substitution question

[LegionShooter]

Long story short my order of ACME 124gr RN coated bullets wasn't delivered today as scheduled (USPS issue, not ACME issue), likely won't make it tomorrow either, and I have a match on Saturday.  Locally I can only find Berry's 124gr RN plated so far.  Can I substitute those for the coated lead without issue (same bullet weight and profile)?  I know I'm going to lose a little velocity, but it's a local match and there's no chrono to worry about.  I won't have time to go chrono anything or test any loads tomorrow, so what I load is what I take on Saturday.  Opinions?

Edited February 10, 2017 by LegionShooter

[haiedras]

More or less. Depending on your powder charge, you need .3 or so more grains to get the same pf iirc, but you'll probably be fine. IIRC, plated is more sensitive to over-crimping when it comes to accuracy, but I guess some ammo is better than no ammo for a match.

[LegionShooter]

42 minutes ago, 57K said:

You can but you won't know what velocity/PF you're getting until you chrono. It may be less for the plated.

 

It's a local match so there won't be a chrono, and I'll only be using them for this weekend to hold me over.  I feel like it won't be an issue, but I wanted to ask to make sure I wasn't overlooking anything important...like the kind of oversight that screws up a gun.

[9x45]

No issue for the gun, but you may find plated bullets don't run as well as coated. Your issue is you didn't have at least 2,000 bullets on hand...... My low limit is 20,000. 

Edited February 10, 2017 by 9x45

[Hi-Power Jack]

I'd run The Plunk Test - just to be sure.    

[firewood]

9 hours ago, 9x45 said:

No issue for the gun, but you may find plated bullets don't run as well as coated. Your issue is you didn't have at least 2,000 bullets on hand...... My low limit is 20,000. 

 

I think having a low limit is a good idea. We get used to thinking that a supply of bullets is just a click away, it's not always that easy.

 

I let my supply of 135g 9mm coated get down to the wire. The shipment was a few days late just like the OP. The thing that saved me was the fact that I had about 1500 completed rounds in the ready so I would have been ok for another 4-6 weeks. But yes lay in a store you are going to shoot them eventually.

[LegionShooter]

4 hours ago, firewood said:

 

I think having a low limit is a good idea. We get used to thinking that a supply of bullets is just a click away, it's not always that easy.

 

I let my supply of 135g 9mm coated get down to the wire. The shipment was a few days late just like the OP. The thing that saved me was the fact that I had about 1500 completed rounds in the ready so I would have been ok for another 4-6 weeks. But yes lay in a store you are going to shoot them eventually.

 

I agree and usually do.  This time I missed the mark so I'm paying for it, literally.  But in the end I picked up 250 "hold-over" bullets and got them loaded up so I'm GTG for tomorrow.  My usual supply should get here in a couple days so I'll be back in business.

[firewood]

13 hours ago, 57K said:

 

Good advice, but remember that in the beginning the  Plated bullet makers advised using cast-lead data. If the OP isn't charging powder for a MAX load, and just trying to stay around 130 PF, he really doesn't need to agonize on perfection in the short-term. Once his ACME bullets do arrive, then he can fine tune them then.

 

Very good point. I have noticed that the plated XTREMES and Berrys that I recover in good condition have the plating worn off at the rifling the same as the coated bullets I recover. I guess it depends on the coating and plating but it would be interesting to compare the two for accuracy and pf.