The 9mm Makarov and 9mm Luger velocities of 1,000 fps and 1,100 fps respectively were quite respectable, especially in the short-barreled SIG SAUER P365. Range ResultsĪs the chart shows, Berry’s plated bullets performed admirably in my handloads. Half of Berry’s production goes to OEM ammomakers and the rest to the hobby reloading market, so you may have already experienced shooting plated handgun bullets and not known it. Every bullet I tested was rated up to 1,250 fps except the thick-plated 9mm/.357 Sig bullets that can be loaded to 1,500 fps. Customer calls reporting poor performance are almost always the result of excessive crimping or shooting the bullets too fast, according to Taylor. Accuracy is ruined, and the bullets will keyhole. I concluded, after assembling several hundred rounds, only two reloading steps require special attention.Īlso, gas blows by the bullet base, further damaging the bullet and causing it to tumble. Researching my load manuals, I discovered both Western and Hodgdon offer specific data for Berry’s plated bullets. Tips for Loading Plated Bulletsīerry’s doesn’t offer specific load data but suggests using published data for the same caliber and weight jacketed or cast bullet as long as the estimated velocity does not exceed the limit noted on the product label. My calipers indicated a half-thousandth of an inch maximum difference in diameter. 38-caliber bullets and a grain or so for the. Weights varied no more than a half-grain for the 9mm and. I obtained a good sampling of Berry’s plated handgun bullets and weighed and measured a sample of each bullet. After plating, the bullets are punched through a sizer die to ensure the specified diameter is achieved. The plating thickness ranges from four- to nine-thousandths of an inch depending on the bullet’s intended velocity. The container of copper acts as the anode, and over a specific period of time (hours), the electrolysis process leaches copper ions from the blocks and deposits them on the lead slug surfaces. Thousands of these are carefully cleaned and placed in a drum filled with a heated chemical solution and a specific quantity of copper blocks. Then the slugs are individually inserted into precisely machined dies and struck by a hydraulic punch to form the desired shape. Excess material is sheared off to make slugs of uniform weight. Although they look like a jacketed bullet, the copper plating is not as robust, so they are typically loaded with less aggressive, cast bullet load data.Īccording to Marketing and Sales Manager Justin Taylor of Berry’s Bullets, Berry’s plated bullets are formed by first pouring molten lead alloy into multiple mold cavities. The plating acts as the buffer between the lead core and the rifling while it’s accelerating and spinning down the barrel. Plated bullets are like a hybrid version of a jacketed and cast or swaged lead bullet. Jacketed bullets are complex, so they’re more expensive to manufacture. The monolithic copper and copper-alloy bullets of today have completely eliminated lead in many modern bullets. The improved cup-and-core bullets meant firearms firing smokeless munitions could reliably and accurately provide much greater power and range. It didn’t take long for strong copper, copper alloy, and mild steel bullet jackets to be developed to sheathe the softer lead core. Once rifled bores and smokeless propellants became the norm, shooters soon discovered the rifling and hotter gases damaged lead bullets, negatively affecting accuracy. I should have started using them years ago. I’ve been reloading for nearly 50 years, but until recently, I had never loaded plated bullets.
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