Do you load plated bullets same as cast or FMJ?

[ranger335v]

"Do you load plated bullets same as cast or FMJ?"

Yes, for handguns anyway, and with complete satisfaction too. But only with my own hard cast and properly lubed stuff.

 

[bergmen]

PowerBond bullets does not have recommended loading data on their website (like Rainer and Berry's does) so I e-mailed Matt and asked him. His reply:

"1,300 fps is the max I recommend shooting our plated bullets, our bullets are higher quality and tougher than our competition but they are still a plated bullet. The plating separates from the lead at higher velocities causing inaccuracy and dangerous fouling. I recommend you shoot a jacketed bullet if you are pushing them much faster than that."

Dan

 

[LiveLife]

Thanks Dan for the info!

 

[longdayjake]

"1,300 fps is the max I recommend shooting our plated bullets, our bullets are higher quality and tougher than our competition but they are still a plated bullet. The plating separates from the lead at higher velocities causing inaccuracy and dangerous fouling. I recommend you shoot a jacketed bullet if you are pushing them much faster than that."

Dan

Back when I was selling Powerbond, Matt would personally deliver them to my shop. The truth is, we were both getting reports from customers that were shooting them at 2000 fps from lever actions and the results were great. But, the same customers would report the plating shaving off when they would try the same load from a .357 or .44 mag revolver. Apparently the forcing cone of some revolvers will shave the plating at higher pressures. My guess is that the bullet obturates quite a bit at that velocity. So, I think that is why Matt has begun recommending staying at or under 1300 fps.

 

[Walkalong]

I had one revolver that would not shoot plated bullets at even 1200 FPS. It simply was too hard on them. The same bullet shot at 1200+ FPS in other revolvers. I ended up blaming it on the same thing.

 

[bergmen]

Back when I was selling Powerbond, Matt would personally deliver them to my shop. The truth is, we were both getting reports from customers that were shooting them at 2000 fps from lever actions and the results were great. But, the same customers would report the plating shaving off when they would try the same load from a .357 or .44 mag revolver. Apparently the forcing cone of some revolvers will shave the plating at higher pressures. My guess is that the bullet obturates quite a bit at that velocity. So, I think that is why Matt has begun recommending staying at or under 1300 fps.

This is extremely interesting and tends to parallel some of my findings as well I think. for my practice and recreational shooting I have been moving towards plated bullets rather than jacketed for two reasons: cost and lead exposure while handling and shooting (especially shooting FMJ because of the exposed lead at the base of the bullet).

For the automatics, no problem at all. As accurate if not more so than jacketed. Wonderful application of plated bullets. Same with my lever action in .45 Colt even though I put a light roll crimp because of the tubular magazine.

One of my very accurate jacketed load revolvers started opening up groups with plated (+P to light .38 Special loads). My plan was to start dinking around with powder charges to try to bring it back in but in this case I'm going to try going back to jacketed to see if that cures it.

With my .45 Colt loads out of my Bisley - no problems at all. It has to be the cylinder/forcing cone alignment I'm thinking. The cylinder on the Bisley is very free floating on a small diameter base pin which I think lends itself to a more effortless self alignment during firing.

My .38 Special revolver is not that way, it is an Open Top with the cylinder rotating on a large diameter staked-in base pin with some rotational resistance. This may contribute to a less than ideal self alignment property during shooting.

I will test this out and see. Another good reason to hit the range...

Dan

 

[Hondo 60]

I use a lot of Berry's & they say...

How fast can I shoot these bullets?
Velocities depend on the caliber, but as a rule of thumb, we recommend you don't shoot our plated bullets over 1250 feet-per-second. Our 44's actually shoot best around 1150 fps. 45's are generally good at 850-900 fps. Our bullets are not recommended for magnum velocities over 1250fps unless the bullet description denotes a thick plated bullet with a higher listed maximum for velocity.

How do I load Berry's Preferred Plated Bullets?
Plated bullets occupy a position between cast bullets and jacketed bullets. They are soft lead, but have a hard outer shell on them. When loading plated bullets we have found best results using low- to mid-range jacketed data in the load manual. You must use data for a bullet that has the same weight and profile as the one you are loading. Do not exceed mid-range loads. Do not use magnum loads.