Jacketed vs coated bullets?

[sharko]

I've always used jacketed bullets figuring it was just a price thing and wasn't that much difference to care about but I have to wonder if there is a performance difference, like do coated bullets get more velocity or is there something that I'm missing?

Also, what kind of fouling do you get with coated bullets?

[dapribek]

One of the clubs I shoot at doesn’t allow FMJ because they feel there is an increased chance of ricochets with them. The coated bullets I used did not leave any fouling. I noticed no great change in velocity when chronoing them. Hope this helps. 

[OpenshooterMclass4lyfe]

Depends on the manufacturer.  Some coated bullets foal worse then others.      I wouldn’t say there is any performance difference.  If there is it’s extremely minimal.     Coated vs jacketed is mainly about the price points.   A blue bullet is about 7 cents give or take.  A jacketed can be 10-12 cents     

[OpenshooterMclass4lyfe]

I wouldn’t use a coated bullet for a compensated gun that’s got a lot of velocity behind it.     For open I’ll always use precision delta jhp   Minor I’ll use a coated bullet from blue bullets. 

[Farmer]

While doing load development with Precision Bullets and Blue Bullets I must have ran through several hundred of good and bad loads. Some were hot, others ideal and others too light and sooty. At the end of it all my bbl looked like I had just cleaned it. It was shiny with no steaks and I couldn’t hardly believe it. 

[gnappi]

I powder coat my cast bullets but haven't chronographed them vs. jacketed, I'll say  this, the bores stay clean and there's no smoke on the range I used to get from wax lubes. I completely stopped using jacketed bullets . 

 

In my comped guns there's no issues at all using it.

 

One thing for sure, they REALLY need a decent mouth bell to keep from shearing the side of the  bullet if it's tumble coated and sized. If not my 450 will get little moon shaped slivers in and around the shell plate gunking it up. Tumble coating (shake and bake) and sizing may leave a little extruded rim on the base of the bullet which a poorly prepped case mouth will cut off and drop onto your press. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[rishii]

I’ve been running blue bullets in 38SC, 9 minor, 40 and 45 with good results, the only reason I don’t use them in my major 9 gun is I want a visual clue so I don’t mix my ammo up with my minor loads

I’ve pushed 115 gr blue bullet to 1500fps thru my old supers with no leading in the barrel and minor build up in the comp, looking thru the ports of my hybricomp barrels, I’d see a streaks of blue in the grooves but no leading

they also take less powder to make PF than jacketed

in my experience, they’re cheaper, use less powder and preform about the same as fmj and plated

[sharko]

1 hour ago, gnappi said:

One thing for sure, they REALLY need a decent mouth bell to keep from shearing the side of the  bullet if it's tumble coated and sized.

Yah, I use the Photoescape powder funnels that work well for jackets but I think they make larger ones for cast.

 

[zzt]

Jacketed bullets are slower than coated with the same powder charge.  There are significant differences between different coatings.   For coated I prefer Precision and PC bullets.

[VortecMAX]

I use coated bullets (the blue kind) for all my competition and practice rounds.  They are much cheaper, plenty accurate, and I think they are easier on the barrel than jacketed.  I have shot thousands of them through my 3-Gun pistol, and the rifling still looks brand new.  Just my worthless opinion though.

 

Mike

 

[VortecMAX]

On 4/11/2022 at 2:24 PM, dapribek said:

One of the clubs I shoot at doesn’t allow FMJ because they feel there is an increased chance of ricochets with them...

Having been MD/RSO for many Steel Challenge events, I can say that I seem to get hit with a lot more fragments when someone is using jacketed bullets.  Especially when they hit just under the hook the targets hang from.  The only one that made me bleed however was from a copper coated 22LR.  Go figure.

 

Mike

 

[sharko]

Thanks guys, maybe I'll give them a try. I have all the stuff to make them but maybe I'll just buy some before I commence to making a mess  

[blue_dot_glock]

i only shoot summers

[zzt]

21 hours ago, VortecMAX said:

Having been MD/RSO for many Steel Challenge events, I can say that I seem to get hit with a lot more fragments when someone is using jacketed bullets.  Especially when they hit just under the hook the targets hang from.  The only one that made me bleed however was from a copper coated 22LR.  Go figure.

 

Mike

 

 

I have a different take.  The worst offenders, IMO, are hard cast bullets, or poly coated hard cast.  They tend to break up in larger chunks.  The best are dead soft plated bullets, followed by harder (BN15 Berry's), followed by jacketed.  JHPs are the next worse followed by hard cast/poly.

[ysrracer]

In my revolver, plated bullets are  faster than jacketed bullets, and coated bullets are the fastest.

[njl]

As with almost everything, it depends.  If you look at load data, jacketed bullets require more powder than coated to make the same velocity.  That means, not only are jacketed generally more expensive to buy than coated, but you're going to use more powder with them.

 

Jacketed are easier to reload / harder to screw up.  I recommend anyone just getting started with reloading start with jacketed, then once they're comfortable with the process, consider coated.

