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You're more than welcome. Whichever poly-coating outfit you go with, this might help. Pull some random samples, weigh them and check their diameters. Then once you're loading them, check the OACL of some loads at random and see how much they differ from what you set your dies for. Consistency is highly UNDERrated. And if you chrono, that can be the measure that bares it out.

LDP wrote: ↑Fri Dec 06, 2019 10:37 am Thank you, gentlemen, for all the great information and links.
It is a lot of data to process so I'll go through it this weekend to see what I can find.

I have thought of trying coated lead bullets but never run them myself and heard of lead transfer to the barrel etc. I'd like to avoid that. So I'll be reading reviews on the coated product before I go that way.

Thanks again for the help.

LDP, I can honestly tell you that leading of the barrel has never been a problem with my handloads because of adherence to a couple of basic rules. 1. slug your bore to find its groove diameter. 2. load bullets that are .001" larger than groove dia. The reality is that the commercially cast bullets that many of us use for .45 ACP as well as .38 Special at 16 - 18 BHN, some even harder, are harder than they have to be and why you see Missouri Bullet Co. offering "Target bullets" ar 12 BHN. The slightly softer alloy allows the bullet to seal in the bore more easily than a harder alloy bullet.

Poly-coating has only made things better, including decreasing your exposure to lead, by touch or airborne. Polycoated bullets are all I've been using for several years now. The one and only negative thing I've seen is with high pressure cartridges loaded with TiteGroup. I do not use it, and certainly would not use it for high pressure loads if I did. It can melt the poly-coating away from the base ofIt has one of the hottest burn temps you're likely to find. In the case of SNS casting, that I provided the link for, there are a few powders that they advise to stay away from. That's also been reflected by competitive shooters where some had been using TiteGroup with 147 gr. bullets in 9 x19mm. It is a very fast burning powder, so even while velocity is only around 884 FPS for 125 power factor and a 5 pf safety cushion, 130 total, Titegroup reaches greater pressure which causes the hotter burn temps. For low pressure cartridges, use it if you have it and like it. But we've already seen the development of 2 new powders designed around such use. Alliant Sport Pistol and Winchester W244. I use Accurate No 2, that like TiteGroup is insensitive to powder positioning that can be an issue for low chargeweights that leave a lot of unused space in the case, like .45 ACP.

The most important difference in using poly-coated bullets vs jacketed is that you need enough flare from the expander, so that the case-mouth does not shave away the poly-coating as the bullet is seated. That is really no different from loading non-coated lead bullets. It's not at all hard to get it right without the flare being excessive. And because most hard cast and poly-coated bullets are .452" diameter for .451" barrel groove diameters, all that's needed after bullet seating is to remove the flare. You won't need to taper crimp when a cast or coated bullet is at least .001" larger than groove diameter. Some guys even recommend .002" above groove dia. to enhance accuracy, but I have not found that to be the case with my loads, and some of them forget that when you increase the bullets diameter by .002", it will also increase pressure over the rating for bullets sized .001" over nominal groove dia. which is .451" for .45 ACP barrels. The reason we slug our bores to find their groove dias. Easily done with a soft, swaged lead bullet.

Why limit yourself to FMJ? JHPs aren't much difference in price. Personally, I don't know of anything an FMJ can do that can't be equaled by a good poly-coated bullet! Plated bullets don't offer any advantage except for Berry"s Hybrid Hollow-Points.

https://www.snscasting.com/