Plated bullets

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Shane Tuttle

Staff
Sevens said:
And you got me with the 250-count Berry's box... except that my first 250 count box of Berry's came from Cabela's.
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DOH! Well, you got me there...

Sevens said:
I think what drew me in to this minor standoff is when you said that they are "just as expensive as FMJ" and for my needs, they just aren't. Not at all, for all those reasons I stated.
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If I were to say depending on how you invest or how much you invest, FMJ bullets from Precision Delta is comparably priced to Berry's, would you agree? If I were to place an order from Berry's and an order from PD, the bottom line price would be very close to the same...for me anyway.
 
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Sevens

New member
Good enough, as long as we can agree that I need plated or jacketed in what ends up being SEVERAL sizes that P-D doesn't even offer... and also that buying bullets from TJConevera saves a decent bit of money (that adds up QUICK!) over buying Berry's direct.

I still think Berry's direct is a great deal compared to any shop, any table at any gun show. I love Berry's for the bullets, I love their flip-top plastic ammo boxes, I love that they are lightning quick with free shipping on most items (over $50 total order) and they in more than a half dozen transactions, they've never screwed up my order, not even a little bit. Berry's also lowers their prices according to the fluctuating lead market -- sure, not as much as we might like, but I've witnessed them lowering the prices as the volatile market changes.

Truth... I've given P-D more grief than they deserve in this thread... because they didn't give me as much as I hoped when I ordered from them. Berry's just seems to deliver for me. P-D bullets are a tremendous buy in this market, really a heckuva deal, but if the supreme being came down and told me that I only had one company to supply me with bullets, I'd choose Berry's and not lose a wink of sleep over it.

(but that would be one heckuva situation if that happened... could make a TV movie with a story line like that one! :p)
 
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Shane Tuttle

Staff
Berry's also lowers their prices according to the fluctuating lead market -- sure, not as much as we might like, but I've witnessed them lowering the prices as the volatile market changes.
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I've witnessed that. A few years ago, the base price of their bullets were FAR cheaper than others. But they also had the lead surcharge. Add those two together and their prices were comparable to the market at the time. Eventually, they dropped the surcharge but significantly raised their base price to remain comparable when the dust settled. Underhanded tactics? Nah, I don't think so. Just the way it is.

I give them the credit where it's due. They did lower prices from time to time when they could. I haven't done the research, but haven't seen any other bullet manufacturer do the same. They (not Berry's) may have kept their prices the same when lead prices were lower, but always seemed to raise them as soon as there was an excuse to do so...
 
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Berry's MfG

New member
All great points on pricing and comparisons. All the manufacturers talked about have good products and I would never talk negative towards anyone of them, we are too busy keeping our own house in order. We try our best not to be a competitor to our dealers, so we hold our prices so the dealers can make their margins. Some of our bigger distributors like TJ Conavera, Powder Valley and Graf & Sons have done a great job in regards to pricing. Both lead and copper have gone up, copper has gone up 35% and lead 20% since this time last year when we dropped our prices. Everyone is in the same boat and ammo prices are going up next month. We make no profit on the cost of materials only on the process of manufacturing. Our lead suppliers have predicted lead to climb back to the $1.50 per pound price, let's hope that does not happen.
 
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Shane Tuttle

Staff
Thanks for chiming in, Mr. Phillips. Even if business is booming, it's still difficult to deal with slim profit margins with violently fluctuating metal prices...
 
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Berry's MfG

New member
I'm sure that no-one in the industry likes to see the price of the base metals going up. We manufacturers struggle with the highs and lows since we are pressed into yearly pricing by our bigger customers like Cabela's. I'm an end user that likes Nosler and Hornady bullets for my field loads. I shoot a lot of our bullets for plinking and target, but the loads I carry in the field are not a plated bullet. If anyone has any questions please feel free to hit me up either on the forum or here at work. It is an exciting time in the industry, the military budgets have brought a new level of innovation to our market. I own many older classic guns, but I will say the new guns on the market are really something.
 
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Sevens

New member
Okay, I've got a question for you...

