Badman bullets - polymer coated bullets

A

axismatt

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I did a search and only found mention of them, but no real experience or opinion of them, so...

Has anyone used the Badman brand polymer coated bullets, or any other polymer coated bullets? If yes, what did you think? Were they easy to work with when reloading? Did they perform well and in what type of firearm were they used in?

I was going to buy some for use in my SRH in .44 mag., as well as some 9mm for my CZ 75. Thanks in advance for the feedback.

Matt
 
Not all poly coated bullets are created equally. I have found a few coated .45's that work well on the range but I have not found a 9 that will outperform the plated bullets I am using. My biggest gripe with most is the lack of consistency on weight and size - smaller the bullet the worse it seems to get.

I have only tried about 20 different brands of the coated 9 mm and there are many more out there I want to try. I would add Badman to my list for the 9's to try out but I am buying FMJ for less per thousand (Rocky Mountain Reloading 124gr RN "New" FMJ $78 shipped with discount code brass10 about 2 weeks ago).

Also take a look at Monmouth's Shooter Precision coated for your 44. I haven't tried their 44 but their SWC 45's shoot better than anything else I have tried in my 45.
 
I shoot some reloads I get from a local reloader HF Services here in town. They use a poly coated bullet. So far Ive noticed the gun is easier to clean barrel wise.

Dont see any difference in accuracy etc.

.45 230gr.


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I bought the sample pack of bullets offered. I am new at this and also, probably not as picky. But I liked the BadMan bullets in 9mm that I got. I loaded them somewhat low and I was OK with their loading and shooting from my GLOCK G19.

You might cosider the sample pack offere to try them. It's, what, $9 or so?
 
I have used many Bayou and SNS coated bullets in .380, 9mm, 357 Sig, 38/357, 40sw, 41 mag, 44spl/44mag and 45acp. Recently I got some 38s and 9s from MBC but haven't used any yet.
I have been very happy with them. They are economical and accurate in everything I have tried. In heavy 44&41 mag loads they shoot as good as jacketed.
I had some minor leading in my BHP 9mm with one bullet, which was interesting because the same load, 125 gr. SNS RN, didn't cause leading in other guns. Deeper rifling or different twists?
I can usually find a practice load with coated bullets that has the same POI as my hunting or SD loads.
I like plated too but coated are almost as cheap as cast without the mess of lube and lead.
 
It would seem that there are different "poly" coated bullets. I have used Hi-Tek bullets, very good, and powder coated bullets, also very good. I have used a lot of Hi-Tek coated bullets from Precision bullets and they are as clean as jacketed and as accurate as lead. I have PCed mebbe 1,100 of my cast lead bullets and used them in 3 revolvers, 5 semi-autos and 2 rifles. Clean shooting and handling and generally as accurate as most any bullets. The coated bullets are only as consistent as the lead bullets underneath the coating, and I used lead load data which worked quite well...

For answers to just about any questions on coating bullets look here; http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forumdisplay.php?184-Coatings-and-Alternatives
 
It would seem that there are different "poly" coated bullets.

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Yeah there sure are!! Two main types, the Hi-Tek type and powder coated. The Hy-Tek is a two part coating that usually involves to coats of the "paint" to cover the bare lead boolit. Then it is sized to it's final dimension. (I do not use this product, so I's unsure just how it's applied).

Powder coating is what I use, as a home applied coating. My starting method was tumble coating using harbor freight red, which is a powdered epoxy paint. It is applied by shaking the bare lead boolits with air soft BB's in a plastic bowl. Then baking for 20 mins at 400 degrees. I graduated to the harbor freight electrostatic air sprayer, this gave a better coverage, prettier boolits. Then I started use powder from "powder buy the pound". It's powder poly paint, it's a much higher quality than the HF stuff. I want to get some PC from a guy on the cast boolits forum,"smoke" is his handle.

In my experience the PC method is far superior to plain lead boolits, lubed and sized with some sort of grease. Some say it's more labor intense than plain lead and lubed boolits. I say it's about the same time expended. Only shorter time expended is a tumble lube type Lee boolit that is NOT sized. PC boolits have to be sized before use just like lubed lead. The oven curing is the only extra step, and it only takes a couple of hours for 500 boolits.

Performance is the main point. I can run as many PC boolits as I want to through several pistols, the barrels are slick and clean, only require a wet patch with your favorite solvent to get the powder fouling out. NO LEADING! Accuracy is excellent as well, as good as or better than plain lead, plated, or jacketed bullets.
 
I've used about 20,000 Hi Tek coated bullets from Missouri Bullet Co. Mostly in .38spl, but some 9mm and 45colt. They are slick as snot. No leading, and no lead on the fingers from handling. No lube build up in the seating and crimping dies. I'm sold.
 
I like them more in auto pistols than in revolvers.

I've had great luck with The Blue Bullets and SNS Casting's .45 auto 200 grain SWC's.

In 357 I got leading with a HyTek coated .357" bullet, but no leading with a .358" one, so coating isn't a cure-all.

I still prefer the Rainier 158 plated FP in my revolver.
 
Thanks guys. Lots of helpful info there.

I think I will do as suggested and try a sample pack... from each of the mentioned companies.

The main reason I brought it up is... I have been buying from Xtreme bullets for a few years. Their plated stuff is just awesome to work with. The catch is that my pals and I have been running speed drills, designing fun games and challenges to spice up our plinking sessions. We exclusively shoot against steel. But more and more, as my friends and I increase our speed, we are too often getting chunks of jacket flung back at us. Swearing, bleeding and torn clothes are not as big of a deal as the hesitation when quickly getting on target.

Lead in revolvers is fine, but none of us will shoot lead in our auto-loaders. We all work together , loading and shooting the same hand-made cartridges so we all have the same handicap. The poly coated stuff seems like a great option, just wanted to hear it from this group first.
 
I am relativity new to coated bullets. Just started using them six months ago. In my opinion, they are the greatest thing since the invention of smokeless powder. Well okay, I may be exaggerating just a bit. :p I can shoot 100 rounds in my 1911 (.45acp) and you can barely tell the pistol has been shot by looking down the bore. In my Beretta 92FS (9mm) it's not quite that good, but almost. In my .38Spcl revolver, about the same as the 9mm. As for accuracy, I've seen a slight improvement. I get them from a local manufacturer called Standard Bullet Company in Des Plains Illinois.
 
The catch is that my pals and I have been running speed drills, designing fun games and challenges to spice up our plinking sessions. We exclusively shoot against steel. But more and more, as my friends and I increase our speed, we are too often getting chunks of jacket flung back at us. Swearing, bleeding and torn clothes are not as big of a deal as the hesitation when quickly getting on target.
Click to expand...

You need to visit a Cowboy Action match. There is a reason the steel targets are angled down and only lead (or powder/moly coated) bullets are allowed. Lead splatter almost never comes back to shooter.

While you are there, don't be surprised if you get hooked!
 
I am sure I would get hooked. And all out plates are hung with an angle that never splatters us when we pause between shots, but we all know what happens when we get a plate swinging, and then all bets are off.

Anyway, you guys confirmed my thought that these polymer coated bullets might work. I will be sure to follow up with some results and some pics of our session.

Matt
 
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