I'm content to spend my time with greasers and the occasional paper, but plated bullets have become quite widely used. A friend who does not cast asked my opinion on using plated pistol bullets in an antique with a soft steel original barrel.

The plated bullets have a copper coating .004" thick. It seemed to me that it would be reasonable to expect no more wear than the lead under the copper.

Concurring or contrary thoughts here?

I use only cast lead in all my old softer steel barrels. They've been around for over a century now, and I'm not going to be the one to wear them out.

Sounds like the bullets are as yet unordered. Go with the regular ones and have the advantage of available data as well as the comfort that you aren't risking rapid wear.

My guess would be that plated bullets might(?) not add to wear like a jacketed bullet would, but I don't think it's worth even adding a little avoidable wear. I'd be really suspicious that pistol bullet would fit the bore decently or shoot accurately. I think there would also be the consideration of subjecting the bore to more agressive cleaning due to copper fouling. If it is an antique, while there are great modern barrels, they just don't make 'em like they used to.