Plated bullets in revolver?

That occurred to me as well, mentioned it to extreme, and they suddenly shipped me another box of 500! Same result, but still, what a great company!

Edfardos
 
I used to use a lot of the Extreme bullets with great success, in both my .357 and .41 mag. I load them to moderate jacketed levels with no problems. I don't have a chrono so can't attest to actual velocity but judging by recoil they are fairly stout, plus I shoot them from both my levers at even higher velocities and stil have no issues. I do crimp them with the Lee collet crimper set to a medium crimp so they are good in the levers tubes. But I'm slowly switching to the HiTec coated bullets because I can drive them to magnum velocities (I assume) based on max loads for jacketed bullets from manufacturers web sites. I also have had no issues with the HiTec bullets from Acme.
 
Very interesting read for me.

Like a couple others I've had good success with the Xtreme 158 Semi Wad Cutter bullets. I've actually shot about 3000 of them so far and about 2700 of that has been through my Ruger GP100 6". I've tried lots of powders but settled on 6.5 grains of W231 for "Target Magnums" and 14.0 grains of 2400 for "True Magnum-Sound" bullets. They are both coming out around 1150 and I've had NO problems with leading or plating separation. I'm crimping "lightly" with the Lee FCD. If I want "true" magnums I use other bullets and powder.

I found the Extremes to be close to useless in my .44 SRH though. Now I use Bayou 240 Elmer Keiths at .432 diameter. I do get a little forcing cone build up but it takes 100 rounds to get there. Still comes off easy peasy with the Lewis Lead Remover.

I'm surprised to hear some of the comments about plated speeds and use. I've always loaded them as if they were lead but haven't had issues. Maybe I've been lucky....?
 
If you are shooting your 44s at moderate velocity and getting leading you are almost certainly over crimping them and breaking the plating. I also crimp my X-treme bullets in 357 and 45 Colt with a moderate roll crimp using the FCD and get excellent accuracy with no leading. If you are crimping them the same as you would a jacketed bullet you are using too much crimp for the bullet.

H110 is a very poor match with plated bullets. It requires a firm crimp for proper ignition which will certainly break the plating. Save it for jacketed loads. I use Universal mostly for my plated revolver loads. Any powder with a similar burning rate should work great in your 44s.

Plated bullets are strictly target and plinking bullets pushed to moderate velocity. If you want to go full throttle you need to switch to jacketed of hard cast.
 
If you plan on loading a lot of plated revolver bullets, I recommend getting a taper crimp die.

I have TCD's for both 38/357, and 44 Mag/Spl. Actually, I have three each for both diameters. I have one that I use for the seat die that is pre-set to take out about half the flair (I use a spacer to go between Spl & Mag); and then I have a die each for (Correction:) crimping - one pre-set for mag, and one for Spl. I'm lazy - I don't like messing with adjusting dies. And then, if I do need to roll crimp, then the Lee FCD gets the call - after they first go through the taper crimp. I have a bit of a different process. . . So even my roll crimped rounds are first taper crimped.

I even have a couple dedicated seat dies that are pre-set for my most common "pet" loads. Screw 'em in and start loading.
 
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I've loaded thousands--maybe 10,000-- Xtreme plated bullets in 9mm, .38 spl, .44 spl, .45 colt with no issues from leading. 9mm loaded to as high as 1100 fps, others under 1000 fps. I use dillon SDB presses (one for each caliber) and the dies are taper crimp on 9mm and taper/roll on the others (I believe). I crimp them all pretty good, but have never had the OP's problems.
 
Just shot about 75 x-treme 240g RNFP bullets from a Ruger RedHawk 44 Mag. Used a LFCD set so that the crimp showed a very light indent in the cantilure. Unique powder, 9.6g was right at 1000fps. No issues and accurate at 15 yards. CCI300 primer.

More work to do and combinations to try but I'm satisfied with the initial results.

Rob
 
125 gr Rainier Leadsafe Bullets

Wow - I didn't know about the velocity limits and the crimping requirements for platted bullets until I read this thread!

