Berry's hollow base bullets

[Huskerguy]

I managed to pick up some Berry's 124 grain RNHB thick plated bullets for my 9. I also found a small lot of them in the FP bullet as well. Do you change anything on your load or OAL when you use these bullets? I am looking forward to working up some loads on these. I have been using 4.0 grains of Titegroup and it is very accurate in my CZ. Also been thinking of working up some loads with HP-38 as I was fortunate to come across a 4 lb jug of this. Thanks in advance

 

[Walkalong]

I load those at 1.145 in 9mm. The hollow base can give a little extra case capacity, depending on how deep you seat them compared to other 124/5 Gr bullets. So, it depends on the OAL as far as adjusting the powder charge. I really like that bullet, and shoot it a bit hot in .38 Super.

If you load the hollow base and solid base to the same depth in the case, the hollow base will run a bit slower. I don't remember exactly how much off the top of my head, but I shot those two side by side loaded to the same depth, and the hollow base, as expected, ran slower. IIRC (Big if) it took .2 Grs more of a medium speed powder to equal the velocity of the solid base. Naturally if you do not load them to the same depth, all bets are off, but you get the idea.

 

[Fencer]

The RNHB bullets are my new favorite for all my 9mm guns. I have been running the 100gr with around 4.5 grains of Bullseye and it will happily cycle through even my most finicky guns. Enough umph to reliably cycle my Glocks and HK's and the rounded bullet feeds well in my finicky smaller guns.

 

[mike.h]

I found the FNHB to be a little more accurate then the RNHB in my Kimber 9mm, using both Bullseye and WSF powder.

 

[FROGO207]

I have been meaning to try some of these for a while now. I will be watching this thread for results. When the shortages ease up I plan to get some and work up a good 9MM load for target use. I presently use Missouri Small Ball and really like them at the present time. I am hoping that the hollow base will allow me to drop the velocity so recoil will be reduced for more accurate follow up shots is my idea.

 

[PO2Hammer]

If you have a 125 grain FMJ and a 125 grain hollow base FMJ and seat them to the same OAL, wouldn't they have the same internal case volume? (assuming the nose shapes are the same).
The internal space would be shaped differently, but the total volume inside the case should be the same, right?

 

[germ]

AFAIK, all other things being equal, the volume of the bullet hollow would be added to whatever the case volume is, thereby increasing total internal volume.

 

[PO2Hammer]

I don't think so.

The hollow area will add volume, but the 'skirt' area will subtract an equal amount.

They're not removing material when the make a bullet's base hollow, they are just changing it's shape by pressing a punch into it.

 

[david_r]

po2,
You are right. If two bullets weigh the same and you draw an imaginary line on them and they weigh the same in front of that line, they will weigh the same behind that line. If they weigh the same and have the same density, they have the same volume. The bullet with the hollow base will have a longer bearing surface which must increase friction in the barrel.

This ignores the fact the hollow base bullet will have more surface area thus a higher percentage of copper. So it will take up more volume with it's lower density. That difference is pretty slight in the shapes we are talking about.

 

[LiveLife]

Berry's 124 grain RNHB thick plated bullets ... 4.0 grains of Titegroup and it is very accurate in my CZ. Also been thinking of working up some loads with HP-38

With 124 gr HBRN-TP, I found 4.0 gr of Titegroup and 3.8 gr of Bullseye to be very accurate and produced smaller shot groups than my reference Winchester 115 gr FMJ with 4.8 gr of W231/HP-38 - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=7266869#post7266869

FYI, I did comparison testing with Berry's regular plated RN and HBRN-TP using W231/HP-38 and HBRN-TP with 4.5 gr outshot the regular RN - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=7217193#post7217193


All shots fired off hand at 15 yards with Glock 22 / Lone Wolf 40-9 conversion barrel (each target square = 1 inch)

 

[germ]

I don't think so.

The hollow area will add volume, but the 'skirt' area will subtract an equal amount.

They're not removing material when the make a bullet's base hollow, they are just changing it's shape by pressing a punch into it.

Yup, I see your point now. Didn't think of it that way.

 

[Huskerguy]

Thanks for the replies. I probably didn't word my question precisely enough. With the hollow base, I am not concerned about volume in the case. Using either TG or W231/HP38 will not fill the case. However, I do know the bullet itself makes up for the lack of material in the base by making it slightly longer. So I was concerned about friction going down the barrel and also the amount of contact in the case by the bullet. Is is a small enough amount that loading to normal values would not be a significant change? Right now I use a Berry's 124/125 grain RN DS bullet with 4.0 grains of TG and it is very accurate through my CZ. I worked up loads to achieve that result and can shoot a ragged hole with 10 rounds at 25 feet off of a rest. I will spend some time working up the same loads with the HB bullets but wanted to see what everyone else was finding with this bullet. I hear great things about the accuracy but were loads and OAL altered to get there? I am trying to eliminate as many variables as I can before I jump in and try these. Thanks everyone

 

[Walkalong]

Load them the same, then tweak .1 Gr or so if needed.

 

[PO2Hammer]

I load them the same, never saw any difference over the chrono.

FWIW, apparently Berry's are plated first, then punched for the hollow base, judging by the stretching/cracking of the plating in the cavity.