JJP161 Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 So far I have loaded a few thousand Berry's Bullets 180 Gr. FP and have had pretty good results with them thus far. For the most part they have been consistent and accurate with the occasional flyer in the group. I have also had really good luck with the Berry's .45 230 Gr RN. With that said recently loaded about 1000 of the .40 S&W Rainier in 180 gr and 165 gr with very good results. In fact they may have been slightly more consistent and accurate than the Berry's. Seems like overall I had less flyers with the Rainiers. Was just curious what experiences everyone else is having with Berry's vs. the Rainiers or any of the other plated bullets. Righ now with pricing and availability plated seems my best choice for plinking and practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d_striker Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 (edited) Haven't used Berry's in quite a few years as they are almost the cost of jacketed. I'm not sure why they're more expensive than other plated bullets. Raniers have always been good to me in the accuracy department. My results with Xtreme have been a little inconsistent. IDK, maybe there's something inconsistent in my process but I sure can't identify it. The bullet's themselves look beautiful when you crack open a box. Plating looks uniform and bullet size seems to be consistent. Not sure why accuracy is inconsistent. It's too bad because the price is right. I'm debating on whether to try coated bullets. All plated get loaded the same by me. Seat bullet w/o crimp and then a very light crimp on the final step. Edited January 10, 2015 by d_striker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirty Rod Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 I load mostly Berrys and they work very well for me for both 230g and 115/124gr RN. Accuracy is about the same as Raniers but, like d_striker, I get much better accuracy from both than X-treme. My crimp is the same as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJP161 Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 I haven't tried Xtreme but they seem to be popular on this forum and I have seen multiple references to Berrys be close to jacketed in price but I have never been able to find Zero bullets in stock and Montana Gold seems much higher. I do see Precision Delta jacketed is comparable in price to Berry's but they seem to get very mixed reviews. So what jacketed bullets would you recommend and does anyone have any first hand experience with Precision Delta? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 So what jacketed bullets would you recommend Montana Gold all day, every day. You have to buy them by the full case to get the best price. They will eat you up 500 or 1000 at a time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJP161 Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 (edited) So what jacketed bullets would you recommendMontana Gold all day, every day. You have to buy them by the full case to get the best price. They will eat you up 500 or 1000 at a time!Ok that does make a big difference on price. I may have to check them out. How do they compare with Precision Delta? Edited January 10, 2015 by JJP161 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyZip Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Very well. MG is a fine bullet mfg co. If they were as cheap as moly or the price I get Raniers for, then I would stick with them. For 9mm or 9Major, the 121IFP is just a great bullet in any handgun I have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Get some sample packs from the coated mfrs and give them a try, you may be pleasantly surprised !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJP161 Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 Get some sample packs from the coated mfrs and give them a try, you may be pleasantly surprised !! I am actually very happy with Berry's and Rainier, my original question was basically if others like myself had found Rainiers to shoot a little more consistent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirty Rod Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 So what jacketed bullets would you recommendMontana Gold all day, every day. You have to buy them by the full case to get the best price. They will eat you up 500 or 1000 at a time! I have to agree there. As mentioned, Berrys shoot well for me as does PD but MG shoot just a little better. Obviously I use them all depending on who's got the sale and what's in stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJP161 Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 I will definitely have to try some MGs at the case pricing. How are MG's vs Hornady? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 I will definitely have to try some MGs at the case pricing. How are MG's vs Hornady?cheaper! for the prices I see on HAP's they are overkill for our games Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mont1120 Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Rainier's were much better for me then Berry's. I use Extremes for local matches, but like everyone else, the Montana Golds are superior in any gun. And they charge for it too......but it makes a huge difference in accuracy. I went and ordered 500 each of 230 .45, 500 155 .40, and 500 of the 147 grain 9mm from Bayou bullets. I'll chrono them up and report the results here. They look pretty cool anyway. I got the green ones....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJP161 Posted January 11, 2015 Author Share Posted January 11, 2015 Rainier's were much better for me then Berry's. I use Extremes for local matches, but like everyone else, the Montana Golds are superior in any gun. And they charge for it too......but it makes a huge difference in accuracy. I went and ordered 500 each of 230 .45, 500 155 .40, and 500 of the 147 grain 9mm from Bayou bullets. I'll chrono them up and report the results here. They look pretty cool anyway. I got the green ones....... How does Rainier compare to Xtreme? I haven't tried any Xtreme but they certainly seem to be gaining popularity on here after some initially bad reviews? Please do report back on the Bayou Bullets as I have yet to try any of the "coated" bullets but would certainly be open to them. Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mont1120 Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 I have not had the issues some folks here have had with the Xtremes, so I have shot thousands of them with no issues, I did have a run of .45 RN that seemed to be soft on the nose resulting in a dimple that I don't think had much effect on accuracy. Xtreme get their orders out fast, I've never had any late issues or problems with any order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJP161 Posted January 11, 2015 Author Share Posted January 11, 2015 I would definitely like to give them a try does anyone know if they offer and free samples? Trying to decide if I want to try the 180's or 165's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mont1120 Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Ok Gents, sorry it took so long but I finally reloaded the 9MM, .40, and .45 rounds, Bayou compared to the others.....Please keep in mind I had never used the Bayous, have no reason to like or dislike them, I simply approached the experiment from a detached viewpoint. The chrono readings were taken indoor, a Caldwell chrono, and used the magical Lowes hardware store LED closet lights to get reasonable readings. used mixed brass, Winchester regular primers. 