General consensus on Berrys Bullets?

T

tahunua001

New member
I'm seeing a good deal on some 147GR bonded hollow points for 9mm right now, was thinking about pickup up a few hundred of them to start handloading defense loads so I can stop worrying about dollar a round defense ammo. they look neat enough and I've seen their adds all over the place but I was wondering what the overall opinion on them was in terms of:
1. consistency/accuracy?
2. weight retention?
3. expansion?
 
Are you talking about the Berry's Hybrid Hollowpoint that superficially resembles the Speer Gold Dot?
I was only able to Google one independent test and it was for the 124, not the 147 gr 9mm.
Fired into "ballistic wax", they fragmented without a lot of penetration. Accuracy was mediocre at best.
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/berrys-9mm-hhp.784077/page-4

Berry's 147s are $138/M on sale at Midway, $151 regular price at Berry's.
XTPs would be $187/M and Remingtons $314/2M

I would not worry about a nickel a pop to get name brand actual jacketed hollowpoints. In fact, I spent part of New Year's Eve loading XTP .45s in a somewhat "Minus P" load that won't kick my arthritis too bad in the Commander, but will still do for antipersonnel.
 
I am talking about the hybrids, not their ones that look like a flat point was punched out. I went ahead and found a better deal on some pulled gold dots although they are 125s and I prefer 147s but 125s will do fine enough. in the mean time I would still like to keep this thread going for informative purposes.
 
I wouldn't use them. Choose a factory SD round for carry, and load the same weight bullet to velocity specs to mimic that load for practice. Or for about $8-10 more per K, you can find HP bullets over at Delta Precision.
 
IMO plated bullets are fine for playin', when loaded by an experienced reloader. I've seen 1 1/2 tons of questions from new reloaders about plated bullets with regards to powder charges to crimping and everything inbetween. I shot up mebbe 1,200 in my semi-autos and revolvers, but wasn't impressed. Mainly because I got all my cast bullet loads to shoot 99.5% without leading, and if I want a high velocity SD or hunting bullet I'll go with a jacketed bullet designed for that purpose. I don't dislike plated bullets, just have no need for them...:rolleyes:
 
I've run the 185gr. Berrys FP plated bullets in the 45.
They did fine accuracy wise.
I carry them mixed with 200gr. LSWC when I'm out hunting, and might want something with some penetration.
For humans I load 185gr. Sierra HP.

For the 9mm I shoot a lot of Xtreme 115gr. RN plated at the range.
I carry Hornady 124gr. XTP.
 
I suspect the hybrids won't expand reliably, but I have no evidence either way. Would need to test. What test data can Berry's share? Well, I asked for some data.
 
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