Lead vs jacketed

[Agent_Smith 1]

For 9mm, 38 special and 40 cal., is there any big downside to loading cartridges with lead bullets instead of jacketed ones?

 

Are there any ranges that forbid ammo with lead bullets?

 

I ask, because lead bullets appear to be cheaper, but the folks I know who reload all seem to use jacketed bullets.

 

Thanks

 

-AS

[bhunted 887]

Be prepared to do a lot of cleaning and lead removal...

 

 

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Typos courtesy Apple...

[Krdshrk 3,877]

Lead is cheaper but I prefer to load jacketed (Plated, really) for health reasons - the less lead exposure, the better.

[JackDaWack 2,895]

Well, lead is cheaper and more hazardous to work with, also need to clean your bore more and watch for leading, can be harder to reload since its soft.

 

Plated is a bit more $$ but can be loaded to a higher velocity

 

Jacketed is even more $$ and can be loaded to an even higher velocity.

 

I use plated bullets, since they seem to be the middle of the ladder. For plinking ammo..

 

I load FMJHP like hornady XTP since i like those rounds and i use them for HD. Some people say not to use reloads for self defense but i actually can load and shoot them more, i just hand load them instead of spitting them out on the LNL like i would with my plinking ammo.

[GRIZ 3,369]

95% of my pistol loading is with lead. Work within the parameters of lead bullets and you have no more problems than with jacketed bullets.

[alec.mc 180]

^^^^ x2

 

 

I shoot nothing but lead, load within the correct velocities and you wont have issues.

 

I use bayou bullets that have a coating on them , more of a pleasure to handle and it keeps the barrel squeeky clean.

[jrfly3006 42]

Ive never had problems shooting lead out of my Glock 26.. Just looks like a dam civil war reenactment when I fire with all the smoke..

[Sigman 41]

I shoot mostly lead, but I do most of my shooting outdoors. I'll shoot jacketed indoors to keep the smoke down. Lead bullets smoke more from the lube burning off.

[tony357 386]

you cannot shoot lead in some Guns, Guns with polygonal barrels are some of them. The DE will clog the gas port if you shoot lead out of it..

 

fixed...

[hd2000fxdl 422]

Ive never had problems shooting lead out of my Glock 26.. Just looks like a dam civil war reenactment when I fire with all the smoke..

 

Did you change the stock barrel??

[JackDaWack 2,895]

Did you change the stock barrel??

"you cannot shoot lead in some Guns, Guns with octagonal barrels are some of them"

 

yeah......

[leadunderpressure 52]

"you cannot shoot lead in some Guns, Guns with octagonal barrels are some of them"

 

I think that you mean polygonal barrels but that's not true either. Lead can be shot in any firearm.

 

Several manufacturers won't warranty a gun which has fired any reload. Lead or jacketed.

 

 

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[Maksim 1,504]

I think that you mean polygonal barrels but that's not true either. Lead can be shot in any firearm.

 

Several manufacturers won't warranty a gun which has fired any reload. Lead or jacketed.

 

 

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Well... here you are half right.

 

Lead also comes in a variety of flavors...

Alec, what you are shooting is not really lead per say....

 

So there is soft lead, hard cast lead, and moly coated lead.

 

The problem with lead bullets in polygonal rifled barrels is that it will far more easily build up and can quickly clog up a barrel, and then Kaboom.

 

It is more likely to happen with soft lead bullets, than hard cast, or moly.

 

You also have to clean lead a lot more.

 

Personally, I do not shoot lead for a variety of reasons. Not only from the cleaning aspect, but from the health perspective. There have been a few members on here that I know personally that got in trouble shooting and working with lead. Is it really worth a penny a round?

 

Go with plated bullets. A bit cheaper than fmj stuff, but far better because no exposed lead base.

 

Clean gun, clean health.

[jrfly3006 42]

 

 

Did you change the stock barrel??

Still using stock barrel.. I dont shoot the lead exclusively.. I usually alternate mags with the other jacketed stuff I have.. I also am anal about cleaning so the barrel gets a good scrub often