Polymer boolits

jzwhts · Oct 8, 2017

Anybody use them? How do they compare to copper plated? I mostly load .357 mag, very moderate plinking stuff. I was thinking of trying some. No big reason other than I saw some at PSS and would be easy enough to just pick some up on the way home from work. Any input welcome.

Wolfhound · Oct 8, 2017

Polymer coated bullets work fine. They completely eliminate leading experienced sometimes when using cast bullets. Some say polymer bullets can be pushed as hard as plated. I usually don't load them that hot.

jzwhts · Oct 8, 2017

I would have guessed you can't go quite as hot as plated. Not that I am looking for a hot load, but I do like Winchester 231 at the top level for cast with plated bullets.

Wolfhound · Oct 8, 2017

Some of my polymer (powder coat) coated cast bullets:

bwframe · Oct 8, 2017

I like em.

jzwhts · Oct 8, 2017

Are powder coated and polymer coated the same thing?

Wolfhound · Oct 8, 2017

jzwhts said:
Are powder coated and polymer coated the same thing?

Yes, powder coat is a thermoset polymer.

Bfish · Oct 8, 2017

I like them. I shoot them subsonic in 300blk to avoid leading up my suppressor and they work well. The only thing to note is flaring the case mouth a touch before seating the projectile as to leave the polymer intact. It's unbelievably cheaper than plated or FMJ. To my knowledge you can't even buy heavy grain 308 plated projectiles for so I'm paying like 11cents per projectile as opposed to 30+ I think you will be happy going to them.

Mgderf · Oct 8, 2017

I've loaded powder coated .357's and .327's to right at plated speeds with zero issues.
All shot well with zero leading.
That polymer coating, if properly applied, is tough as nails.

I set a .327 boolit on concrete and smashed it flat with a hammer to see how the coating held up.
Not one speck of paint came off!
I was astounded.

bwframe · Oct 8, 2017

Sizing can be an issue. You are adding .001-.002 of coating to a cast bullet that may be your bore size target in the first place. You should really slug your barrel(s) to make sure you are loading in the neighborhood the optimum size of +.002 over bore size.

Another issue is that the coating is also adding to the ogive size, which can affect your OAL. A lot of modern day barrels have pretty short throats. Plunk testing is much more critical than it may have been before loading PC'd bullets.

TBone3006 · Oct 9, 2017

I been using the powder coated (homemade) and have been running the 158 gr.

357 loads @ 1050fps and the 240 gr. 44 mag @ 1000fps . I dont get any fouling at all, love these things.

Leadeye · Oct 14, 2017

bwframe said:
Sizing can be an issue. You are adding .001-.002 of coating to a cast bullet that may be your bore size target in the first place. You should really slug your barrel(s) to make sure you are loading in the neighborhood the optimum size of +.002 over bore size.

Another issue is that the coating is also adding to the ogive size, which can affect your OAL. A lot of modern day barrels have pretty short throats. Plunk testing is much more critical than it may have been before loading PC'd bullets.

Don't powder coat as of yet and this is one of the pieces of info I've been curious about.

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