Berry’s plated 124 Grain round nose 9mm bullet seating depth

Hi. I know some might give me grief for asking about commercial plated bullets here, but here we are and if there’s anyone with experience that has useful suggestions I would appreciate your input. Im fairly new at this reloading, and therefore, sticking with published data whenever possible. I have the 50th edition of Lyman’s reloading manual. While this gives data on lots of different bullets, it doesn’t have anything on the plated 124 grain bullet. The closest it has is a 124 grain jacketed hollow point bullet.
Being that is a hollow point, I presume the seating depth would be different for a similar weighted round nose bullet. I do also have the 44th edition of Lyman’s book, which does have a jacketed round nose 124 grain bullet, but gives no suggested OAL, other than the overall suggested length of .169. Does anyone have any experience reloading these, and have any Oal they can suggest?


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I just loaded some of those with my son. Don't remember where we ended up OAL but we seated it long and just kept seating deeper until the round would chamber and function. Use the plunk test, once that passes make sure it functions in the magazine. Start low on load and work up.

"sticking with published data whenever possible" in my opinion this is not an option. ALLWAYS stick to data published from reliable source such as from powder company or bullet company. most especially since your new at reloading.
what powders do you have that your using for 9mm?
I think that minimum OAL at 1.12" should be just about right, this is what Alliant and some other sources say for hollow point bullets in 9mm Luger

Berry's advise for load data:

https://www.berrysmfg.com/faq

It has been a while since I looked up OAL's, but if I recall correctly, your manual should have a minimum and maximum OAL. I am doing a dangerous thing and assuming these are for a semiauto and suggesting loading within the min. and max. lengths, remove the barrel from the gun and see how well they chamber.

I have a table about somewhere that Berrys used to put out a long time ago. According to my loading notes the Berry RN 124g plated is loaded to 1.160.

Correction, went back and double checked my answer...The Xtreme Rn 124g is 1.150 OAL as I originally posted

Attachment 297246

Start out with data for a 124/125 gr lead round nose bullet and do a load work up including a plunk test, starting with the book minimum and working up if necessary...

Turns out if you click loading tips on the bullets description page it lists an over all length

https://www.berrysmfg.com/product/bp-9mm-356-124gr-rn

Quote; Hi. I know some might give me grief for asking about commercial plated bullets here.

Welcome aboard, don't be afraid to ask questions, there are some pretty clever people that hang out here. You might cut yourself some slack, I don't think anybody is laying in wait for someone deviating from cast bullets as a topic. I'm pretty confident that there are even some of us that have lowered ourselves to loading jacketed bullets. :mrgreen:

The two considerations that come to MY mind are to load the round so that it is at least slightly shorter than the magazine will accommodate, and short enough that the bullet does not engage the rifling when fully seated in the chamber ("plunk" test).
If memory serves, SAAMI max O.A.L. for the 9x19mm is 1.169", but once in a while, a pistol's magazine may not take one this long. Not all FMJRNs nor JHPs are created equal, either, and they will have ogives of different curvature.
SInce there's not a lot to be gained by hot-rodding a 9x19mm, I don't err on the side of longer to offset high(er) pressures. My warmest "usual" loads tend to have charge weights that are 4 to 5 % under max, since this reliably operates the slide of almost any pistol in which I use it, and going higher just batters whatever pistol I use.
The shortest O.A.L. I remember having to use in 9x19mm was 1.075", and the longest that was need to work well was 1.145". Unless there is something very unusual about the projectile, propellant, or pistol I am using, I'm usually well served to stay near the middle of the two lengths I mention.
I suppose that some might find these "broad strokes" a bit complacent for most reloading situations, but I've never had a ka-boom, nor a blown case, nor a near-miss, nor even many "hiccups", using this method. I'm working on having reloaded enough ammo in my life to fill a SECOND railroad car, by now.

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Originally Posted by Ironwrx

Hi. I know some might give me grief for asking about commercial plated bullets here, but here we are and if there’s anyone with experience that has useful suggestions I would appreciate your input. Im fairly new at this reloading, and therefore, sticking with published data whenever possible. I have the 50th edition of Lyman’s reloading manual. While this gives data on lots of different bullets, it doesn’t have anything on the plated 124 grain bullet. The closest it has is a 124 grain jacketed hollow point bullet.
Being that is a hollow point, I presume the seating depth would be different for a similar weighted round nose bullet. I do also have the 44th edition of Lyman’s book, which does have a jacketed round nose 124 grain bullet, but gives no suggested OAL, other than the overall suggested length of .169. Does anyone have any experience reloading these, and have any Oal they can suggest?


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I just checked my notes, loading this bullet in my gun, I ended up at 1.180 COAL, hope that helps.

What powder, charge, and OACL do you think is a good starting point, and why? Share that, and folks can point out red flags. Sharing “off-the-books” load data isn’t something that occurs without reservation.

A fair amount of Data for Berry's plated bullets is contained in the Western Powders Handloading Guide edition 7.0 and the full sized Western Reloading Manual .
The free Handloading Guide edition 7.0 shows - 9mm Luger - 124 gr. Berry's plated RN - the COL is 1.160" .
At one time you could get the Western Handloading Guide (paperback booklet) or download as a PDF at no charge . Check out info www.westernpowders.com
Gary

My 9 mm seating die is set at 1.165”. It’s worked for a dozen 9 mm Auto loaders using both 115 & 124 gr Berrys Plated RN. While I could be wrong I’ve always felt accuracy was better with less gap between the projectile and the start of rifling. Nor can I see how the extra .01 to .02” between the bullet base and powder would result in over pressure loads. If anything I’d think it would produce a lower chamber pressure. Most 9 mm loads don’t come close to filling the case whether the round is upright or horizontal in the chamber. Never had a 9 mm magazine that wouldn’t fit or feed 1.165” rounds.
I could be way off base in my logic but after years of putting 10 to 20 thousand 9 mm rounds down range without issue that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Seat and crimp a couple primer-less dummy rounds and work them through your pistol(s).

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Originally Posted by hawkenhunter50

I just checked my notes, loading this bullet in my gun, I ended up at 1.180 COAL, hope that helps.

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Are you sure of that? SAAMI max is 1.169

When I seated 9mm bullets my Lyman 310 tool, I adjusted the seating stem to give me the same length as the factory RN rounds I had in stock... the nose shape of the reloads was virtually identical to the factory stuff. Then I checked to see the reloads fed through the magazines and then fed as expected into the chamber. A pass through the taper crimp dies in the bench press and off to the range. Hand tools work well and are easily adjusted as needed.

Froggie

I am loading for a CZ, which have a shorter chamber. Berry's 124 grain plated bullet. Vihtavuori N320 powder 4.1 grain. OAL 1.140".

Just saw an email from Widener’s. They have 9 mm (.356”) Berrys 124 plated HP for $84 / 1000. RMR usually sell the 124 plated for about the same but I think they offer free shipping on orders over $100.00.

Every gun barrel chamber is different, so you can pick a number for the OAL or fit the bullet to the barrel if you want the best accuracy.

I personally only load and shoot for accuracy, so I measure the OAL for every bullet/barrel combination I have. It is a one time simple and cost effective method and once you have the OAL it is a simple matter to dial in the number using a Redding Micrometer bullet seating die. If you want more information let me know.