The mailman just delivered the Bayou bullets.
Just in time to crank off a few test rounds before I head out.

heads

Renton 

Renton 

Renton 

...
Ahaa,  an inside joke.

Anyway,  I got a lot of data to look at and ponder.
Unfortunately,  I didn't get to finish chronographing because I started getting wonky numbers towards the end.
I'm working on a summary now.

...
Ahaa,  an inside joke.

Anyway,  I got a lot of data to look at and ponder.
Unfortunately,  I didn't get to finish chronographing because I started getting wonky numbers towards the end.
I'm working on a summary now.

Very interested OF.  Thanks for the test. 

Sorry for the late reply, I got some .452 200gr Missouri coated if you want to try those too. 

Very interested OF.  Thanks for the test. 

Sorry for the late reply, I got some .452 200gr Missouri coated if you want to try those too.

....
Sure
I can trade you some pretty blue bullets. The 200gr. Blue seemed to shoot very well. About 2 inches at 25yards.

The Coated Bullet Project

My friends have been using coated bullets for years but I was never interested because I cast my own bullets. However it seems as though the technology has evolved tremendously, to the point where it is interesting enough to warrant some investigation.
For this test, I ordered 3 different brands of coated bullets which are popular amongst 45acp shooters. BLUE, SNS, and BAYOU. I bought 200 gr.SWC #68 style and 230 gr. Round nose style

BLUE https://www.thebluebullets.com/

Delivery:These bullets win the shipping speed contest by arriving in 3 days.
Appearance: Nice looking, smooth even finish
Weight: nominal
Diameter:0.451 in.
Design:Common #68 style long nose SWC with no lube groove
The round nose is similar to military ball style with no lube groove.
Both styles had a very slight bevel base which made seating pretty easy with no scraping.
The coating is very tough and I could not scratch it off with my fingernail.
It also seems impervious to my cleaning solvent consisting of acetone and tuloene.
I’m impressed.

SNS http://www.snscasting.com/
Delivery:These bullets came in second place-4 days
Appearance:Also nice looking with even finish
Weight: nominal
Diameter: 0.452
Design: Similar to the blue bullets except these have a pronounced bevel base which made them even easier to seat. Also resistant to solvents.


BAYOU http://www.bayoubullets.net/
Delivery:These bullets came in last-7 days
Appearance:Nice looking even finish. Maybe a little glittery.
Weight: nominal
Diameter: 0.452
Design: Common #68 style WITH a lube groove and bevel base. Of course, there is no lube in the groove. The round nose bullet also has a vestigial lube groove and beveled base. However this bullet differs from the others by having a well defined driving band.
I cast a bullet that has this same feature and I feel that it does contribute to accuracy.

see pic
***these numbers are approximately 20 fps faster than conventional 45acp guns due to the barrel length and chamber.

Thoughts:
The powder charge for all the test loads was 4.9 gr of IMR TARGET (courtesy of INSPECTOR)
I was surprised that the smaller diameter BLUE bullets shot consistently a little slower than the others.
For action pistol shooters, any of the 200 gr test loads would make a fine major PF load.
For people wanting to load something like military ball, any of these 230 gr. loads would come really close to full power factory ball.

I did not have time to finish all the tests with the conventional cast bullets.

see pic
***these numbers are approximately 20 fps faster than conventional 45acp guns due to the barrel length and chamber.

Thoughts:
The powder charge for all the test loads was 4.9 gr of IMR TARGET (courtesy of INSPECTOR)
I was surprised that the smaller diameter BLUE bullets shot consistently a little slower than the others.
For action pistol shooters, any of the 200 gr test loads would make a fine major PF load.
For people wanting to load something like military ball, any of these 230 gr. loads would come really close to full power factory ball.

I did not have time to finish all the tests with the conventional cast bullets.

for comparsion purposes, what kinds of velocities do you get for that same load (and same gun), but using 230 FMJ Round Nose, 230 Plated Round Nose, and 230 Cast Round Nose?

Accuracy Impressions:

Even without loading for accuracy, the bullets showed good potential for accurate loads.
Here are some pix. The black aiming points are approximately 2 inches.
I didn't have time to finish everything and my trigger finger was hurting bad due to a past injury.

for comparsion purposes, what kinds of velocities do you get for that same load (and same gun), but using 230 FMJ Round Nose, 230 Plated Round Nose, and 230 Cast Round Nose?

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I ran out of time, chrono was throwing errors and my finger was hurting. So I didn't finish.

So far your results look promising. Thanks for all your hard work, OF. 

Looks awesome!  Thank you!  Makes sense the looser bullet shoot slower.  More pressure would equal more velocity. Makes me wonder if that coating is slicker than a pain lead with lube, or if the coating has less lubrication.

Looks awesome!  Thank you!  Makes sense the looser bullet shoot slower.  More pressure would equal more velocity. Makes me wonder if that coating is slicker than a pain lead with lube, or if the coating has less lubrication.

...
I was thinking the looser bullet have less friction so it would go faster. 😀
I don't think any of the coated bullets will go as fast as lubed lead bullets. A guy on the 1911 forum told me that I would have to bump up the powder charge to get the same speed.
I'll probably go out with more test loads today.

for comparsion purposes, what kinds of velocities do you get for that same load (and same gun), but using 230 FMJ Round Nose, 230 Plated Round Nose, and 230 Cast Round Nose?

====
I did crank out a few more test loads and hit the range today. This was a continuation of a few days ago with 4.9 gr. IMR Target.
The precision delta 230 gr.FMJ bullet did 783 fps as opposed to the 230 gr.coated bullets which all did about 836 fps.
The xtreme 230 rn did about 780fps.
The western Nevada cast-lubed 230 gr. bullets did a whopping 869fps

This would seem to confirm the theory that the coated bullets run faster than copper but slower than lubed lead.

Changing to a lighter load with 5.2 gr HP38 powder:

Blue200=800 fps/ 18 sd
SNS200=775 fps/ 21 sd
Bayou230=789 fps/ 13 sd
Xtreme230 rn=749 fps/ 14 sd

Action shooters can make major with 4.9 gr HP38 using a coated 230 gr bullet.
(my competition load was 4.8 231 with a 230 gr lead RN)

I was going to post some pix but I get an error.
Anyway, the SWC coated bullets seem to shoot better than the round nose.
No surprises there

I was going to post some pix but I get an error.
Anyway, the SWC coated bullets seem to shoot better than the round nose.
No surprises there

OF, what do you mean that the SWC bullets shoot better? What do you mean by "better"?

I'm wondering if I should switch to coated SWC. I always thought that there wasn't much of a point to SWC if I'm not shooting bullseye, but now you have me reconsidering.

Also thanks for posting the precision delta and copper plated Xtreme data.

Similar to your findings, I'm running a full power load with the xtreme 230 RN and CFE Pistol at 6.1 grains and 1.260" COL. My CFE load gets comparable velocity except my data was out of USP 45 full size.

OF, what do you mean that the SWC bullets shoot better? What do you mean by "better"?

I'm wondering if I should switch to coated SWC. I always thought that there wasn't much of a point to SWC if I'm not shooting bullseye, but now you have me reconsidering.

Also thanks for posting the precision delta and copper plated Xtreme data.

Similar to your findings, I'm running a full power load with the xtreme 230 RN and CFE Pistol at 6.1 grains and 1.260" COL. My CFE load gets comparable velocity except my data was out of USP 45 full size.

==========
I meant that the swc bullets shoot tighter groups.
If you shooting with an action pistol club, I recommend staying with a 230 round nose bullet, either lubed lead or coated, and load down to about 740 fps average.
Here are some more quick test shots.

oops