Berry's 200 grain 45 HP DS

[d_c_mar]

Does anyone have a cartridge OAL that they use for Berry's part #41968?
I've had great accuracy with their 230 grain RN out of my XD 45, but this bullet is frying my brain. My target looks like a shotgun patterning board! I'm at my wit's end.

Thanks,
Dan___

[mls204]

Hodgdon's site says 1.155". Start with that.

Are your bullets tumbling? What's your OAL right now?

[d_c_mar]

Bullets are not tumbling. I get beautiful round perfectly cut holes. I'm at work right now. I'll check my logs for my latest OAL when I get home. I didn't know Hodgdon had data for Berry's bullets on their site. I use their magazine/manual.

[Bill Steele]

I am probably going to get a lot of flak for this, but I have had enough problems with Berry's with regard to consistency that I am not buying them anymore. Batch to batch I have had issues with accuracy.

I had given up on Berry's but a while back I tried a small batch of their 185gr HBRN's and they performed amazing well out of my 1911's. The pitch from the company was the hollow base allowed a profile similar to the 230gr RN but with a 185gr weight, thus improving the bearing area. My first few orders seemed to confirm this result. My last order of these bullets have been terrible. The consistency is bad and the result on target shows it.

I am done with plated bullets. I am back exclusively to 200gr LSWC's from my favorite caster S&S Castings, or when I want jacketed, Precison Delta.

[mls204]

Bullets are not tumbling. I get beautiful round perfectly cut holes. I'm at work right now. I'll check my logs for my latest OAL when I get home. I didn't know Hodgdon had data for Berry's bullets on their site. I use their magazine/manual.

They don't have data for plated bullets specifically, but Berry's indicates to load their bullets starting with lead data. OAL shouldn't matter in either case.

[d_c_mar]

So I'm home now. I know from lots of rifle reloading experience that seating depth can have a huge effect on accuracy. I started by taking the barrel out of my XD and checking what OAL would chamber. I started with 1.220 because it seemed fine. In a firing situation though, every few rounds wouldn't chamber completely, and I would have to slap the back of the slide. I took the rest home and shortened them to 1.178-1.180
Accuracy is still poor. I suppose I can set them back to 1.160, but I'm running out of bullet. The entire bearing area is almost in the case at at 1.178. I've only got perhaps 0.060 left. I hate seating deeper because it drives pressure up.

I should have suspected inconsistency in profile and diameter when I noticed that some would chamber at 1.220 and some wouldn't. I've had such great results with the same bullet in 9mm (124 grain hollow point DS).