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What I am seeing at the IDPA and USPSA matches are a mixture of plated and coated bullets. I shoot plated in matches where I run a 9mm just because they smoke less that the coated (which are not a lot worse when using titegroup powder). I don't use cast with the lube groove any longer because they smoke so much with titegroup. I have had a couple of stages in the past where we stood in one place and engaged all targets. There was no wind blowing and by the time I was about half way through shooting, I could barely see the targets. People were jokingly asking if I was shooting black powder and the SO was complaining about the smoke. Coated bullets are significantly better and plated bullets are just about completely smokeless, even with titegroup.

I still shoot a coated bullet with my 45 ACP as I use VV N310 for my match ammo. It is extremely clean round, superbly accurate and has a soft feeling recoil even though the load produces a 175K power factor. I also have plenty of the coated 230 grain bullets so no reason to change now.

As to bullet weight, when I first started shooting 9mm, I talked to a couple of Grand Master shooters and they told me that they run a 147 grain bullet at 920 feet per second. I asked why so heavy and why so fast. Their response is that that load will take any steel found in any match. I find it to be soft in recoil as well. On the 45 ACP, the first time I went to IDPA nationals, I was squaded with a young man that won Expert in Custom Defensive Pistol (45 ACP, typically a 1911) at that match. I was asking him questions about the ammo he shot. He told me 230 grain round nose and Clays powder. I asked why and his response is that he polled all of the top shooters and that is what they used. I asked why none were using the 200 grain SWC. The response was due to occasional feeding issues.