Lesson Learned

[Bedlam]

I just wanted to share a recent lesson I learned. Luckily I learned this harmlessly it could have been a little rougher. I figured I would share it here so other could learn the long and the short of it...

Copper plated bullets follow loads for Lead Bullets NOT Jacketed bullets

So the story.. I was reloading bulk .40 S&W with copper plated bullets. Being new I used the charge for the powder I could find which was for a jacketed bullet. I took it to the range one bang two holes... I pulled the target in verified shot a little more. I checked all the cases to verify there was no big signs of Over Pressure but still the dual hole thing after it happened a few times was enough to send me home to do some reading. I researched a bit more and will be spending the next weekend pulling bullets and lowering charges.

No ranting I know what I did wrong and I learned from it just wanted to share the experience.

[Bug Splat]

Glad to hear you had a safe lesson. For my pistol range reloads I like to stay 0.5gr above minimum charge. 1, because I don't need much to kill paper at 25 yards and 2, I'm cheap and the less powder I use the more rounds I can get out of it . For full power defense loads I just buy factory.

[Bedlam]

Ya I thought I was loading right in the middle between the min which was 7.2 and the max or 8 with a load of 7.6 I figured that way I was right in the middle comfy and safe but you live you learn...Well hopefully you live ;-)

Glad to hear you had a safe lesson. For my pistol range reloads I like to stay 0.5gr above minimum charge. 1, because I don't need much to kill paper at 25 yards and 2, I'm cheap and the less powder I use the more rounds I can get out of it . For full power defense loads I just buy factory.

[sgtabcusmc]

i'm actually researching this right now. just purchased the lee modern reloading manual and just ordered the lee 50th anniv kit and was wondering this exact question. was looking at the rainier copper plated bullets as my first test rounds but didn't know whether to use the lead loads or or jacketed load. so thank you sir for sharing your experience and glad to hear that your safe.

[ireload]

Bedlam what brand of plated bullet did you load?

[Bedlam]

They were berry's mfg bullets.

[ejor]

also keep in mind the copper plated bullets have more resistance than lead and can stick a bullet in the bore if used with very light loads that work with lead, I had a nice light load that worked great with a 158 g.moly lead then switched to a 150g. copper plated bullet, thinking they were somewhat similar and the first shot stuck a bullet 1/2 way down the bore. this was slightly lower than book minimum for lead though. it took about a .5 a grain more of this powder for the copper to work reliably. these were really light revolver loads

[ar15barrels]

I took it to the range one bang two holes...

The bullets were breaking in half?
Did this happen multiple times?

[Sheldon]

Jacket separation? Two distinct holes....clean and round?

[sgtabcusmc]

also keep in mind the copper plated bullets have more resistance than lead and can stick a bullet in the bore if used with very light loads that work with lead, I had a nice light load that worked great with a 158 g.moly lead then switched to a 150g. copper plated bullet, thinking they were somewhat similar and the first shot stuck a bullet 1/2 way down the bore. this was slightly lower than book minimum for lead though. it took about a .5 a grain more of this powder for the copper to work reliably. these were really light revolver loads

lee 45 die set came with a loading data for copper plated bullet and for 230 gr compared with a lead of same grain using ACCUR #2 the load is 0.1 less for the copper plated than the lead. i guess i'll start it with +0.3 from the minimum just to be on the safe side. it would still be 0.2 below the "NEVER EXCEED" load anyway.