Bullet diameter .451 or .452

[MoreIsLess]

I have an M&P 45c. I have just started reloading recently. I was going to buy some bullets from Berry's but the bullet diameter is .452 for all their .45 ACP FMJ's. Does anyone know if .452 diam will work in my gun or do I a have to have .451. I would lke to avoid slugging the barrel. I called Smith and Wesson customer service but was put on hold so long, I hung up.

The Berry's rep told me .452 would work for my M&P 45 but then again, he's a sales person.

 

[Walkalong]

He is also right. No worries.

 

[Mal H]

Yep, .452 is fine for your application.

 

[rcmodel]

The Berry sales rep told you right.

True jacketed bullets are .451".

Lead & plated bullets are softer, and are in general, sized .452".

rc

 

[noylj]

People worry too much about "oversized" bullets.
You can safely shoot bullets up tp 0.454". I shoot my own as-cast bullets and they tend to be 0.453-0.454" and they shoot very well.
I shoot a LOT of 0.357-0.358" as-cast bullets in my 9x19s and .38 Supers.
Likewise, I tend to shoot 0.402" cast bullets in my .40s.
Back when 0.355" bullets were quite rare, I put over 10k .357" jacketed bullets through my Browning High Power.
If you start with the lowest starting load and work up, the fear of over-sized bullets is solved.
Have you slugged your barrel to determine the groove diameter so you know what size bullets will work best? Thankfully, .45s are very consistent and 0.451" jacketed and 0.452" cast/swaged/plated will almost always work great.
Don't load the plated bullets more than about half way up the jacketed data for a given bullet weight and powder. In the past, the recommendation was to load them like cast lead bullets and not to go over 1200fps (not an issue with the .45 Auto).

 

[MoreIsLess]

Don't load the plated bullets more than about half way up the jacketed data for a given bullet weight and powder.

Thanks for the info. Let me see if I got this straight. If I am going to load plated bullets, such as Berrys 45 ACP RN I should look up in the load manual for, say an FMJ, but only load up to half way between min and max, right?

 

[Walkalong]

They can take more than half of jacketed data in most cases, but that will certainly keep you safe.

The newest Vihtavuori and Accurate PDF's both have some plated data. There is some plated data around, and Berrys is coming out with data soon.

Here are some old links they may be helpful. Be patient with the links loading.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showpost.php?p=6195350&postcount=11

 

[ranger335v]

Holding the speed down isn't a safety issue, lead bullets, cast or thin plated, frequently can't hold the rifling at high velocities. They usually work well at speeds up to around 1,000 fps, or higher if the loader knows how to do it.

 

[Walkalong]

Berrys rates their bullets at 1200 FPS or less, which they can take easily in any decent barrel.

ranger335v is correct. Bullet strength has to be enough to hold the rifling at the velocity they are driven, and at the speed with which they get there.

It is hard to make jacketed bullets skid in the barrel, not nearly as hard to make a plated bullet skid, fairly easy to make a soft lead bullet skid, but much tougher to make a lead bullet with a hard alloy skid.