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Coated bullets... Is there really any difference ?


Shep

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I have to run stuff that is .400 for my 40 and .355 for my 9mm. I run Blue Bullets in my 40 and they are awesome. The profile fits my barrel perfectly and I can load them any length I want. They are consistent, accurate and they match my mag extensions. :)

 

For my 9mm I've tried several and until recently couldn't find anything I liked so I was running Xtreme plated at 1.15 oal. At Xmas I ordered some 125 grain Gallants, they sized them to .355 for me. They have a much different ogive than any other I've tried, I can load them to 1.17 without issue. I couldn't load the Xtremes that long. Not that loading long is some holy grail, it's just that my barrel didn't like any other coated bullet that I had to load short. The Gallants have been fairly consistent weights, all 127.5 to 128.5. The diameter is pretty good, not as consistent as Blue Bullets or Acme. The coating does seem a bit thin. They used to coat them gold, now they do them in Leatherhead Bronze. I know they say they are made to order, but mine have the bronze coating over the gold coating.  The most important thing is they have been consistently accurate. 

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I have tried about all of them. I currently use Acme, specifically the 135. Price is good, service is good, product is good. 

 

Also, no sleezy marketing schemes that make you chase down a discount code to get a fair price is also a plus for me! 

Edited by hlpressley
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Personally I like my own cast and HI TEK Coates. But when I don’t have time to cast and coat or I don’t make enough I like ACME and Missouri Bullets. Both have good quality coating and very consistent bullet weights. Most importantly they are accurate. I typically use ACME more often because I can get a discount when I order.


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I bought some ACME 124gr recently. Seem nice and I like the gimmicky little box, but honestly they were the lowest price I could get. Every coated bullet website has a 10% or 15% off coupon you can use, so that doesn't seem to make any difference in cost difference between brands.

When it comes time to buy more bullets, I'll probably buy the ones that are the best deal again

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I run Blues, Acme, and DGs.  .356s are a little more accurate in my gun.   Acmes smoke a good bit out of my wife’s M&P CORE, but none of my other guns.  DGs sometimes rub down to the lead out of my seating die.  Just occasionally and it seems random.  I haven’t noticed any smoke or leading from it though.  DGs I think were the cheapest after coupon.   I’ll give Precision a try though since they are basically local to me. Haven’t heard of them before this thread.  Honestly they’ve all been about the same , so as long as they have the truncated cone type profile in 147 grain, it comes down to price for me.  As a totally useless aside - Acme’s look the coolest when loaded.  

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I've tried several different brands...Gallant, SNS, Blues  and personally for the games I shoot USPSA and IDPA I don't think the accuracy is much different to make me pick one over the other, just depends on what runs good through your gun and cost...how much do you like to shoot.??

I started with Blues, and went back them. Can't beat them for the price, their customer service has been excellent for me, and they support our shooting sports.

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On 2/9/2019 at 1:12 PM, mpom said:

54730 or benos10.

Mark

 

The Acme code "54730" helps a youth shooting team. Kids get bullets from Acme based on code use.  Team is for kids in grade school, middle school and high school.

 

If it makes a difference to you.

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Of course it feels good to help develope new shooters, glad to be of service!😀

On a separate note, wonder how the bullet diameter of .355 which is standard with 9mm Blue Bullets, does not negatively impact accuracy in a typical 9mm pistol.

Would love to try their 124 or 135 bullets, but wonder if the smaller than typical diameter is a plus or negative wrt to accuracy. Have asked BB by email, so far no response, though its the weekend.

 

Mark

Edited by mpom
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1 hour ago, rishii said:

I’ve been shooting blue bullets for a while and didn’t notice any difference accuracy between the old stuff and the new sized .355

 

I shoot ACME .356 and Blues .355 out of an X-5 and they shoot about the same.  Just a matter of cost to which I get.  

 

I think if the size size really made a difference there wouldn't be the volume of shooters shooting Blues that there are.  I would imagine that some people do see a difference, but that seems true with just about everything in our sport

Edited by chenault
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5 hours ago, mpom said:

On a separate note, wonder how the bullet diameter of .355 which is standard with 9mm Blue Bullets, does not negatively impact accuracy in a typical 9mm pistol.

Would love to try their 124 or 135 bullets, but wonder if the smaller than typical diameter is a plus or negative wrt to accuracy. Have asked BB by email, so far no response, though its the weekend. 

 

With 0.355" sized Blue Bullets, 125 gr & 135 gr, at 25 yds from a rest a 10-shot group will give me 4" to 5".  Most of the shots will be in a 2.5" to 3" group with one or two as fliers a little further out to open up the overall grouping.  I bet it's not the bullets actually sized 0.355" causing this but ones that may be slightly undersized, like 0.3545", etc.  

 

With 0.356" sized Blue Bullets at 25 yds a 10-shot group from a rest will give me 2.5" to 3" without the fliers.  So, for my pistol barrel, 0.355" seems to be the absolute bottom edge for consistent accuracy with no leeway below that, so I order 0.356" Blue Bullets from them and all has been fine. 

 

If you look at it though, for most of the shooting in USPSA, the 4" to 5" groups at 25 yds that 0.355" sized Blue Bullets gives is just fine.

 

  

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5 hours ago, BJB said:

 

If you look at it though, for most of the shooting in USPSA, the 4" to 5" groups at 25 yds that 0.355" sized Blue Bullets gives is just fine

 

except for those pesky "standards" classifiers that go 35 to 50 yards. 

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13 hours ago, BJB said:

If you look at it though, for most of the shooting in USPSA, the 4" to 5" groups at 25 yds that 0.355" sized Blue Bullets gives is just fine.

 

Not if I'm the one placing the targets and the no shoots and the hard cover. 

 

Although, I like hoser stages too. 

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Used too be, moly or poly, I haven't run across any issues for several years.

I look for a maker stating not to use certain powders, usually claiming fast burning powders will cause leading.  The newer quality poly coatings don't have those issues.

Now on customer service, price or availability there are differences.  I've had good luck with bayou and acme.

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All good info, will check with BB and see if they will sell me .356 sized bullets, thanks.
 
 
They're on the website under the special order section I think. Same price ish as the 0.355 ones

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