Blue Bullets

Has anyone tried these:

https://thebluebullets.com/

My cousin shoots them in 9mm and they have some nice .45 as well. He said that they shoot very clean and no smoke from coating. I am tempted to give them a try.

Joel

They sell .451" for 45, .355" for 9mm.  I could see issues with undersized bullets.  I don't think they are meant for accuracy, more for go-fast guys.  More expensive than Brazos Bullets too.

These are powder coated as opposed to Hi-Tek coated.  Powder coated works, but it is my opinion that Hi-Tek is better for most applications.

I tried a sample pack of 9mm when I first began reloading and wasn't impressed with my fingers turning blue from handling them or the fact that they are basically undersized.

Blue bullets are all I load in both .45 (SWC 200's) and 9mm (flat nose 124's)  I purchase them in bulk and yes some batches leave a bit of blue on your fingers.  Not a big deal as I wash my hands immediately upon leaving the loading bench anyway.  
  

I'm  happy with them. YMMV  bob

I like the 158gr flat nosed 38 special blues for DR practice. Very accurate at 25yds and no leading with 3.0grs WST. I load the 125gr 9mm for my son w/5.0grs True Blue for IDPA. I talked to the guys that make them and they said they have changed the blue coating so it no longer gives you blue fingers. They are made about six miles from my house.

Bill

I've been using Acme 200 gr. bullets in .45 ACP. They are accurate enough for the short line, but I wonder about the long line. I would order a few sample packs from Brazos, Bayou, Acme and Blue Bullets, etc. and machine rest test them with your current powder charge for lead bullets and test them at 50 yards before ordering a large quantity. I haven't been real impressed with the 9mm accuracy of any of the brands at 25 yards and I've tried a few different weights of bullets. I'll get, like three good shots in a group and then a couple of flyers that open up the group to 4"-5". Admittedly I'm shooting them out of non-accurized, self-defense type, polymer pistols. The same pistols, with jacketed hollow point bullets will shoot under 3" at 25 yards.

Powder Coated bullets can be considered "soft jacketed" and use jacketed methods. But most of my PCed bullets are sized like my cast bullets. I would not fear shooting .355" in my 9mms and .451" 45 ACPs mainly because the PC coating will deter any fouling. I have purchased some Hi-Tek bullets sized like jacketed (203 gr 45ACP @ .451") that worked quite well...

mikld wrote:Powder Coated bullets can be considered "soft jacketed" and use jacketed methods. But most of my PCed bullets are sized like my cast bullets. I would not fear shooting .355" in my 9mms and .451" 45 ACPs mainly because the PC coating will deter any fouling. I have purchased some Hi-Tek bullets sized like jacketed (203 gr 45ACP @ .451") that worked quite well...

 Before we started Brazos Bullets, I had some misery with powdercoated bullets being undersized.  Leaded my barrel horribly.  .451" might work, but .449" will cause leading.  I found that out the hard way.

I've probably loaded a few thousand of their 125 grain 38 Special round nose bullets. With a fast powder like Clays or 700x they are great low recoil range fodder and pretty accurate through my snubbies. Once you learn to modestly bell and crimp they perform well at a low price.


John

Lightfoot wrote:They sell .451" for 45, .355" for 9mm.  I could see issues with undersized bullets.  I don't think they are meant for accuracy, more for go-fast guys.  More expensive than Brazos Bullets too.

I also noted they sized their lead bullets more like jacketed.  I tried some but seem to have settled on Zero for swaged and Brazos for hard cast.  Before Brazos I used Dardas, but as you probably know, the owner retired and closed shop.

I've tried many brands of coated bullets in 9mm, including Blue Bullets. Of the ones I've tried, Acme seem the most accurate out to 25 yards. I have a sample pack of Precision Bullets coming. They intrigue me, since they are coated and swaged bullets with a concave base.

I have tried Acme, Gallant, Falcon, Bayou for poly coated 38 Special and probably a few others. The loads need modification a bit between brands with comparable size/geometry. I use mainly Blue at present as they have been relatively accurate for target practice.


John

I tried some of the Precision Bullets 115 grain 9mm bullets today, at 25 yards through my Sig P320X Compact with Sig ROMEO ONE PRO sight. I was pleased with these coated, swaged, concave base bullets. I shot 5 shots, standing, two-handed and unsupported. However I don't know if they'll group well at 50 yards.

Think I may order a sample of those precision bullets.  They for sure have an impressive site and very detail oriented.  They seemed to be priced pretty good as well.  Swaged and coated, nice combination.


Thanks for the heads up Mike

I tried some in .40 and .45 and the Moly coating fouled my barrels so bad I didn't think I would ever get them clean again. I'm not saying that you will have the same issue, but be aware of it. I had good communication with Precision about it and tried all of the powders that they recommended and finally just gave up on them. I've seen others with the same issue on the Brian Enos forum so it seems that they either work, or they don't depending on the individual barrel I guess.

Just my experience, but I did like them other than that!

David Wilson (fc60) did some testing with the .45 200gr LSWC a while back and they didn't do too well at 50, but he re-swaged them and got good results after doing that IIRC.

