FMJ vs. Plated

[Rugerdaddy]

I'm sure this has been covered, but my search didn't turn up anything.

I have been loading FMJ only, but am considering plated to save costs. What are your opinions on plated? Thanks.

[bumpo628]

FMJ at www.precisiondelta.com is typically cheaper than most plated companies offerings.
Free shipping if you order in increments of 2000 pcs. Otherwise, I believe it is only $5 shipping.

[Dark Mod]

FMJ at www.precisiondelta.com is typically cheaper than most plated companies offerings.
Free shipping if you order in increments of 2000 pcs. Otherwise, I believe it is only $5 shipping.

+1 with the exception of .357, for some reason they only sell lead projectiles

[ShootinMedic]

Montana gold bullets are pretty cheap jacketed bullets too. You have to buy them by the case to get the best price though.

[Rugerdaddy]

FMJ at www.precisiondelta.com is typically cheaper than most plated companies offerings.
Free shipping if you order in increments of 2000 pcs. Otherwise, I believe it is only $5 shipping.

Holy cow! $76.00 per thousand! That IS cheaper than the cheapest plated I could find. How do they do it? I noticed the bottom of the bullet is not plated, as opposed to the Rainier I've been using. Does that present any issues?

[BajaJames83]

I've loaded quite a few berrys plated bullets without any issues. I generally load them to a mid range fmj load data. And no +P

[Rugerdaddy]

Montana gold bullets are pretty cheap jacketed bullets too. You have to buy them by the case to get the best price though.

I checked out the website, and you have to buy a case (as you mention- 3,750 or 4,000 depending on grains) to get the price down to about $80/1,000. That is much better than I have been paying, though.

[EL_NinO619]

I pretty much only shoot Berry's Plated in my pistol rounds. You have to load them between Lead and FMJ. I have loaded near max with no notice of the bullet keyholeing or overpressure. I usually just take the FMJ starting load, say 5.2, and for plated I use 5.0. I really like the Berrys Hollow Base 185gr .45acp. Grafs.com has a good stock of them and $4.95 flat shipping aint bad..

[Rugerdaddy]

I pretty much only shoot Berry's Plated in my pistol rounds. You have to load them between Lead and FMJ. I have loaded near max with no notice of the bullet keyholeing or overpressure. I usually just take the FMJ starting load, say 5.2, and for plated I use 5.0. I really like the Berrys Hollow Base 185gr .45acp. Grafs.com has a good stock of them and $4.95 flat shipping aint bad..

I've been using 124 gr, 9mm, FMJ. My first load was light, 3.6 gr of Bullseye, but I got some misfeeds because the slide on my Ruger SR9c wouldn't cycle all the way due to its stiff spring. I raised the powder to 4.0 gr and have not had a single problem since. That's still not a hot load, but I suppose I could go back to 3.6 and try it again with plated. Or, do you think maybe 4.0 is still OK?

[bumpo628]

Holy cow! $76.00 per thousand! That IS cheaper than the cheapest plated I could find. How do they do it? I noticed the bottom of the bullet is not plated, as opposed to the Rainier I've been using. Does that present any issues?

There is supposed to be less lead released into the air when a TMJ is fired compared to an FMJ. However, that doesn't take into account what happens when the bullet hits the backstop. Or the lead released from the primer. I don't think it makes a difference at all and I just buy whatever is cheapest.

[Rugerdaddy]

There is supposed to be less lead released into the air when a TMJ is fired compared to an FMJ. However, that doesn't take into account what happens when the bullet hits the backstop. Or the lead released from the primer. I don't think it makes a difference at all and I just buy whatever is cheapest.

Ah! TMJ vs. FMJ. "Now I see!", said the blind man when he hit the post.

[shinbone]

I get better accuracy from FMJ. I get more runout with plated. Probably because plated is soft, so the bullet doesnt center as well by the seating cone.

But the cool thing about plated is when you shoot during dusk outdoors, and they light the range, the light reflects off the back of the bullets.. they look like tracers!

[Rugerdaddy]

I get better accuracy from FMJ. I get more runout with plated. Probably because plated is soft, so the bullet doesnt center as well by the seating cone.

But the cool thing about plated is when you shoot during dusk outdoors, and they light the range, the light reflects off the back of the bullets.. they look like tracers!

If you ever get the opportunity to fire an M-60 machine gun with tracer rounds, you'll look at all those rounds flying down range and think, "SH**, I'd hate to be on the receiving end of that fire!" Then you remember that only one out of every five rounds is a tracer, and you try to wrap your mind around how many rounds are REALLY flying down range!