"Best" brand of plated bullets??

[Calliope]

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.

 

[sps282]

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!

 

[parabarbarian]

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.

 

[pfcustom]

plated bullets

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

+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

 

[Mastiff54]

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.

 

[sellersm]

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.

 

[Harley Fan]

I've found the Rocky Mountain Reloading's own brand of "thick plated" bullets to be very consistent...

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.)

 

[ChiefStealth]

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.

 

[Twoboxer]

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.

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.

 

[drummer007]

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.

 

[Bkreutz]

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.

 

[Duster340]

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

 

[duck32man]

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

 

[ankona]

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.

 

[joeintexas]

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

 

[Vortec MAX]

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

 

[just for fun]

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.

 

[Nevada Ed]

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.

 

[johngalt]

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.

 

[Calliope]

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