DA/SA wrote:I tried some in .40 and .45 and the Moly coating fouled my barrels so bad I didn't think I would ever get them clean again. I'm not saying that you will have the same issue, but be aware of it. I had good communication with Precision about it and tried all of the powders that they recommended and finally just gave up on them. I've seen others with the same issue on the Brian Enos forum so it seems that they either work, or they don't depending on the individual barrel I guess.

Just my experience, but I did like them other than that!

David Wilson (fc60) did some testing with the .45 200gr LSWC a while back and they didn't do too well at 50, but he re-swaged them and got good results after doing that IIRC.

Well that’s good to know...thank you 

I also saw the fouling issue on the enos forum.  I may leave this one alone right now.  Too many irons in the fire already

DA/SA wrote:I tried some in .40 and .45 and the Moly coating fouled my barrels so bad I didn't think I would ever get them clean again. I'm not saying that you will have the same issue, but be aware of it. I had good communication with Precision about it and tried all of the powders that they recommended and finally just gave up on them. I've seen others with the same issue on the Brian Enos forum so it seems that they either work, or they don't depending on the individual barrel I guess.

Just my experience, but I did like them other than that!

David Wilson (fc60) did some testing with the .45 200gr LSWC a while back and they didn't do too well at 50, but he re-swaged them and got good results after doing that IIRC.

I only fired 50 rounds of Precision Bullets through my Sig P320X Compact, but there were over 200 rounds of coated bullets besides. I just cleaned the barrel. I used Hoppe's Elite (now M-PRO 7) bore cleaner on a patch and ran it once through the bore. I then ran a bronze brush through the bore 10 times and followed by a clean patch. The bore is sparkling clean. There could be a problem with loading high velocity rounds. I would treat them as any other swaged bullet and not load near maximum loads. My loads are pretty mild. Maybe the folks on Brian Enos's website are loading to obtain power factors. If that is the case, they shouldn't be using swaged bullets, but cast. Apparently Precision Bullets has changed the coating formula in the not too distant past. These things are discussed here: https://precisionbullets.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/FrontsiteMag_PrecisionBullets_Part1.pdf

Thank you for the update.

It was the coating that fouled my barrels, not lead fouling.

OK, I just looked and they now use "Polycoating". They previously were using Moly coating, and the ones I tried were the second generation of Moly coating, as the first was also troublesome. They were pretty much advertised as the only Moly coated bullets.

I've never had any trouble using Hi-Tec or similar coating, and in one of our conversations, I asked why they didn't just drop the Moly coating and use Hi-Tec.

There are several “polymerized” dry film lubes containing Molybdenum Disulfide (“moly”).  These are commonly used in Aerospace applications.  The polymerization is similar to the polymerization of polyurethane varnishes.  Adhesion can be problematic with the room temperature cure examples.

Wobbley wrote:There are several “polymerized” dry film lubes containing Molybdenum Disulfide (“moly”).  These are commonly used in Aerospace applications.  The polymerization is similar to the polymerization of polyurethane varnishes.  Adhesion can be problematic with the room temperature cure examples.

The coating on Precision Bullets doesn't seem to have this problem: https://precisionbullets.com/2019/08/03/the-hammer-test/ I don't have any stake in the success or failure of this company, but just want to offer another alternative source for coated bullets and show some of my results.

That’s a “standard test” for Bullet coatings.  Powder coats usually break but they seldom separate from the base metal if done correctly.  The ASTM standard test for dry film lube coating adhesion is a tape pull off test.

Wobbley wrote:That’s a “standard test” for Bullet coatings.  Powder coats usually break but they seldom separate from the base metal if done correctly.  The ASTM standard test for dry film lube coating adhesion is a tape pull off test.

I'm a newcomer to coated bullets. Are you saying that this type of coating is a problem for bullets for reloading? To me the advantages of coated bullets are less smoke, which is especially good for indoor shooting and no leading in barrels. I've found the accuracy ok for 25 yards with the right bullet/ load/ gun combo. I'm still sitting on the fence as to 50 yard accuracy.

No, coated bullets work and work very well.  These coatings are a game changer for cast bullets.  Leading almost becomes a thing of the past.  

That said, some coatings are definitely better than others. The issue is that there aren’t any definitive tests and, therefore, no results of said tests other than anecdotal results.  Case in point these Powder coated vs these “polylubed vs Hi-tek.  What is in these coatings?  How do they react to being fired?  Some have claims of lubrication.  What is the additive that gives the lubrication?  A lot of these are considered “proprietary” but it’s our gun, our health and our money...

Wobbley wrote:No, coated bullets work and work very well.  These coatings are a game changer for cast bullets.  Leading almost becomes a thing of the past.  

That said, some coatings are definitely better than others. The issue is that there aren’t any definitive tests and, therefore, no results of said tests other than anecdotal results.  Case in point these Powder coated vs these “polylubed vs Hi-tek.  What is in these coatings?  How do they react to being fired?  Some have claims of lubrication.  What is the additive that gives the lubrication?  A lot of these are considered “proprietary” but it’s our gun, our health and our money...

I can't help but think that coated bullets, of any type, are less likely to be a problem for reloaders than traditional caste or swaged. Having known a couple of fellas, in days gone by, who reloaded a lot of ammo and didn't take any precautions, like not smoking or eating while engaged in the task, I feel better with coated bullets. I know at least one who got so bad that he said he couldn't remember his name. He did recover, however. Today we are much smarter about things like eye and ear protection and good hygiene after handling lead.