9mm plated RN vs HP

[Nevada Ed]

Finally got some nice weather to melt the snow and dry out the back roads.
Went out and tried a few RN and new Berry target hollow points
in my 5" 9mm pistol.
Did a heavy load and a target load test with six loads for each target at 15 yards.
Here is the target of the full loads with a OAL for the ball type powders
and the longer OAL for the bulky flake powders.

The target loads were set at a OAL of 1.10" with the .571" bullet
that can take up a lot of space in the case. I used a 92% case volume
for that test but that's another story.

Here is what shook out with my full loads with the good, bad and the ugly Berry bullet.

 

[Nevada Ed]

The Berry 124 HP at 1.10" with a 92% case volume with six powders.................
was a train wreck.

For some odd reason these loads from 1046 to 1142fps gave me
five groups out of six, that looked like a shotgun pattern.
Only one load was at POA and measured 1.07" at 1096fps.

I will try moving the 1046 load to around 1090 and also test four
target loads that should be around 1090fps with a OAL of 1.075".

It is weird how some loads just don't work out in a certain weapon.
Later.

 

[fredj338]

I have never found Berrys plated all that accurate. The plating is really thin & crimp has to be very light.

 

[Nevada Ed]

I know that plated can be not the best with accuracy, one reason
I only picked up 250 to try out.

I will try the Hornady 125 XTP 100 pack in the future, since I do
not want to have to order 500 HAP and then find out they don't do well.

The 124gr G Dot's do not do that well for me in the accuracy department.


I might just have to go with the 115gr if the 124 bullets don't work.

I passed on the 135gr RNFP by Xtreme.......... poor accuracy.
The 147gr did work for me but that is a heck of a jump from the
little 115 up to a 147 for accuracy in target loads.

Later.

 

[sparkyvega]

It is weird how some loads just don't work out in a certain weapon.
Later.

Sometimes plated, sometimes heavy plated, sometimes cast, sometimes FMJ, sometimes HP, and etc. is more accurate. There are SO many factors that influence the cartridge performance that I have to nearly continually experiment to be satisfied. Have very good results with 135gr X-Tremes in some pistols, not so much in others. All that experimenting I do is what makes shooting paper so fun and keeps me interested. Don't give up!

 

[mike campbell]

I've tested about 2 dozen different bullets with a dozen different powders in my Colt Gold Cup Trophy 9mm. My findings won't translate directly to any other gun but I suspect some of my generalizations will hold true for many.

My goal is accuracy....the velocity will be what it will be.

Plated 115's from Berry, Rainier & Xtreme ...piddling differences among them. Any and all are "adequate" for plinking and shooting steel out to 35 yds. Trying to pick a winner in the accuracy department was fruitless. Deciding factor would be cost/availability and for me that's Xtreme. At about 8 cents each, I've shot thousands at 7-10 yds with the wife and kids.

Jacketed 115HP's, conventional and truncated from Zero, Magnus and Montana Gold shoot a bit more accurately as a category than the plated. For a 115 shoot-em-up for the family, my next of order of a couple thousand will be one of those at 9-10 cents apiece.

The Hornady 125 HAP represented a significant step up in accuracy. Enough so that I wanted to find a 124HP for my bread 'n' butter steel challenge load. The best I could do on the HAP's @ 15-16 cents apiece was cost-prohibitive. I now have 8,000 Montana Gold 124HP's that were 10 cents each delivered to my doorstep....to save 2 cents apiece ($100 a year on 5,000 rounds) I'll never buy plated again.

When the weather breaks, I'll start 50-yard Ransom Rest testing to find THE accuracy load.