Why do I want to buy Berry Bullets?

[Thomasss]

Why do I want to buy Berry Bullets when I can buy Acme or MBC bullets?
I'm finding powdered coat cheaper and generally better than a lot of commercial
jacketed bullets. (midwayusa has them on "sale.")
Any reasonable opinions, pro or con:

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

I use both the coated and copper plated. Sometimes I like a change up. I also like the plated for when i use tite group. Tite group gives me leading issues with the coated.

 

[Walkalong]

I use plated, coated, and jacketed, depends on the application

 

[mdi]

Just my experience; I don't care for plated bullets. If I want cheap, I'll cast my own or purchase Acme or Precision coated. The really only "bad" bullets I've purchased were Berry's plated 125 gr 9mm HP. I couldn't hold .005" OAL with the plated bullets due to variations in bullet ogive and thickness/diameter. I've purchased a lot of jacketed, and some cast and cast w/PC and find commercial casters are pretty even in quality...

But it mostly depends on the application. I have revolvers that have never seen a jacketed or plated bullet as long as they have been in my posession, and some semi-autos that only use jacketed. I cast and PC many bullets but occasionally get lazy and will buy some (mostly from Acme)...

 

[MWC1974]

I use plated, coated, and jacketed, depends on the application

Same here. It al depends. For plinking, I use coated.

 

[Skgreen]

I've found plated / jacketed to work better than coated in my Hornady bullet feeder dies

 

[Hartkopf]

I’ve become a fan of RMR fmj for 9mm and 40. Lots of times they are cheaper than Berry’s on sale. And RMR ships free. I still buy Berry’s from Midway here and there and use them for close range practice drills.

 

[stonebuster]

I use Xtreme bullets from Cabelas which are cheaper than Berrys and shipping is free. I've used Berrys also which worked fine at the range.

 

[1KPerDay]

Why do I want to buy Berry Bullets when I can buy Acme or MBC bullets?
I'm finding powdered coat cheaper and generally better than a lot of commercial
jacketed bullets. (midwayusa has them on "sale.")
Any reasonable opinions, pro or con:

For me plated Berry’s are excellent and have some advantages over coated, which may or might not be worth any increase in price:

• They don’t have crusty powdercoat edges remaining on the bottom of some of the bullets which may possibly complicate reloading
• They don’t smoke
• They don’t smell weird
• They can be had in more configurations like HBRN or thick plate

Nowadays I order from whoever is taking orders at the time and order a few thousand at least. If the price is within a couple of pennies per I’ll always choose plated over coated at least in semi autos. But if it’s 5 or more cents more expensive I’ll be happy with the MBC coated stuff at a good price

 

[LiveLife]

Why do I want to buy Berry Bullets when I can buy Acme or MBC bullets?

Plated bullets are essentially lead/alloy bullets with full-length gas check to prevent leading of barrel and are easier to seat/taper crimp than lead/coated lead bullets.

Range you shoot at may require "no exposed lead" bullets.

Berry's sizes their bullets slightly larger like cast bullet sizing to better seal with the barrel, especially if your barrel is oversized for more consistent chamber pressure build for greater accuracy compared to other plated bullets sized smaller like jacketed bullets.

If you are running comp or suppressor, plated bullets are cleaner than lead bullets.

And some people just like shiny bullets to go with mirror shiny brass.

 

[BBarn]

Much prefer plated over coated for the reasons already provided by others. An additional negative I've consistently experienced is more stubborn residue from coated bullets that is more difficult to scrub from the barrel bore. The cost savings of a penny or so for coated aren't worth the negatives for me. The only exception is for applications where I want to roll crimp into a groove (some plated bullets lack a crimping groove).

 

[PapaG]

I figure you want to spend too much money. Lead for low to medium, jacked for high vel.

 

[HowieG]

Whatever is available and cheapest works for me.

 

[dcloco]

Missouri Bullet Company will be your new friendly source for a variety of bullets.

 

[eyeshot]

Missouri Bullet Company will be your new friendly source for a variety of bullets.

Seems to be a lot they don't do, IMO. If they meet your needs great.

The Missouri Bullet Company proudly uses Magma Engineering equipment in our bullet production.

Timesavers

• Shipping is $16.00 per carton anywhere in CONUS
• Ruger Revolver? Please read!
• We don't do gas-checked bullets.
• We don't do hollow-point bullets.
• We make cast lead bullets. We do not make jacketed or plated bullets.
• The ONLY difference between the bullets listed as "Black Powder" is the type of lube used. Black Powder-lubed bullets are for BP use, the others aren't.
• If you need special sizing of a particular bullet, you must email us first. Click on Contact Us
• Tracking number - Automatically receive tracking details by visiting https://my.usps.com.
• Maximum velocity of particular bullets - read the FAQ
• Technical question? Email us with all specifics.
• We do not provide load data. Online resources include hodgdon.com and loaddata.com. Recommended book is the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook.
• BHN 12 bullets work best at up to approximately 850 fps. BHN 18, faster.
• We don't know if a particular bullet will fit your particular gun. You need to do some basic research on your gun to match it to the right bullet(s.)
• When creating your user account, do NOT use your email address as your username, which is limited to 15 characters.
• Coated bullets seem to work fine in Glock barrels, assuming that you maintain proper cleaning discipline.