 

Coated bullets, when they work well, leave less fouling in a barrel than jacketed and what they do leave is easier to clean.  Coated bullets that don't work well in a particular barrel can result in leading (leaving lead behind in the rifling of the barrel).

 

I started experimenting with coated bullets a decade or so ago (back when Precision and BBI were pretty much the only commercial sources) due to local range rules (prohibiting jacketed bullets on steel targets).  Coated is pretty much all I buy now for loading pistol ammo.

[Cuz]

I keep going back and forth between Precision coated and Montana Gold jacketed.  I'm just loading my last case of Precision now, then I'll switch over to MG because I was able to score some here and there during covid, but in all honesty, once they are done I think I'm going to go back to Precision and stick with coated.  There's just too much of a cost savings for me not to do it.  I pretty much only shoot Glocks in minor PF and the same load in PCC so they are plenty good enough for me.

[Yeti]

I run JHP (~20%), but practice mostly (~80%) with coated.  Hi-Tek coated run faster for me and are much much cleaner to load and shoot than lubed lead. 

Not as clean as jacketed, but the difference is minor. 

 

Slug your barrel(s) and select the best size (bore +0.001) to buy.    

[MaX_1]

21 hours ago, Cuz said:

I keep going back and forth between Precision coated and Montana Gold jacketed.  I'm just loading my last case of Precision now, then I'll switch over to MG because I was able to score some here and there during covid, but in all honesty, once they are done I think I'm going to go back to Precision and stick with coated.  There's just too much of a cost savings for me not to do it.  I pretty much only shoot Glocks in minor PF and the same load in PCC so they are plenty good enough for me.

 MG Jacketed for major only. if you are going  on or below 1,000 fps coated is the way, more cheaper 

[Cuz]

7 minutes ago, MaX_1 said:

 MG Jacketed for major only. if you are going  on or below 1,000 fps coated is the way, more cheaper 

 

My velocity ranges from 1025-1065 fps.  It's all minor PF with a 124 or 125gr projectile.  For a while last year it was actually easier to get MG and Precision Delta Jacketed than it was to get coated bullets from one of my preferred brands.  I've now tried 4 or 5 different coated bullets, and while they all work, I find I like Precision better than the others.  I'm not saying they ARE better, just that I seem to like them better.  The price is reasonable too.

[MaX_1]

Didn't try Precision yet,  using Ibejiheads coated  for 9 minor and 40 major, no issues at all

[Cuz]

13 hours ago, MaX_1 said:

Didn't try Precision yet,  using Ibejiheads coated  for 9 minor and 40 major, no issues at all

I haven’t tried those. The good news is there’s at least 8 different coated bullet manufacturers out there. It’s interesting to read in some of the other posts why people choose one over the other. During covid I was more willing to try whatever I could get my hands on. Now, I’m less likely to buy a case of a different brand just to try them out as long as I know I can get a brand I already know works well for me. I didn’t care for that “experimental phase” and don’t want to go through  it again. 
The truth is I’m sure every brand is plenty good enough for most of the games we play. 

[njl]

15 minutes ago, Cuz said:

I haven’t tried those. The good news is there’s at least 8 different coated bullet manufacturers out there. It’s interesting to read in some of the other posts why people choose one over the other. During covid I was more willing to try whatever I could get my hands on. Now, I’m less likely to buy a case of a different brand just to try them out as long as I know I can get a brand I already know works well for me. I didn’t care for that “experimental phase” and don’t want to go through  it again. 
The truth is I’m sure every brand is plenty good enough for most of the games we play. 

There's a lot more than 8 sources for coated bullets.  I think I may have used at least 8 already...some of which are no longer in business.  From memory, the brands I've tried (in roughly chronological order):

 

Precision

BBI

Bayou

Black and Blue

Missouri Bullet Company 

H&S

Slugfest

Ibejiheads

Brazos

 

Check out https://www.glocktalk.com/threads/coated-bullet-sources-any-chance-we-can-sticky-this.1660507/ for a longer list.

[Jim Watson]

I am at present shooting and loading Xtreme plated but have trial lots of coated that I expect to move to.

Being a .45 dinosaur with a picky gun, I want 200 gr roundnose.

I have shot a fair number of Gallant, I notice they are back to full line production, they did not make all styles during Covid.

I have some Ibejiheads and Precision.  A few have done fine, I will shoot the remaining 400 each at matches and order from there.  Ibejiheads are less expensive.    

[Cuz]

4 hours ago, Jim Watson said:

I am at present shooting and loading Xtreme plated but have trial lots of coated that I expect to move to.

Being a .45 dinosaur with a picky gun, I want 200 gr roundnose.

I have shot a fair number of Gallant, I notice they are back to full line production, they did not make all styles during Covid.

I have some Ibejiheads and Precision.  A few have done fine, I will shoot the remaining 400 each at matches and order from there.  Ibejiheads are less expensive.    

 

I spent a lot of years shooting Berry's 200gr RS plated bullets in my S&W 625.  I always had the best luck with 200gr bullets in any of my 45 acp pistols and revolvers.