismetal/reloading/Coating/IMG_20130419_153715_752_zps29150319.jpg

 

More true than you know. I bought a sample pack of 100 at a gun show last year that some guys had made with the hitek coating. Just running my fingernail down the side of a bullet caused an area to flake off. by contrast, the blue bullets I get have a thick coating absolutely stuck on there and it doesn't come off. at all....

[dillon]

Does carb cleaner or brake cleaner remove most of this? If the fouling is mostly plastic, these should dissolve any plastic buildup and flush it out.

[jmorris]

The only way you can keep the inside of a can looking new is to not shoot through it.  Doesn't matter what your bullet is or you can even fire blanks so there is no bullet and it will get dirty.

Check the coating as above, if you can take your can apart there are some things you can spray on the baffles that make them easier to clean, otherwise nothing to loose sleep over.  That said if you are loosing sleep it would be worth the money to get CMJ bullets.

This is typical of what the baffles look like after a session with my cast and coated bullets with VV N310.

 

 

That said pick other powders and they will be dirtier.

[rustybayonet]

On Wednesday, October 12, 2016 at 6:23 PM, Hi-Power Jack said:

I wonder if it's "leading", or a buildup of the coating on the bullets?

Possible that firing a dozen fmj bullets might clean it all out?

Or a brass brush?