Reloading plated bullets

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Falconeer

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I have a general question regarding plated bullets.

If the manual doesn't have a specific plated bullet section for the caliber/weight I want to use, should I use the numbers for lead or FMJ? I'm guessing lead but want to confirm with 'smarter/wiser minds'. Is there any rule of thumb that will ensure I don't blow said thumb off? :p

I'm looking to decrease the cost of my 45acp habit without going with lead for clean up/health purposes.
 
I shoot Berry's and Rainier's plated bullets in 9mm, 38 Spec and 45 ACP. I follow the cast lead loads for all three. Check the Berry's website for their recommendation.

They shoot well and I, like you, am also trying to minimize airborne lead.
 
The loading manual by the Lee company has loads for plated bullets and it is often discounted heavily by such places as Cabelas. The loads tend to be a little consevative. I have only loaded lead for my .45s, but have used that manual for plated bullets in .40, .380, and 9mm with success.
 
I used the lead load listed for Rainier 200 gr FP (as per Rainier's instructions). They worked quite well.
One minor caveate, make sure you have a "good" bell on your die, as when I loaded lead I never shaved any off, but when I loaded plated bullets it "scrunched" the copper up and ruined about 10 rounds out of 200:what: .
My own fault for not paying attention, just never expected that.
 
benedict1: Thanks kindly for the info. I checked Berry's and found this:
*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.
Click to expand...
I swear I checked them before but couldn't find anything. :p

nelson133: I have the Lee book (it's my main manual). However their plated section is a bit thin and doesn't contain the powders I use (currently Titegroup or W231). I wanted to clarify the lead vs jacketed decision. Thanks for the help!

Dr. Dickie: Good advice; I'll be sure to keep an eye on it. I have a pretty tight bell currently; I may have to open it some.
 
crimp?

I would like to ask another question about plated bullets.
Whats the proper crimp?
I have seen mention about a light crimp. But I'm looking for a more definitive answer. I use Lee's dies with the factory crimp die for 9mm and .45. But the seating die can also crimp?
 
I load 9mm and 45 ACP too and use the Lee FCD.

Set the die per instructions and then after turning the screw to contact the loaded round, lower the press a handle a little and screw it in about 1/4-1/2 turn. That works fine for me and is a light taper crimp. If you go past 1/2 turn it gets tighter and might crimp the copper a little. Actually, I have shot some 45s with 1/2+ turn and they shot fine too.
 
The most importnat thing about crimp on plated is that you don't want to go throught the plating at all. It causes things to not go well regarding acuracy and basically wastes money. How much can vary. You ahve a bunch of brass someone tumbled in a cement mixed that has the case mouth rolled over slightly, you are going to have a real bad time no matter what with plated.
 
All you want to do is to remove the bell. If you go too far you will have pressure problems and the rounds will tend to keyhole. Just take out the bell and you are fine.
 
I've loaded about 230 .40 cal Berry's and lost count of 158 gr .357 Berry's, and have never belled a case once. Zero plating scraped off or other problems. No crimp either. Maybe Berry's are plated better than Ranier.

If you can get away with zero belling and zero crimp, that's the most accurate way to make ammo.
 
I emailed Ranier about what they recommend for loads and here is their reply:

Scott, my apologies for the delay in responding to your email. We recommend using lead bullet load data when loading our bullets. Our bullets are jacketed using an electroplating process and are softer than traditionally jacketed bullets. If you only have load data for traditionally jacketed bullets; please reduce the maximum load by 10%. A roll or taper crimp may be used on our bullets; care should be exercised to not overcrimp the bullet. I hope this will be of some assistance to you. Thank you, Phyllis Welker, Customer Service/Sales

I have loaded over 5000 plated bullets in the past year. Mostly .40 S&W and .45 acp. I use an EGW U-die to size the cases for both calibers. I then crimp them .422 and .469 repectively.

Hope this helps.
 
I load X-treme 158 gr RNFP copper plated bullets in .38 spl and .357 magnum. I start with lead loads and increment .2 gr until I get the velocity I want. I have recently been doing roll crimp, but am going back to taper to prevent bullet damage and save wear and tear on the brass.

I am surprised about the Berry note on not using magnum loads. I've pushed the 158 gr X-treme (formerly West Coast Bullets) to over 1300 fps in .357 magnum loads. I load the .38 spl to the 850 fps to 900 fps ranges.
 
I load

Rainier bullets in .357/.38, .40, and .45. I use low to midrange jacketed loads. I bell slightly and crimp fairly firmly. I get excellent accuracy and feeding. I taper crimp, except for .357 I use Lee FCD.
I've never pulled a bullet to see whether I've broken through the plating because my results are just fine.
 
I use Rainier 230 gr RN for 45 acp. I've had zero problems with the LRN data in Hornady's manual. Crimp is .469 - .470, OAL 1.265. 4.0 gr Clays and 4.3 gr Titegroup yield 730 fps out of 5" 1911. TG has spread of 15 and SD of 5.
 
The most importnat thing about crimp on plated is that you don't want to go throught the plating at all. It causes things to not go well regarding acuracy and basically wastes money. How much can vary. You ahve a bunch of brass someone tumbled in a cement mixed that has the case mouth rolled over slightly, you are going to have a real bad time no matter what with plated.
Click to expand...

Benedict1 is right on the money. I also use the Lee FCD and after it touches the case I go 1/2 turn. It's just enough for a light crimp. I have pulled a couple of bullets and there was barely a mark on the bullet. I shoot Berry's and Ranier 9mm and have never had a problem.
 
I cut the plating off of one rainer and one barrys. This was .45 rn. The rainer plate is very thin. 3 strokes with a screwdriver tip exposed lead. The barrys I gave up on. It's hard and thick. Barrys is not as elongated as the rainer plated.
I would be comfortable with loading the Barrys up to but shy of the max.
 
Some time back one forum member sectioned Barry, Rainier and X treme (West Coast) plated bullets and found the Xtreme bullets to have the thickest plating. That was a couple of years ago and I don't know whether any of the vendors have made changes in the meantime.

Rainier and Xtreme claim they double strike their bullets, the second strike coming after the plating process to ensure form remains constant. Barrys did not make this claim in the past and I cannot find Barrys website to find whether they do now.
 
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