Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Anyone like Hi-Tek coated bullets?

I don’t remember seeing this topic discussed here. I shoot a bunch of cast lead bullets pretty much every week and have been using mostly coated bullets for the past few years. They’re a bit more expensive but not as messy and I like not having to handle bare lead.

Every revolver I own has its own pet load, and it’s seemed like lubed bullets get higher velocities all other things being equal. But now I’ve confirmed that. Took my 4” model 29 to the range with the chronograph today. I loaded some Missouri Bullet RNFPs, .430”, some lubed and some with their Hi-Tek coatings. All loaded with 17.5 grns 2400. Shot six rounds with each one and threw out the one farthest from the average. The lubed bullets averaged 1228 fps, the coated ones 1105. Accuracy was about the same.

Anyone else have experience like this?

Not that large a difference.

I have a theory that the process of sizing after coating results in a bullet that is depending on the coating, instead of lead, to seal the bore.

Ideally the bullet should be sized, then coated IMO.

I like MBC Hi Tek bullets. They are accurate and clean shooting. I don't shoot them at high velocities so have never felt the need to chronograph them.

Posted about powder coated vs. lubed bullets last October, point of the thread was that I was consistently getting better accuracy with powder coated than lubed in my revolvers.

Didn't chronograph them but the very next post after my OP noted that the PC bullets traveled faster than regular lubed bullets.

Better grouping with powder coating - short survey

When I lived in Cheyenne I would drive out to the CheyCast shop and buy bullets there to save shipping costs. The owner let me see how the coating is done. They have these tumblers that look like miniature mixers you see on the back of cement trucks. They buy the coating in powder form and use some kind of solvent (acetone maybe?).

I’m pretty sure he told me that resizing is done after coating. I just figured the lube reduces friction enough to cause the higher velocity. Most of my shooting is done a paper plates at 25 yards or less so a little difference in velocity isn’t an issue.

And I don’t know how much of a safety issue handling lead occasionally is. I grew up during a time when bedrooms and classrooms were painted with lead paint and we burned leaded gasoline in cars. But I do know that heavy metals accumulate in our bodies over time so less exposure has to be better.

I shoot them exclusively in USPSA matches, primarily because I get less smoke with them than I do with regular lubed uncoated lead bullets. Less smoke on calm morning matches means I can get back on target faster since I can see the target faster, ha. I get less leading in my barrel as well.

The coated bullets may cost a bit more but they are pretty nice to shoot and cleaner to handle. The one nice ting I have not seen mentioned here is that they also do not dirty up your loading dies nearly as quickly as compared to hard cast bullets. Dies get residue built up in them over time and need periodic maintenance, just like anything else.

You can push the coated bullets pretty fast too.

As for a couple of examples, I have both .38 special and .40 S&W loads that are scooting along.

The coated .38 Special +P .158 grain SWC averages 1115 from a 4" barrel:



And in .40 S&W the coated 170 grain SWC averages 1200 FPS from a stock G22 gen 3 barrel:





Neither of them I would consider appropriate to push to the velocities that I do if using non coated bullets. Neither load, when fired produces as much "smoke" which is really just mostly lube burning off.

Hard cast bullets, powder coated bullets, moly coated bullets. You can find great loads using any or all of them.

It’s been a while since I’ve loaded uncoated lubed bullets, so I had forgotten about that. But you’re exactly right Mackay. My dies stay a lot cleaner too.

I don’t know how I missed that post of yours Jim, this has been interesting to me for a while. Someone did get results opposite of mine. Don’t know what to make of that.

I've even boiled some older cast and lubed bullets so I could get the "nasty" old style lube off and then powder coated them.

Yes, like them very much. I found Missouri Bullets during Covtard and ordered up some boxes of .32 and .38 caliber bullets. I really like them out of model 31 .32 S&W Long revolver and several different S&W .38 special revolvers I plink with.

I used to order from Missouri bullets regularly. They seems to just shut down for awhile during Covid. In a search I found

https://acmebullet.com/

They limited the size of orders but had stuff in stock. I like their bullets as much as I did Missouri but Acme ships in cool wooden boxes so they have my business now.

List of bullets offered:

https://www.acmebullet.com/Bullets

Only two downsides I can think of:
1. You need to make sure you flare enough to avoid scraping the coating off. This seems to be just a tad more flare than required for plain cast lead.
2. They smell like burning brakes when you fire them.

Yeah, you are right about the smell... I hadn't made the connection to burning brakes but yep that's it.

Brazos has been my go to lately. They will custom size for you if you can wait a little longer.

The loading process is better than with lubed lead, like others stated, the seat and crimp dies stay much cleaner.

I'm not ordering anymore lubed lead.

Some powder and coated bullet combos smell like an electrical fire to me.....

Thats all I order anymore. Have bought a pile of 'em from Summers

It's all I've been buying for the last 3-4 years, in 9mm & 45 mostly.

Mostly all from Bayou Bullets Or Brazos.

Both are good; never worried about chronicling them as it really doesn't mean anything or make a difference at 25 yards or less.

MM

So an old friend, he’s only in his mid-70s, was recently visiting and said he’s getting out of reloading and offered me some equipment he no longer uses. Included in that is a brass tumbler and he gave me some moly coating powder with it. Said he liked to use it on rifle bullets.

I remember when that was a fad back about 20 years or so ago. I never used it myself. I guess it fell out of favor because of fouling issues? Was it ever used on handgun bullets?

Brazos 240gn SWC .44 magnum.