Plated bullets for hunting

N

Northwest Cajun

New member
Hi Guys , I shoot Berry's plated bullets in my all pistols and they are great for indoors .Well, Berry's has now come out with a 350gr 45-70 plated bullet. They say it is 99% lead and 1% antimony with a pure copper electroplated jacket. I tried some in my Marlin Guide gun at about 1700FPS and they made a nice clover leaf @ 100yds with open sights. :D
I was wondering if these would be OK for hunting deer? It would be Western Washington Black tail about 150-200lbs on the hoof. Range will most likely be under 100yds.
What would a bullet of this construction do on impact?
Any replys would be greatly appreicated
Cajun
 
They'd probably do as well as a jacketed bullet of equal weight at that velocity.

Pore ol' Bambi would drop like a rock. Nice clean hole all the way through, whether side-to-side or end-to-end.

Art
 
Art,
Do you think they would be considered an FMJ bullet(illeagle in most states to hunt with) even though there is only a very thin plating?
Just for S&G, I buffed the top layed of plating off a few with a dremmel tool to see if there was a change of POI and there wasn't.
They print under an inch @ 100yds with open sights. They are the most accurate bullets I've found. Can't see why I shouldn't use them.

Cajun
 
Somebody would have to be operating out of a whole bunch of ignorance to call those bullets "FMJ". Just the fact that it's .45-70 oughta end the argument, really.

Even a Dumbo is probably gonna think "pointy thirty caliber" for FMJ, most likely...

In the FWIW department, ignoring such things as benchrest competition and just thinking hunting accuracy: Battering of bullet tips from recoil in a rifle's magazine basically doesn't affect group size. I read this, some 35 or so years back, and tested it. Yup. '06, 150-grain soft points. Tips were flattened, but they went right with the rest of the un-flattened.

:), Art
 
Cajun, unless your game wardens are smarter that ours, I'd take that top layer of copper off the meplat. Or drill a small hole in it.
 
Gizmo
In fact thats what I did last night. With my engraving bit on my dremmel, I made a few into very shallow HP's. mabe went down 1/16" or less. The bullet is lamost an inch long,
Cajun
 
When plated bullets first came out I had a heck of a time convincing people on the indoor pistol team that they weren't jacketed. (We weren't allowed jacketed bullets on the indoor range because of the type of backstop)

They couldn't seem to grasp the difference between plating and a copper jacket. I wouldn't be suprised if you would run in to the same deal with a wildlife officer. That being said, I would probably use them anyway. In 23 years of hunting I have only seen a game warden a few times, talked to them less, and have never had them check my ammo.

Shodan
 
Maybe this is a dumb question, but what is the difference between plated and jacketed bullets? I know there is a difference, but I don't know what it is exactly.
 
KCustom45,

Plated think copper colored .22 bullet.

Jacketed think centerfire rifle or pistol bullet.

Coated lead bullets were invented to reduce barrel leading and reduce the amount of airborne lead polutants, especially in indoor ranges where ventilation is a concern.

The copper coating is very thin compared to a jacket. It can usually be scratched off easily, where a jacket is a lot thicker. Someone around here probably has the thickness specs.

Shodan
 
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