Plated pistol bullets ??

[4651feeder]

My load manuals give me the option of either lead or jacketed and I've always struggled to understand when looking at data when I should have an ah ha moment with realization a load I'm looking at is not well suited for plated bullets.

Hence in decades past I've tried to shy away from plated, but in today's environment that's not as easily done.

Are there any general rules that you follow pertaining to this which might be helpful?

 

[Cameramonkey]

Follow the manufacturer's recommendations. Berrys for instance says to follow the Jacketed load data.

Also pay attention to speed. Plated cant handle higher speeds so you gotta control your power. Once again, manufacturers like Berry's are transparent and give you max speeds. I THINK 1200FPS is where Berry's says to stop on their standard 9mm plated. They have thick plate ammo, but I dont recall where that cutoff is.

I've reloaded plated for years and they are great. No fouling, and the best part, no worry of sharp jacket shards coming back at me when I'm shooting steel. The plating breaks up just like the lead does.

 

[noylj]

Safe: ALWAYS use lead data for plated bullets.
Most plated bullet manufacturers have "load recommendation" on their web sites.
Recommendation: Unless they are the ONLY bullets you can find, don't use plated bullets. Never found a plated bullet that gave me a groups that was less than 150% of what I get with jacketed and lead bullets. Virtual waste of money unless you are shooting at VERY short range and just need to put holes in a target.

 

[Robert Richardson]

I load plated just like jacketed. I don't load hot loads. Plated bullets are like everything else, some good, some not so much. You get what you pay for. I won't use the Berry bullets, for me, they are in not so good group.

 

[Old Bear]

I load Extreme plated bullets almost exclusively. I have had great luck accuracy wise. I have had mixed results with Berry's plated bullets.

I load 9mm to mid range jacketed specs. I load .380 and .38 spl to mid to high range for lead specs.

IMHO, plated bullets are the best of both worlds for range ammo. The cost of lead with the cleaner barrel of jacketed.

 

[SolidDragon74]

My bullets say use lead loads for them but in the lee manual it gives plated bullet loads. I use the plated if it's there or the lead if I can't find plated. The plating is thin so it is more like a lead than jacketed

 

[sugarcreekbrass]

I used lead data when I first started loading pistol rounds. I started low and it wasn't enough to cycle my G19. I did some reading and found many were using mid range jacketed data. My velocity is still below Berry's max.

 

[4651feeder]

Thank U to all

 

[DadSmith]

I have a question. Why can you load polymer coated hard cast faster than plated without lead or fouling? How does the polymer keep fouling down?

 

[Sniper 79]

I've loaded plated for years. Always settle in the middle somewhere lead jacketed data. They shoot decent and are very clean. Have a bag or coated on the bench now and may switch. See how they load and shoot. Raw lead bullets were a nightmare! Gack up my dies, lead hazards, cleaning a leaded barrel is a time burglarizing and money waste.

 

[gregkl]

I've loaded plated for years. Always settle in the middle somewhere lead jacketed data. They shoot decent and are very clean. Have a bag or coated on the bench now and may switch. See how they load and shoot. Raw lead bullets were a nightmare! Gack up my dies, lead hazards, cleaning a leaded barrel is a time burglarizing and money waste.

When I first started loading 45 was the caliber I started with. I loaded up a handful of lead and decided that if I have to resort to lead to save money, I'll take up another hobby.

It just wasn't pleasurable to work with at all.

I loaded FMJ for a long time, then tried some Falcon coated that I couldn't get to work. Next up was some Underwood/Ackerman black coated. They worked great. Now I am loading Blue Bullets and those are also great.

I doubt there is much savings going from coated to lead and the coated are much better for me at least.

 

[4651feeder]

I have a question. Why can you load polymer coated hard cast faster than plated without lead or fouling? How does the polymer keep fouling down?

Watching for the answer to this, in the meantime researching the question on my own has yet to produce evidence supporting this. I have however learned powder coated and polymer coated are not one and the same as result of the search.

 

[noylj]

For several decades, I have purchased JACKETED bullets from Montana Gold, Precision Delta, and Zero bullets from Powder Valley for the same price or less than plated (Montana Gold took the Obummer shortage as an OK to really raise their prices and they never came down as far as I could see, so I haven't purchased any in about 9 years).
Tested several plated bullet brands about 10 years ago (during the never ending Obummer shortage) and they SUCKED. Some couldn't even stay on a 2 foot by 2 foot target at 25 yards. NONE of them could get under 4" at 25 yards. I shot about a thousand of each testing many powders and charges. They were a WASTE.
At that time, as I remember, commercial lead bullets were 7 cents, my jacketed brands and plated were about 10 cents, and PREMIUM jacketed were about 20 cents.
Again, are you actually measuring accuracy or just holes on target at 10 yards or something?

 

[4651feeder]

You know if everyone loading plated bullets had your results I doubt there would be a market for them.

As they say at the end of the commercial, results may vary.

 

[Fixer]

I have shot quite a few plated bullets from 9mm, 40/10mm, to 45acp. All have performed similar to the jacketed bullets I have loaded.

Both plated and coated bullets seem to run at about the same limit except for the heavy base xtreme bullets. Those seem to be able to handle 1500 fps. I load mostly for pistols or pistol caliber rifles so velocity isn't much past 1000 fps on average. I have found both to be accurate and the Hi-Tek coated are a bit cheaper without sacrificing accuracy.

From Xtreme's website:
Load Info

Our Copper Plated Bullets can be run at mid-range jacketed velocities or higher end lead velocities. We recommend keeping velocities to less than 1500 FPS (Feet Per Second) and using only a light taper crimp
Any velocities over 1200 FPS we recommend either our Heavy Plate Concave Base or Hollow Point products for superior accuracy. We recommend keeping velocities to less than 1500 FPS (Feet Per Second) and using only a light taper crimp

 

[STFU]

I load Berry's plated .308s/220grains for my subsonic 300BLK loads.

I am having no issues with groups from my RAR bolt gun.
Sub .70" groups at 100' and ~1.5" groups at 300'. (And I am NOT a good shooter.)

Edit...forgot to finish the thought:

I also run Berry's plated for my 45ACP and 44MAG loads.
I got crappy groups from the 45ACP loads but come to find out...I was not loading them hot enough. I was following the data for LRN and I should have been following Jacketed data. Still testing these.
The 44MAG loads group fine for me. My 44MAG load is always a tad bit hot.

 

[Sniper 79]

For several decades, I have purchased JACKETED bullets from Montana Gold, Precision Delta, and Zero bullets from Powder Valley for the same price or less than plated (Montana Gold took the Obummer shortage as an OK to really raise their prices and they never came down as far as I could see, so I haven't purchased any in about 9 years).
Tested several plated bullet brands about 10 years ago (during the never ending Obummer shortage) and they SUCKED. Some couldn't even stay on a 2 foot by 2 foot target at 25 yards. NONE of them could get under 4" at 25 yards. I shot about a thousand of each testing many powders and charges. They were a WASTE.
At that time, as I remember, commercial lead bullets were 7 cents, my jacketed brands and plated were about 10 cents, and PREMIUM jacketed were about 20 cents.
Again, are you actually measuring accuracy or just holes on target at 10 yards or something?

Accuracy is of great concern. No problems running a full mag into the palm of your hand at 25 yards with plated berrys, x-treme.....glocks, 1911, 45 or 9

Looking forward to trying powder coated. The raw lead semi was cutter's were more accurate but not woth the mess and smoke