A little note about Ranier Hollowpoints

[ljnowell]

Well, anyone that has any suggestions, or happens to have some on hand, PM me and I will send you my address. I can load them, document what is in them, test them and take pictures of the process. It would make for an interesting thread, and read for people loading their own hollowpoints. I would think that brand like Gold Dot that have proven themselves would not be needed for testing, thats been done plenty of times. There are lots though, like bulk remingtons, etc, that would be interesting to test. A medium would have to be decided upon too, and followed strictly.

 

[depoloni]

Don't want to make big promises I can't keep... I'm pretty well set up to do some sort of test like is being discussed once spring arrives however. I'm a sicko with my reloading budget - I'm not rich but I probably skip more six-packs to get components instead than anyone I know hehe

On hand I've got (all 9mm):
~500 115gr Rainier HP
~250 115gr Hornady XTP
~600? 124gr Berry's HP
Can grab ~100 "X-treme" plated HP bullets from the old man.
Would probably pick up a hundred Rem and Win bulk HPs, and maybe test out those new hornadys with the "flex filled HP" they're advertising if they're available as a component when I get to it.

I have about 6 stacks of saved newspaper about 6' tall in the garage, and another stack about that tall of magazines and catalogs. I don't have a convenient place to soak and shoot them though (durn suburbia).

Any "LP" michigan folks with an interest (and space enough) nearby enough to make plans? Say a long day in march/april? If it works out I'd have to bug you to let me sneak in a few 44mag bullet comparisons and 7mm-08 bullet type/weight tests while I've got a chance to with the media for my own purposes. Can't do this sort of stuff at the DNR range or on "public" land that I know of around here.

 

[ljnowell]

on't want to make big promises I can't keep... I'm pretty well set up to do some sort of test like is being discussed once spring arrives however. I'm a sicko with my reloading budget - I'm not rich but I probably skip more six-packs to get components instead than anyone I know hehe

On hand I've got (all 9mm):
~500 115gr Rainier HP
~250 115gr Hornady XTP
~600? 124gr Berry's HP
Can grab ~100 "X-treme" plated HP bullets from the old man.
Would probably pick up a hundred Rem and Win bulk HPs, and maybe test out those new hornadys with the "flex filled HP" they're advertising if they're available as a component when I get to it.

I have about 6 stacks of saved newspaper about 6' tall in the garage, and another stack about that tall of magazines and catalogs. I don't have a convenient place to soak and shoot them though (durn suburbia).

Any "LP" michigan folks with an interest (and space enough) nearby enough to make plans? Say a long day in march/april? If it works out I'd have to bug you to let me sneak in a few 44mag bullet comparisons and 7mm-08 bullet type/weight tests while I've got a chance to with the media for my own purposes. Can't do this sort of stuff at the DNR range or on "public" land that I know of around here.

that would definately be something to see. However, at the velocity of the 9mm round, I think you would see better expansion than any of those in a .45acp.

 

[depoloni]

This is true. I can only promise to ask the wife if I can get a 45 now, instead of the plan of a few years down the road so I can help with testing this sooner. I have my doubts on her response I've been told my several people who have shot everything from sandpiles to logs to dry/wet phone books that the 9mm rainiers "mash" a bit but don't reliably expand or truly mushroom. As such I'm not sure if the lower velocities and wider diameter of the 45cal would have an easier, or tougher, time expanding. Be interesting to see.

I'll end up bugging a friend up further north who has property but he's been hesitant to "deal with the mess" despite my assurances to clean up. And even do some weed wacking to "pay" for the inconvenience. Haven't pushed though.

To further the discussion in the meantime, let's see what everyone thinks on media? Should that start another thread?

I'm interested to see what plain wet news versus news sandwiched between magazine layers will do personally, but everything's speculation since I haven't gotten to try it yet.

 

[ljnowell]

Im gonna have to take a picture of the recovered ranier to post. I have used water filled milk jugs in the past and got good expansion with top shelf bullets.

 

[Z-Michigan]

Just as an aside, I tried some Berry's 124gr HP bullets in 9mm over 6.1gr of Power Pistol, a guess of 1100fps or so (no chrono), and I saw no evidence of expansion shooting into water jugs. I wasn't able to recover the bullet, but the jug just had in and out holes, no explosive disassembly or tearing. From now on I basically assume that plated bullets don't expand.

 

[ReloaderFred]

No, plated bullets aren't designed to expand. At least Berry's aren't. I've talked to Gilbert Berry about them and he said the only reason they make them is because people requested them. It's no big difference in the manufacturing process, just a different nose punch when the lead slug is swaged. The plating process is a little bit more of a pain, since the plating has to also cover the cavity. It's also another bullet they have to manufacture, catalog and stock.

The punched swaged bullets offered by others are probably supposed to expand, much like the Gold Dot, but a lot of engineering went into the Gold Dot bullet to get it right. It's been my experience that you can't just punch a hole through the plating and get good, reliable expansion. I have bullet swaging dies and I tried it by taking Berry's plated 9mm bullets and running them into one of my hollow point swaging dies for .38 caliber bullets, then sizing the swaged bullet back to .356" diameter. They looked pretty good, but didn't really expand, so I gave up on the project and just consider all plated bullets as casual shooting fodder, which was the original design to start with.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[ljnowell]

No, plated bullets aren't designed to expand.

The successful implementation of our "RESTRIKE" technology has allowed Rainier Ballistics to now manufacture our "rapid expanding" HEX Hollow Point. Listen to what Tom Burczynski, designer and patent holder of the Starfire, Quik-Shok and Hydra-Shok bullets had to say; "There's no question that the combination of stress risers and malleable copper plating used in Rainier's HEX H.P. bullet provides the shooters with an excellent, rapid expanding bullet."

I agree, they dont expand. However, to advertise something as they choose to (that quote is directly from thier website) is false advertising. I wont purchase their products again because of the pathetic customer service, not the product. The bullet itself was accurate, easy to load, and had a very thick copper plating. it was nice quality bullet, for a non expanding hollow point.