does anyone load with rainier plated bullets? my book says to load less charge than jacketed bullets of the same weight. i would like to know any opinions. any info helpful. thanks scooter-2

My only experience has been with the 335 grain .500 diameter that I use in a 500 Mag. I loaded them as if they were jacketed, admitted I was not at the maximum by any means, but had no issues at all.

A fellow shooter said he didn't like them because they were made for the 50 AE and had no cannelure thus had nowhere to crimp. I set them to the proper OAL and crimped without a cannelure, had no issues of backing out under recoil or such.

Dan R

Hello Scooter,

Here is the answer, straight from the horse's mouth.
Loading Data

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too TOO young!!

I've used jacketed data without problems, however I don't load especially hot loads. Their site also says max velocity is 1200 to 1250 f/s. I'm no where near that with any of my loads. The coke can .38s are great bullets as are the .45 rn which work perfectly in my springfield and colt at std military loadings.

Rainier plated bullets are great. I use them for shooting indoors where plain lead bullets would be too smokey. I don't go over 900 fps so leading is not a problem with me. I use the "lead bullet" data from the manuals.

I've had great success with the Rainier DEWC .38 bullet in my Model 14 and in other revolvers.

I like Rainier plated bullets, but their information about using lead bullet loads allowed me to bulge the barrel on my 627 with a 158 grain plated FP! They may be a bit softer than regular jacketed bullets, but they have a much higher coefficient of friction than lead bullets! Don't push Rainier bullets over about 1200 fps, but use jacketed data that keeps them under that velocity.

I discovered I could actually stick a bullet in the barrel at will. I won't repeat the load because it is useless, but it was a higher end lead bullet load for 38 Special. The load worked fine on warm days, but at 20 degrees F the first shot on the draw ALWAYS stuck the bullet in the barrel. Evidently the draw was tossing the powder to the front of the case (WW231) and it wasn't igniting properly. It did ignite, and it made a fairly loud report, but it felt and sounded a bit different. Unfortunately I didn't catch it, and I was shooting fast double action. The second round shoved both bullets out the barrel, but left me with a bulge.

With the .45ACP I use standard jacketed bullet data and I've never had a problem. Of course you can't push a bullet over the 1200 fps velocity limit with a .45 ACP. With the .38 Special I still use the same load with a 158 grain lead SWC and have never had a problem no matter what the temperature. With Rainier plated bullets I went to a load that filled the case more. I haven't tried it in cold weather, but I feel better about it. I can't see how I could have less than perfect ignition with the better load density of the new load. I think Rainier bullets are great, but you have to be careful about the load, and lead bullet loads are NOT the way to go.

I have found that the plated bullets provide lower velocities than plain cast lead bullets of the same weight with the same powder. In 45 ACP I tend to use VV N-310, while in 38 Special I prefer Trail Boss. In 9mm I use either VV N-320, VV N-330 or WSF. In 40 S&W (mild revolver loads) I use either WST or American Select.

Confirming what others have said. Using standard lead powder loads with plated bullets gave me very poor accuracy and very low velocities.

I got much better results using low end to mid-range, jacketed bullet data for low pressure rounds like .38 special, .44 special, and .45 Colt & ACP.

thanks for the info. it is very helpful. scooter-2