Author Topic: Hand gun reloading, copper plated bullets (Read 8810 times)

skydve76 · « **on:** March 07, 2012, 03:12:59 PM »

I currently reload .45 and 9mm. I use Barry's plated bullets from Cabela's. For 9mm I pay about $25 or so for 250, and .45 is about $40 for 250. Is this the best deal out there and the cheapest way to go short of going straight led?

I just reload for plinking practice.

Thanks!

bk09 · « **Reply #1 on:** March 07, 2012, 04:11:29 PM »

precisiondelta.com has swaged bullets cheaper than that. Swaged is a kind of jacketed so they can be loaded to whatever speed you want. I used to buy Rainier plated bullets from midwayusa.com. I also think PowderValleyInc.com has Berry's cheap, maybe cheaper than Rainier from midway

Update:
Powder valley:
115gr 9mm: 1000 for $68.35
185gr 45: 1000 for $105.52
Precision Delta
115gr 9mm: 1000 for $82
230gr 45: 1000 for $130

SemperFiGuy · « **Reply #2 on:** March 07, 2012, 08:38:01 PM »

Berrysbullets Plated Bullets are Good Bullets for Target and Plinking:
[Which--of course--You Already Know.]

What you may not know is that you can buy them directly online from Berrys at slightly less cost and much better selection than Cabelas. Plus you pay no direct out-of-pocket sales taxes. Plus on orders $50 and over, they will deliver them to your door by UPS in about four (4) days. [My latest shipment of .38Spcl 148gr Double-Ended Wad Cutters arrived today.]

Here's the website location:

9mm: http://www.berrysmfg.com/product-i14474-c11-g8-b0-p0-9mm_115gr_RN.aspx

45ACP: http://www.berrysmfg.com/products-c17-45_Cal_.452.aspx

Shooting the plated bullets keeps the lead junk out of your gun barrel, where it's only HARD to remove. And off the muzzle tip and cylinder, where it's IMPOSSIBLE to remove.

sfg

bkoenig · « **Reply #3 on:** March 07, 2012, 08:48:52 PM »

I've been shooting cast but I think I'm going to move to Berry's when I order my next bunch. Getting the lead out of my M&P is a real pain.

skydve76 · « **Reply #4 on:** March 07, 2012, 09:12:48 PM »

Thanks guys, I seen that on the website. The 9mm is cheaper at 1000, but at 250 its the same as cabelas. The .45 is the same either way.

I am going to place an order for 2K rounds! I just picked up 500 at cabelas. They have the ranier bullets as well, slightly more expensive but they look better quality.
I'll probably take them back and just order online. I figured it would take a couple weeks.

The lead only are only slightly cheaper, sounds like its not worth it.

Thanks!

OnTheFly · « **Reply #5 on:** March 07, 2012, 09:15:52 PM »

Quote from: skydve76 on March 07, 2012, 09:12:48 PM

...The 9mm is cheaper at 1000, but at 250 its the same as cabelas...

Is that still true after tax, and shipping if you don't live in Omaha?

Fly

NE Bull · « **Reply #6 on:** March 07, 2012, 10:02:16 PM »

Ditto on SFG. My brother and I have went to Berry's plated almost exclusively for target ammo in all our handguns and might start looking at some for rifles. The increase in cost compared to cast is minimal, plus you can run a little hotter load if needed, barrel doesn't lead up, etc. Bro also orderes directly from Berry's matter of fact, the catalog is lying right next to me on the end table. Just don't buy everything up guys, I was just telling him tonight to take inventory since FarmerRick has got everyone in a buying frenzy

skydve76 · « **Reply #7 on:** March 08, 2012, 12:01:47 AM »

Well I load at 4.something grain with magnum primers, so the 4 lb powder I bought will load around 7000 rounds. So I better buy 4000 bullets to start. I dont have that much brass! Crap!

SemperFiGuy · « **Reply #8 on:** March 08, 2012, 08:47:28 AM »

skydve76

Well--of course--you can re-use your brass.

Or---you can be a Range Scrounger and swoop in after the Shooters have left. Walk around with your head down. Pick up brass.

