I've raised this once before in a thread about cleaning/break-in topics. Wondering what people's experience and subsequent opinions are regrading firing both coated bullets and copper.

I'm shooting a Tikka T3 Laminated Stainless in .270, with a Leupold 3x9 @ 100M, sometimes 200M. After doing some research and shooting different ammo, I've settled on (and shot a bunch) Winchester Supreme Accubonds. So far, great accuracy. However, being not the cheapest ammo out there, I don't particularly enjoy blowing thru 1-2 boxes a session @ + $1/shot (and for more industrious of you out there, no, Im not going to start hand loading :} ) So, I suppliment with good ol' Core-Lokts. And as this is my hunting rifle, I have the gun dialed for the Accubonds, and do not readjust my optics for the Rems.

My question is this: being that the Accubonds are Lubalox coated, and the Core's are straight copper, if I were to shoot the Accu's after the Rems, I might see some affect on shot placement, yes? I assume the Rems will be leaving more behind in the barrel than the Accu's. Has anyone done any field research on this? As it is now, I shoot the Rems after the Accu's, just to be sure.

So far, the Rems seem to shoot ok after the Accu's. Of course I had already shot 25+ rounds of .270 and .300Sav in a t-shirt, so I wasnt exactly at my best for the last of the Rems. Vermont is rather warm these days, even at 7PM!

thanks

jonas

In my 308, I reload a lot of Ballistic Silvertips, which are lubalox coated. I've also shot CoreLokts, Gamekings, HotCors, and Hornady's SST through it which aren't coated.

To be honest, the BST's leave just as much copper fouling behind as any of the others in my rifle. The only real difference that I've noticed is that the coating does seem to allow a hotter load than I can get with a similarly shaped bullet like the gameking.

As to a POI change? Why not try it the other way around and see what happens if you're that curious about it? It's not moly, so it isn't like you should only be shooting the moly-coated bullets. Lubalox is mostly for looks if you ask me.

Here's what I would do if I were in your position and wouldn't reload. Go ahead and change your zero to fit the cheaper factory ammo that shoots decent in your gun. Practice all you want with that, but make sure you clean it well after every range session. Then when it gets near hunting season, pull out the accubonds that you want to hunt with and rezero for them. Heck, shoot a box and refamiliarize yourself with their trajectory if you have to. It would have to be cheaper than what you're doing right now. I can't imagine paying a $1 a shot for "practice" ammo. I wouldn't practice very much. For that same dollar, I get about 10 of my reloaded practice rounds which shoot .5" groups at 50 yards.

I really doubt you'd notice a difference in accuracy when you switched back as long as you got rid of all the copper fouling and shot a couple shots to refoul the barrel.

amndouglas

Is there much of a point of impact difference between the 2 brands?

A coworker (I won't call him friend yet) shoots "coated" bullets and plain old coppers out of him 300 wimpchester mag. He did notice a slight diiference in p.o.i. and velocity but no other problems. I don't know what kind of care he takes of his guns after he gets them home but if he doesn't do a better job at home than he does at work there's probably all kinds of stuff growing in his guns. :D

The POI issue hasnt exactly been made clear yet. Like I said, I switched to the Rems at the end of the day....I was no longer at my best. There is also the added factor of the 10gr weight difference between the two. I'll have to start paying closer attention...and shooting better!!

I do like the idea of just shooting low-end ammo in the 'off-season' to save money. My approach thus far has been to make sure my gun can always shoot my hunting ammo whenever Im at the range. Maybe I can rethink that :)

Cleaning after the Accu's, I've also noticed more copper than I thought would be the case. Maybe the Lubalox doesnt do much...admittedly, I do dig how they look! But I shoot them because they've been accurate at the range and have good recorded results in the field (from reading).

Ah well, I guess I could have bigger problems than having to shoot more to figure stuff out!

thanks

jonas

Not sure what layers of coating and layers of copper buildup will do and just how hard it will be to clean down to bare metal again.

The molycoat treatment always said not to mix the two (molycoated/copper) as the crud buildup in the bore would be extremely hard to clean out and that accuracy would suffer. Been there, done that and have the "T" shirt to prove it! That is a nasty combination to try to scrub from a bore.

The coatings on Barnes, Noslers and Winchesters may not have the same effect as moly - then again, may be just as bad when shooting plain jacketed bullets after the coated ones.

My recommendation would be to clean thoroughly between the two types to assure no layering effect.

My recommendation would be to clean thoroughly between the two types to assure no layering effect.[/QUOTE]


Ahhh....the "better safe than sorry" approach... :)
Spose I'll just shoot one type at a time, a do my usual cleaning between sessions.

I'll be cleaning tonight or tomorrow and will see. So far I've seen nothing but blue come out of the barrel after shooting the Accu's w/Lubalox coating. No black, no gunk. Seems pretty clean, just copper.

Bullet coating is an interesting topic...must be pretty tricky to find something that actually helps performance, based on the few coatings being used. In this day of scientific knowledge, you'd figure there'd be a new goop on every new bullet. Guess its been difficult to be plain ol' copper.

Also, interesting we don't see more recommendations for or against coatings (or ammunitions in general) from gun companies. You'd think they'd continually test their guns with factory ammo and let us know what they think. Not that many of us would listen... :)

cheers

jonas