Federal powder coated ammo?

[ryanmattes]

Saw this in the store today. I had no idea Federal was making powder coated ammo. They're calling it "Syntech Range" ammo, saying it has a "synthetic jacket." At $0.50/rnd they're touting it as "low-cost range ammo."

I took a peek at the back of the box and it's only showing ~890fps.

That's a powder coated lead slug. It has to be cheaper than copper jacketed, but no significant price difference from regular jacketed ammo.

Harrumph.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220116/4be3a4584c857e68dfb901982117ff03.jpg

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[iflyskyhigh]

It’s been around for several years now.

[Winger Ed.]

Seems like someone was marketing something similar awhile back.

Theirs was a sintered Copper slug where Copper powder was sort of compressed down like a dirt clod.
They'd sometimes start falling apart in the box so they plastic coated them.
They were offered for use on Lead free ranges, but sort of went away fairly soon.

[iflyskyhigh]

https://www.federalpremium.com/news/federal-expands-syntech-options.html

Introduced on 2017 by Federal. Not sure about the stuff previously mentioned.

Coated lead was introduced to my reloading bench last year when my FMJ’s and JHP prices sky rocketed and became unobtainable in bulk.

I used bare lead when I started reloading, then tried the coated, and plated, but JHP’s and FMJ’s got to be so cheap for awhile the other options weren’t worth the trouble.

Recently tried coated again and I’m sold for bulk shooting and practice. They’ve come a long way. Much cleaner and very accurate. And now much cheaper than the FMJs and JHPs.

[ryanmattes]

But there's no way I'm paying $0.50/rnd when I can make them for ~$0.07/rnd.

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[Meatpuppet]

The 150gr 9MM Syntech is super-mild recoiling. I was gifted a 1000rnd case (before the crazy happened) and it worked great for USPSA pistol shooting. But the cost is insane now when I can make my own for much less.

Now I buy Ibijiheads coated 165gr 9MM Round Nose Bevel Base by the case (2600 rounds) delivered for around $230 or 9 cents a projectile. It is worth it to me to save the time NOT casting and coating high-volume 9MM boolits so I can focus on other casting, swaging and shooting projects. I use them to make my 9MM mortar rounds for USPSA shooting. In Carry Optics, the low recoil impulse aids in keeping the dot from leaving the glass during recoil.

As a bonus, I can use them in .357 Magnum and 357 Maximum plinking ammo.

[Misery-Whip]

I bought some a year or to back. Was $8 a box. Cheapest 9mm on the Bi-Mart shelf. Just one box to compare to my pc 9mm loads. Wasnt impressed myself.

Federals pc process seems to be better now. The coatings of the box I had were very thin and fisheyed.

[Mytmousemalibu]

Ive tried some of it and seems to be fine ammo. The 150gr USPSA minor legal stuff was pretty decent but the only time ive seen it was off a match prize table.
Loading my own is still the way for me. Been using Blue Bullets coated for years now andcthey have been the best performers.

[ReloaderFred]

They're polymer coated, not powder coated. It's an entirely different process.

With the prices of raw materials now, "stuff" is going to be more expensive. When I take scrap brass to the recycler, and get twice what I was getting a year ago, that tells me a lot. I took brass in two weeks ago and got $2.44 a pound for it, while a year ago it was bringing me $1.25 a pound.

Transportation costs have gone through the roof, plus some retailers are just generally raising prices to keep up with inflation. When burger flippers are getting $15.50 an hour starting pay, the cost of the burger has to go up, too. That's what's happening in our industry. Costs go up, labor goes up, transportation goes up, overhead goes up, so it's only a matter of time before the end product goes up to cover all the other costs.

I'm not trying to justify the current costs, just trying to help explain some of the reasons for it.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[MUSTANG]

And an "Oldie but Goodie" there was the S&W NyClad Ammunition introduced in 1980. Advertised as a means of trading the lead and having "Clean" ranges. An archived article/advertisement can be found at: https://www.gjenvick.com/BangorPunta/SmithAndWesson/SW-NycladCenterFireCartridges-1980.html



Some where I have 2/3 box of S&W Nyclad .38's I picked up from a trash bin on a range I was at. May have to go looking for it in the spring and compare to PC'd cast boolits just for :bigsmyl2:

[megasupermagnum]

As mentioned it is not powder coated. I can't speak about the Nyclad ammo, which has been around for a long time. The syntec is a liquid coating. I toured a plant that coated these bullets for Federal. Bullets are placed in a rack, held on the sides by needles. The rack is then dipped in the coating, and finally they are cured in an oven.

Now isn't a good time to be comparing ammo. Stuff that used to be expensive is not bad, and stuff that used to be cheap is 10x the cost. When times were normal, Syntech was a little cheaper than FMJ. Along with that, Federal isn't promoting this as dirt cheap ammo, it is promoted as super clean range ammo. I've only tried the 45 acp and 22 LR ammo myself, and am not super impressed. The 45 acp shoots about like a FMJ, not bad, but not spectacular. The 22 LR the same thing, not bad, but CCI lead RN shoots better for me.

[Sam Sackett]

But there's no way I'm paying $0.50/rnd when I can make them for ~$0.07/rnd.

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You must have an old sock of primers. They alone would cost $.08 per round now. I know I can’t load for 7 cents anymore.

Sam Sacket

[ryanmattes]

You must have an old sock of primers. They alone would cost $.08 per round now. I know I can’t load for 7 cents anymore.

Sam SacketYeah, I had a bunch before this all started. Hoping to hold out till prices stabilize. If they stabilize over a dime apiece, I might just cash out and have a nice down payment on a house.

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