BB steel/BB steel copper coat

[krowe79]

Going to get some b b steel shot is the copper coated stuff and better than normal steel shot thanks

[Smokersmith]

I load a lot of steel, and have never felt the need to use the copper coated stuff.

[motty]

No better, ballistic wise, as far as I am aware, but looks pretty.

[johnnytheboy]

I never fire many she's on the foreshore, I got copper coated so it wouldn't rust together

[TONY R]

A few years ago i used to see a few posting on ohio deepwoods and even DHC and nodak on using copper platted air rifle BBs in goose loads not sure why they bought it like this never asked but was popular i cant see any balistics advantage, and i imagine it would be more expensive to buy in air rifle bbs than loose shot but it was not just the one fowler doing this in the states it seemed at the time quite common place.

[UK fowler]

I like the size 4.3mm/B# and the fact it does not rust does it have more down range energy? no it does not but it does pattern better than plain 4mm shot out of my 12g gun so on that alone its worth the extra price to me

[figgy]

Copper is supposed to harden the surface and help with patterns but by how much is debatable.

[rbrowning2]

Copper is supposed to harden the surface and help with patterns but by how much is debatable.

I don't think copper will ever be harder than steel, not sure it is metallurgically possible. Is it not to stop the steel from rusting? Which may cause the pellets in the cartridge to rust together forming one or more clumps of pellets.

 

Whenever you cut open a old lead cartridge the top layer of shot can be covered in oxid so moisture/oxygen does get in via the crimp which would allow for rusting of steel pellets.

Edited October 4, 2016 by rbrowning2

[figgy]

Yes i was thinking of lead carts. On steel no use as far as i can see pattern wise.

[pestcontrol1]

copper and zink coated steel i use to load a bit of the copper coated as it gave a better pattern to normal steel but then i tested the zink coated and it gave me the same good pattern like the copper coated. So as the zink is cheaper at the moment i got stocked up with that and it dose look a bit blingey in a clear case

[figgy]

How much better pattern wise is the coated to uncoated shot? You would think the manufacturers would be using and selling on these qualities.

Edited October 4, 2016 by figgy

[pestcontrol1]

if i remember right it was about 11% i think

[figgy]

Roughly one choke constriction tighter,good to know.

[UK fowler]

107 pellets in the load 96 in the 30"

this is the copper 4.3mm 40yds 12g I cant falt the stuff as it shoots very well out of my guns 4.3mm copper shoots much better than standard 4mm in my browning o/u and it is not to shabby through the 10g

[Smokersmith]

Nice!

[muncher]

 

107 pellets in the load 96 in the 30"

this is the copper 4.3mm 40yds 12g I cant falt the stuff as it shoots very well out of my guns 4.3mm copper shoots much better than standard 4mm in my browning o/u and it is not to shabby through the 10g

 

 

Is that buffered or straight ,and what load are you putting through the ten please.

[Smiler23]

That's a great pattern

[Guest cookoff013]

 

107 pellets in the load 96 in the 30"

this is the copper 4.3mm 40yds 12g I cant falt the stuff as it shoots very well out of my guns 4.3mm copper shoots much better than standard 4mm in my browning o/u and it is not to shabby through the 10g

 

 

yeah. thats a fine pattern.

the only reason i`d load up coated pellets is the storage issues with steel, going back and forth between cold damp to warm conditions can cause rust. after going through the process of making the damn things, degradation is the last thing i`d want.

[UK fowler]

 

Is that buffered or straight ,and what load are you putting through the ten please.

you have PM

[B525 LIGHT]

Pellet counts slightly down. A couple of potential advantages albeit very slight. Copper is softer on your barrel although I accept its a very thin coating but copper is also more dense than steel which may partialy account for the drop in pellet count. Have never measured them but I'm guessing the coating makes them ever so slightly larger.

[B525 LIGHT]

That is a lovely pattern. The UK fowler HG load!!

[pestcontrol1]

 

107 pellets in the load 96 in the 30"

this is the copper 4.3mm 40yds 12g I cant falt the stuff as it shoots very well out of my guns 4.3mm copper shoots much better than standard 4mm in my browning o/u and it is not to shabby through the 10g

 

Cracking pattern m8 is it as good in the ten ? id be interested in the data to plz m8

[coyotemaster]

That's a great bird killing pattern! I shoot zinc plated shot for no other reason than its the best as far as sherical consistency. Remington Nitro mags use the identical shot and their rep is sterling. Precision reloading here is a supplier

[neutron619]

Pellet counts slightly down. A couple of potential advantages albeit very slight. Copper is softer on your barrel although I accept its a very thin coating but copper is also more dense than steel which may partialy account for the drop in pellet count. Have never measured them but I'm guessing the coating makes them ever so slightly larger.

 

The point of the copper is - as I understand it - to lubricate the shot as it goes through the choke, since polished copper has a lower friction coefficient than iron oxide (which is the surface layer of "steel" pellets).

 

I realize we're talking about steel shot here, but I'll expand this to both steel and lead. With lead, if you coat the pellets with enough copper on it to significantly affect the size of the shot, you lower the average density of the pellet and make it less ballistically efficient, so there's no argument for greater killing power there. You could argue a slight benefit in the case of steel pellets - copper is denser than iron, so theoretically, you'll increase the average density of the pellet very slightly, which should make it ballistically more efficient - this probably explains the slightly lowered pellet count - but the difference is marginal at best, as I suspect, is the improvement in terminal performance.

 

That said, copper is also softer than iron and most steels so the more you add, the more likely it is that you'll create surface deformations, which will make pellets less ballistically efficient, so there's no argument for greater effectiveness there either. It is harder than lead, so you could, with a layer of decent thickness, theoretically reduce the deformation of lead pellets, which might improve patterns, but in this case we return to the point above about lowering the average density. For everything you gain in pattern, you're losing penetration.

 

As far as I can surmise, in either case, the copper layer too thin to prevent deformation to lead pellets (think apple skin around an apple hit with a hammer - it holds the thing together but there's no real strength there). I suspect it's intended by the manufacturers to be sacrificial - similar to Molybdenum coating for rifle bullets. Most of it will not be intact by the time the pellet / bullet is actually hitting what it's being fired at. I imagine it provides lubrication in the "crush" of the choke area by detaching from the surface of the pellets to allow them to pass each other without deforming to such a great extent. In that respect, I suppose it could theoretically do what is intended, but on the basis of what little evidence I've seen either way, I think its more likely to be "marketing fad" than "amazing new innovation". I certainly wouldn't spend extra on copper-coated shot at this point - I need to see more evidence that it's actually beneficial to performance and even if that can eventually be shown, I suspect the effect will be small.

[Isaidduck]

How interesting .

So you are saying it makes no difference , but pestcontrol1 says it improved his patterns by about 11 %.

Have you patterned it yourself ??

 

I would think 11% improvement is very good especially to someone like me who needs all the help he can get !!