Powder Differences With Lead Vs. Plated

[PistolPete]

Here is the deal. I've been shooting 185 Grain lead bullets (semi-wad cutters) with 4.5 grains of bullseye. This combo has worked great for me. It is a light target load and all is good. Well I tried some different bullet heads. I bought West Coast Bullets plated bullets. They are also 185 grainers. Well I loaded them up with the same amount of bullseye (4.5 grains) and they will hardly cycle the gun. I know these bullets are a lot more slippery but it seems there isn't enough pressure. Does this mean I need to add more powder?

Thanks,

Pete

[Jon Merricks]

You may have to add a little more powder (0.2) and tighten up on the crimp just a little (.001). I'm just guessing on the amounts. But thats what I change when reloading 40.

[texasag93]

Same deal here. Takes about 2/10 of a grain more to make major with a plated or jacketed bullet of the same weight vs. lead in my P16.

TXAG

[PistolPete]

Great thanks a lot. That is what I figured. I'll bump it up to 4.7 grains and retest them on Monday.

Thanks again,

Pete

[spook]

It probably means you have to use more powder. Check the diameter of both projectiles. The plated one might be smaller in diameter.

[mike4045]

I tried West Coast plated 180 gr. I had to bump up the charge for major. The bullets were not accurate at all. They started to keyhole at 15 yds. Got rid of all of them after that. I also tried diff. crimp and powders, but nothing helped.

Mike

[Guest Larry Cazes]

Pete, this is expected since the mechanical resistance in the barrel of the material is different and the bullet diameter may also be slightly different. I generally have to load a slightly higher charge to make major with west coast plated then I have with lead. It is definitely worth it, though, to save myself some lead exposure with the plated bullets. By the way, my Para P14 groups into 5 shot cloverleafs at 15 yds rested using a westcoast 200 gr RN and 4.9 grs of WST all day long. I load these exclusively now. Have fun and be safe......

Larry

[PistolPete]

So Icazes these bullets were accurate then??? I hope they are as they are much easier to load than lead because they are much cleaner. Plus cleaning the gun seems much easier as well. Hopefully they will be accurate and I'll keep using them. I just ordered 6000 Carrol bullets and currently have 3000 of the West Coast bullets but if these 3000 work will I'll put in a larger order of 10,000 or so.

Who else uses West Coast Bullets?????

[eric nielsen]

Make sure you compare the ACCURACY of your plated loads, compared with your lead loads. People are mentioning this in an attempt to save you a lot of grief in the long run. When in doubt, buy a box of Nosler or XTP bullets, increase your powder charge about .3grain, and look at the results. That will tell you what your gun is capable of.

I've tried but never found an accurate load with plated bullets. The manufacturers of these products always seem to have an excuse list near the phone when you call about this topic.

Last bit of opinion (worth about $.02) is that for any major match, an accurate load is MUCH more important than a soft load or a cheap load. That one piece of steel at 30 yards that most competitors fire a full mag at, takes away all the perceived advantage of soft or cheap. Adding 8 or 10 seconds to your stage time (or 5 seconds with a miss) is very costly in terms of match points. Good luck.

dvc - eric - a28026

[TBF]

Pete,

You are on the right track to test before you really stock up on ANY bullet.

Originally I was somewhat sceptical of the plated bullets, but in the right gun, with the right load they work really well.

My 80 series really likes them. Alot.

I don't know the actual reason for some guns not shooting them well over the same loads. Twist rate is probably the same, and I wouldn't think bore diameter would be significantly different either, but for some reason they don't seem happy in some guns.

Maybe it's a metaphysical thing, and their chakra is out of balance with their chi, or not.

Travis F.

[Guest Larry Cazes]

Pete, as I said, I can shoot 5 shots all touching (cloverleaf) rested at 15 yards consistently with these. That is enough functional accuracy for me. I also have a lot of friends who also shoot nothing but west coast plated. The higher cost of the plated bullets was more then justified for me when my blood test came back with dangerously high lead levels around the first of this year. I have also switched from clays to WST as my primary major load.

[Guest TXAG93]

I have had mixed results with plated. My Glock hates them. THink it spits them out sideways. That is how they hit the target anyway!? My Para is so so with them. Try a few before you buy in bulk. Save you some cash and headaches. TXAG