My experiment with the zinc jacketed bullets is over. When they first came out, I asked if they might be available in quantity 100 so I could try them out. This was denied; the return policy was pointed out. I bit for quantity 500 anyway. I’ve put together some medium velocity loads that I fired in a few different 9mm guns to unimpressive accuracy. I’ve fired them in limited amounts in a couple of .38 Supers with bullet tension issues. The description of this product states they are coated with some kind of wax or polish to deter oxidation. And maybe this inhibits friction that is necessary for good bullet tension. I’d thought of washing the remaining zinc jacket bullets for this reason but hadn’t quite gotten to that chore.
Today, all further loading of these for me will cease. I fired 50 of them in a Sig Sauer P225, didn’t notice anything going wrong at the time. When I got home and around to cleaning my guns, I was shocked to find the bore of the Sig badly fouled by zinc adhering to it. It was really bad. Regular cleaning methods wouldn’t touch it. It took me about a hour to clean the barrel in the Sig using wads of Scrub Buddy shoved down the bore. I finally got most of it out, with a few slight, stubborn traces remaining in a couple of the grooves. I hope this will “shoot out” in the future.
I gathered up about 150 bullets that I hadn’t loaded. Then I gathered up the 9mm cartridges I had already loaded with the zinc jacketed bullets. These I’m in the process of pulling down. I’ve got four boxes of 50 to pull down. The upside of this process is, the wax/polish coating has prevented normal bullet tension and they pull fairly easily. I’m done with the zinc jacketed bullets.
