mikeAZ Posted June 28, 2018 Share Posted June 28, 2018 Just sent for 2 sample packs of 9mm (135 &147).... I usually shoot FMJ's ...looking to cut costs a bit. Poster's seem to happy with their "Blue Bullets"... Comments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MemphisMechanic Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 You’ll really like them if you’re used to FMJ. In all 9mm loads you should not actually be crimping. When you shoot jacketed they hide this error rather well, then you get bitten hard when switching to coated bullets. Just barely return the case walls to straight. Do not curl them inward. Load your first blue bullet then knock it out with a bullet puller, and there should be nothing more than a very faint line where the case mouth was. It’s important that you don’t swage the bullet down or damage the coating with your crimp die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stymie12000 Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 Also, pay attention to your expander die. Needs enough expansion that the case does not scrape the sides of the coating off. And not too much that you deform the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDescribe Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 Depends on the pistol. Blue Bullets are undersized at .355 and don't do well in some pistols. When it comes to lead and coated lead, nothing is more important than bullet to barrel fit, and .356 is standard for lead and coated lead, and some 9mm pistols do best with .357 and .358. Blue Bullets at .355 aren't for all pistols, maybe not even most. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelCityShooter Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 38 minutes ago, IDescribe said: Depends on the pistol. Blue Bullets are undersized at .355 and don't do well in some pistols. When it comes to lead and coated lead, nothing is more important than bullet to barrel fit, and .356 is standard for lead and coated lead, and some 9mm pistols do best with .357 and .358. Blue Bullets at .355 aren't for all pistols, maybe not even most. The 125 gr RN 9 mm Blue bullets I have do indeed mike .3550 to .3555 but I also have some of their 125 gr RN 38/.357 bullets and they mike .3575 to .3580 so if your particular barrel doesn't like 0.355 bullets try some of their .38/.357 bullets. They offer a 147 gr RN in 38/357 as well as in 9 mm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al503 Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 42 minutes ago, IDescribe said: Depends on the pistol. Blue Bullets are undersized at .355 and don't do well in some pistols. When it comes to lead and coated lead, nothing is more important than bullet to barrel fit, and .356 is standard for lead and coated lead, and some 9mm pistols do best with .357 and .358. Blue Bullets at .355 aren't for all pistols, maybe not even most. They do have a smaller diameter than the competition. However, I've found them to be the most accurate in the majority of my 6 different limited pistols (both 9mm and .40) and .45 in my single stack. Other coated bullets I've tried: Eggleston (both .356, .357 and.401, .402) Precision SNS BBI Bear Creek Acme The Bear Creek and Precision bullets were on par with Blue bullets but they smoke a lot more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adamj Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 I'll repeat what others have about making sure the expander die puts enough bell on the case so that you're not scraping off blue flakes everywhere. I have used Blue Bullets to good effect in my glock factory and KKM barrel, Atlas Titan (though it likes fmjs better), CZs and various S&W revolvers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDescribe Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 2 hours ago, SteelCityShooter said: The 125 gr RN 9 mm Blue bullets I have do indeed mike .3550 to .3555 but I also have some of their 125 gr RN 38/.357 bullets and they mike .3575 to .3580 so if your particular barrel doesn't like 0.355 bullets try some of their .38/.357 bullets. They offer a 147 gr RN in 38/357 as well as in 9 mm For sure. I know a couple of guys shooting the .358 Blues in their 9mm pistols with great success, but if I were looking to load 147gr bullets (I'm not), that's a non-starter. The .358 Blues in 147gr for everything but a 9mm 1911 have to be loaded deeper than what a 9mm case deals well with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jollymon32 Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 11 hours ago, MemphisMechanic said: You’ll really like them if you’re used to FMJ. In all 9mm loads you should not actually be crimping. When you shoot jacketed they hide this error rather well, then you get bitten hard when switching to coated bullets. Just barely return the case walls to straight. Do not curl them inward. Load your first blue bullet then knock it out with a bullet puller, and there should be nothing more than a very faint line where the case mouth was. It’s important that you don’t swage the bullet down or damage the coating with your crimp die. As one who is embarking in shooting coated bullets for the first time, I am curious as to what happens when the round has some crimp. Can you expound on what the observed results of having too much crimp? In the event I see this, then I will know what to fix. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quietmike Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 Crimping a coated bullet will scrape off the coating, leaving bare lead. This can cause accuracy problems and barrel leading. Pulling a bullet after loading to see if the coating is being damaged is time well spent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jollymon32 Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 3 hours ago, quietmike said: Crimping a coated bullet will scrape off the coating, leaving bare lead. This can cause accuracy problems and barrel leading. Pulling a bullet after loading to see if the coating is being damaged is time well spent. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furrly Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 Crimp enough to remove the bell, that's it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rishii Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 With the blues you should be able to drop your powder charge by a few 10ths to obtain the same velocity as fmj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MemphisMechanic Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 @Jollymon32 you will usually notice either smoke or a dirty or leaded barrel, but it can also cause accuracy issues if you happen to be swaging the bullet slightly undersized. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDescribe Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 Taper crimps simply remove the bell. With calibers that employ taper crimp, the crimp has NOTHING to do with holding the bullet in place. It's only to remove the flare you put in to seat the die. Case neck tension holds the bullet in place. If you crimp past zero, it reduces neck tension. All you want is to remove the flare. You shouldn't crimp past flush with any bullet type in 9mm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 Over crimping leads to terrible accuracy, tumbling bullets and bad days at the range.. Trust me on this one, I have experience.. No, I don't want to talk about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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