Hi-Tek Coated bullets

[42253]

Has anyone had problems with HI-Tek coated bullets? I loaded some 9mm 124 gr RN bullets and the problem is they wont fit in the chamber. When the bullet head is in the brass it expands the brass and it is to big to fit in the gun. I believe that the coating makes the diameter of the bullet to big

 

[rooster]

Not crimping enough

 

[AmmoManAaron]

You are probably correct, but it could also be a lack of crimp. A Lee factory crimp die will probably be helpful if the bullets are too big in diameter and it is also fairly easy to set up.

 

[42253]

I have loaded a couple of thousand 9mm with berrys plated 124gr rn bullets and no problems. I decided to try the Hi-Tek with the same set up no changes and you can see they must be bigger. I going use micrometer and see.
I should have known something was up, because thinking about when i loaded them some of the coating was getting scraped off

 

[2in1evtime]

Have you checked the diameter of the bullets, i have loaded thousands of coated and never had a issue, as to shaving coating off you need to bell the case mouth a little more for coated!

 

[42253]

Have you checked the diameter of the bullets, i have loaded thousands of coated and never had a issue, as to shaving coating off you need to bell the case mouth a little more for coated!

I going to check the diameter now. Yes I opened the bell more to get the bullet in.

 

[d.kaufman]

Almost thinking from those pics maybe you got 38/357 (.357 diameter) instead of 9mm (.355 diameter)

 

[bwframe]

Years back I toyed with Hi Tec coating in 45's. From a couple different companies they were fat, as the OP has run into. It can happen.

I'm not sure if my issues came from improper sizing or the lack of sizing or limited understanding of how much the Hi Tec coating can vary according to the mix? I fooled with it early on, when the Hi Tec coating was a new thing.

I gave up on the Hi Tec coating, in leu of my own powder coating. I wonder how well Hi Tec bullets size after coating? Could it be a worthwhile thing to do with component availability and pricing as it is?

 

[42253]

Almost thinking from those pics maybe you got 38/357 (.357 diameter) instead of 9mm (.355 diameter)

That is what i was thinking. The batteries are dead in digital caliper so I cant get a number reading. but if I caliper the berry's bullet in the brass and then try it on the Hi-tek its a no go. Need new batteries

 

[t-squared]

When you say they won’t chamber.....are they not making it in at all or going in some but not letting the gun go completely into battery?

 

[55fairlane]

Dead batteries in your calipers? No set on dial calipers on hand? How did you check the seating deapth on the Hi-Tek bullets you were seating?
Hope you can resolve this problem

 

[42253]

Dead batteries in your calipers? No set on dial calipers on hand? How did you check the seating deapth on the Hi-Tek bullets you were seating?
Hope you can resolve this problem

I loaded these 3 month ago the batteries were good in calipers then. That is how I set them. Today went to shoot and found the problem.

 

[42253]

When you say they won’t chamber.....are they not making it in at all or going in some but not letting the gun go completely into battery?

Yes they wont go all the way in.

 

[42253]

I going to check them and see if they are 38/357 that were marked wrong

 

[Virch]

I found with Hitek coated LRN bullets, both 115gr and 124gr, I had to seat them deeper in the case, between 1.070 and 1.080 for them to chamber properly in my M&P. If they were any longer the bullet was striking the rifling. The ogive on LRN bullets is different from that of FMJ.

Did you plunk test the loaded rounds?

 

[t-squared]

I'm betting that the ogive on your coated bullets is further away from the base, or "later", than the Berry's. The 115gr RN I have from Berry's have an "early" ogive which allows you to seat the bullet longer than some others.

Along the same lines that Virch is getting at, you're gonna have to play with the oal to get them to "plunk" properly and not bottom out prematurely on the rifling. Not to be preachy, but also pay close attention to your load data and consider reducing the powder charge some if you go shorter than the recipe calls for. This is where using a chrono comes into play.

FYI, coated bullets are generally sized the same as lead.....001" over what fmj usually are.

Here's an excellent thread from another forum that explains OAL and shows an easy way to determine max oal for any bullet you want to reload...OAL explained

 

[DadSmith]

Did Try a plunk test? You may need to seat those bullets a little deeper. I have 3 9mm so I do a plunk test on the barrel that requires the shortest col. That why they operate in all 3 without problems. I do it every time I change bullets when reloading the 9mm. Now that I own 2 45acp I'll have to do the same with them.

 

[Joegrz308]

The profile of the bullet requires a deeper seating than a FMJ.

 

[Karl-just-Karl]

As others have said, I had to seat Hi-Tek coated projectiles a LOT deeper.

The mouth had to belled a LOT more to avoid scraping off the coating. I ended up losing more cases than usual with splits on the mouth.

The crimping portion to close them up also seems to create a lot more brass shavings as well.

Of course there was also a corresponding drop in the powder charge.

For 115gn, I have to seat them at 1.060 to reliably pass the plunk test in my CZs.

Eventually I got them shooting pretty well. Fortunately 9mm brass is plentiful.

 

[42253]

Thanks for all the info. I think I going to stick to the Berry's because they work good for me. I tried the coated one because Berry's weren't available. I have plenty of Berry's now.