plated vs jacketed
 

printed info in lees second show loads reduced by almost 20% for plated, but ive always loaded to the jacketed specs.

views?

Rainier say to use data for lead .

Plating a swagged lead bullet prevents lead corrosion during storage, especially if stored on a policeman's cartridge belt. They are popular with many of today's reloaders largely because they haven't a clue what the plating is meant to accomplish.

Jacketed bullets can take much larger charges for higher velocities than lead bullets simply because hard jackets grip the rifling without stripping like a softer bullet will. Swagged bullets (even if plated) are made of soft lead so they strip the rifling much sooner than hard cast bullets. The plated bullet charges have to be lower for any kind of accuracy and that's all the reduced charges mean.

Fuzz, Ive been loading my IDPA rounds for years with 10mm 155gr Ranier plated.

Loaded with 6.4 gr of IMR4756. Its accurate as any factory ammo.

I just got worried when I noticed that. But have had 0 issues to date.

"I just got worried when I noticed that. But have had 0 issues to date."

No reason you should. Loaded within their limits they are quite good.

On another forum, we have an employee of Berry's Manufacturing as a member - he too advises using lead bullet data for their plated bullets.
I had started out using the plated bullets for both .38 Special and .45ACP using jacketed data, but I kept my velocities moderate and never had a problem.

It is generally accepted that you use the data for plain lead bullets when loading plated bullets. Plating is not inferior to jacketing. Most plated bullets are just plated too thinly to mimic jacketed bullets. The exception is the Speer Gold Dot. This is a plated bullet with hollow point added. Velocity is not a concern as they adjust the plating thickness to match the expected velocity. I load .400 Gold Dots to 1300 fps in my 10mm and have NO problems.

As long as you keep velocities below about 1200 fps, you can use jacketed data.

The problem with that blanket statement is that most folks do not have access to a chronograph. They really have little or no real idea as to what the velocity really is. For the same powder charge, a jacketed bullet will be SLOWER than a lead bullet. Plated bullets tend to act like lead bullets. X grains of powder that SHOULD send a jacketed bullet down range at X velocity MAY actually yield X+100 fps. That same charge may send a plated or lead bullet out of the muzzle at X+200 fps or more. You just do not know.

This is the problem with load data. People tend to use it as if it was a "recipe". ALL loads MUST be worked up by experienced loaders/shooters. pressures can inch up and then SPIKE! NEVER simpy take a load and run with it. The only powder that does not apply to is W-296 in Magnum handgun loads. There is truly ONE load. Reducing and working up can have disasterous results with W-296.

An equation with 2 variables
 

I have been shooting a Delta 10MM for a while and started using Rainer bullets. They did not work too well at the higher velocities. However the HSM bullets worked just fine across the board.

I installed a Kart National Match and then the Rainer bullets worked better too. The point here is there may be 2 variables involved for using plated bullets. The "smoothness" (depth of rifling, bore diameter, rate of twist, ect) of the barrel , and plating thickness. In my case the Colt barrel was pretty rough and the Kart... well is Kart quality.

The HSM bullets seems me to have a harder core of the three Rainer, Berry's and HSM. I could be wrong as I have not scientifically tested just for that.

There sometimes is an alloy added to conduct current better in plating soft metals such as Pb. Higher current means faster metal deposit for plating. (Its a molecular science thing) Those alloys may be some of the "differences" in what stress the plated bullet can take hence the more cautious loading recommendations by the manufacture.

I have been shooting HSM 165 HPs at some pretty fast 10MM speeds with absolutely no problems with excellent accuracy and terminal performance . But then that is my gun and I solved all my variables to do so. Everyone needs to do the same for his gun and load likewise.

Ummm... it looks like that is just what you guys are saying. Imagine that, I understand what I am reading. :D