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Coated bullets and polygonal rifling


JJP161

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I have always reloaded jacket and plated bullets for .40 and .45 ACP. I am now adding .9mm to the mix and exploring coated bullets for all 3 calibers. Mainly these will be for target practice, defensive training and maybe some competitions at some point. I will be shooting the appropriate caliber through my Glock 17, 19, 22, 34 and 41 all with stock barrels. Also in my HK VP-9, my Ruger SR1911 and Sig 1911 Tacops, P320, P226 and P229 again all with stock barrels. Specifically the Glock and HK have the polygonal rifling and this is where my confusion comes in. I have found on the websites for ACME Bullets, Blue Bullets and Precision Bullets that they are safe for use in Glocks and then I find a lot of posts saying they lead barrels and are unsafe in Glocks. So I apologize if this is a dumb question or has been asked before, I did try searching before posting but did't find a clear answer. So with that said please provide me some guidance here. Thank-you very much. 

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I used to shoot cast lead through a Glock 17 before polymer coated bullets were a thing.  Pick a bullet with a hardness appropriate to the chamber pressure so that it obturates in the bores and the type of rifling will absolutely not matter

 

I never got any leading in the first 3/4 of the bore's length.  Only a tiny bit near the muzzle where pressure is the lowest and thus safe.

 

 

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Experiences very.  We shot thousands of rounds of lead in glocks both lubed and coated and had no issues.  Then a different glock leaded like a son of a bitch.  Within a hundred or so rounds the barrel looked like a sewer pipe and rounds started tumbling.  So buy a few and try them.  Chances are they will be fine, and i at one time i would have said they WOULD be fine, but i have seen one glock that didn't like them

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Have loaded plain lead and coated bullets in gen 1 through 4 with no issues. as long as they are properly sized (.001-.002)oversized.   40/10mm .401.   45 acp .452

Usually in 9mm that's .356 . Have one gen 3    19 that requires .358 to not lead.     Have one gen 5 that i swear leads with FMJ.

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I've ran thousands of moly coated lead bullets made by SNS Casting through my Glock 17 and 34 without issue. If you're gonna shoot lead I'd recommend moly coated bullets vs plain lead bullets.

 

If you start seeing lead in the barrel run a brass brillow pad through the barrel to pull out any of the residual lead.

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20 hours ago, RJH said:

Experiences very.  We shot thousands of rounds of lead in glocks both lubed and coated and had no issues.  Then a different glock leaded like a son of a bitch.  Within a hundred or so rounds the barrel looked like a sewer pipe and rounds started tumbling.  So buy a few and try them.  Chances are they will be fine, and i at one time i would have said they WOULD be fine, but i have seen one glock that didn't like them

 

20 hours ago, AHI said:

Have loaded plain lead and coated bullets in gen 1 through 4 with no issues. as long as they are properly sized (.001-.002)oversized.   40/10mm .401.   45 acp .452

Usually in 9mm that's .356 . Have one gen 3    19 that requires .358 to not lead.     Have one gen 5 that i swear leads with FMJ.

 

I just wanted to say thank-you guys for all of your insights. It sounds like RJH and AHI hit the nail on the head that experiences vary from Glock to Glock. I definitely want to try them because of their availability, pricing and I've heard very good results on accuracy. I would opt for a few aftermarket barrels but that is just not in the cards right now. Honestly I just really want to get back out on the range and work on my skills without having to worry about running out of ammo. 

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I too, have recently started using coated (Blue) after years of plated and FMJs. Shot a couple of hundred through my dirty G17 and G26 this past week. No problems. Cleaned up easily.

A short test, but I have no worries about shooting them.

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Size is super important, as others have said.

I slugged several Glock barrels a while back. All the 9's measured .3565. Great for jacketed stuff, not so great for most lead sized for 9mm. I ended up running .357 moly coated, and could go a long time with no leading. Choosing an appropriate powder helps. If one uses an uncoated, undersize cast bullet with a fast powder, it going to look like someone tried to solder just ahead of the chamber. When I was early in reloading, I tried some local (way soft) .451 stuff in a G21. Didn't work well. Had another learning experience. Good luck, and stay safe!

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20 hours ago, eaglemike said:

Size is super important, as others have said.

I slugged several Glock barrels a while back. All the 9's measured .3565. Great for jacketed stuff, not so great for most lead sized for 9mm. I ended up running .357 moly coated, and could go a long time with no leading. Choosing an appropriate powder helps. If one uses an uncoated, undersize cast bullet with a fast powder, it going to look like someone tried to solder just ahead of the chamber. When I was early in reloading, I tried some local (way soft) .451 stuff in a G21. Didn't work well. Had another learning experience. Good luck, and stay safe!

 

So that sounds like I would be better off going with one of the coated bullets that measure in at .356 since it will primarily be shot through my Glock 17 and Glock 34? Blue Bullets I believe are .355?

 

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3 minutes ago, JJP161 said:

 

So that sounds like I would be better off going with one of the coated bullets that measure in at .356 since it will primarily be shot through my Glock 17 and Glock 34? Blue Bullets I believe are .355?

 

 

Yep any time you are using lead always start .001 oversize in any gun

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I have fired Acme coated, Blue coated, and Federal Syntech through Glocks. All worked fine. The Blue 165s were scary accurate in my Glock 20. The Acme 170s were SWCs and I had no feeding issues in the 20. The only bugaboo that I have run into is coating shavings getting into the guts of my Dillon. The next time that I do a run I'll need to increase the belling.

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Shot all three brands through Glocks and other poly barrels with no issues at all. I have found ACME smokes a bit more and Precision Bullet coating is the toughest. Also .355 Blues shot just as accurate as .356 in the other two. It bears repeating many use .355 Blues and in 2019 at the Nationals it was the most used bullet manufacturer in Production. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 7/21/2020 at 4:47 PM, JJP161 said:

 

So that sounds like I would be better off going with one of the coated bullets that measure in at .356 since it will primarily be shot through my Glock 17 and Glock 34? Blue Bullets I believe are .355?

 

Yes, 356 is better than .355 IMHO.  357 would be even better. again, IMO.

If they are sized prior to coating, that will make a difference, as the coating will make it larger, and help limit, or eliminate leading. I know some people do it this way.

Coated bullets are miles ahead of the old plain lead with lube in the groove.

If possible, I prefer to shoot a slightly oversize bullet - same as some others have said.

Sorry to be slow in response - I hadn't seen the notification. Lots of support from others though. :)

Edited by eaglemike
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On 8/9/2020 at 12:43 AM, eaglemike said:

Yes, 356 is better than .355 IMHO.  357 would be even better. again, IMO.

If they are sized prior to coating, that will make a difference, as the coating will make it larger, and help limit, or eliminate leading. I know some people do it this way.

Coated bullets are miles ahead of the old plain lead with lube in the groove.

If possible, I prefer to shoot a slightly oversize bullet - same as some others have said.

Sorry to be slow in response - I hadn't seen the notification. Lots of support from others though. :)

 

Thank-you for the feedback I ended up getting some DG Bullets Sized to .356. I haven't got a chance to work up any loads yet but I am certainly looking forward to it. So far the DG Bullets look great and I will post some feedback once I get some loads worked up. 

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