Several yrs ago I got a couple of 500 ct boxes of the 125 gr Rainier Leadsafe Restrike 0.357" bullets. Not knowing any better, I ran a ladder and picked a load that gave me the same POI as my PD factory load. Luckily, I did load them with a light crimp. They chrono between 1,250 and 1,300 fps. Only use them for practice and paper targets so never found one or tried to recover a bullet. Never looked, But also never noticed any leading or copper flakes cleaning the revolver.

I've shot a bunch of them.
Box says they are total copper jacketed and double swaged.
From that info, I assumed they were platted.
What specifically do I need to do?
 
From Rainier's website:

Each Rainier bullet begins as a lead core that is swaged, not cast, for highest quality. We use only virgin and secondary lead alloys made to our strict specifications. This attention to quality enhances uniformity, accuracy and terminal performance.

The swaged core then receives Rainier’s LeadSafeTM full copper plating over the entire bullet. Only pure virgin copper is used with the same high purity found in computer circuit boards.

Then we restrike the complete bullet after plating to verify precise dimensional tolerances. Thus, each bullet is struck twice. This extra step is often missing with other bullets. But here at Rainier, we have found that restriking is critical to providing greater uniformity and accuracy.

Rainier’s LeadSafeTM full copper plating gives a no exposed lead surfaces on the bullet, reducing your exposure to harmful lead vapors. This is particularly valuable when shooting indoors.

A Rainier plated bullet experiences no jacket separation upon impact, giving better penetration and terminal performance.

Rainier plated bullets give longer barrel life compared to jacketed bullets. Plus, you’ll see a cleaner bore after shooting Rainier bullets.
Click to expand...


They make this same bullet for other calibers. Several, like 30-M1 , are shot at much higher velocity than I'm pushing in my 357M.

I'll just shoot 6 the next time out and look closer when I go to clean it.
 
I like Nick_C_S's informative, experienced posts but sometimes he makes me buy things......

The more I thought about the taper crimp dies for plated bullets the more I realized I just HAD to try taper crimp dies. They are on the way for .38/.357 and .44.

:)
 
I'll go ahead and say it...you can crimp plated bullets just like jacketed bullets without issue. How do I know? I've done it for years, and have pulled bullets afterwards that were fine other than a crimp ring dent in the bullet body. These days I use exclusively Berry's plated bullets and find them excellent quality. I've even recovered a few that have passed through wood and they were completely fine with a dented nose but still no lead showing. The manufacturers do have suggested velocity limits that I've gone right up to without issue (according to my chronograph) and haven't experienced any negative effects at all. There are a lot of false rumors floating around regarding plated bullets. I don't mean to discount anyone's personal experiences, but the ones I wrote are mine.
 
I just HAD to try taper crimp dies. They are on the way for .38/.357 and .44.
Click to expand...

Good job. You wont be disappointed. I also use TCD's for lead wadcutters (148 DEWC's for 38, and 185 DEWC's for 44S) and SWC's. Those bullets, and others, have a lot of bearing surface to the case, so a roll crimp is not necessary. Any time you have a bullet that bears a lot of surface to the case, and a fairly fast powder, you're good to go with a TCD.

Taper crimping isn't just for plated; and are a lot easier on the brass. Are they absolutely necessary? Nope. But I think you made a fine investment none-the-less.
 
Roll crimp for plated = Not good.

Taper crimp for plated = Okay

Collet crimp for plated = Better

Stab crimp for plated = Best

With a collet crimp, you can make what some call a stab crimp. In some cases, you may have to do a little machining, but the goal is to get the crimp, still applied by the collet, just below the case mouth. With a stab crimp, you can apply a heavier crimp than with a taper or collet and still not disrupt the plating. In some long bullets, I actually apply a double stab crimp to prevent bullet setback. This gives me smaller SDs and a slight velocity increase as well. So if you try it, back off the powder charge and work back up.

I do this with .30, .355, .41 and .45 calibers slugs driven at velocities up to about 2500 fps with no stripping of the X-Treme bullet plating.
 
You're supposed to load copper plated bullets to LEAD velocities. I've NEVER had a problem loading for my 357mags, with plated bullets, by any of the name brand companies. I load them using lead data.
 
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