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Old February 20, 2006, 06:46 AM   #1
Joe D
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Berry Bullets

I saw first hand Saturday the plating separatimg from the lead core with 9mm Berry Bullets. One of my friends was shooting their 147 gr bullet in his Glock 34. His load goes about 875 fps. I have always considered Berry to be a step below Rainier and West Coast in quality.
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Old February 20, 2006, 09:23 AM   #2
HSMITH
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Joe, did you pull any and look at the crimp marks on the bullet?

I have been all over the net looking for cheap plated bullets for Glock factory barrels and talked to a lot of competitive shooters around here, Berry came up just about every time a positive response was noted. It was also noted that they are very crimp sensitive, too much and they go crazy.

I just tried some West Coast plated in a G17, full fledged tumbling at 7 yards with NO crimp, light crimp, and with a heavy crimp the plating comes off. The starburst shaped bullet holes were kinda neat

I might try some Berry bullets, but don't have much hope. Plated bullets have always sucked for me out of a Glock barrel no matter what I do.
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Old February 20, 2006, 02:34 PM   #3
troka
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Berry bullets

Hi,
I bought and used 41mag bullets from Berry and had a of of trouble trying to get a crimp to hold the bullet in. They kept moving up and the cylinder would't turn. I found that they were mostly under sized and had to check the size of each one I reloaded. That was the last time I ordered from them.

Troka
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Old February 20, 2006, 03:09 PM   #4
Phxdog
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I shoot 350gr. plated bullets from Berry out of a .500 S&W Mag. Never had a bit of problem loading or firing. Don't know what to tell ya.

I read a post here on TFL a while back regarding too much crimp actually making the bullet more likely to move under recoil. Sorry for your troubles.
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Old February 20, 2006, 03:19 PM   #5
caz223
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The combination of excessive crimp and polygonal rifling isn't kind to plated bullets in general.
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Old February 20, 2006, 03:31 PM   #6
rr4406pak
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Phxdog,

What kind and how much powder did you use in you 500 Mag load?

How did you roll crimp on the Berry's 350gr bullets that have no canelure?

I'm asking because I am thinking of ordering the Berry's bullets for my 500 Mag and am was worried as to how they'll hold up.
I already put 10gr of Unique behind a 440gr lead slug for plinking (work's great!) and wanted to use the same approach for the Berry's bullets. The cheap Berry's price is very enticing. Thanks.
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Old February 20, 2006, 03:36 PM   #7
jsflagstad
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I tried them in a 9mm and in a 40 S&W

I have tried them in my 9mm and my 40. The 40 shot them better but still not good enough for my liking. In either gun, they shot sort of OK out to 7 yards, but after that, forget it:barf: . If a bullet doesn't behave well past 7 yards, I am inclined to not trust it even out to 7 yards.

For the lowest cost alternantives, I prefer Nosler jacketed for the 40 and Remington jacketed for the 9mm. Or I cast my own using a Lee tumble lube design (VERY impressed so far with these).

I have used Ranier plated bullets as well, and i'd have to say that they performed very well. Berry puts some "superlube" on theirs, that makes them darn hard to hang on to......

JSF
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Old February 20, 2006, 08:22 PM   #8
Joe D
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I did not get a chance to look at any of his bullets. He should know that over crimping is not good for plated bullets. I have shot some Berry bullets in .40 and 9mm Glocks without any issues. I don't like that lube either. I have pretty much switched over to Zero jacketed bullets. I get them for the same price as plated.
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Old February 20, 2006, 11:19 PM   #9
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Have shot close to 3000 of berrys .40 bullets without a hitch. 155gr 1150fps to 180gr 975fps. Just watch your crimp and he will be fine.But I love speer match.
Hey JoeD where do you get Zero for the same price of berrys, would not mind trying them out?
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Old February 21, 2006, 12:03 AM   #10
HSMITH
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Zero bullets went way up in price recently everywhere I have bought them in the past. www.ghostholster.com has the best price I know of.
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Old February 21, 2006, 06:02 PM   #11
mbartel
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Quote:
How did you roll crimp on the Berry's 350gr bullets that have no canelure?
The Berry's 350 gr. .500 bullets do have a cannelure. The Rainier plated bullets however do not...
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Old February 21, 2006, 09:56 PM   #12
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Anybody used National Bullet "Copperized" bullets? I've only seen pictures on their web site, and can't tell if they're just another brand of plated bullet or something else. They're more expensive than lead but cheaper than jacketed in 9mm Makarov, which is what I was looking at them for. (Neither Berry nor Rainier make plated Makarov bullets, and Midway doesn't sell bulk jacketed bullets in that size either - just boxes of 100 Hornady, Speer or Sierra at spectacular prices.)
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Old February 21, 2006, 11:01 PM   #13
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Wrangler;

I've tried several bullets (cast) from NW. In my opinion, they aren't nearly as good as other options e.g. North EAST bullets or Penn bullets (both VERY good).

The copperized bullets are copper washed, similar to 22 rimfires. The copper wash is added to keep the lube from being messier than it usually is with non-copperized bullets. They aren't plated just slightly coated, a hell of a long way from jacketed.

For mak bullets, try Bonus Bullets @ $40/1000. They're cast, but excellent bullets and cheap to boot...

I have shot MANY of the Berry's 350 gr thru the 500SW. Great plinking bullets. An excellent range load is 16.2 gr Titegroup, WLR crimped at the cannelure. Accuracy is very good for a plated bullet and cheap(er) to shoot. A lower range charge of H4227 will launch the 350's in the 16-1700 fps range. I've pushed them up to 1900 fps and after about 1725 they start getting a little hinky on ya.

HTH,

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Old February 21, 2006, 11:20 PM   #14
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I've used west coast plated bullets in 45, 40 and 9mm with good results,
use a lee factory crimp die.
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Old February 22, 2006, 11:43 AM   #15
JoeHatley
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Quote:
Anybody used National Bullet "Copperized" bullets?
I've had some on order for 6 months. Still waiting...

Joe
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Old February 22, 2006, 12:36 PM   #16
RonC1
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I have loaded a bunch of 38 cal Berry's 125 gr plated HPs as 357 mag. (before I noted advisories.)

I have clocked the velocity around 1300-1400 fps and not had any problems, not with setback, separation, crimping or keyholing.

The advisories suggest loading more like lead than like jacketed. These seem to work fine with jacketed loads, in 6" barrelled revolver.
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