National Bullets for .38 special?

BadShot · April 15, 2000, 06:55 PM

My local gun dealer has been pushing me to try some National Bullet 'Copperized' copper coated lead bullets($30.00 for 500). I guess the idea is to cut down on the lead fouling. I was thinking about trying them in 158gr SWC and using 3.5gr of W231 for target practice. Anybody have any experience with these? Any other suggestions?

Thanks

kframe19 · April 16, 2000, 12:38 AM

Bad,

I've used maybe 5,000 NBC bullets over the past 10-12 years or so. Generally I've been happy with them. They're not the best looking bullets around (normally a little wrinkly and some have uneven sprue marks and whiskers), but they work well enough for me.

I've been loading their 230-gr. LRN lately for .45 Auto and .45 Auto Rim. Work just fine.

Somewhere I've got 500 of their .32 cal. bullets that I load in .32 Long. --Mike

**Mal H** · April 16, 2000, 12:48 AM

National Bullet's bullets fail into the "ok" category - not real good and not bad. They're fine for your intended purpose of target practice. I find quite a few bullets with voids and missing lube out of each box. They don't go through any swaging process like Oregon Trail or Bull-X for example. Even so they usually hit the paper where pretty much where I aim them. I'm always amazed at what actually doesn't matter when it comes to an accurate bullet. The copper on the Nationals is very thin. It's more like a copper paint than a thin copper jacket like you get with Rainier's.

April 15, 2000, 06:55 PM	#1
BadShot Member Join Date: March 12, 2000 Location: West Des Moines, Iowa Posts: 22	My local gun dealer has been pushing me to try some National Bullet 'Copperized' copper coated lead bullets($30.00 for 500). I guess the idea is to cut down on the lead fouling. I was thinking about trying them in 158gr SWC and using 3.5gr of W231 for target practice. Anybody have any experience with these? Any other suggestions? Thanks

April 16, 2000, 12:38 AM	#2
kframe19 Member Join Date: April 9, 2000 Posts: 61	Bad, I've used maybe 5,000 NBC bullets over the past 10-12 years or so. Generally I've been happy with them. They're not the best looking bullets around (normally a little wrinkly and some have uneven sprue marks and whiskers), but they work well enough for me. I've been loading their 230-gr. LRN lately for .45 Auto and .45 Auto Rim. Work just fine. Somewhere I've got 500 of their .32 cal. bullets that I load in .32 Long. --Mike

April 16, 2000, 12:48 AM	#3
Mal H Staff Join Date: March 20, 1999 Location: Somewhere in the woods of Northern Virginia Posts: 16,955	National Bullet's bullets fail into the "ok" category - not real good and not bad. They're fine for your intended purpose of target practice. I find quite a few bullets with voids and missing lube out of each box. They don't go through any swaging process like Oregon Trail or Bull-X for example. Even so they usually hit the paper where pretty much where I aim them. I'm always amazed at what actually doesn't matter when it comes to an accurate bullet. The copper on the Nationals is very thin. It's more like a copper paint than a thin copper jacket like you get with Rainier's.