Berry's Plated Hollow Point bullet

[armoredman]

I was perusing my load data for this nifty Berry's 124 grain PHP for my 9mm pistols, and I realized I had skipped one COAL to try, going from 1.04, 1.03 to 1.01. Now 1.01 worked just fine, but what about that missed step... Heavens to Betsy, that ain't allowed! So I loaded 50 at an average COAL of 1.02, and with a bunch of other loads, trooped off to the range today. The doctor can't argue; to me there is very little as restful as shooting! :
To make a long story short, the Berry's loads functioned perfectly, with good results,





This load shall be reproduced, good stuff!

 

[Josh45]

Im glad they worked out good for you. I had loaded up about 40 rounds in .45ACP and all of them functioned great without a hiccup! I was using Bullseye and Power Pistol in them

Recoil was pretty normal in my experience in a small gun. I liked it and it was fun. I couldn't do a range report because we was shooting for fun.

 

[Fullmag2682]

COAL what does that stand for ? C? Over All Length

That's interesting BTW. Guess was thinking that it was supposed to be OAL and that's it.
Done that with rifles but not auto pistols.

 

[rsrocket1]

COAL what does that stand for ? C? Over All Length

That's interesting BTW. Guess was thinking that it was supposed to be OAL and that's it.
Done that with rifles but not auto pistols.

Cartridge Over All length

Same as OAL

 

[Strykervet]

I use 1.142" for Rainier plated bullets, 124gr. RN. I use CCI primers and 5.6gr. of 3N37. 5.6gr. will barely cycle the action, a lightweight spring is needed (15lbs works well). Crazy accurate though. At around ten yards with a G17L, I can get one large ragged hole or a very tight group, depending.

I'm trying 5.8 next, trying to get better functioning without losing the performance. I was kind of surprised at the accuracy of these loads though, considering how off Rainier is on the weights of these bullets --they are consistently off by a couple of grains, but I guess being consistently off is better than being consistently inconsistent.

 

[[email protected]]

Hate to hijack a thread but how well does the Berry's hollow point expand? I have been told that they do not expand verry well but I dont know first hand and its was not really a reliable source. Also how do they compare to rainers.

 

[LiveLife]

how well does the Berry's hollow point expand? I have been told that they do not expand verry well but I dont know first hand and its was not really a reliable source. Also how do they compare to rainers.

Both Berry's and Rainier plated hollow points will deform rather than expand. They really should be used mostly for range practice.

HOWEVER, Berry's MFG is working to market premium "expanding" bullets - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=606175

Well the cats out of the bag, those are pic's I took from a night of good testing results. We are in the process of trying to get the slower velocities to open as well as the higher velocities. Our release date is for the first of the year but will have production pieces going out to a couple of our larger OEM customers for testing in the next month. Starting with the .45 caliber and then moving to .40 followed by the 9mm

 

[armoredman]

I have no idea what expansion is like, but I don't believe they are really meant to expand much, just range bullets. I doubt I would want to get hit with one, that's for certain.
Yes, COAL is cartridge overall length, been using that for years.
Stryker, haven't used Ranier in a long time, Berry's seem to work better for me.
bd, hoping to try some of them out as soon as they hit the market.

 

[[email protected]]

Thanks bds I had forgotten all about those.

 

[340PD]

I have a Kahr PM9 on order and I will be starting to load 9mm. Your OAL is much shorter that the max OAL of 1.116 listed in the reloading manuals. How fussy can I expect my Kahr to be? I would love to have some handloads ready when the gun arrives. My dies are set now at 1.15.

BTW I use Berry's 125 gr. HP in my .357 soft loads. They work great.

 

[LiveLife]

I would love to have some handloads ready when the gun arrives.

Only thing is it would be hard to determine MAX and Ideal OAL to see if they feed/chamber reliably for the pistol until you can conduct the barrel drop and function check tests.

 

[armoredman]

Yes. The CZ is notorious for a "short chamber", and the Berry's PHP has a very forward set shoulder. I was surprised to see how far down I had to seat the bullet, but I was used to going under recommended COAL before, usually using 1.095 for many loads. I load my latest cast bullet to 1.080, for instance.
I did the chamber drop test, and when I found approximately where they would drop freely, I started loading testers at various lengths. It seems 1.02 wokrs best for my CZ SP-01 Phantom, and gives me reliable feeding.

 

[Berry's MFG]

Our 9mm FP and HP's have to be seated down deeper than what a lot of the data books state, I do my best to talk a new reloader out of those 9mm profiles until they have some loads under their belt so they can understand the how and why of loading.

 

[Walkalong]

I would agree with that sentiment.

The 124 Gr HBRN shoots very well, loads to a pretty standard OAL, and by all accounts works with the guns with short throats.

I bought 250 of the 124 Gr HBRN bullets to try and, for me, it has replaced the 124 Gr FP, HBFP, and HP from Berrys in my inventory. I do like the 124 Gr HP, but it can be finicky in some guns. The other two shot pretty well also, but the 124 Gr HBRN is just so easy, shoots very well, and will feed in anything.

 

[Fullmag2682]

Going to try setting back .010, instead of 1.140 going to 1.130. I'm loading for a 357sig in XD service with 124gr Rainer's FP. It cycles well but when I was putting the primers with a hand primer, a couple of brass the primers went in real easy. They were Hornady brass maybe it's softer than the Starline, but still not sure of overpressure.

 

[armoredman]

Gonna have to try those HBRN sometime, Walkalong, but at this COAL, these Berry's PHP are working just fine.
Now I need to find milk jugs to do an expansion test...

 

[zxcvbob]

I never could get those to feed properly in my Hi-Power. They work great in .38 Specials though . Berry's 125 grain PHP's are the most accurate bullets I've ever tried in my .38

I still have a few of the 124's left. I should try them in my new Walther. And I may try them in the Browning again, loaded a lot shorter this time.