 

[brewer12345]

I have tried a bunch of stuff from Berry's, butt most of it is no better than my own home cast stuff for my purposes. The one exception is the Berry's plated 38 DEWC bullet. That thing just shoots consistently well from everything I have tried it in, including a lever action rifle. I have some on hand, but if and when things open up again I will load the boat with these things.

 

[ImjinScout85]

Berry's work just fine for me in all applications, general target and plinking. To be honest Berry's is all I have ever loaded for pistol and PV by far has the cheapest prices for Berry's

 

[Pivot Dr]

Only reason I’d buy Berry’s today is if I was out and they were the only ones available within my timeframe. I’ve had very spotty performance with them, enough so that I’ll cast my own or shoot Xtreme or Missouri bullets first, in that order.

 

[lordpaxman]

In my testing, coated bullets take less powder charge to make a specific PF than plated or jacketed, if you’re worried about that. Otherwise, I’d much rather load jacketed or plated. If the case price differential isn’t that much, choose RMR. Good luck.

 

[twarr1]

I use RMR jacketed in 9mm and almost exclusively Hornady of various types in other calibers. Occasionally I’ll spring for Sierras when the price is right.
I figure, for about the same price as plated why not use RMR’s good quality jacketed?

 

[Targa]

If I am not using my cast bullets I am using either Berry’s or Accura bullets. I prefer plated bullets for the indoor range due to the lack of smoke and also for my semi autos.

 

[Riomouse911]

Berrys and Extreme for plated bullets. Bayou, Brazos, Eggleston, MBC, Acme, Blue Bullets, Ibedjiheads, etc. for coated.

I’ll occasionally buy Montana Bullet Works for gas-checked, heavier bullets.

Like Targa posted, it’s plated or coated for me. About 90% of my shooting over the last couple of years has been indoors and lead/lube bullet smoke doesn’t make many friends in the lanes next to me.

Stay safe.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

And some people just like shiny bullets to go with mirror shiny brass.

I can't prove it "scientifically" but I strongly suspect ^^THIS^^ is the real reason people who prefer plated, prefer plated.

It's all about the application for me. Paints, enamels, waxes, grease and/or plasticine bonded coatings perform a similar function to a lubricant: place a friction diminishing film barrier between the lead and the barrel to prevent hot gases from melting lead into the grooves and allow the bullet to travel the bore at higher velocities with less pressure. Plating - copper or nickel - performs a similar function but is not a lubricant, does not diminish friction appreciably, and is not as hard as a jacket, but can be (typically is) harder than a plastic, enamel or paint coating; it is a stronger, more nearly heat resistant material which the hot gases cannot melt as easily or as quickly, and are better at shielding heat from the lead cores they're bonded to. Jackets - steel, nickel, copper, brass, etc. - may or may not diminish friction but are considerably harder and more nearly heat resistant than plating or coatings. As much as people complain about waxes and greases, they are coatings like any other, have been around a very long time, and generally do a fine job of protecting the bore and the lead bullet, when applied correctly.

Bullet fit, powder choice, barrel length, primer choice, caliber... lots of factors go into making the decision what to load and how to load it.

If you're loading hot, high-pressure, under-size, and high friction, jacketed or plated might be the best choice. For lower-pressure with powders that don't generate as much heat, and properly sized bullets that seal well with less barrel friction, a coating - wax, paint, plastic, what-have-you - may be better. Always ask your doctor before choosing the coating that's best for you... YMMV. No deposits, No returns.

 

[n2omike]

Coated bullets can take a couple extra steps... bell mouthing the cases to prevent scraping the coating off during seating, and re-crimping.

Jacketed and Plated bullets do not require these steps. RMR has affordable jacketed bullets and Berrys has plated. Would look into all options and see what works best for you.

 

[slowr1der]

Berry's bullets are my least favorite bullets I've used. I bought a bunch of them during a group buy on a local forum several years ago and they were horrible. I had several thousand of them in 9mm and I never could find a load that was particularly accurate. They shot all of over the place. They seemed to prefer really light powder charges, however, even then they didn't shoot great. I finally was down to my last 1k of them when the panic started. I sold them off for the price of RMR FMJ bullets and backordered 1k of those to replace them.

I've used Xtreme plated bullets with much better results, so I know not all plated bullets are that bad. I'm just not generally a fan of plated bullets in general though. I find that overall FMJ bullets generally shoot better. Plus prior to the panic, I could get them for not much more. So that's generally the way I go now. I'm a huge fan of both RMR FMJ's and Precision Delta FMJ's.