Berry's 9mm 124 gr TC plated bullets. Experiences?

[walnutty]

Hi Guys,

I bought a couple thousand of these bullets awhile back. Loaded them to 1.120", with 4.8 grains of BE.

My Sig P226 shot these quite decently over the weekend.

On my SA 9mm Target, it was quite a different story--this is a tight gun with a match bushing, but the bullets won't group with this gun. When I started shooting with my SA, I started with my left-over reloads of 115 gr FMJ zero bullets w/ 4.8 gr of BE and it was shooting almost 1-hole groups at 30'. Switching to the 124 gr berry's quickly changed that.

I've considered lowering the powder charge for my SA, but even with my current load it's still too weak to actuate the slide stop on the last round. The gun has a 9# recoil spring.

I've used different brands of plated bullets in the past (115 gr plated Berry's) and had good luck with them, although I don't remember shooting them in my other 1911 in 9mm (have a couple of SA's in 9mm).

Any input regarding this matter? I'd appreciate your experiences.

Thanks in advance!

[Dr. Phil]

What velocity are you pushing them? I'm not familiar with that load, but, in my Sig 226, my load has to be pretty stout to run that gun. My usual plate loads of a 135gr plated or moly at around 900 fps won't run it. Stovepipes, etc, and sometimes it's a single shot! The plated should be more of a lead bullet recipe. Maybe you're driving them too hard in that gun? Individual guns require individual load recipes sometimes. Might be worth your while to work up a load for that gun?

[walnutty]

Yeah, I was using the loads that are meant for jacketed bullets. My speer manual gives a max of 4.6 grains but my Alliant brochure gives 4.9 grains.

Lowering it to 4.5 grains is a possibility. I have a 13# recoil spring for my Sig and the lighter load should work here, but my SA 1911 will essentially end-up as a single shot. Still may be worth trying.

I tend to like having a reload that works on several guns.

[Dr. Phil]

Me too. I shoot several 1911s with my load (steel mostly) and usually leave the Sig to hold down the shelf...

[Service Desk]

I used them in my 38Super Bianchi gun with acceptable results....about 2.5 " at 50 yards was as good as they got, but hey the X ring is 4".