I know many here use plated bullets and may have preferences based on price or convenience of purchase.

But, has anyone done actual side by side comparisons of similar size & type bullets from different manufacturers and come up with an objective opinion regarding which are better.

Better meaning more consistent size, weight, accuracy [when shot with same load in the same gun]?

Appreciate any input as I'm planning a large volume purchase in .38/.357, .44 and .45 for a long term experiment in some of my favorite revolvers. I'm looking to reduce personal lead exposure and barrel leading but don't want to sacrifice accuracy.

My only experience is with Rainier's. While they are very clean to handle and eliminated some leading issues, I've been disappointed in their accuracy when compared to cast or swaged lead bullets of the same weight & type.

I found Berry's to be very consistant to weight and size.

No help for the calibers you're interested in, but I shoot Berry's 124 gr. HBFN in a 38 Super Auto with excellent results.

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-Bob

Berry's Plated Bullets

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Not All Who Wander Are Lost

Berry "double struck" have been the most consistent in size and weight.

However, for my purposes, I have quit using plated bullets in .357, 9mm, and .40 S&W due to increase in group size at the higher velocities. Plated bullets are not really suited to magnum velocities, as the manufacturer states.

Velocities depend on the caliber, but as a rule of thumb, we recommend you don't shoot our plated bullets over 1200 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.
Berry's Frequently Asked Questions *

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Science plus Art

Berry's.

..

I use Berry's 9mm 124 grain Double Struck bullets in my Glock. It works well for me and is very accurate. Because it does all that I ask of it, I have never tried another brand. Every other cartridge gets lead bullets.
Mark

I`m using Ranier`s 230grRn. No problems with them.

I have had great overall luck with Berry's for the most part they have done what I want them to do.
One exception is for 44 caliber, I have been shooting a brand called Frontier
out of South Africa of all places.
What I like about them, is that they are hard cast , then plated .
This allows them to have a cannalure, which I really like for my revolvers.
I sure do like Berry's plated HBWC for 38 Special though !!
I have also used them pooped up just a bit as a light load in a 357 magnum, about 1000fps they have worked just as well in 357 as 38 special.
I do not like to shoot 38 specials in my 357 magnum guns so this has given me a great reduced load, in the correct case.
YMMV

Since I have not tried the Rainer bullets, I can not comment on them other than the fact that they are slightly more expensive than both Berry's and Extreme. I have had good luck with both Berry's and Extreme plated bullets in 9mm, 38 (not loaded to 357 velocities) and 40. I do find both brands to be as accurate as any cast bullets I have used.

+ whatever. As the others have said, Berry's are my choice, too.
I like their selection, quality, and fast, free shipping.

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-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

Another vote for Berry's. I have loaded 9 mm, .38 Spl and .45 ACP. The .38 and .45 were especially accurate and once I throttled back the velocity on the 9 mm (they ain't lying about keeping the loads in the low-to-midrange-jacket-data!), it quit keyholing and shoots really well.

And the free shipping is a huge plus. A couple thousand bullets weighs 40 pounds.

Postal Dude absolutely hates me!

Cabela's sells Berry's but its a little bit of a drive for me. I swing through the used gun section and turn the errand into a field trip to rationalize the time and gas.

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>>ARMED LIBERAL>>

I appreciate the votes of confidence from the forum! I will say that my competitors make a good product and our niche has always been price sensitive, my advice is buy the best priced plated and you should be happy. Take a look at Powder Valley as well, they are very aggressive on price. I know because I field a lot of complaints from dealers about their cheap online prices.

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Jay R. Phillips
Berry's Mfg

I totally agree with you on the .44 bullet, you really have to be easy on the load with that caliber, the .357 as well. For the experienced loaders like you guys that understand the bullet design as well as it's limitations, you're able to get the max performance out of it. It's difficult for the novice loader that hasn't had the trial and error we've been through, but that's where the forums have helped with the Q and A.

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Jay R. Phillips
Berry's Mfg

I pick up my Berry's at Cabelas and use my Cabelas points to purchase, also try to pick up when they are having a discount promotion going on. However, it does appear much cheaper to order online through Berry's direct. Which is where I am planning on ordering next.

