I would like to buy some Hi-Tek coated lead bullets from Bayou Bullets. But I'm not going to waste any time or money till I have an idea of how to load them. I hear people have shot the Hi-tek coating to at least 1500 fps with no problems. My favorite 10mm load is 155 gr XTP with 12.9 gr of BlueDot (book velocity 1450 fps). If I switch to the Hi-Tek coated lead bullets from Bayou Bullets do I stick with 12.9 gr of BlueDot?
Hello and welcome to the forum! Bayou Bullets was coating their bullets with poly powdered paints, in a video they made they added acetone to the powder for adhesion to the bullets and then baked on the poly paint for a durable finish. Some time adding a second coating. This eliminates lube which can create smokey issues at the range. I have heard of guys pushing the poly coated bullets at the 1500 mark.
I will say I have pushed some of my cast bullets with Red Zambini and now carnauba red lube to 1700+ from the 9x25Dillon and my 10mm cast bullets @ 1400 fps. I am going to try some poly coat some of my bullets in the near future as well...
Good luck and best regards! :D
Guys at cast boolits, myself included, push cast bullets 2000 fps + in rifles. I use "Felix" lube on mine, but carnauba is good stuff too.
Powder coating has the advantage of eliminating the smokiness of lubed cast bullets. But it is a fair bit more work to coat them in my experience.
No reason the Bayou Bullets wouldn't work fine. Some of the same rules will apply regarding cast bullets and accuracy, though leading should be a non-issue, even if they don't fit quite right. If you exceed the plastic deformation pressure of the lead alloy they use, it may negatively affect accuracy.
Thanks for the quick responses!
So if I go from copper to lead do I have to reduce the charge? Or can I just use the exact same load information?
Trying not to work up a load of five rounds each of 5 powder weights only to find out they all are no good because there is some magic formula to convert copper jacket loads to Hi-Tek lead loads I didn't know about.
I have used Blue Dot with my cast bullets the same as the jacketed ones and pressures seemed fine.
BUT, you should still do a workup just to be sure, 12.9 is a heavy load and 1450 is nothing to sneeze at! ::)
Do you use magnum primers with that load? If yes try using a standard primer for your test.
Great news! Thanks. I always work up new loads, but thanks for the advice. My load from above is from Hornady. I have been using WLP for all my pistol rounds to include 10mm auto, 45 auto, and 44 mag.
Work up again, just like changing any component.
Generally lead offers less bore resistance than copper, which means slightly reduced pressure and velocity for the same load, but there are exceptions. That also generally means you can work up to a bit higher charge and sometimes and extra few fps with a lead bullet, but again, not always.
I like what I hear. I bought a 100 each of 155 gr and 200 gr, plus some 9mm, 45, and 44. I don't know when I'll be able to load them up (this weekend is already filled) and shoot them but, I will report back when I do!
First off no pics, sorry. 155 gr Bayou Bullets powder coated.
I shot off 5 rounds from 4 different power levels ending with my (Hornady) max load of 12.9 gr of BluDot. They shot great! At 21 feet standing two hands I shot 3 of 5 bullets into one hole (12.9gr BluDot). I think I could have shot all 5 into one hole but I was at a public range, indoor with a 16 inch AR banging away 3 feet from my head.
Quote from: Happy on October 13 2014 08:05:41 PM MDT
First off no pics, sorry. 155 gr Bayou Bullets powder coated.
At 21 feet standing two hands I shot 3 of 5 bullets into one hole (12.9gr BluDot). I think I could have shot all 5 into one hole but I was at a public range, indoor with a 16 inch AR banging away 3 feet from my head.
Call me crazy, but I really like that challenge. Especially when I am doing practice drills. Having an unpredictable, very distracting, firearm going off right next to me reminds me of what I can expect in a bad situation without bullets actually flying at my head. So I call that DAMN GOOD SHOOTIN!
Can you mic up one of those HI-TEK coated Bayou Bullets? I want to know what diameter they are ending up. Thanks!
0.4005 - 0.4010 inch
Very nice, I will have to look into those. Thanks!
One thing of note. I can not get them to work with the Hornady bullet feeder die. The collets cost $7 to replace if you feel like trying to sand them 0.001 inch. :D The "A collet" is very rough and scratches the powder coat off on the edges; in addition to being too tight for lead.