Zero bullets

[olddav]

Has anyone used Zero Bullets. I purchased some at a gun show (44 Mag) and I have not found any load data for them. The bullets are 240 grain jacketed soft points. What to do?

[steve4102]

Zero brand bullets are excellent bullets.

You will never be able to follow load data to the letter and match each and every component exactly. That is one reason why there is a "Start" charge and a "Max" charge.

It is perfectly acceptable to use load data of Same Weight Bullet and Similar Construction from different manufacturers. Find as much 240gr data as you can and start low and work up.

[higgite]

Ditto what Steve said. I suggest you definitely plunk test the first few rounds in your pistol's barrel before going crazy and cranking out a ton of rounds. I found that I had to seat them a couple thou shorter than other brands of bullets to fully seat in my pistols.

[Sevens]

Haha, sorry, I will have to take a slight issue with this. Zero bullets are fine bullets. They aren't horrible, they aren't dangerous, they aren't "sub-standard" bullets.

They don't meet almost any real definition of "excellent" however, and that is my opinion, of course. Nosler makes fine bullets, Hornady's XTP line are fantastic. Sierra has a phenomenal reputation for excellent bullets all across the board. Most of the jacketed handgun bullets that are sold in 50 or 100 piece boxes could easily be argued as excellent.

Zero bullets are an absolute budget bullet line and typically sold in volume. 500 or 1000 pieces at a time and many of us buy thousands when the opportunity presents itself.

I have used a kinetic bullet puller on occasion to tear down a round for whatever reason... and with a Zero bullet, I was able to tap the lead core right out of the cannelured jacket, leaving a loaded cartridge case with only a flyweight copper jacket roll-crimped in to a .357 Magnum case.

Zero bullets are a fine blasting, plinking, fun-shooting bullet that's typically going to be easy on the wallet compared to premium bullets. But if these are even loosely defined as "excellent", then we have to find a far more descriptive term for the industry's FAR BETTER jacketed handgun bullets, of which there are many.

Load data? Use typical, known safe handloading practices: find 2 or 3 published loads from respected sources and begin either at the start charge listed for a 240gr jacketed slug, or start at least 10% under the listed maximum load.

[CowTowner]

Unlike Sevens, I have loaded and still have thousands of Zero Bullets. I have pulled them using a kinetic puller and never had any separation of core from jacket.
They are my go to bullet for range ammo and handgun hunting loads.
I have no problem calling them "excellent".

However, Sevens is absolutely right on with this statement:

Load data? Use typical, known safe handloading practices: find 2 or 3 published loads from respected sources and begin either at the start charge listed for a 240gr jacketed slug, or start at least 10% under the listed maximum load.

Everyone's mileage will vary sooner or later.

[olddav]

That's what I was thinking, but it's best to get some info from someone that has some experience with the product in question.

Thanks

[steve4102]

Originally Posted by Sevens

I have used a kinetic bullet puller on occasion to tear down a round for whatever reason... and with a Zero bullet, I was able to tap the lead core right out of the cannelured jacket, leaving a loaded cartridge case with only a flyweight copper jacket roll-crimped in to a .357 Magnum case.

Hornady XTP.

[Sevens]

Sweet! That's even cooler looking than the Zero that I have.
(plus my pictures stink because the camera in my phone stinks.)

Unlike Sevens, I have loaded and still have thousands of Zero Bullets.

11,500 Zero brand bullets purchased, according to my log. (and my log is kept quite well) I can see from my chair at least 2,500 of them in reserve that I haven't shot yet. Mostly, the Zero I've eaten through have been 125gr and 158gr .357" slugs, but I've done a couple thousand in .40cal (180s) and .45 (Hardball.)

So, I supposed that's "thousands", I guess you'd have to more clearly define what you meant.

It's a fine, cheap slug. Great plinking or blasting ammo.

[CrustyFN]

I have used a few thousand Zero bullets in competition and plinking and think they are great bullets. I have a few thousand on the shelf waiting to be loaded. Very accurate bullets.

[reynolds357]

I shot them in competition for a few years. I believe team CZ still shoots them.