Berry's double struck have been good. I bought some of Rainier's and found them to be so so in accuracy but I never tried measuring them with a caliper to see if they were off. All the X-Treme bullets I have bought have been flawless. They are also double struck just like Berry's. That's where they swage them in the die, plate them, and then swage them in the die again for uniformity if this isn't understood. You can see it on the X-Treme bullets at the bottom since it has a dished look to it after the second strike. I have also used their double plated rifle bullets in .30-30 and will buy them again if I ever can't cast my own.

I only buy Berry's when I can't buy Xtremes. -Wade-

X-Treme Bullets

I like and use Berry's bullets in 9mm, 45ACP and 38 Special

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Peace Thru Superior Firepower

I have used Zero for awhile now--I like them.
Have not bought ANY for a couple of years now.
Blessings

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TEXAS, by GOD

I've had very good luck with Rainiers in .357. You can't push them (or any plated bullet) too fast. During the ammo and component shortage back in '08-'09 I even used the Rainier .356" 130 grain RN (.38 Super bullet) in my .357 (.358" groove dia.) with excellent results.
For light loads the DEWC's from Berry's or Rainier shoot the same-very well. My .357 Handi rifle will group either into 1" at 50 yards and my F/A revolver will do the same at 25 yards. (800fps)

FWIW all Rainier bullets are double struck (re-swaged after plating), only some of Berry's are.

Berry's is coming out with more thick plated versions of their bullets, should be better for breaking the sound barrier in revolvers. Look for 'TP' in the designations.

Small charges of fast powder seem to be the key with plated in a revolver, I'm not a big fan of Titegroup, but it works very well in .357 with plated bullets, try Universal if you want to go faster.

Guns can be very picky with plated. My Glock 29 prefers Berry's 165 HBFN-TP with the stock barrel, with my .40 conversion barrel it clearly prefers Rainier's basic 165 FP.

Try small samples of couple different ones before you buy big, none of our guns are likely to have the same preferences.

I've used Berry's, Zero and Powerbond plated bullets in .38 & .40 all seem to do well as long as used in low to moderate loads. As far as which is best I couldn't really tell...I'm not an accurate enough shooter to tell!

I've use both Rainier and Berry's in 38 spl and light 357's. I load the 158 gr FP and 148 gr DEWC. I cannot say there is a definitive difference that makes one better than the other. Both are consistent in weight and size and both shoot the same. Berry's costs about 5% less, I can order directly and they ship for "free" if I buy more than $50 worth. I use Berry's most of the time.

+1 for the Rainier 230 gr .45 bullets. Excellent quality and good results for several years.

Recently tried the Frontier 230 gr .45s....junk, plating is very thin. We have actually found large parts of the plating stuck in IPSC targets!

Have not tried Berry's but hear good things about them. Main reason for not trying the Berry's is the performance I have gotten from Rainiers.

Donnie and their Distributor, Black Hills Shooters Supply in Rapid City, SD are great folks to work with too.

PF Custom Guns
Asheville, NC 28806

Always looking for cheaper practice loads my brother and I ventured in to the realm of plated bullets for our 45 caliber handguns first. We shoot 45ACP and 460 Rowland.
With all the claims of precision plated bullets we decided to buy 500 each from Rainier, X-Treme and Berry. The Berry were 230gr while the Rainier and X-Treme were 200gr. All were roundnose.
Using a Mitutoyo .0001 mic, I measured 30 pieces of each at the base for diameter and weighed them on an Acculab scale that is readable to .01 grain and accurate to .05 grain.
The results are as follows:
Diameter: Extreme Spread * Average * Standard Deviation
X-Treme .0012 * .4519 * .00023
Rainier .0005 * .4510 * .00012
Berry .0004 * .4514 * .00010

Weight:
X-Treme 1.22 * 199.66 * .293
Rainier 1.62 * 199.82 * .431
Berry 1.26 * 230.13 * .289

The results show the Berry's were by far the most consistent of the three measured. Other observations were :
X-Treme's seemed to have significantly more variation in roundness. I could get differences of .0005 easily on any bullet as I checked it at various radial locations. My belief is that this is a main contributor to X-Treme's high variation in diameter.
X-Treme's packaging needs some serious improvement. They use boxes that are perforated at the folds instead of a pressure score. The box was not taped well and when UPS apparently dropped it, the box split at the perforations.

