This is for auto handgun, 9mm and 45, shooting paper and maybe some steel plates out to about 25 yards max.
FMJ vs plated vs coated. Does it make a difference?
Also any recommended suppliers?
Saw Blue Bullet mentioned somewhere, but looks like the lead times are crazy.

Thanks all! There is tons of stuff on the web, but for some reason I trust it more when I know it's a local person giving the advice.

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Nah, not really for general blasting. I think FMJ or plated are easier to handle, cleaner and easier to load . . . so they're my preference, if the price is right. However, I wouldn't hesitate to use coated if I could save some decent money.

Right now, things are tight everywhere. You're going to have trouble finding what you want, at the right price, with the right lead time. You may need to compromise.

Yeah, Blue Bullets may be a good choice. I haven't used them myself, but I'm sure they're fine.

I've loaded a lot of plated bullets, most of them from Xtreme Bullets. I've been happy with them.

I've also bought a lot of pulled bullets from American Reloading. The price is right, but there's work involved with sorting and making sure you don't blow your hands off. Make sure you know what you're getting into and are willing to clean and sort: viewtopic.php?f=74&t=100971

A lot of local shooters use Bear Creek bullets: https://www.bearcreeksupplybullets.com/

Whatever is cheaper really. Plated it nice, because you don’t have to worry about leading. You are not to far from an excellent supplier. Wes Sage. He is a member here. I think his screen name is SageWa. He sells xtreme plated and others.

https://sagesreloadingsupply.com/

I’ve been able to get plated and jacketed bullets from Everglades Ammo. Their service has been quite good. Just gotta catch their stuff in stock which hasn’t been too bad.

Coated bullets are also good. I’ve been shooting a lot of Federal Syntech, which is coated ammo, in USPSA matches. I bought some 147gr from Brazos Precision, which has a good reputation on the competition forums. I haven’t tried them yet but they look good.

As for which one to pick, it doesn’t matter too much. Don’t use plated bullets with a compensator or really high velocity. The plating can peel off. Other than that, I believe they all perform about the same.


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Thanks guys, I appreciate the insight. Kind of what I suspected, get what you can get for a fair price. I did place a small order with Everglades last week, after seeing them recommended here. It does seem like the price was pretty high after looking at places like X-Treme, but they got the order shipped and sent tracking super quick.
Any feedback on Zero Bullets? I've seen them mentioned online also.

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Sage's site is closed from new orders, says they are trying to catch up to the backlog, so I'll have to keep checking back on that one I guess.

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Yeah, they keep opening and closing the site, trying to keep up, and trying to get supplies in.

They're good people. VERY good people. But times are NUTS right now.

I have quite a bit of experience with all the various types of bullets in a wide variety of loads. Plated bullets are the least desirable for me (including Xtreme bullets), because they're the most sensitive to load types and loading methods. Hard cast coated bullets are significantly more tolerant of hotter/faster loads and generally produce better accuracy in my experience, with some exceptions. Jacketed bullets are even more tolerant of high velocity loads, although they don't offer any particular advantage for extra mild loads.

Blue Bullets is a good choice, but all bullets are expensive and harder to come by right now. It's a bad time to get into reloading; if you wanted to do it to save money on ammo you needed to stock up last year.

I'm seeing that prices are up, but with current pricing, it's looking like I'll still be reloading for about half the cost of buying new. And with the way the world is right now, I don't really see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Plus I'm having fun learning, so there's that.

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Yeah, I just got into it too and I came to the same conclusion. If you're patient and find the right deals, you can avoid paying crazy prices. Not that way with ammo these days. A lot of people are happy to pay the nutty prices just because they're excited to find it in stock. But yeah, for me it's mostly about learning and having fun.

I have loaded plated, hard cast, conventional FMJ, powdercoated CNC machined and now cast zinc. You are late to the game so anything you can get if you can find it unless you are paying price gouging prices. I cast my own both zinc and lead. I have hard cast projectiles I run up to 2600 fps and I just molly lube them. Now I am powder coating using the shake and bake method and it is is so easy and will get you plenty satisfactory with accuracy if you practice plus you do not have to worrry about your alloy hardness. I took a student on a couple months ago and he was casting and powdercoating satisfactory projectiles on his first session.

For my zincs I use a Qtip and molly lube the bands just like I started doing for most rifle calibers before I started powdercoating. I used to tumble lube but time would turn a tumble lubed bullt into a dust bunny on the exposed part. Shooting dust bunnines put of handgun not so much of a problem but a rifle yes.

Are you shooting the cast zinc bare, or with some sort of lube or coating? I've experimented with casting zinc a little but haven't shot many of them.

I tend to load coated bullets for 38 Special. Cheaper prices than FMJ. Good sources are Bayou Bullets, Missouri Bullet Company, and Acme Bullets:
https://bayoubullets.net/
https://missouribullet.com/index.php
http://www.acmebullet.com/index.php?route=common/home

They all seem to have 8-12 week backlog right now due to high demand.

I bought a few thousand .44mag 240gr jsp bullets from Rose/Zero bullets around Christmas to try. I had to call them after about a week and half because of an issue with my credit card, but the customer service was great about it and they fixed the issue. I've only loaded up 50 of them, but they went together without any issues. I haven't fired any of these yet as I'm waiting to get a new barrel from Dan Wesson so I don't have to deal with my ported barrel shaving copper off each round.

Something else to consider is if you do most of your shooting at indoor ranges? The one up by me wont allow coated bullets or pure lead. Copper Plated, FMJ, and JSP's for revolvers are however ok. That's why I spent the extra money for the Zero bullets. If you email roze/zero they will send you a few sample bullets to try. Not sure how many are considered a "sample" but it might be worth an email.

Good point. A lot of indoor ranges prohibit lead and coated bullets. That being said, you can take the tack of begging for forgiveness than asking for permission. I've shot a lot of lead and coated revolver bullets at indoor ranges and never been called out on it.

At the Range At Austin recently burned up a bunch of 38 Special 158gr LRN over Unique loads. Gawd they smoked up the place something awful. Big clouds of smoke wafting all across the range bays. Surprised the fire department didn't show up That range is really new and has an awesome ventilation system but on whole probably better to leave lead and coated for outdoor range use due to health and safety reasons, especially if the range has poor ventilation.