• This Forum is for adults 18 years of age or over. By continuing to use this Forum you are confirming that you are 18 or older. No content shall be viewed by any person under 18 in California.

Flawed Coating on SWC Bullets

rckendall

Recently I brought out an old favorite gun of mine, a Colt Gold Cup National Match in 45 ACP, of course. I had a bunch of old reloaded ammo around that I shot at first, but I really wanted to start fresh with my reloads, especially since my skills and equipment for reloading is much better than before.

I purchased some 200 grain SWC bullets coated with a polymer blend of sorts and the company was recommended by others here on this site. I noticed that the coating seemed pretty thick which left it kind of irregular. The second set of tests that I loaded I found one that really caught my eye, so I set it aside and thought I would investigate the situation later. I took a photo of the bullet and sent it to the manufacturer for explanation, but I haven't heard back from them for a couple days now, and I want to keep moving forward with my quest. So I'm reaching out to everyone here for advice.200 SWC.jpg
This is the bullet that caught my attention, and I think that this drip in the coating material would have a similar, and likely worst effect on the trajectory as a bad crown on a barrel. What do you think? What should I do?

Thanks,
Richard

P.S. The website information states that the bullets are restruck after coating. I don't know exactly what that means but I think the base of the bullet is a critical area and I wonder how this could happen during such process?
 
Last edited:
Just Say Moe said:
Scrape it off with a pocket knife and load it.
Click to expand...
That's what I did with the first one I found. Then I started to watch more closely and this morning I separated a few handfuls and found about 35% had similar imperfections at the base. I will call the manufacturer tomorrow and hopefully send these back.
 
Brazos & Zero are 2 excellent bullet providers for Bullets that I've used. I know there's more really good ones out there, I just haven't used them.
Coated bullets are definitely cleaner on fingers and the seating die when loading. However they shoot no better than swaged or my cast bullets.
Stork
 
Make the bullet spin off center and/or deflect as it exits the barrel or maybe burn off is what comes to my uneducated mind. Be interesting to see how they shoot.
 
Because of the high % of culls, I would avoid these like the plague.
Without knowing what distance you're shooting at, and what your accuracy goals are i'll give my .02 worth from a Bullseye shooters perspective. For 50 yard and beyond, your bullet bases should be perfect. 25 yards and under you can get by with small imperfections. The bullet pictured would, IMHO, be suitable for 10 yard accuracy on a large target.
 
I called this morning and talked with the owner. He seemed to know that there were problems like this but claimed it didn't cause any accuracy issues. He spoke of the many problems with running a business today with labor issues and delivery of components and tooling.

All this is understandable but kind of not related to my issue? He did offer to refund my money or send a new batch of bullets when he gets them, which may not be until the end of the year.

One subject he didn't address was whether the coating would burn off when exposed to the combustion. Meantime I've selected a different brand and will start again when those bullets arrive.

Richard
 
I don't know if I would waste a lot of time with one bullet if the rest look great, consider a manufacturing defect. I would immediately try and scrape it off with my finger nail or toss it in the trash.

I would pay close attention to the outside dia of the taper crimped loaded round, and remove the barrel for using it as a case checker. Taper crimp dies vary greatly in dia, and this will result in some trial and error on your part to see which die will work the best.

I seat those 200g to barely touch the lands to a tiny engrave, but not enough to hinder function with amazing accuracy at 25 yards. I tend to use a heavier recoil spring as my pistol LOVES a slight engrave on the bullet when chambered with 6.0g of Unique in win brass with a federal primer.
 
If that coating melts, it's not worth putting on the bullet.

The whole idea of the poly coatings are to not melt and keep the lead sealed. That's why most indoor ranges allow them and what those shooting suppressed count on.

It's simply poor quality control
 
AckleymanII said:
I don't know if I would waste a lot of time with one bullet if the rest look great, consider a manufacturing defect. I would immediately try and scrape it off with my finger nail or toss it in the trash.
Click to expand...
Over a third of them have drips, not all to this extent, but not very confidence inspiring!
 
rckendall said:
Thanks, I sent an email regarding a purchase. Presently there are no powder coated 200 grain SWC in stock, only as cast, but I do like his products and his approach to business.
Click to expand...
This outfit also has excellent coated bullets. Note: There are 2 different Acme bullet companies. Be sure you do business with the one in Wisconsin. The other one is not so good.

45ACP

45 ACP Hard Cast Lead Bullets
www.acmebullet.com www.acmebullet.com
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Powder coating lead bullets
Replies
4
Views
2,330
AJC
Milo 2.0
HBN coating
2
Replies
35
Views
4,072
Milo 2.0
Milo 2.0
HBN coating
2
Replies
34
Views
2,975
rardoin

Upgrades & Donations

This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.


Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.

You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.


To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.

Classified Ads

Forum statistics

Threads
166,275
Messages
2,215,443
Members
79,508
Latest member
Jsm4425

Share This Page

Back
Top