Rainier's were very consistent and round, well packaged in a cardboard box and have a nice cup in the base as opposed to being flat.

Berry's were noticeably more consistent and also very round as I was checking them. They are packaged in a sturdy plastic box.

I realize all of this is BS if they shoot good, but data is knowledge. We'll be checking velocity consistency and grouping as we get some of these loaded.

I've found the Rocky Mountain Reloading's own brand of "thick plated" bullets to be very consistent. They also sell the PowerBond brand which are also consistent, but not the cheapest.

My experience with Berry's hasn't been as others have expressed here: I've found them inconsistent, but in fairness, I haven't bought any in a handful of years as I've still got a bunch to go through that I bought many years ago.

Good to know... I just processed an order to Rocky Mountain for 500 230 gr. RN for a Kimber 1911 that I just broke in with factory Federal and Win.

Never used these before, I can honestly say I was swung by price and free shipping. These are 13 cents apiece.

Rocky Mountain Reloading - .45 230 Plated Round Nose Seconds Bullets (1,000 Ct.)

I have used both Rainier & Xtreme in .45 230gn RN and also both Rainier & Xtreme in 9mm 124gn RN. I have used both sets with the same guns, same loads, same other components. I have not measured to 4 decimal points, nor weighed to 2 decimal points. I've really only recorded differences in shot group size. There really have not been any differences. Certainly not any significant differences.

Order them direct from Berrys online, and never leave the house. Last time I bought they were as cheap from Berrys as from any other outlet.

Just finished loading 800 rounds of 9mm; 700 to get rid of the last of my Remington FMJRN, and the last 100 with Berrys. The Remmys COL varied from cartridge to cartridge; the Berrys were remarkably stable.

They have been accurate for me in 9mm and 45ACP.

I have used both Berrys and Rainier and finally settled on Berrys.

However, in the last few months I have started using Bayou Bullets coated bullets and I intend to use them exclusively in the future. The coated bullets are cheaper, have a crimping groove and don't seem to have an upper speed limit.

Based on my experience, you might consider coated bullets instead of plated bullets.

I use Rocky Mountain, I've found them more accurate than the other plated bullets (thick plated), and they give volume discounts so I normally buy them 10K at a time. I don't do "bullseye" shooting, but shoot over 85% "A" zone hits in USPSA, for me that's accurate enough. Of course my A zone hit percentage is inversely proportional to my shooting speed.

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No issues with Berrys or Ranier in my 40, 44 special and 44mag.

Berry's, Rainier, Rocky Mountain, Extreme, magtech. In that order based on consistency and accuracy.

Not a fan of plated bullets. Have had batches of Berry's & XTREME spec out all over the place. They were real consistent for a while then not so much.

I have had good results with both Berrys and Extreme in 9mm and 45 acp. Good luck.

I have had excellent results with Berry's 230 GR RN in 45 ACP. I can typically cover my 10 shot group at 10 yards with a half dollar... save for the occasional flyer

In 9mm, the Berry's 124 GR FPs are as accurate as any factory load I have tried, but I can't seem to shoot my wife's 9mm as well as I can my 45. Typical groups are 2.5" or so at 10 yards for me, with the best being about 2". That pistol has a shorter barrel and sight radius than my 45.

Mike

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NRA Certified Pistol Inst.

In the past I have loaded Berry's, Ranier, X-treme, and Montana Gold. Prefer MG but they have priced themselves beyond my resources! Ranier and I just couldn't get on the same page when I was reloading 375 Sig. Of late I've been ordering all my revolver bullets from X-treme and auto bullets from Delta Precision. Auto bullets are jacketed for a little bit more money and to ME worth the difference.

I don't think you can go wrong with any of the plated bullets.

Todays bullet makers have quality equipment that will put out
bullets that match batch to batch with minimal dia. changes.

I just received some "Bonded" Factory 124 JHP bullets that stated .355" but they are a very "FAT" .355" and I had to adjust my die so they would settle in my case mouth, unlike all the other types of 9mm bullets that would seat with LESS belling.

You just need to puts around with each component to get it to work, be it a primer, case, powder, bullet or what ever.........

Now a days if you can buy them..............do it !!
Top brand or seconds is a minimal issue.

A paper target at 25 yards will never know the difference.

