plated bullet crimp question....

[SSN Vet]

I bought these Berry's plated .308", 150 gr. FN bullets for economy range loads in my 336 Marlin a couple years ago.

Never really got a load that I liked back then. The ones I downloaded significantly gave decent groups but had a tremendous drop at 100 yds and I don't want to adjust my sights every time I shoot this "plinker load". The ones that I loaded up to Jacketed velocities gave crappy groups and I speculated at the time that they were spinning off the copper clad.

I got a deal on bulk Winchester 150 gr. jacketed FNs and put the Berry's on the shelf.

So last night I revisited the topic.

Modern Reloading II has some seperate tables for downloading the most popular rifle cartridges and though the powders tabulated in these tables are limited, they do list H335.

So I pulled 25 gr. as a H335 charge that should push a 150 gr. lead bullet to 1,800 fps (which is higher than the 1,700 the Berry's flier says you can push their rifle bullets).

I always FL size and crimp for my tube magazine rifles and am using the LFCD that comes with the .30-30 die set.

My understanding is that the rifle LFCD makes neither a roll or taper crimp, but rather a "collet crimp" (my term).

Though I tried not to crimp them to heavy, the swaged core in the Berry's is so darn soft that I could tell I was deforming the bullet.

I pulled one and here it is.

The "dent" does not break the copper cladding.

Any thoughts?

 

[Walkalong]

And the question is?

Aghh, it is there now. I saw no words when it first posted.

Looks fine. Yes, they are very soft and the crimp die needs to be set lightly.

 

[SSN Vet]

And the question is?

1. do you think this indent in the bullet is going to make it shoot crappily?
2. do you like my use of the adverb form of crap?
3. is there a better way to crimp this?
4. is "collet crimp" a usefull term to describe the LFCD for rifle.
5. what do you think of my digital photogarphy?
6. am I the only person on the planet who was stupid enough to buy these bullets?
7. does anybody want to trade 2 for one, jacket bullets for these Berry's?
8. is it 4:30 yet?

 

[bluewater]

Looks totally normal to me and I believe that the slight crimp indentation in the bullet will have no effect on accuracy. I have pulled many pistol bullets and they have a much more severe crimp mark than yours and they shoot perfectly normal.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Looks like you have your crimp die set right on...Looks good...

 

[SSN Vet]

Aghh, it is there now. I saw no words when it first posted.

I posted w/ picture as a link and the edited to insert the photo and add the text

assuming everyone knows that Berry's don't have a cannalure/crimp groove

 

[The Bushmaster]

As to all yer questions...Go load them and burn them up on the range for practice...God knows...We all need more practice...

 

[easyrider604]

1. do you think this indent in the bullet is going to make it shoot crappily?

No

2. do you like my use of the adverb form of crap?

Don't care

3. is there a better way to crimp this?

Don't really get the question. Crimp indentation seems to be as it should be.

4. is "collet crimp" a usefull term to describe the LFCD for rifle.

Yes

5. what do you think of my digital photogarphy?

Better than mine

6. am I the only person on the planet who was stupid enough to buy these bullets?

I don't mind plated bullets for pistol loads but yes I do load 125 grain HP Rainiers to 1600 fps out of an 1894C .357 lever rifle. And I'm not too happy about accuracy. I also do know that Rainier specifically instructs not to load thier plated bullets over 1,200 fps. Stupid,no. Let's just say we're both curious to verify our manufacturer's recommendations.

7. does anybody want to trade 2 for one, jacket bullets for these Berry's?

Not me

8. is it 4:30 yet?

Give or take 30 minutes, somewhere around the world, yes it is 4:30.