For a while, I've been avoiding using plated in .357 Magnum because of the possible speeds I'd be attaining. I do not have a chrono. Recently, I decided to give them a twirl and made up just a few loads in .357 Mag using the Berry's 158gr Pl-FP-DS and powered by either Alliant 2400 or Power Pistol.

I've used them for paper punching and at short distances (7 to 12 yards) they have worked perfectly well and are accurate from my S&W 686, 6-inch barrel.

I don't know the velocity I'm looking at. I couldn't even logically guess, but could only estimate. I believe it's in the area of 1,100 FPS.

What's Berry's position on using thing for paper punching in .357 Mag? I use so many of your bullets but outside of the .30 Carb bullet, I don't send them fast. I would like to continue using them for pure target and plinking but with .357 Magnum loads.

What do you think? Should I play it safe and stick with a true jacketed bullet? I am asking for nothing out of these bullets other than a little short distance accuracy (which I already get) and for the bullet to hold together and not be a danger to myself or my handgun. I don't need any kind of terminal "performance", just want to punch holes... but at .357 Magnum pressure and velocity levels. Or reduced levels.

I can share my precise data if that's necessary.
 
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Berry's MfG

New member
Great question and one I am asked a lot (guess we have not addressed the question well in our literature). The 1200 fps max velocity is what we speak of even with a .357 mag load. I use our .40 bullets in my 10mm and am beyond that velocity and have no issues. The problem with the revolver calibers is more complicated. Most 38/357 dies are a roll crimp, they work best when you have a cannelure to roll-crimp into. A lot of the die sets combine the seat and crimp process into one die. This means that at some point you have opposing forces at work. The roll crimp will be crimping while the seater is still pushing down. If it is set to roll crimp into a cannelure, and one is not on the bullet it can deform the bullet. The deformation is usually a waistline with a muffin-top above or below the crimp. This makes it hard to get through the forcing cone, and if it does will severely affect the accuracy. Dillon has an Accu-Crimp die that works great for non-cannelured bullets, it is basically a hybrid taper-crimp die. If you crimp correctly, and the timing on your revolver is correct, then you will have no problem pushing our bullets to the 1200 fps velocity. You have to have enough crimp so the bullets will not back out in the cylinders that are not in battery, and not enough to severely deform the bullet.
 
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amamnn

New member
For what it's worth I'll mention that I use Berry's for all my target shooting, including the .357 mag. I use the Redding profile crimper on that cartridge and it seems to work fine. I'm not loading above 1000 fps; the paper tears just fine for me at the lower velocity. Additionally, Berry's makes a .32 wadcutter and a .45 SWC that I have not seen in anyone else's line of plated bullets. I have tried several other brands of lead and jacketed SWCs. For me, and both my 45s the Berrys are the most accurate; the price is not the consideration.


PS I do not own stock--but I do have the hat.....................
 
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torquewrench

New member
I loaded 200 .40 cal and shot them all. No problems. worked out the taper crimp and there were no issues loading. I did have to flair the cases a bit more than I have done for FMJs. no big deal. Thumbs up from me. I will use the sites listed on this thread for future purchases of FMJs and Berrys... Thanks all....
 
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Mattp27

New member
I have shot/loaded both Rainer and Berrys. I ended up buying Berrys when the Rainers were no where to be found. I have since swapped to Berrys. They seem to be a bit better quality to me. Plus if you buy directly from Berrys and order more then $50 they ship for free. I just recived another 1000 230gr Round .45 bullets about a week ago. Not sure what shipping cost on those but that box weighed probably about 25lbs and gave my mail lady hell!

I just use them for target shooting but today I shot at my rifles 100 yard target and hit it 6 out of 8 times. 4' x 4' target.
 
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badassfrontier

New member
I was buying Remington 115gr FMJ for $80.00 thousand but switched to berrys after all the reviews. I love them. I load them with 5.2 gr Unique and OAL of 1.145. Seems to be very accurate in my Taurus 24/7 and Ruger SR9. Im waiting to see the results on a chrono.
 
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