I tried Ranier .451 230gr bullets once, didn't like them. I had setback issues in my 1911, so I used them up in my 625. Accuracy was unimpressive.

IMHO they offer nothing over lead.

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Common sense isn't so common.

Mastiff54 you could just start a new thread instead of dredging up a 4 year old thread.

I use Xtreme in .38/.357 and .44. They seem to have sales and free shipping frequently. I have a had very good experiences with these slugs in both calibers on top of fast burning powders.

I and a WHOLE BUNCH of my friends use Barry's. I don't think there has ever been a defective bullet in the bunch and our orders usually total 60K+- bullets in just about all the calibers.

Had used Ranier personally until they dropped their .41 Magnum which was one of my major two bullets. Barry's have been excellent. Besides the .41 I also use:
350/.50
100/9mm HBRN
124/9mm HBFN
200/.44 FP (no longer available)
180/.45 HBRN

All have been excellent accuracy wise...Bob

I recently tried the Berry's 9MM 115 grain HBRN-TP bullets and like them a lot. They seem to be very consistent in their dimensions and they shoot well in every pistol I've tried them in. I was well satisfied with them and the only reason I don't have more to reload with at this time is that PV is out of stock on them.

The only problem I see with plated bullets is the fact that for about the same money, I can buy jacketed Zero bullets, which are a true jacketed bullet instead of plated. Take the 9MM 115 grain FMJ bullets for example. 2000 of the Berry's 115 HBRN-TP are $189.32 delivered (from Berry's) and from Rose Distributing (Zero's retail outlet), their 115 FMJ bullets are $193.40 delivered for 2000 bullets. I haven't tried the 9MM Zero bullets out yet, but I have their .357 158 grain JHP and SP bullets and have been fully satisfied with their quality and accuracy and the Zero bullets are actually cheaper than the Berry's plated in that caliber in 2000 lots.

Another line of bullets I am looking into and getting ready to try out are the Hi-Tek coated hard cast lead bullets. From everything I've read so far, the Hi-Tek coated lead bullets won't lead up a barrel at any pistol velocities and probably not at carbine velocities such you would see with a 357 Mag or 44 Mag out of an 1892 carbine either. I just got in some of these bullets to try from Bayou Bullets and if they do pan out they are even cheaper than the plated or the Zero jacketed bullets.

Since most everything I shoot is at the range and not hunting, price/performance ratio is king. And since I've been averaging at least 1k-2k rounds per month in various calibers, anything I can save on cost without compromising accuracy or reloading ease helps the old wallet out.

The price difference between Delta and Xtreme on my last 230gr RN 45 ACP order was so small it made no sense to buy plated.

I really like using Berry’s Bullets. The bullet is a lead bullet with a coating of copper on it.
These copper coated bullets do not lead the barrel like the cast lead bullet I have.
Berry’s Bullets come in a reusable plastic box.

Berry’s Website recommends using published load data for LEAD BULLETS as long
as it is the same weight bullet.

My Ruger SR1911 45ACP appears to be very accurate with the 45cal 230gr round nose/
5.3 grs Alliant Unique powder/CCI LP #300 primer/Winchester case/Lee taper crimp die/COAL 1.230in.

xtreme, when they have free shipping.

"xtreme, when they have free shipping. "
I will second that

I have shot a few thousand Berry's 158gn RN's out of my various .38's with no troubles. Uncle has shot a bunch of Rainiers out of his .45 1911 without any troubles.

I too, use RMR Rocky Mountain Reloading plated bullets--124 grain RN. I find them to be consistent in size and accuracy. I used to use Berry's but RMR is less expensive overall with the free shipping.

I've used countless boxes of Berry's 240 grain .44 cal flat nose in my .44 magnum. They're wonderful bullets, and a whole lot tougher than I thought they'd be. The plating is very tough and is not easily damaged by impact or crimping. I worked up a nice load in mag cases running just under 1000 fps, and I get great accuracy as well as a clean gun afterwards. It's not a full magnum load, but it's no slouch either. When ever I open a new box of bullets I always sample a few for weight and diameter, they've been very consistent in weight and in .430 diameter. I did have a box of bullets that measured .429, but I compared them to a loaded box of the others at .430 and couldn't decipher any difference in performance of accuracy. I've been so impressed with Berry's that I just started to load their 158 grain round nose in .357 mag.