I am looking for a cheap, bulk range ammo for suppressor use that can be bought from Cabelas (I get rewards points for buying there) and the only ammo I'm sure doesn't have an exposed lead base and falls into the "cheap bulk" category is the Syntec. Anyone have any problems using this in a suppressor? Any reason not to?

If you can recommend a more conventional cheap bulk ammo available at Cabelas in 9mm with a TMJ or other enclosed base that would be cool too.

It or any of the plastic coated bullets are fine.

I’ve used both the 124gr and the 150grn.

124gr - right on the edge of transonic for me. PCC went supersonic with a barrel length of 5.5”

150gr - won’t cycle my suppressed Glock 19.  Muzzle velocity is right at 870fps

I've had great luck with the 150s shooting suppressed (CZ Evo Scorpion SBR, MP5 SBR, and CZ P09). They are extremely quiet, clean, and seem to be reasonably accurate.

So what are you calling "plastic" coated? Hi-Tek? Powder coated? Something else?

I'm not sure what Federal uses. But after running a few thousand Hi-Tek bullets through one of my cans, I now don't shoot any of them through any suppressor.

That's not to say I don't shoot them. Just not suppressed. I stick with copper plated or jacketed for suppressor use.

Here's what my can looked like after 2-3000 rounds. It was building up an impressive cone on the blast baffle. The opening in the baffle was getting tight enough, I was getting worried about bullets rubbing and causing baffle strikes.



The people that use these in USPSA open guns all say they shoot well, but crud up the compensators in a similar manner.

After the silencer episode, I did some testing with a muzzle brake and different diameters of coated bullets. Going to a larger bullet (.358") reduced the deposit dramatically. But going to a copper played bullet virtually eliminated it.

You can see details Here. Scroll to the bottom for results.

Awesome thread @GarrettJ

In your last test, were those FMJ or TMJ? Have you compared the two? I’m curious if TMJ without an exposed base leads up cans less than FMJ. Thanks in advance.

All of this testing was done using copper plated and poly coated bullets. Both are totally encapsulated with no exposed lead.

I haven't done the test with FMJ (exposed base) vs. TMJ or JHP, which would have a covered base. Anecdotally, I ran a case of FMJ with exposed lead bases through a can several years ago and I thought the buildup was more than it should have been. But nothing that I tried to measure.

Any more, I mostly shoot copper plated through suppressors vs. jacketed, due to cost savings.