New Bullet: Berry's 124gr Hollow Base RN for 9mm

[LiveLife]

bds still has his youthful memory

Ummmm, I am not so sure ... with less than 10 years to retirement, I am finding that things are slowing down and I am looking up things/info more often than recalling from memory ...

I finally had to get bi-focals two weeks ago! Oh my good grief, me with bi-focals ... I am afraid what's next? <stretches out arm and checks for handshaking> Oh good, they are not shaking ... Yet!

 

[BossHogg]

Just back form the range. I loaded 100 124gr HBRN Berry's and they shot better than me. I loaded them at a COL 1.120 with 4.5 grains of Universal clays using Winchester primers. I shot them at 10 yards standing,no rest, and all hit the 8 inch targets .

Since this was my first reload with 124 gr 9mm I was impressed. I used a C-Z 75 P-01 with no issues. I'm no expert, just my .02. They get a thumbs up from me.

 

[LiveLife]

OK, continuing from post #38, I went to the range today before doing Easter shopping.

The test rounds were loaded using mixed range brass. They were separately resized/deprimed on a single stage press and hand primed using Winchester SP primers. OAL used was 1.135". All shots were fired off hand at 15 yards out of Glock 22 using Lone Wolf 40-9 conversion barrel. Due to the limited number of test rounds, I moved from the usual 5 round shot group to 3. For load data, I referenced currently available powder manufacturers' load data with Lyman's #49 except VihtaVuori N320 (I used the data from an older guide).

Since I was testing various powders, I decided to use a 10 point scale with the felt recoil of 115 gr FMJ with 4.8 gr of W231/HP38 charge as 5 (this load's felt recoil is comparable to Winchester White Box). Actual powder used was W231.


Reference load - Winchester 115 gr FMJ RN
I increased the 115 gr FMJ RN reference load to full 4.8 gr I normally use and the shot group improved from 3.0" to 2.0"-2.5". Felt recoil was mild and all the spent cases landed behind me and to the right (Let me state that since I shoot a lot of 40S&W loads, 9mm factory loads feel "mild" to me and that's why I decided to use the 0-10 scale for comparison). This level of accuracy is anticipated from this load and pistol/barrel used.

Bullseye - 3.5 gr and 3.8 gr:
This was a surprise. The 3.5 gr load produced light recoil (3) and 2.0" shot group! When I shot the 3.8 gr load, it produced mild recoil (4) and shot group just over 1.0"! I never got this small of shot groups from FMJ or any other plated bullets I have used with Bullseye before.

Titegroup - 3.8 gr and 4.0 gr:
This was anticipated as Titegroup is favored by many match shooters. I normally recommend W231/HP38 to new reloaders as Titegroup has very "tight" load range. 3.8 gr load produced mild recoil (4) and 2.5" shot group (I pushed the last shot so I could have gotten a smaller group ). 4.0 gr load produced similar felt recoil (5) of 4.8 gr W231/HP38 load and 1.5" shot group.

Unique - 4.6 gr - 4.8 gr:
I was trying to load maybe 4.5 gr and 4.8/4.9 gr, but due to variations in the powder drops I decided to use one charge range that varied from 4.6 gr to 4.8 gr. Oh well, .2 gr variations has been my experience with Unique. This "variable" load produced 2.0"-3.0" shot groups with mild/moderate felt recoil (5-6) that seemed heavier than the reference load. BTW, I decided to stop at 4.8 gr as the longer base of the HBRN bullet would seat deeper and almost would compress any higher powder charge.

 

[LiveLife]

N320 - 3.5 gr and 3.8 gr:
The 3.5 gr recoil was very light (1) and failed to eject the spent case/fully cycle the slide. Accuracy was scattered as I single shot the loads. The 3.8 gr load recoil was mild (3) and produced 2.0" shot group.

Summary:
Berry's 124 gr HBRN definitely got my attention. I am going to do more testing with higher charges of some of the powders (like N320), but the shot groups produced by various powders look very promising. It hands down shot better than the best FMJ loads I have relied upon in the past as my reference loads.

 

[capreppy]

anyone hear any updates from Berry's as to full production of these bullet and when PV will get them?

 

[LiveLife]

Berry's website is showing 9mm 124gr HBRN, 40S&W 155gr HBRN, and .45ACP 185gr HBRN with free shipping for 40/45 bullets over $50.

Powder Valley is showing .380 100 gr HBRN and .45 185 gr HBRN in stock.

anyone hear any updates from Berry's as to full production of these bullet

When I ordered my 9mm 115 gr HBRN, Jay PM'ed and said they were special trial run, so call and ask for availability. As to other HBRN bullets (9mm 115 gr/.40 155 gr/.45 185 gr), they are regular stock items on Berry's website.

I didn't get to shoot this past weekend as I have 9mm 115 gr HBRN and 45ACP 185 gr HBRN loads ready to go for some comparison range test with the accurate loads from 9mm 124 gr HBRN comparison range test. I'll post back here this coming weekend.

I want to try higher charges of N320 (for Walkalong ) with Bullseye/Titegroups loads with the usual 5 round shot groups for verification/confirmation of shot groups accuracy. Looking to compare .45 185 gr HBRN with Bullseye/W231/HP38.

 

[capreppy]

Thanks!! I am just waiting to find out about PV's status as they are usually cheaper than Berry's direct.

 

[john16443]

bds said... " Looking to compare .45 185 gr HBRN with Bullseye/W231/HP38."

Thank you a thousand times over. Those powders, along with Titegroup, are what I'm using now. Between the 9mm and 45ACP reloading I do, I'm looking forward to the results for the HBRN's in both calibers.

 

[Berry's MFG]

They are now a standard in our bullet offering, our distributors probably have not ordered them yet. Let them know your are looking for them and I'm sure they will pick them up.

 

[Walkalong]

Have you dropped the .32 83 Gr DEWC? I noticed it is missing from the website. Only the 83 Gr HBWC shown now. Thanks, AC

 

[Berry's MFG]

Thanks for the heads up, not we have not dropped it. It somehow dropped from the web but it's up now.

 

[LiveLife]

It's been a while since the 124 gr HBRN-TP testing and I am glad to see Hodgdon released the load data for Berry's 124 gr HBRN-TP under "BERB" - http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp

124 gr BERB HBRN-TP Titegroup OAL 1.150" Start 3.6 gr 957 fps 27,700 PSI - Max 4.1 gr 1057 fps 32,700 PSI

124 gr BERB HBRN-TP W231/HP-38 OAL 1.150" Start 3.9 gr 920 fps 27,400 PSI - Max 4.4 gr 1037 fps 31,900 PSI

125 gr SIE FMJ W231/HP-38 OAL 1.090" Start 4.4 gr (1009 fps) 24,600 CUP - Max 4.8 gr (1088 fps) 28,800 CUP

The 4.5 gr W231/HP-38 and 3.8 gr Titegroup test powder charges were fairly close to published max charges considering shorter 1.135" OAL and Lyman #49/1999 Winchester load data were referenced for the start/max test charges. I may still test the N320 4.0 gr load.


Now comes Berry's 115 gr HBRN-TP bullet testing.

I am planning to initially test the following with 115 gr Winchester FMJ 4.8 gr W231/HP-38 as my reference load:

Bullseye - 3.8/4.0/4.2

Titegroup - 3.8/4.0/4.2

W231/HP-39 - 4.4/4.6/4.8

N320 - 4.0/4.2