plated hollow points?
- Thread starter J270
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stephen426
New member
It really depends on what you mean by plated. If you mean jacketed, there absolutely is a function to it. Lead is soft and will deform, or possibly even break apart. The jacket is what keeps the bullet together as it travels through the target, controlling expansion. If a bullet breaks apart, it loses penetration. If it does not expand, it does not dump as much energy into the target. I hope this is what you meant.
stephen426
New member
I believe that plating in this case refers to how the jacket is actually formed around the lead core. Speer was one of the first companies to do this with their Gold Dot line. The jacket is actually bonded to the lead core through electroplating. This forms a much stronger bond to the jacket and prevents jacket separation that could occur with conventional jacketed bullets. Bonded bullets typically have the base of the bullet covered as well. If no hollow point is formed, those bullets are referred to as TMJ or total metal jacket. The main difference is that there is no exposed lead at the base of the bullet, which reduces airborne lead in indoor ranges.
jacketed choices exist
Speer's Gold Dots are plated, and IMO&E acceptable for 'SD' ammo.
IMO&E Rainier's HEX-HP plated bullets are marginal for 'SD' ammo, based on actual application.
These are the only two brands/styles of plated bullets I suggest as suitable for 'SD' ammunition.
Speer's Gold Dots are plated, and IMO&E acceptable for 'SD' ammo.
IMO&E Rainier's HEX-HP plated bullets are marginal for 'SD' ammo, based on actual application.
These are the only two brands/styles of plated bullets I suggest as suitable for 'SD' ammunition.
Most of the plated cast bullets now being sold are more for target shooting than for use in a situation where expansion is needed or wanted.
If your looking for expansion from a plated bullets then as mentioned the Gold Dot is the industry standard and has an awesome track record. My personal experience with them in several calibers of handguns, has been nothing short of exemplary having used them on deer and feral hogs. The other thing about the GD is that you can drive them to jacketed velocities with no issues of them leading your barrel like some of the "plated" versions can do.
The plated ones are usually done that way to enable practice with "cast" bullets at indoor ranges where total encapsulation is needed and required for reduced lead exposure. Another issue with most plated HP's is that the lead cores used are either to hard or brittle for reliable controlled expansion. In most cases this results in one of two things happening, either the nose breaks into small pieces as it shatters, or it will expand into a rind which shears off the main core. Having worked up specific alloys for my own cast HP's I can tell you that neither of these is good for the application questioned. If you want expansion you usually want everything to hold together in order to have a much larger would channel and energy dump. Granted it would seem that more separate projectiles might be better, but in most cases at handgun velocities it isn't.
IMO what you want in a HP from a handgun is something akin to this,
Or possibly this,
I personally do not have any experience with the Ranier so I can't give an honest evaluation of them.
If your looking for expansion from a plated bullets then as mentioned the Gold Dot is the industry standard and has an awesome track record. My personal experience with them in several calibers of handguns, has been nothing short of exemplary having used them on deer and feral hogs. The other thing about the GD is that you can drive them to jacketed velocities with no issues of them leading your barrel like some of the "plated" versions can do.
The plated ones are usually done that way to enable practice with "cast" bullets at indoor ranges where total encapsulation is needed and required for reduced lead exposure. Another issue with most plated HP's is that the lead cores used are either to hard or brittle for reliable controlled expansion. In most cases this results in one of two things happening, either the nose breaks into small pieces as it shatters, or it will expand into a rind which shears off the main core. Having worked up specific alloys for my own cast HP's I can tell you that neither of these is good for the application questioned. If you want expansion you usually want everything to hold together in order to have a much larger would channel and energy dump. Granted it would seem that more separate projectiles might be better, but in most cases at handgun velocities it isn't.
IMO what you want in a HP from a handgun is something akin to this,
Or possibly this,
I personally do not have any experience with the Ranier so I can't give an honest evaluation of them.
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Urban_Redneck
New member
My understanding is that the bulk plated bullets like Ranier, et al, are soft swaged then plated. The HP feature is popular among target shooter because the HP is swaged after plating, aka "double struck", ensuring a uniform size and concentric projectile for best accuracy. My loading experience with plated bullets bears this out, it's easy to deform bulk bullets with hard crimp.
The Gold Dot is a proven self defense round. For piece of mind, I would seek out third party testing data before committing to any self defense load especially if it used a plated bullet.
YMMV
The Gold Dot is a proven self defense round. For piece of mind, I would seek out third party testing data before committing to any self defense load especially if it used a plated bullet.
YMMV
armoredman
New member
The bulk plated hollow point, like the Berrys PHP, is NOT for self defense. It's easy to tell which ones those are, no jacket striations, just a big open cavity and the typical plated look.
The Berrys is on the left, a typical Remington JHP is on the right. No, the Berrys isn't set back - I needed to load them that short to work with the CZ short chamber.
Now Berrys IS now making a new self defense PHP, which is a direct competitor to the Gold Dot, but I have little information on it. Just realize that bullets that look like that Berrys up there are not going to reliably expand - they aren't made to. The best they will do is deform. If I had nothing else I'd use them for SD, but they would perform only marginally better than FMJ.
The Berrys is on the left, a typical Remington JHP is on the right. No, the Berrys isn't set back - I needed to load them that short to work with the CZ short chamber.
Now Berrys IS now making a new self defense PHP, which is a direct competitor to the Gold Dot, but I have little information on it. Just realize that bullets that look like that Berrys up there are not going to reliably expand - they aren't made to. The best they will do is deform. If I had nothing else I'd use them for SD, but they would perform only marginally better than FMJ.
PointOneSeven
New member
Copper washing isn't done because it's better, it's done because it's cheaper than a copper jacket. I would run either full metal jacket or a semi-jacketed hollowpoint on the cheap for carry ammo if I had to. Both are consistent for their intended purpose!
Other than the Speer Gold Dot no other plated hollow point bullets are intended for self defense, at least none that I'm aware of. Xtreme, Berry's, HSM and others make plated hollow points but they are intended for target shooting and do not expand. They may provide slightly better accuracy than an FMJ but offer nothing more in terminal performance. Think of them like the hollow point boat tails used in rifle target shooting. They give superior accuracy but you wouldn't want to use them on a hunt.
Jim Watson
New member
Berry's Hybrid Hollow Point looks like a knockoff of the Gold Dot.
The cavity is exposed lead. I conclude the bullet is swaged, plated, and then the cavity punched through the plating.
It would be interesting to run gelatin or water impact tests to see if they really do expand like the ad copy shows.
If they do, it would be a Gold Dot alternative for hunting, self defense (I know, I know.) or for a minor maker to offer in "factory loads."
The cavity is exposed lead. I conclude the bullet is swaged, plated, and then the cavity punched through the plating.
It would be interesting to run gelatin or water impact tests to see if they really do expand like the ad copy shows.
If they do, it would be a Gold Dot alternative for hunting, self defense (I know, I know.) or for a minor maker to offer in "factory loads."
armoredman
New member
Berrys' has the 45ACp bullets available, still waiting for some 9mm ones to try out.