124g RN copper plated vs 124 RN cast lead formula.

[hatman1793]

3.5 grains of Bullseye powder, powering a 124 grain FMJ or plated 9mm bullet vs the same powder with a lead cast 124 grain lead bullet. Same bullet profile.
Of course the plated bullet cost more. Which is more accurate out to 25 yards? Which is accurate out to 50 yards? Any distance less is irrelevant...

 

[Ganderite]

Assuming good quality, I would expect better accuracy from the lead bullet.

But it is up to you to do a work-up with both and find out what shoots best.

 

[4n2t0]

Unanswerable question, too many variables.

 

[jethunter]

If you had two pieces of string, which one is longer?

The answers are only as good as the question.

 

[redryder]

Lead

 

[bigedp51]

I stopped casting bullets in 1982 when my sons were very young to not expose them to heavy metals in wheel weights. I had encouragement quitting, I had a pot of wheel weights explode, one of the weight must have had water trapped under the clip and the pot exploded and molten lead flew everywhere. I broke the world speed record jumping backwards away from the pot and wasn't hurt. And after pulling melted lead out of my hair and off my face I decided to stop casting. And now here in the U.S. lead in wheel weights are banned and cheap lead is hard to find.

That being said bulk plated bullets are cheap and less time consuming than casting. And you never see me making postings about "What's with all the smoke?"

 

[hatman1793]

?????
Two identical profile & weight bullets. Same powder charge. One is lead cast, the other is plated. Fired at 25 yards, then 50 yards.
Which is more accurate?
(ps plated bullets are not cheap and never will be again. 11-14 cents each is not cheap)

 

[VinnyQC]

I stopped casting bullets in 1982 when my sons were very young to not expose them to heavy metals in wheel weights. I had encouragement quitting, I had a pot of wheel weights explode, one of the weight must have had water trapped under the clip and the pot exploded and molten lead flew everywhere. I broke the world speed record jumping backwards away from the pot and wasn't hurt. And after pulling melted lead out of my hair and off my face I decided to stop casting. And now here in the U.S. lead in wheel weights are banned and cheap lead is hard to find.

That being said bulk plated bullets are cheap and less time consuming than casting. And you never see me making postings about "What's with all the smoke?"

Man, casting has other real advantages. Suppose there's a werewolf in town, all you have to do is take a spoon from grandma's silver cuttlery, melt it and cast a few silver bullets, then you have something effective against the werewolf. Then you can laugh at those guys trying to kill a werewolf with copper plated.

 

[VinnyQC]

?????
Two identical profile & weight bullets. Same powder charge. One is lead cast, the other is plated. Fired at 25 yards, then 50 yards.
Which is more accurate?
(ps plated bullets are not cheap and never will be again. 11-14 cents each is not cheap)

Why would you even have the same powder charge? It's like asking wheter a plane or a car with wings is faster. Suppose both are running on octane 87.

That question doesn't even make sense.

 

[jethunter]

I stopped casting bullets in 1982 when my sons were very young to not expose them to heavy metals in wheel weights. I had encouragement quitting, I had a pot of wheel weights explode, one of the weight must have had water trapped under the clip and the pot exploded and molten lead flew everywhere. I broke the world speed record jumping backwards away from the pot and wasn't hurt. And after pulling melted lead out of my hair and off my face I decided to stop casting. And now here in the U.S. lead in wheel weights are banned and cheap lead is hard to find.

That being said bulk plated bullets are cheap and less time consuming than casting. And you never see me making postings about "What's with all the smoke?"

Sometimes we need a close call to wake us up. Do you ever forget to put powder in the cartridge when you reload? Same thing, pay attention or take up golf.

 

[VanMan]

in working up some 38sp loads for PPC, I found there was a big difference in fps using the same powder charge between lead and plated bullets, and surprisingly a significant difference between different brands of plated bullets. These were hollow base wad-cutters though, so 9mm bullets may perform differently.



Reliable/repeatable testing out to 25m and 50m is going to be very difficult without one of these