Anyone try using polymer coated Blue Bullets?

[mjmagee67]

Boy I don't know what rock some of you live under but coated bullets have been used for years. I'd venture to say that they are the most shot bullet in USPSA for local matches and practice. I've shot them for several years.

There are several manufactures of these. Bayou Bullets, SNS, Missouri Cast, BBI, Letherheads, and many more. There is the polymer coating, the Hi-Tec coating, Powder coated, and Moly. I've shoot mostly the Hi-Tec coated bullet.

My review of Hi-Tec coated bullets. They shoot better than plated bullets, they are less sensitive to crimp. Which is great when you load mixed brass. They are clean while loading, nothing on your seating die, nothing on your hands. They use less powder than plated or jacketed to make the same Power Factor. They are cheaper, I pay just over 6 cents each for 124gr RN bullets. They shoot clean and leave nothing in the barrel, it's easy to clean. I haven't used a brush in years, just a patch and Hoppies #9.

A couple things I've noticed.

Flare you cade mouth a little more than you think you should.

Eggleston Bullets use a thicker coating, on tight chambered guns you will have to load short. I was using the 125gr RNs.

Bayou Bullets have great customer service. A few years ago I ordered a case (3000+) and I noticed the coating was chipping off some of the bullets (approx. 10%). Called Bayou, they said yea they some that got something on them and the coating didn't stick right. Bayou sent me out a new case of bullets and told me to keep and shoot the other case. The bullets with the coating chipping off shot just fine.

My preference is Leatherheads out of Idaho, but I've shot most all of them (Bayou, SNS, Missouri, BBI, Blue Bullets, and Eggleston) and they are pretty interchangeable. I use coated bullets in 9mm, 40 S&W, 38 SPC, and 45 ACP exclusively. I've even shot coated bullets in rifles 30-30, 300BO, and 45-70 they all worked great.

[mjmagee67]

Double tap..........sorry.

[Redemption]

Is / are poly coated bullets the same as powder coated ?

Powder coat falls into two categories.

1. thermoplastic
2. thermoset polymer

Here is a picture of some .45 I did in thermoset polymer, in my garage at one time. I hated this process... I never did figure out how to deal with the faraday effect not to mention the difficulties with getting a perfect look out of them. too much or too little and they look bad, they chip (at least for me) its hard to get an amazing bond, lots of prep etc etc. No fouling though =)



Here is a picture of some 40S&W I am working on right now using Epoxy paint. This process is easy as pie spray, dry, bake, load. No fouling here either.



There is nothing new or exciting about any of these methods, there is probably no less than 10 different ways to do this its been around for.....forever and companies have just caught on since it became a common craze a few years back. A new way to sell an old idea and an easy way to skip some steps and reduce / eliminate lead fouling.

[stilly]

http://www.thebluebullets.com/default.asp

Pretty interesting. Up to now all I knew of were lead, moly coated, plated, jacketed.. enter the polymer coated blue bullet:





Looks funny but seems like an interesting concept. Anyone try loading these yet? Any feedback?

Turby

Up until now huh?

Heh. Polymer. Like a Plastic? Kinda like, a POLY ESTER? Or perhaps Powdercoat?
WARNING! HEAVY PORN AHEAD! NOT SAFE FOR WALLET! TURN BACK!

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?251956-Powder-coated-bullets-pics-only/page12

Yawn, lemme know if they can make a leopard print to match my thong...

Until then, I will keep making my own.

[Redemption]

Up until now huh?

Heh. Polymer. Like a Plastic? Kinda like, a POLY ESTER? Or perhaps Powdercoat?
WARNING! HEAVY PORN AHEAD! NOT SAFE FOR WALLET! TURN BACK!

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?251956-Powder-coated-bullets-pics-only/page12

Yawn, lemme know if they can make a leopard print to match my thong...

Until then, I will keep making my own.

That is totally doable Stilly! Ready to have your damn mind blown?!?

Hydro-dip painting! and hydro-dip transfer painting!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAWxOC4ztSU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgEjrtBprlo

[tonyjr]

Thanks - I think the free samples I got were powder coated [ years ago - free samples t gun show ]
Anyway , they were blue almost , had blue-ist cloud , left blue dust on barrel and inside gas piston of desert eagle . Since 90% of my pistols are semi autos - I have passed on them .

[sargenv]

Since most semi-auto pistols are not gas operated like the DE, I think that platform is going to need jacketed bullets to operate correctly.. It's not really made for anything else.. since 95+ percent of pistols are not gas operated, I think it's safe to say that the coated bullets will work better than plain lead. It's all a matter of cost to me.. I've been using Moly coated bullets in one form or another for over 25 years (lately Bear Creek). The hi-tech coating has been around at least 5 years and likely longer (I first saw them at the International Revolver Championships being shot by the Aussies). I'm partial to the Blue bullets, Black 'N blue comes in a close second (since they are a California manufacturer). They all shoot well in everything I've tried them in.

