scooter123
Member
Use the load data for Jacketed Bullets. Copper Plating is the EXACT SAME MATERIAL as used in "traditional" cast in Jacket bullets and will respond with the exact same pressure curve as produced by the older style bullets. BTW, I call Cast in Jacket bullets "Old Style" because almost ALL of the commercial "jacketed" handgun range ammunition today uses plated bullets. BTW, this statement applies to Speer Lawman, Federal American Eagle and Champion, and Remington UMC. Don't know about Winchester White Box because I almost never use this ammunition and haven't ever had a need to break one down. Over the years for one reason or another I have hand to pull bullets on the Speer, Federal, or Remington ammo and ALL featured plated bullets. BTW, an absolute clue to a bullet being plated is if the ammo is identified as TMJ.
I will also note that Rile bullets are still typically Cast in Jacket construction, because plating a bullet with a thick enough jacket to tolerate Rifle pressures and velocities is time consuming enough that it's still probably cheaper to construct the bullet by forming the jacket and then filling it with molten lead. In addition the variation in the plating thickness that could result from inadequate agitation would lead to bullets being less stable in flight and degrade accuracy. However, it is quite possible that some of the cheaper FMJ bullets for the 223 may in fact be plated.
Now a couple of quote straight out of Berries FAQ, just because I am plain getting tired of this advice to only use lead bullet data. That is about 20 years out of date due to improvements in plating technology over the past 20 years.
Ask yourself this, WHAT CALIBER FEATURES A 1250 FPS MID RANGE? I suspect most of us will have to do a bit of thinking on that one. In my case the 357 Magnum out of a 16 inch Rifle Barrel might be "mid range" with some powders such as Accurate #7. However out of a 4 inch model 620 using a 125 grain bullet I had to use 21.5 grains of H110 to get to 1330 fps and I won't ever do that again. Because IMO H110 really is not a good choice for Handgun 357 Magnum loads due to the excessive muzzle blast, B/C blast, and excessive booming report just aren't the least bit enjoyable to shoot. In addition all that flame means more gas cutting on the frame. Quite simply with the handgun calibers most of us are loading for it's actually rather difficult to hit that 1250 fps maximum speed and for a low pressure caliber such as the 38 special or 45 ACP not at all possible. So, all you have to do is look at the listed velocity in your load manual and use that for guidance.
I will also note that Rile bullets are still typically Cast in Jacket construction, because plating a bullet with a thick enough jacket to tolerate Rifle pressures and velocities is time consuming enough that it's still probably cheaper to construct the bullet by forming the jacket and then filling it with molten lead. In addition the variation in the plating thickness that could result from inadequate agitation would lead to bullets being less stable in flight and degrade accuracy. However, it is quite possible that some of the cheaper FMJ bullets for the 223 may in fact be plated.
Now a couple of quote straight out of Berries FAQ, just because I am plain getting tired of this advice to only use lead bullet data. That is about 20 years out of date due to improvements in plating technology over the past 20 years.
Ask yourself this, WHAT CALIBER FEATURES A 1250 FPS MID RANGE? I suspect most of us will have to do a bit of thinking on that one. In my case the 357 Magnum out of a 16 inch Rifle Barrel might be "mid range" with some powders such as Accurate #7. However out of a 4 inch model 620 using a 125 grain bullet I had to use 21.5 grains of H110 to get to 1330 fps and I won't ever do that again. Because IMO H110 really is not a good choice for Handgun 357 Magnum loads due to the excessive muzzle blast, B/C blast, and excessive booming report just aren't the least bit enjoyable to shoot. In addition all that flame means more gas cutting on the frame. Quite simply with the handgun calibers most of us are loading for it's actually rather difficult to hit that 1250 fps maximum speed and for a low pressure caliber such as the 38 special or 45 ACP not at all possible. So, all you have to do is look at the listed velocity in your load manual and use that for guidance.
