Loading Advice

You may have heard that loading coated bullets is more difficult than loading plated or jacketed ones. While we can’t speak about every coated bullet in the world generally this isn’t true. It’s definitely not true with Zero Mike Bullets!

Loading coated bullets requires slightly different set up to jacketed or plated but it’s no more difficult. When setting up your dies there are only two real changes you need to make to your set up for jacketed bullets.

First you want to bell the case a little more than you need to with jacketed bullets. Not blown up like a blunderbuss muzzle, just a little more belling. Coated bullets will normally be sized a little bit bigger than jacketed ones. You also want to try to avoid cutting or scratching the coating off the bullet.

Next you want to crimp as little as possible. In fact, generally just taking the bell out should be enough for most gun load combos. The bullet being sized bigger helps keep it in place as well.

We suggest you load up a couple of dummy rounds (no powder or primer) when setting up. Take the one and pull the bullet using your kinetic bullet puller. Check the bearing surface of the bullet for damage to the coating. Also make sure the bullet shape hasn’t been deformed by the crimp. Then take the other one and load it in your pistol from the magazine a few times and check that it doesn’t setback after a few loadings. For the record, these steps are a good idea with any bullets you may be loading.

Everything being equal, you will likely need to use a little less powder than with a jacketed bullet. So please don’t just substitute the new bullet over your old, jacketed bullet load. As always start at a safe starting load and work up to your desired velocity. If you were previously loading normal lead bullets you may need to add a little bit to your load. But as always, the chronograph is your friend here.

Follow these steps and you’re loading experience will be a pleasure, and your shooting will be better than ever.