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11-27-2016, 01:09 PM
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Berry's Bullets - Tougher than you think
I've been using Berry's Bullets for several years now and have shot many thousands of them at this point. I've only used them in .38 / .357 and .44 magnum revolvers, but have experimented with them over several powders and against all sorts of targets on my home range. A constant I seem to read about when the topic comes up is that they're soft, or easily damaged...particularly the plating on the bullets. I haven't experienced any of this, and have treated them just like jacketed bullets when seating and crimping them. They of course explode when shot onto AR500 steel plates, but even the toughest jacketed bullets do the same. I've purposely shot Berry's plated bullets into all sorts of things like cinder blocks, bricks, plates, pumpkins, metal tanks, melons, cans, 2 liters, wood, and even an old AC unit. My findings are, they're a whole lot tougher than people think, and penetrate harder targets. I'm not saying I'd hunt with them...only because there are more suited bullets for that purpose but you honestly could do a lot worse. As their intended use as a cheaper target or plinking bullet, there's no need to baby them, or be careful crimping and they're much less damaged by velocity than some people think. This summer I was widening my range and cut some trees off to the side and put up the hard wood to dry and use as firewood. These trees had inevitably been shot more than a few times as one of them even had a bolt in it that I had an 8" steel plate hanging. The other night I brought up some firewood from the basement and in one of the pieces just before loading into the stove I notices something shiny in the wood. I used a knife to dig and pry out this bullet in the attached photo below. That's a Berry's .44 cal 240 grain plated flat point, dug out of a piece of maple that had been a good sized tree out on my range last spring. You can see some wood fused to the bullet, the rifling marks, and even the crimp ring from my crimp die. The reason for posting this is, to let others know that you need not worry about how tough the plating or the bullet itself is. To new reloaders or anyone new to trying plated bullets, crimp away....you wont hurt them!
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11-27-2016, 01:46 PM
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I've got a nice stack of empty Berry's........ 45 ACP boxes which hold 250 bullets each. Never been a problem.
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11-27-2016, 02:14 PM
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I use Berry's exclusively. They work fine even up to the maximum velocity listed. Good value and good performance. I switched from Hornady .32/311 to Berry's .32/312 and experienced greatly improved performance in terms reloading ease and overall performance in my Model 70 Beretta.
I use them in addition to the .32 in .380 Auto, 38 Special, 357 Magnum, and 9mm. No problems. Much easier to reload than my previous use of lead bullets.
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11-27-2016, 09:48 PM
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I've had good luck with all brands of plated pistol and revolver bullets actually. I've got one load in particular with a 125gr plated hollow point in my 66-0 that is pure poison for gophers in my mom's hayfield. They don't expand much but they hit with a heck of a thump. Same experience with my shield .40 and the 165 hp. I'm surprised that they are accurate enough to hit a gopher up to 50 feet more often than not. Gophers aren't a particularly easy target without a shotgun:P.
I've used Berry's, HSM, Rainier, and Xtreme. I haven't seen a difference in any of them yet. Perhaps I've been blessed with good lots.
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Last edited by ageingstudent; 11-27-2016 at 09:51 PM.
Reason: forgot somthin'
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11-28-2016, 09:34 PM
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Those empty 250 count boxes are handy for all kinds of things. I think Berry's sells them separately for a couple of bucks or so each.
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11-28-2016, 10:07 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by feelinlucky
Those empty 250 count boxes are handy for all kinds of things. I think Berry's sells them separately for a couple of bucks or so each.
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Since I mentioned them, today I filled a bunch up with loose reloads, since I'll crank out 200-500 at a time on the Dillon 650, and labeled them. After all, they're nice sturdy boxes. Looks like a box will hold roughly, 100 rounds of 45 ACP.
As to another reply, I've also had good luck with X-treme, HSM, and the Berry's. Haven't tried Rainier.
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11-29-2016, 10:14 AM
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From a bullet casters perspective, if your crimp die put the crimp in that bullet it's not that tough. I have not bought bullets other than jacketed rifle in years but that looks like a factory crimp groove to crimp into.
Toughness is related to softness but more with how an alloy holds together. A too hard alloy can shear, shatter or flake as it passes through other material. The 44 bullet did neither and while it seems very hard to not mushroom on as dense a wood as maple, neither did it deform. I would only be concerned with overpenetration in a defensive load as that looks like a good shooting bullet for the most part.
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11-29-2016, 01:26 PM
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I haven't tried them yet because they keep getting priced out my purchase plans by xtreme's discount specials + free shipping One of these day I'll get around to them. Where's the cheapest place to buy them?
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11-29-2016, 03:52 PM
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I bought my last batch of Berry's bullets directly from Berry. They are a little higher there than from some of their distributors, but in quantities greater than 500, shipping is free.
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11-29-2016, 06:15 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr. D.
Much easier to reload than my previous use of lead bullets.
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What makes them easier to reload? I use lead bullets exclusively in .380, 9 Mak, .38, .44 Mag, and .45 and have never had any complaints, but I am open to trying them.
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11-30-2016, 11:05 AM
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I use them because of price, and they keep your gun unbelievably clean. I switched from lead to plated just for this reason. I also like that the plating covers the bottom, much like a gas check so there's no lead vapor to be concerned with. I find them readily available, tough, very accurate, and super clean. The loads I use, revolvers clean up entirely in under 15 minutes which I never was able to pull off when I shot lead. I know plenty of people have great success with lead bullets, but for me Berry's plated bullets were a very welcome find once I tried them. I haven't tried any other brand, because the Berry's have done everything I wanted them to do.
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11-30-2016, 12:59 PM
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I have also used a LOT of Berry's plated bullets and been very happy with them. Also their customer service is first class.
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11-30-2016, 05:01 PM
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I'm lucky that Dillon's stocks them and it's close by. I agree with the positive comments and have been using them for years.
Jim
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