Reloading plated Berry’s bullets

[Solomon]

Hello all,

I purchased a stainless R-92 .357/.38 special recently. I was lucky enough to pick up 1000 125 grain Berry’s plated hollow points. I’ve got 8lbs of HP-38. Wanting to load .38 special Star Line nickel plated brass.

Here come the questions...... 1) do you expect that these loads will feed decently in my new rifle? 2) I’m concerned about leading the barrel up by pushing the plated bullets too fast. Anyone here have a general idea of how many grains of HP-38 out of a 16” barrel will get me in the ball park? Also, LOP is about an inch too short for me. Any advice on how you have addressed this issue? Thanks in advance, if anyone is able to help. Solomon

[Archer]

Hodgdon manual 26th edition
Page 419 - 357 Magnum Rifle, 125 grain projectile HP38 Starting load: 5.4 grains 1274 FPS, Maximum load: 7.4 grains 1569 FPS. Test weapon Marlin 20" barrel Max case length 1.290", recommended trim length 1.285"

Current ONLINE Hodgdon reloading data:
http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/pistol
They list 125 grain XTP loads from 7.3-8.5 grains of HP38
They also list 125grain LRNFP loads from 4.6-5.5 grains of HP38 (I assume this is a 38 special level 'cowboy action' near powderpuff level load.)

Berry's spec sheet on 125 grain 'TARGET' HP in .38/.357:
https://www.berrysmfg.com/product/bp-38-357-125gr-thp
Note max recommended velocity is 1250 FPS for this bullet. (As near as I can tell this is the same for all Berry's .357 bullets.)

I have pushed bullets from Rainier with a similar construction above these velocities without building up leading in my Winchester 94 in .44 Mag with a 24" barrel. I would think that the extra barrel length would lead to an extended acceleration curve that would allow a little more V than the max listed by Berry's but I do not typically push plated bullets to max velocities.

Best advise is to load 5 or 10 each with increasing powder loads and test them.
TWO or Three things to watch for:

1a. Watch your crimp. Plated bullets like these require enough flare to prevent the bullet being sliced by the case mouth. You want to turn the crimp back enough so that it doesn't catch during feeding and you need enough neck tension to hold the bullet through feeding and recoil but these light plated lead core construction bullets can squish down if crimped and the lead will stay compacted while the brass of the case mouth may spring back somewhat leading to a bullet that may be looser than if it wasn't crimped at all.

1b. Watch for impacted bullets from the magazine spring compression or recoil.
Watch for pulled bullets from recoil, especially if you use these loads in revolvers.

2. Check the barrel in between shots for bullet structural failure in the lands and grooves.

I expect the recoil issues would be less because this is .357 and the 92 is a heavy gun that's not going to move a lot under recoil especially when backed up by your shoulder.

[Solomon]

Thank you so much for the quick and very thorough answers. Much appreciated! Great information. I am anxious for a day off to get to start putting loads together.

[GasGuzzler]

If you ever get leading with plated bullets, something is VERY wrong. It's not speed the leads, it's having more pressure than the bullet design can handle, usually due to fit. Berry' puts a speed limit on their bullets for the effectiveness of the plating.

[HarryAlonzo]

A leather lace-on butt pad should fix your LOP issue. After-market butt stocks are few, and I don’t recall that any offer an increased LOP. You could whittle your own spacer and butt plate combination.

[Johnz]

My take on plated bullets is that I don't like them. They cost almost as much as jacketed bullets but don't perform near as well. You can't crimp them for use in a revolver or the plating will strip off through the forcing cone when fired.

[Sarge]

Seconded, John Z. I could never get them to them to group as well as a good cast or jacketed bullet. I run a firm crimp on everything and have no time for any bullet that won't accommodate that.

[Archer]

I have had mixed results from plated bullets.
In semi auto pistols I've had pretty good results.
In magnum handgun rounds I've had some good results and some where I've been unhappy. Those with a crimp cannular have performed better than the ones without and heavy plating better than light plating.
In general I prefer jacketed bullets but I do use plated for practice rounds particularly with higher volume calibers. I also use traditional lead bullets for some of those calibers with light to medium loadings.

[mr surveyor]

I have had mixed results from plated bullets.
In semi auto pistols I've had pretty good results.
In magnum handgun rounds I've had some good results and some where I've been unhappy. Those with a crimp cannular have performed better than the ones without and heavy plating better than light plating.
In general I prefer jacketed bullets but I do use plated for practice rounds particularly with higher volume calibers. I also use traditional lead bullets for some of those calibers with light to medium loadings.

I agree with Archer. I've had good (at least decent) results with plated bullets (I use X-Treme) in bottom feeders also .... 9mm and .45 auto. They're clean and easy to work with, and for my needs of no more than 20 yards they perform o.k. I've never tried them in revolvers or lever guns since there's plenty of choices of commercial cast boolits that seem to do the job much better.

jd

[Engine2]

I've been using plated bullets for 30+ years and have had no problem. One thing I did learn early on is NO ROLL CRIMP on the plated. Been using the RCBS taper crimp with good results and 2 years ago switched a couple of calibers to the Lee Factory Crimp dies.

Taper crimp (or Lee FC) in both plated and lead: .380, .38, .357, .44, .45 ACP & 45 SMC (45 Super).

Roll crimp only on the 45 Colt lead, didn't have good luck with the taper crimp on this but I was cheating and tried using both the taper & FC 45 ACP die.