Any experience with Berry's 150 gr. plated 30-30 bullets?

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I got a good buy on 500 of these from Midway and thought I'd try them out in both my lever and bolt action .30-30 Win. rifles. They look a little odd. I phoned Hornady and they assured me that they're safe to use in lever rifle magazines.....

308711 308712
Click to enlarge.

DG

[georgerkahn]

I bought several boxes of these, and they functioned quite well in both Winchester and Remington (.30-30Rem) rifles. The disclaimer here, DG, is I used rather light loads -- the bottom listed in manual with IMR3031, and added Puff-Lon filler. The filler is another "story" as it did seem to uniform better the loads (most all shots from this lousy shot, off hand on a pie-sized paper plate at 75 yards) BUT that Puff-Lon kind of flies out ALL OVER EVERYTHING. It's almost a
need" to go to range on a day with wind from your back :).
And... again... the bullets functioned quite well for me. (I know I bought them at a sale... maybe Graf's???)
geo

[RickinTN]

Those are not Hornady bullets. They are Berrys bullets.
Rick

[Der Gebirgsjager]

You're absolutely right! I'll change it. Had several boxes of this and that on my desk and read the wrong box. At least the photo is correct! Thanks.

DG

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Thanks, George. I've never been a filler man. I try to select loads that don't leave much air space between the bullet and the powder, but if it's unavoidable I'll tip the rifle up before each shot. I was just thinking today that ideal loads won't let you double charge.

308738

DG

[kungfustyle]

I've always had a great experience with Berry's bullets. With those keep them under 2000 fps and your good to go.

[R-71]

I've loaded a bunch for my sons to shoot, they shot fine in their Winchester and Marlins for targets. I had them shooting at 200 yards on my steel IPSC target. I think I used a starting charge of 4895 the last time I loaded them.

[ATCDoktor]

I’ve fired a few thousand Berrys 150 grain 30 cal flat point bullets through my 30/30’s and I get great accuracy when the speeds are kept around 1500 fps.

5 rounds Berrys 150 grain FP’s 14.5 Grains IMR 4227 at 100 yards
https://i.postimg.cc/BvXrg0hq/912858C0-FE7D-4FC7-8FEC-395376E4186A.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

[1006]

I use them with 15.5 (have gone as high as 17.0) Alliant 2400 and get almost 1700fps in a 16inch 30-30—good accuracy.

They also worked well in a 300BLK bolt action.

[Shawlerbrook]

Just got 250 of Berry’s 110 gr plated bullets to have some summer fun with my 30 30’s

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Thanks for the replies to what might have seemed like a stupid question. I've never run across these Berry's bullets before, and they look....odd. They have that dimple on the nose that makes you think the designers had the lever action in-line magazine in mind when they made them, but the nose is still small enough that it won't completely cover the primer in the cartridge ahead of it, as I tried to show in the photo. I'm used to the big, flat Sierra and Hornady soft nose bullets, but got a good deal on these and see lots of practice in the future for next summer. I did call and chat with the folks at Berry's and they said "Fire away. You're o.k.". It's going to be a wonderful experiment as I have (bolt actions) a Stevens 325, Savage 340, and a Mossberg 472, and Win. '94 (levers), and I intend to load up about 100 of these Berry bullets and see what kind of accuracy I get using the same load. Thanks again.

DG

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I’ve fired a few thousand Berrys 150 grain 30 cal flat point bullets through my 30/30’s and I get great accuracy when the speeds are kept around 1500 fps.

5 rounds Berrys 150 grain FP’s 14.5 Grains IMR 4227 at 100 yards
https://i.postimg.cc/BvXrg0hq/912858C0-FE7D-4FC7-8FEC-395376E4186A.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Nice! That would certainly do to ride the range with!

DG

[awayne]

Berrys bullets are known for decent quality. Shouldn’t be any issues with them

[Hobie26]

I purchased 250 of Berrys 150gr round shoulder for my sons to plink with. We started reloading and noticed a 2000FPS max. We used 30gr from an old unopened bottle of Varget and a table from Speer Reloading Manual #14. The 30gr is under the 2000FPS but not by much. I looked at the Hodgdon website and 30gr Varget is approximately 2100FPS. How serious of a problem do we have with the loaded cartridges?

[1006]

They will “fly apart” if loaded too hot. You will just have to shoot them and see if they are accurate and hold up to your velocity. It is a matter of how fast they spin, not how fast they fly. You rifle may or may not have an issue at 2100fps.

[Bmi48219]

I’ve probably used 10,000 of them in various calibers and weights, never had any issues with Berry’s plated bullets. And they’re pretty reasonably priced. They have the only plated 38 caliber HBWC now.

[Larry Gibson]

I used the 150 gr Berry's 30-30 bullets and the 150 gr SPs for subsonic loads out of my suppressed .308W. At 1050 fps the accuracy is excellent. Why? Because the plated bullets leave no deposits inside the suppressor.

[Grayone]

They will “fly apart” if loaded too hot. You will just have to shoot them and see if they are accurate and hold up to your velocity. It is a matter of how fast they spin, not how fast they fly. You rifle may or may not have an issue at 2100fps.

I have loaded them to a little over 2000 FPS in a 300 BO and an AR in 7.62x39 and they shot good. They feed fine in the AR too. Maybe I just got lucky.