Funny you should mention - I've been playing with .357 Mag powder coated bullets for high speed applications as well. I don't have my data in front of me but the short version is that the 130-gr coated RNFPs can motor along quite fast from .357 Mag guns. The 20" barreled lever action rifle gets them really hopping along.Sevens wrote:I think we discussed powder coated cast bullets in another of your threads. Since that time I have had the chance to work up a load and even chrono it in .357 Magnum through my Ruger 77/357 bolt action rifle. Using a 180-grain powder coated slug, I can send them over 1,500 fps consistently (18-inch barrel) and this without a trace of ANYTHING left in my bore.
Very, very happy with these, and I had to comment because your post made it seem as though powder coated slugs may not be good for velocity-- I can say that in my application (obviously different than yours), they seem to LOVE the speed!
All of which is new territory for me, because before this I saw powder coated as strictly something cheap/clean to use for low-velocity practice ammo. I have rolled many hundreds of .38 Spl, .44 Spl, and .45 ACP with coated bullets for practice rounds and been quite pleased. I'm sure I'll continue to do so, too. I still like my plated rounds, of course, but coated sure is nice. The trial boss loads described in this thread are essentially ".500 Specials" loaded in magnum cases. As we've frequently discussed, when shooting for low-speed/low-recoil you might worry a bit with plated/jacketed bullets. Not so with bare lead (which I don't like to use) or coated (which I am really starting to like).
I also have some .300 Blackout rounds made with 158-gr coated RNFPs that I will chrono here soon.