ihmsa forums

Does anyone have experience with coated bullets? I am particularly interested to know if you have observed any reduction in leading as a result of the coating and what bullets and bullet suppliers you have used.

I am very green in this area. However, I am very impressed with Missouri Bullet Company. I've shot their 357 180 grain and 30 cal 165s out of lever guns. I don't believe leading can or will be a concern with coated bullets.

I cast and powdercoat my own bullets, but only use the powdercoat for limited applications. None of my current silhouette loads are coated as I haven't seen the need. I get zero leading with traditional lube in 357 Mag, 7TCU, and 7BR. I use powdercoat in my hunting loads up to 2200fps.

I have flirted briefly with coated bullets in 9mm, .357 and .41 Magnum. I am generally not a fan. They were acceptable in 9mm for generic blasting/IDPA type ammo.

In the revolver cartridges, I found them inferior for either high performance or reduced loads. At higher velocities, they failed in the leading department in .41 mag. In this case I was using MBC factory "hi-tek" coating.

.357 ACME brand coated 158 SWC were acceptable in the leading department, although I never tried to stomp on them. Was just firing a ".357 special" load in the 1000fps ballpark over HS-6. In both cases, accuracy across velocity ranges was inferior to either MBC, Penn traditional hard-cast wax lubed and jacketed varieties.

I've only used powder coating from "Smoke" from the Castboolits website forum and have had great luck. No leading in my 7tcu or 357 max. I have to make sure that I'm using the correct procedure for coating and then baking long enough. Keep trying. From what I hear from others blogging, getting the right powder is key to success.