9MM 147 Grain, XDM 4.5 Xtreme RN, 3.4 gr 231 894, 885, 886, 886 Bayou Green, 3.4 gr 231 851, 883, 870, 901 Really this load was almost too light just barely operating my slide. Average accuracy. Both rounds should be bumped up a tenth or 2. I saw no real noticeable difference except light smoke on the Bayou. .40 155 grain XDM 5.0 Lasercast RNL 5.0 gr. 231 947, 958, 964, 1020, 999. Looks like one just a bit extra. Average smoke.Very usable. Bayou 155 gr RN 5.0 gr. 231 997, 984, 1021, 1026, 1005. Increase in velocity, but no increase in felt recoil. Again, a bit of smoke. Good round. .45 230 grain, Kimber Custom .45 Xtreme 230 gr HP 5.7 gr WSF 832, 845, 825, 828. Very mild recoil, Very , very accurate, my new major round. Bayou 230 RN 5.7 gr WSF 816, 792, 808, 805. Again, mild recoil, a bit of smoke, not quite as accurate. Conclusions: On the .40 and .45, learned one must load the round with no edge showing in the transition area from the bullet to the round nose. There was an ever so slight build up of either the coating of lead that prevented absolute cycling of the rounds. More then once I had to push the slide forward to seat the round in the chamber. The OAL was not too long at all. The 147 though light would work great with a reduced power spring. No special seating length is needed since there is no transition band. Excellent seating on both types of bullets. And again, just a little smoke, certainly much less then lead only rounds. Only in the .45 did I find a huge difference and that was in accuracy. Keep in mind there are several factors to consider, barrel, velocity, who knows, but the Extreme was far better. To sum it up, for those shooting lead only, the coated bullets are certainly the way to go. Much, much less smoke. Cleaner to load. Did not see any green coloring in the barrel. Myself, I will stick to Xtremes for a variety of reasons, the biggest is I am a dinosaur and shoot .45 in Limited 10. I know, I know, go to a .40. To me the recoil on a .45 is easier to manage, not near as snappy. I simply have no compelling reason to switch from the data I have gathered. The only real eye opener to me is the superb results from WSF in .45. This was a welcome shock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flash74 Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 So far I have loaded a few thousand Berry's Bullets 180 Gr. FP and have had pretty good results with them thus far. For the most part they have been consistent and accurate with the occasional flyer in the group. I have also had really good luck with the Berry's .45 230 Gr RN. With that said recently loaded about 1000 of the .40 S&W Rainier in 180 gr and 165 gr with very good results. In fact they may have been slightly more consistent and accurate than the Berry's. Seems like overall I had less flyers with the Rainiers. Was just curious what experiences everyone else is having with Berry's vs. the Rainiers or any of the other plated bullets. Righ now with pricing and availability plated seems my best choice for plinking and practice. IMO, Berrys and Ranier are pretty much the same. A thin deposit of copper over a lead bullet. The Xtreme bullets have much thicker plating and are closest to jacketed. I have switched to coated bullets exclusively. I use less powder and have greater accuracy with coated. So far the brand hasn't mattered. They all shoot the same to me. All the advantages of lead bullets without the disadvantages Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipper046 Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 I load Berry's 180gr FP (5.3gr UNIQUE, 1.135" OAL = 177PF) as my primary plated and Zero Brand (5.3gr UNIQUE, 1.135" OAL = 170PF) as my primary jacketed. I have loaded 1,000's of Berry's and they are pretty consistent and accurate when you dial them in with the right powder charge and OAL. With that said...I picked up a few thousand AIM heads from Target Barn during the "bullet crunch"....they were cheap and available. They look like crap (black spots all over them) and I read that's just from residual oil in the dies that causing spotting during the plating process.... BUT...THESE THINGS ARE ACCURATE!! Same powder load and OAL as my Berry's but more accurate! I would buy more again (and will...soon). I also discovered SnS Casting has coated bullets (I've used their lead heads in the past with great results)...Will have to try them... Z Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 I have used both, Rainer's and Berry's, in 40 S&W. I was never able to get the Berry's to group any where close to the Rainer's. That never made sense to me, for the bullets look like they were made in the same factory??? I have no place to purchase either over the counter. So, by the time I pay shipping on Rainer bullets they are only like one cent less (per bullet) than a case of Montana Gold's. A no brainer for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niland Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 I've loaded a few thousand Berry's and they are OK. The Xtreme bullets are much more uniform (weight) and the finish is brighter. Since they are also ~30% cheaper, I'm stocking up on Xtreme for pistol. Now I just need a cheap source for ~10k rounds of quality 308. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asr1 Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 I have much better acuracy with Rainer's bullet in my 9 and 40 compare to Berry's. Pistol Glock 35 Gen 4 also in the same pistol using 9 mm LW barrel, and my STI 2011 in 40 S&W. then I discovered Delta Precison bullets I got their sample pack what a difference in both caliber above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsmw5142 Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 (edited) I've always had much better accuracy with Rainier vs. Berry's... but I use BBI more than anything anymore... clean... cheaper and just as accurate as either. Edited February 28, 2015 by dsmw5142 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoobb Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Same here I used to reload a lot of plated bullets until I found Bayou Bullets and I haven't looked back. There is no lead fouling and they are clean. Also a green bullet looks really cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeandmirrors Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 I have to admit that I never tried Rainiers, but I've shot thousands of Berry's and Xtremes (and West Coasts) in both 180 and 200 gr. My favorite plated bullet in .40 is the Frontier 180. I think they call them RNFP. I bought cases of them from Neil Kravitz at NSK Sales back in 2008 and I just shot up the last of them. If you can find them, they're some of the least expensive plated bullets and in my experience they give up very little accuracy to jacketed bullets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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