Just don't bump into me. Please.

[BTW, It's Immoral to buy New Brass, with all those Un-Adopted Empty Cartridges laying out there. And as for buying Pre-primed brass..........Hand-priming is the funnest part. Turning over the square primer box onto the round primer plate, dropping all the primers on the floor..........On hands and knees, in the dark corners........]

sfg

NE Bull · « **Reply #9 on:** March 08, 2012, 09:19:14 AM »

Quote from: SemperFiGuy on March 08, 2012, 08:47:28 AM

skydve76

Well--of course--you can re-use your brass.

Or---you can be a Range Scrounger and swoop in after the Shooters have left. Walk around with your head down. Pick up brass.

Just don't bump into me. Please.

[BTW, It's Immoral to buy New Brass, with all those Un-Adopted Empty Cartridges laying out there. And as for buying Pre-primed brass..........Hand-priming is the funnest part. Turning over the square primer box onto the round primer plate, dropping all the primers on the floor..........On hands and knees, in the dark corners........]

sfg

If'n ya'll find any 9x18 Mak out there- I call dibs! It's mine..
P.S. Kids LOOOVE to pick up brass.

bk09 · « **Reply #10 on:** March 08, 2012, 09:58:08 AM »

I don't know where you guys buy bullets but I had 1k cast .358 diameter bullets shipped to me for $70. Cheapest plated I found was from powdervalley and they were $74 before shipping, so probably close to $10 to ship that much lead and costing each bullet 1.4 cents more. I like to get the most savings out of my handgun reloading

SemperFiGuy · « **Reply #11 on:** March 08, 2012, 03:23:22 PM »

bradkoll

You are Right On Target about the savings.

The cost of factory stuff has gotten to the point where it even pays to reload 9mm.

And it Really Pays to reload .357Sig, which is getting up to $35/box of 50.

NEBull

So much of the 9X18 "brass" turns out to be Berdan-primed poly-coat steel casings, which are generally non-reloadable. Hard to find good brass pickin's in that caliber. Some folks shoot .380 (9X17) out of their 9X18 pistols. But then, Some Folks don't wear seatbelts, too.

sfg

Ronvandyn · « **Reply #12 on:** March 09, 2012, 06:51:54 PM »

I shoot lead in both my 45 and my 40 and I don’t have problems with barrel leading. Here is why…

Quite a few factors go into shooting lead. Speed of the round, hardness of the lead (measured in Brinell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brinell_scale)), lubrication, among others. Supersonic rounds (lead rounds) tend to melt as they pass down the barrel from both friction against the barrel and the charge sending them down-range. Since most 45ACP rounds are not loaded to pass the 1000fps mark (roughly supersonic) shooting lead is rarely a problem for that caliber. OTOH 40S&W starts out at 1000fps and just gets more aggressive. You can load them slower, but it takes some figuring… 9mm also starts out well past the 1000fps mark and is not a good choice to shoot in lead. Don’t get me wrong, it can be done, I would just prefer not to take that chance.

The idea is to look for rounds that have a high Brinell number and appropriate lubrication. Lead never really gets all that high on the Brinell scale, but try to get the highest you can find. Missouri Bullet typically casts theirs at about 18 for pistol rounds and is a good choice, plus every round comes pre-lubed. Many other manufacturer’s don’t cast them that hard, usually around 14 or just a bit lower. Good for a 44-40 or maybe a slower .38 load, but nothing near the speed of sound. 18 is pretty hard. Missouri Bullet also sells this nifty little leading removal kit on their web site. The kit is cheap and if it works as well as advertised it’s a good solution to most shooters lead fouling problems.

I have found that shooting lead is about half as expensive as shooting plated rounds. Great for target loads and general plinking, but not much else. I also have a pretty good stock of SHTF rounds (even if I don’t believe in the scenario) that are jacketed/plated. The weights are the same as the lead rounds on the 45ACP as is the load, so practicing with the lead serves the same purpose. On my 40, well I occasionally have to go through a box of jacketed rounds at full load just to keep reminding myself what real ammo feels like.

