Home Forums Reloading Handgun Reloading Berry Bullets

A friend is selling me some .357/158 Berry Bullets. Half of them are the flat point, and half are the hollow point. He tells me that they are both meant as target bullets. Anyone used these and found any expansion with the HP bullet?

These will be primarily used in a .38 LCR and I also have some other bullets ordered, but delivery times are extended. My current powder choices are 700X and Unique. 231 is also available if I want it. If anyone has a favorite load with like components I'd love to hear of them...

I intend to try the Remington 6 1/2 SRP in these to avoid sky high SPP prices. Anyone know of a reason not to attempt this?

The plated HPs have a plated hollow point as well, so they won't open up at anything but the most screaming velocities. I've shot them at 1400 out of 357 and they mash up at the nose, but don't open. They shoot well, though they wouldn't be my first choice for self-defense. I've got them loaded up for plinking and small game/varmints.

Load 6 rounds with 6 1/2 primers and try them out. I've shot a bunch of them thru my 586 with no problems.
Berrys hollow points are made for target shooting, not self defense.

I can't comment on the expansion of plated bullets but I can say that I've tried three or four different brands of plated bullets and in my 1911's and GP-100 they just don't group as well as jacketed bullets.

For the range I don't load and shoot anything but Montana Gold, Zero or RMR jacketed bullets and for carry I use factory loaded ammo.

The Berry's hollow points are not designed to expand. They are designed to have a longer length than a flat or round point. By removing some of the lead from the hollow, the body becomes elongated for a given bullet mass. So the 158 grain hollow point is longer than a 158 grain round nose or flat point. That longer length with a given OAL, gives a "combustion chamber" volume more similar to 158 grain hollowpoints that are designed to expand, like a Hornady XTP or Federal Hydrashok or whatever. Even so, I've found the plated hollowpoints don't do that well at emulating a jacketed hollowpoint with respect to internal ballistics. The Berry's bullets seem to be softer than jacketed bullets and they have a different start pressure and possibly a difference in the obturation. Bullseye shooters decry their accuracy, and I prefer jacketed bullets for accurate shooting, but I have not exhaustively proven a shortcoming in that area for the plated bullets. I shoot the plated bullets the most because they're inexpensive for the highest volume tasks like presenting from concealment holster and shooting practice targets at 3 to 7 yards. I can't think of reason to shoot more expensive JHP for jobs like that.