Lead vs. Black(moly) vs. Plated

[jbrch378]

I already bought some lead 230 grain rn .45 from Missouri Bullet Co. , they have a BHN 18 , I now know is a little hard for .45 acp. I'm sure there is a proper load to make them shoot without much leading of my barrel, I'll just have to experiment alittle. I eventually want to give molding a try, but since I'm new to reloading I want to take it one step at a time.

I was wondering what are the pros and cons of these types of bullets: Lead , Black (moly), and Plated. There's not a huge difference in price ,so I presume that a plated bullet would be the best bet, because of cleaner dies , no lead exposure and no barrel leading. I want to buy more bullets and I'd like to get some input.

[Blackdog]

If you plan to shoot lead, it's worth the effort to measure the throat of your barrel (do a little research on "slugging" the barrel or using a product like Cerrosafe). A proper bullet fit (typically .001 to .002 oversize) will have the most effect on the reduction of leading. That said, before I started casting I put alot of plated bullets down range. I believe plated is a good place to start.

[cohutt]

Plated would be a good place to start.

The moly isn't really messy and doesn't do much in the way of jamming up dies with gunk

Once you get into it though, there is nothing like a sweetly tuned lead load.....

[Blackdog]

Once you get into it though, there is nothing like a sweetly tuned lead load.....

.......and the angels sang. :grin:

[craig110]

Like BD said, using the proper sized lead bullet is the key to eliminating barrel leading and yes, slugging your barrel gives the best answer. However, if you shoot a common gun others here will likely be able to tell you the right diameter to use, or at least give you a good diameter to use as a starting point. What are you shooting? (i.e. manufacturer, model, maker of the replacement barrel if you aren't shooting the original barrel, etc.)

Once you have the right diameter so that leading isn't really an issue, picking between the bullet types is just a matter of preference or what is available for the type of shooting you want to reload for. For example, hollow point cast lead bullets exist, but certainly aren't common so if you're doing a run of ammo for self-defense, using jacketed is almost a requirement.

Now, back to the bullets that you have. Do you have a powder picked out yet? If not, what would all you GPers recommend as a good powder and load for this bullet?

(Ooh, just thought of something. I recently picked up a pound of Unique -- a very common pistol powder -- to try in my new .45-70, but Unique in .45-70 gives such light loads that I'll likely move to a different powder. Want a near pound of Unique?)

[cohutt]

Try that unique in 45-70 before you give it up

[jbrch378]

I'm shooting a Taurus PT1911 .45 and a CZ 75B. I have 230 rn lead for .45 and 115 lead for 9mm, both are 18BHN from Missouri Bullet Co.

I'm going to gun show this weekend and plan on getting powder and primers.

Powder:
Bullseye, W231 and Clays probably a pound of each to experiment with.

Primer:
Winchester or CCI not sure of which one yet, might buy some of each to experiment with each powder.

Any suggestions will be considered!

[craig110]

Any suggestions will be considered!

There are a lot of WSF (Winchester Super Field) fans here for 9mm.

[BigSlick]

WSF all the way for both 9mm and 45 ACP.

It meters like water, can go from mild to wild, burns cleaner than 231 by a country mile and is *very* lead friendly, so, when you do go to casting your own, you'll already have an ideal powder for lead bullets.

As far as plated, I prefer Rainier over Berry's. If you look around, you can most likely find true jacketed bullets for not much more than the cost of lead.

Montana Gold, Zero and Hornady HWP bullets are all good options if you want to look at a jacket just to compare.

I'd shoot lead over plated or jacketed any day of the week, and jacketed over plated.

If the plated bullets are economical enough, they can make sense, otherwise, go with a jacketed and you won't have to deal with the limitations of a plated bullet.

In my experience a jacketed or (tuned) lead load will be more consistent and accurate than a plated load.

Moly isn't a big deal either way for pistol - not enough velocity to take full advantage of the benefits some see in Moly. It can be messy too.

[jbrch378]

Went to the gun show today and picked up some supplies:

#1 Bullseye and #1 Unique (tried to get WSF but the guy didn't have any)

1k CCI small pistol primer/1k Winchester large pistol primer(wanted CCI large but the guy didn't have any)

I thought that I read somewhere that Lee LM likes CCI and Winchester. That guy has the market cornered at the show in Pittsburgh being that he was the only vendor there carring powder/primers, and he really didn't have alot, I tried to get WSF, HP38, W231, Clays or Titegroup so I end up getting Bullseye and Unique. I wanted Bullseye though, so I guess 1 out of 6 ain't bad.

[craig110]

Only one vendor at today's show had powder and primers? Thanks for the info! I was going to go to get some more primers and powder but couldn't get there today and won't have a chance at getting there tomorrow. I'd have fun strolling the aisles for the $8 (at least that is what I think admission is), but not finding a good selection of primers and powders would have been disappointing.

Any guns follow you home from the show?

[jbrch378]

no guns, mainly went for powder and primers, was looking for a .22 conversion for my 9mm , but didn't find one. I think instead of a conversion I can just get a whole new pistol for cheaper, probably what i'll do. I ended up buying a Ruger mkIII 22/45

[BigSlick]

Unique will work just fine ;)

A little dirty, and in some measures, it can be hard to find consistency, but I like it a lot and have used quite a bit without any major complaint.

A good thing that comes with Unique, it works pretty well in just about any caliber you can think of where handguns are concerned. There are some exceptions, but not many.