Ron

skydve76 · « **Reply #13 on:** March 09, 2012, 07:22:20 PM »

My current prices reusing my 9mm brass puts a box of 50 9mm rounds at about 5.75 per box. I use a high load of 4.5 grains with my copper plated bullets, and I also have been using magnum primers as I can get them cheaper than the SPP.

Given that S&B ammos is 14.99 per 50 retail, thats about $9 saving per box I reload! I can reload 50 rounds in about 15-20 minutes. They come out very accurate. Out of about 500 rounds, I had 3 duds as the primers would not go off, no idea why they would not go off, the dent in them was strong.

Be interested in hearing your guys numbers on 9mm.

CCI SPM primers
4.5 grain bullseye
berrys 115 g plated bullets

unfy · « **Reply #14 on:** March 09, 2012, 07:42:44 PM »

Reloading .40s&w with online lead ran me $5-$6 per 100 iirc. In fact, all of my pistol ammo runs about that price.

Unfy (TM) Copper Coated .40s&w -- hasn't been a reality yet

... will be another attempt this weekend, though!

re: dud rounds

Make sure the primer is getting seated deep enough. On my Hornady LNL AP, I threw a wide flat washer under the primer seating plug (resting on the cast iron bits of the press). This helped a lot with insuring a good seating depth on small primers (haven't needed it on large primers).

Lastly, if problems do persist, clean your brass like you normally would and then run a batch through only the sizing / depriming die. Afterwards, take a look at all of your primer pockets and flash holes. I've had some brass need to be primer pocket cleaned / flash holed / etc after several reloadings.

skydve76 · « **Reply #15 on:** March 09, 2012, 08:06:30 PM »

then you're half the price of mine? Are they cast or plated? Share your secret

unfy · « **Reply #16 on:** March 09, 2012, 08:27:11 PM »

Cast.

Don't recall if they were missouri bullet company or a no-longer-doing-cast-bullets company from FL.

Powder and primers were bought in bulk.

Dan W · « **Reply #17 on:** March 09, 2012, 08:31:16 PM »

Frankly I quit tracking the cost. I just know that I can make whatever cartridges I need and they are tuned to my shooting style and firearms, are more accurate and every bit as dependable as factory ammunition.

Hard to find that combination regardless of the cost, and yet I generally can shoot much more often for the same money

unfy · « **Reply #18 on:** March 09, 2012, 09:36:51 PM »

My cost numbers were from about a year ago. I generally keep a few around just because discussions around reloading always end up mentioning savings or costs etc etc etc. ...... but.... I agree with Dan. I know I can shoot however much I like with ammo tailored to my needs... and I don't have to worry about cost.

I will say that I generally shoot lead or copper plated. Either is fine by me, although I do kinda prefer the plated bullets due to leading issues.

It's also handy to put some full on jacketed bullets through every once in a while just remind yourself of what a full powered self defense load acts like..... much like I occasionally reload some 3" magnum 12ga shells with 15 pellet 00buck for the reminder (note that 00buck pellets are hard to come by and generally not cheap due to being the hornady stuff sigh).

PS - check range rules before brass farming. Some ranges don't want you walking out with buckets of brass that aren't yours. Some places prefer you only walk out with brass that you shot.

Bullet Hole in Omaha is notable (they recycle their brass, so walking out with a lot more than you shot is akin to stealing). I usually keep my recovered brass to +/- 5% of what I shot.

00BUCK · « **Reply #19 on:** March 10, 2012, 02:13:04 AM »

Brassman (www.brassmanbrass.com) has 1K Armscor 230gn FMJRN .45ACP bullets for $150 which INCLUDES shipping and no tax. 15 cents a round makes for some fairly cheap loading.

Buying Bullseye at 16.99+tax and primers at 28.48+tax at Guns Unlimited with these bullets comes out to just under 19.4 cents per round or $9.70 a box. That's less than half the cost of a box CCI Blazer Brass target ammo (22.99+shipping from Midway).

Load data is 5.2gn Bullseye, CCI 300 Large Pistol Primers and the Armscor 230gn FMJRN bullets.