Polymer bullets or total metal jacket..

P

petespoiled630

Inactive
Thinking of buy polymere (tpj) or total metal jacket (tmj).. can get a 1000rds for $165.00. Just for practice. Any experience or thoughts???
 
When you say "jacket", you mean plated?
True jacketed bullets are considerably more expensive than poly coated, while plated and coated are similarly priced.
I much prefer poly (Precision, Bear Creek) to plated (Rainier), but do use both.
For practical competition, some dislike the additional smoke of poly coated bullets, compared to jacketed or plated, but the plated bullets that I've used have been extremely soft, being easily distorted by just the bullet seating and crimping processes, while poly bullets are harder, and they leave next to nothing in the bore in the way of residue.
 
Maybe for an ammo manufacturer, as opposed to handloaders, the difference in price for bullets isn't a big deal, so can charge the same for both?
 
TMJ means just what it says a thin jacket of metal is encases the lead bullet, a copper (or other material) wash dips the bulllet in a thin liquid which covers the core. The poly bullet the OP is referring to could have a jacket and poly tip, poly wash or whatever....would need to see bullet description to determine....
The price quoted is for what caliber? My local BiMart has Blazer brass,350 rds, FMJ, 124 gr, 9 mm for $79 ( boxed in a plastic ammo can) not an exceptional buy but ok for informal shooting at $.23 a round.
 
Cast bullets out of the question? Best thing for target shooting and fun shooting vs anything else. Mind you, some clubs are insisting on 'no lead' exposed bullets these days. That means plated or the TMJ's. Difference is the thickness of the outside. A TMJ is a jacketed bullet. A plated bullet is not jacketed, but still keeps the lead enclosed.
The polymer bullet is injection-molded copper-polymer bullet. No lead at all and weighs a lot less, but costs a lot more. Almost a buck a shot.
 
Note that "TMJ" is a Speer trademark for their THICKLY plated bullets comparable to drawn jackets.

No doubt us cartridge (I cannot find a www catalog for them) has gone generic and is probably loading the usual thinly plated bulk bullets. Which is not necessarily bad, I am now shooting Xtreme plated and have used Berry's and they do fine.
I am also shooting BBI and Bayou bullets with HiTek coating and they also do fine in my guns.
While T. is no doubt technically correct on polymer BULLETS, the price cited by the OP is surely for polymer COATED bullets which are usually quite cheap.

So you will be OK either way, depending on the overall quality.
 
I switched from lubed cast to coated lead for revolver and pistol reloading. The gun cleans much easier without all the smoke residue from the lube. The price difference is small when buying in bulk.
 
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