[reverser]

I primarily run SNS 9mm 147gr rn with Titegroup in my Glock 19. They're clean and accurate.

[stilly]

That is totally doable Stilly! Ready to have your damn mind blown?!?

Hydro-dip painting! and hydro-dip transfer painting!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAWxOC4ztSU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgEjrtBprlo

LoL!

Gotta be PC! No hydrodipping bullets!

Although that might not be too bad either.

If they had a hydrodip coating that was as tough as PC I would try it out. Making my own of course.

btw, that guy looks like he is making soap by dropping like he is in the red and black guitar swirl.

[Redemption]

LoL!

Gotta be PC! No hydrodipping bullets!

Although that might not bee too bad either.

If they had a hydrodip coating that was as tough as PC I would try it out. Making my own of course.

btw, that guy looks like he is making soap by dropping like he is in the red and black guitar swirl.

Hey if you want to hit the range with me on my next day off I can let you send some of my Epoxy painted rounds down range, 0 fouling.

The stuff I use comes out of a rattle can and Ive never had an issue

[bruce381]

Is / are poly coated bullets the same as powder coated ?

yep would think so

powder coat is a polymer so you could use both names to make yours bullets supper zippy sounding

[Christopher761]

Here is a picture of some 40S&W I am working on right now using Epoxy paint. This process is easy as pie spray, dry, bake, load. No fouling here either.

Is that working well for you? I remember on Cast Boolits, there were some guys that tries the spray on epoxy paint, but they didn't have good results with the paint they were using.

[Redemption]

Is that working well for you? I remember on Cast Boolits, there were some guys that tries the spray on epoxy paint, but they didn't have good results with the paint they were using.

Great results on my 230 grain cast round nose .45ACP and on 175 grain .40S&W So far Ive had no fouling of any kind no lead, no paint fouling. I skip the bullet grease step. Because of it Ive never lubed a bullet in my entire reloading career.

There is a trick to it though.

1. The kind of paint you use. if you know which brands to buy its like $3.88 a can off the shelf at your big box store. (high speed stuff I know).
2. Dont overdo it, your better off doing several thin coats than one thick one.
3. The curing process is really important.

If you dont cure I imagine things will be messy. Ill give away my secret on the curing. After I spray I let them sit with a fan on em to dry, once their no longer tacky to the touch. then I set them on a tray and they go into the easy bake oven (toaster oven) for 30 min at 350F I dont pull them out until completely cool obviously and then they get ran through the sizing die.

Now I am of the mind that if significant quantities of paint come off during the sizing process, then something is wrong and that bullet goes into the reject box for later reprocessing. However....its never happened. Powder coating which I have done extensively both with bullets and other items was just insane time consuming (IMHO) for what you are getting. Way I see this, theres no rocket science happening here. We want clean stable freedom pills, that slide down the tube and make our lives easier, both with regards to cleaning the weapon, and time invested in creating a consumable.

Here are some of those 230 grain .45ACP Their midloads powder wise. (With the "epoxy" paint)


The Bore on my 11 year old 1911. The little spot of smutz there is because I am a lazy cleaner, but I guarantee its just a small spot of carbon.


Below are some bullets that Ive done in PC

These turned out so so... the next photo will show why.


These are a close up of the same pills from the picture above, from the same batch anyway, see all of the imperfections there? Black is a difficult color to get right with PC. When you are putting it on it looks deceptively good, then you pull it out of the oven and you can see the lead under, so you add a little more and back into the oven and you get an ugly but functional round. The cream yellow ones and the bright yellow ones I did turned out much better. Brand and color and temps and coat quantities and faraday effect can all affect the outcome, and make the end product look professional as hell or really really bad, like I dont even know if I want anyone to see these bad.

[stilly]

Those look really good.

I think you can use hydro-dipped pills. Simply hydro-dip and then after they dry, PC them with a clear PC. Could be something cool.

How many pills can a can do?

Your black/gray DO look very well defined and colored nicely.

Do they have a COPPER looking spray on epoxy paint? I would consider trying that. Anything to get past insight since they seem to get all butt-hurt over PC pills...

[Redemption]

Those look really good.

I think you can use hydro-dipped pills. Simply hydro-dip and then after they dry, PC them with a clear PC. Could be something cool.

How many pills can a can do?

Your black/gray DO look very well defined and colored nicely.

Do they have a COPPER looking spray on epoxy paint? I would consider trying that. Anything to get past insight since they seem to get all butt-hurt over PC pills...

In the particular brand of paint that I use, your choices are black and white....literally I have yet to find it in other colors.

HOWEVER I am going to start to experiment with other types of paint, so as cast more this summer (and I will be) every time I go to buy a can in black I will buy a can in a different kind and color of paint. Basically I want to figure out what options I have.