Received my Rainier 230gr. Plated bullets today
- Thread starter cw308
- Start date
I load a lot of Rainier platted bullets in both 9mm & 45acp . They seem to load and shoot well . At times I seem to get some flyers . I was shooting a 8" plate at 50yds the other day and most shots were hitting in a 2 foot area ( 1 foot either way ) but every once and a while one would be 3+ feet off target . Now hand gun is not my thing really and that was likely me but those bad misses surprised me little . All in all they are good plinking bullets .
I'll add something that may be relevant or not do to me being relatively new to handgun loading ( going on 3 years now ) When I first started loading for handgun I stated with 45acp using Berry's 200gr PLRN bullets in my Springfield mil-spec 1911 . The fact hand gun loading was new to me I started slow and measured everything as I went . As some know I'm a pretty detailed oriented rifle loader so I pretty much did these 45acp loads the same way .
First I'd find my max COAL allowable in the 1911 using my comparator . Then compare that to the recommended COAL in the manuals . I trimmed every case . Then measure the crimp etc etc ( way more then was needed . How ever one of the other things I did was measure if I'd get bullet set back from the slide stripping the round from the mag during chambering . To my surprise I was getting .005 of set back regardless as to how much crimp I would put on the bullet .
Well I was going to upload some pics I took of the pulled bullets and the individual crimp marks but Imageshack is acting up right now so that will have to wait .
Not sure how common this is but FWIW I also have a XD45 compact that does not set the bullet back on the same loaded ammo so it appears my 1911 is a little harder on the round as it is loaded . After posting about the issue on a few forums , what I got from most was just shoot the darn things which I've been doing with out issue . I've not checked that issue since I first started loading hand guns and that was a new 1911 I started with so I'm not even sure If it still does it . Some suggested the gun just needed to be worked in . FWIW the gun has never failed to function that I can remember and that's maybe 1k+ down the pipe now .
Thought I'd bring the up since you are using a 1911
First I'd find my max COAL allowable in the 1911 using my comparator . Then compare that to the recommended COAL in the manuals . I trimmed every case . Then measure the crimp etc etc ( way more then was needed . How ever one of the other things I did was measure if I'd get bullet set back from the slide stripping the round from the mag during chambering . To my surprise I was getting .005 of set back regardless as to how much crimp I would put on the bullet .
Well I was going to upload some pics I took of the pulled bullets and the individual crimp marks but Imageshack is acting up right now so that will have to wait .
Not sure how common this is but FWIW I also have a XD45 compact that does not set the bullet back on the same loaded ammo so it appears my 1911 is a little harder on the round as it is loaded . After posting about the issue on a few forums , what I got from most was just shoot the darn things which I've been doing with out issue . I've not checked that issue since I first started loading hand guns and that was a new 1911 I started with so I'm not even sure If it still does it . Some suggested the gun just needed to be worked in . FWIW the gun has never failed to function that I can remember and that's maybe 1k+ down the pipe now .
Thought I'd bring the up since you are using a 1911
Not knowing your particular pistol, the bullet setback could also be caused by recoil... the bullets slamming against the front of the magazine during recoil. I had a 1911 magazine that had buff spots... spots on the front of the magazine (where the cartridges would have set) that were made higher from the constant cartridge shift, and buffed or scraped shiny from use.
Charlie 98 : No these were dummy rounds when I first started . I was just practicing the process . I'll add that I had been loading rifles for several years before that so although handgun loading was new to me , reloading was not .
I believe these were Hornady 200gr XTP's but shows the different crimps I put on the bullet . All of these had the set back I described in my first post
I was even getting it with lead bullets and here's that crimp
I even chambering the same round multiple times and got set back each time .
EDIT : Well it looks like Imageshack is having issues again . The photos were displayed when I first uploaded them
Sorry about the high jack
I believe these were Hornady 200gr XTP's but shows the different crimps I put on the bullet . All of these had the set back I described in my first post
I was even getting it with lead bullets and here's that crimp
I even chambering the same round multiple times and got set back each time .
EDIT : Well it looks like Imageshack is having issues again . The photos were displayed when I first uploaded them
Sorry about the high jack
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Rainiers bullets are electro plated...and if you take a handful of them out of the box...and weigh each one...( in 230gr RN, I've seen variations as high as 5 grains ( on the low side )...not much on the high side ).....but I think that accounts for some of the flyers using Rainier bullets. You will see some variation in shape as well typically out of a box of their bullets.
Berry's plated ...have a much thicker plating / and most guys find them more consistent ....and shoot tighter groups with them.
FMJ ...like Montana Gold, etc...are just a better product / much better tolerance on weight / more consistent on shape.
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I think Rainier are fine for semi-auto's at moderate velocities...in calibers like 9mm or .45 acp / their bullets do not have a cannelure, so I would not trust them in a revolver...and never trust them at higher velocities in magnum loads especially ( I've seen them fracture and fragment in .44 mag ...maybe because they were crimped too tight with no cannelure --- or maybe because of velocity ...hard to tell ).
Berry's plated ...have a much thicker plating / and most guys find them more consistent ....and shoot tighter groups with them.
FMJ ...like Montana Gold, etc...are just a better product / much better tolerance on weight / more consistent on shape.
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I think Rainier are fine for semi-auto's at moderate velocities...in calibers like 9mm or .45 acp / their bullets do not have a cannelure, so I would not trust them in a revolver...and never trust them at higher velocities in magnum loads especially ( I've seen them fracture and fragment in .44 mag ...maybe because they were crimped too tight with no cannelure --- or maybe because of velocity ...hard to tell ).