Cooper plated bullets are widely used for hundgun applications here, in Argentina.

They have advantages vs. jacketed bullets
-Cost is half of jacketed or less.
-Need less powder weight for getting same velocity(2 or3 tenth of grain less).
-Less pressure and recoil, in fact, same as plain cast bullets

And, in comparison with plain cast bullets
-Look nice, very important for commercial reloaders
-No leading, they are less sensitive to barrel diameter variations.
-Nor lube neither smoke, very important for action shooting and indoor ranges.
-No lube, reloading dies of progressive presses remain clean when reloading 400/500 rounds.

Cooper plated bullet manufacturers say they must size bullets twice, before and after cooper plated.

There are also painted bullets which have same characteristics and price as cooper plated ones.

Both, cooper plated and painted bullets, work fine for pistols, 9mm caliber, .40S&W and .45ACP. Cooper plated bullets present problems in some .38 Super Auto barrels of IPSC Open Class, with compensator.

It seems to require less equipment for painting bullets than for cooper plating. I was told manufacturers paint bullets with epoxi or poliuretan paintings, by inmersing and curing them in an oven at 285�F (140�C). It would be interesting to know more about this.

As far as know,cooper plating requires a rotary elotrolitic cube, a washing cube, with corrosive chemical liquids an electrical equipment, transformer and rehostat, at least

BA Shooter

Pecos
You are just looking to start another cat fight between the blue/red and the orange/green color preference guys. You cunning savage you. This was all done with a lispth!
You've not seen the like of the unrelenting bitchiness of those orange/green guys, especially after they broke a nail.
Jim

Arky - Painted/Plaited - What's the difference?



BA Shooter - I can only assume you and I are talking about the same thing. What I am calling "copper plated" bullets is probably more accurately described as a "copper wash." The bullet APPEARS copper plated, but the copper on the swagged bullet is actually so thin as to be little more than decoration.



I think the only value of it is it may slightly reduce lead emissions for indoor shooting ranges. And, as this bullet is not really lubed, it also reduces the smoke produced by a cast bullet.



The downside is it is totally incapable of anything but target velocities without severe leading. I bought a couple of boxes of them years ago, loaded them in 38 and thought they looked really cool. But my loads were hot and the results were pitiful. Leaded my bore until it looked like a sewer pipe. I've never used them since.



I just don't think it's possible to swage a pure lead, bubble gum soft bullet, with or without plating, and try to drive it at near maximum velocity and achieve anything like acceptable results. JMHO

Pecos
I'm sorry I made the effort at gay humor.
You have a nice day unless you made other plans.
Jim

Gay humor, Arky? You're shooting over my head, my friend. I missed it, but I like almost any sort of humor.

I would love to have a nice day, but I fear I must go to work.

Pecos

I believe you and I are talking about cooper which is deposited on lead surface by electrolisys.
Same process used as base from chrome plated parts(automotive, bike, motorcycles parts).

It seems that difference is in the thickness of the cooper deposit, bullets here have a "cooper shell" which remains fully sticked to the slug after shooting.
Moreover, I pick up these slugs from the range and use them as rough material. Cooper shell remains with its primitive shape after casting. It is necessary to excert a slight pressure to crush them.

If the cooper thicknes is too thin, then, it happens what you said; leading. This was a problem here at the early beginning.

Moreover, moulds for casting coooper plated bullets have reduced diameter versus moulds for plain cast bullets to compensate the cooper skin thickness.

Regarding accuracy, you are right, better results are achieved with plain cast bullets than with cooper plated ones. But, I do not know if comparison is fully fair in my country. Cooper plated commercial bullets are offered in only one diameter, plain cast bullets are offered, or sized by us, in several diameters to optimize barrel fitting. Precision shooters use plain cast bullets, tunning alloy hardness, fitting dia, lube.
But for Pistols , in Practical Action Shooting (IPSC) competitions , when shooting rapid fire at multiple targets, sun reflects on lube smoke and it is impossible to see targets after the first shoot. Cooper plated,or painted or jacketed bullets are a must because they are free of lube.

That is all from my side

BA Shooter

BA - What is the cost difference between your plated bullets and jacketed?

I know what you mean about the "smoke issue" from cast bullets. I think all cast bullet lubes will produce a little smoke on firing, some more than others. But I've personally not found it significant enough to be a problem for combat pistol shooting etc.

Pecos

Retail prices for 150/200 grains pistol bullets made in Argentina are the following.

Jacketed bullets:.............US$ 50
Cooper plated or painted......US$ 25
Plain Lead, sized and lubed...US$ 15

These prices are for 1000 bullets and they were turned into US$ at current exchange rate.

I cast bullets for training and buy cooper plated for competition. Both have exactly the same weight and shape, so, I do not need to change anything in my progressive reloading press.

Only as reference, 1000 pistol primers cost:Brazilian Magtech US$ 23, USA Remington US$26/28. (small size)

BA Shooter

Chuck

I find out a thread with the opinion of someone who gave a try to electroplate cast bullets:

http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=7908&highlight=electroplating

There was another thread,in google rec guns, I believe, which was more specific than that, current values (Ampers) and voltage values were mentioned, but sorry I can not find out it. The author was more optimist than the above.

Hope this helps

BA Shooter

BAShooter;
Thanks for the link!
It's been a lot of years, but I seem to recall a lab test in Science class in High School!
In this lab, we used a nickle, connected to the POSITIVE battery post and a penny connected to the NEGATIVE battery post!
We used a glass baking pan and about an inch of distilled water!
We put the nickle in the water on one end of the pan and the penny on the other! Current flow is from Neg to Pos in a circuit, so the copper from the penny was deposited onto the nickle!

If I remember correctly our pennies are zinc stampings and plated with copper. The pennies seem to hold up pretty well to abuse of being carried in pockets etc.
Jim

I couldn't tell you about the zinc content in the pennies in circulation now, but the old wheat pennies are copper with the exception of the steel ones (I think 1943)!

Chuck
I was speaking of the current and I should have made that clear. Sorry for my lack of specific date.
I had a buddy who thought he'd use to old pennies as bullet jackets. I don't know if he ever did but seems possible.
Jim

I thought "copper washed" meant the colored bullets like in .22 rimfire or the old original copper-colored Peters .357 magnum loads... not really copper-plated.