berrys 185 HBRN
- Thread starter cherry
- Start date
What is in bold is an amazing concept that not everybody listens to. I reload for 40S&W alot and it specifies an OAL of 1.120, however I tried some 155SWC at that length and they fed like S^&T. I extended them to the acceptible magazine lenth of 1.165, made sure they dropped into the barrel and sat flat, and voila they feed great and make perfect holes in paper.
Just a tip on the Berry's HB bullets. The idea behind them is that the gas pressure of the burning powder will expand the hollow base to perfectly fit the bore. This does work but you have to make sure that the powder charge is high enough to accomplish this. I forget the minimum velocity to accomplish this with the 185 gr. 45s but I know that the 148 gr. HBWCs have to be pushed at a minimum of 800 fps to gain full effect.
Yes, externally they are almost identical to 230 gr. RN bullets. The hollow base on them is quite deep which is not surprising as they are losing around 45 gr. of bullet weight.
just checked alleints website for a 185gr bullet (speer gold dot) and the max charge they listed was 8grs of unique. i would try 6gr, up to 8gr and watch for pressure signs etc although 8gr might be a bit much for plated.
Hi,
I bought the 185gr HBRN bullets to get a safe, but higher velocity bullet from the 45 ACP, at normal pressures. I doubt that the low pressure of the 45 ACP would obturate the base of the Berry bullet, as it is very thick and plated. This principle works in pure lead bullets and where the base sides of the bullet is very tapered, i.e. thin at the base and thicker towards the inside of the bullet.
Before purchasing the 185gr Berry HBRN I believed these bullets would offer the same basic advantage as the "THV" bullets, but not as markedly, meaning the hollow base increases the combustion space of the case. This allows the reloader to increase the powder charge above normal (I DO NOT USE fast powders as with the THV) for a solid, flat base bullet. Using slower powder (Unique, Auto Comp and Blue Dot) than what is popular with the light bullets in 45 ACP, I got what I was looking for. Because the question asked was about Unique, I shall share the following: My starting load of 7.9gr (Speer #14 lists 8.2gr as maximum) did not even cycle the slide on my 6" Springfield Longslide, but did cycle the slide of a 5" Norinco and my Ruger SR1911. I have used more powder than Speer's max load with this 185gr HBRN bullet, and still found it to be milder than 230gr factory loads. Because these loads are more than the manufacturers max, I shall not share them, only the principle involved.
As an aside, the inverted 185gr Berry HBRN bullets make very impressive HP bullets for my 480 Ruger, when using a 45 ACP case as a jacket for making the bullets (I shoot away all my small pistol primed 45 ACP cases). I add lead pellets to then get to any desired bullet weight I want, from 275gr up to 400gr. Accuracy is good enough to play with out to 50 yards with the 2x magnification scope on my 480 Ruger. Cases of the 45 GAP work better, but are much more expensive.
RSA1
I bought the 185gr HBRN bullets to get a safe, but higher velocity bullet from the 45 ACP, at normal pressures. I doubt that the low pressure of the 45 ACP would obturate the base of the Berry bullet, as it is very thick and plated. This principle works in pure lead bullets and where the base sides of the bullet is very tapered, i.e. thin at the base and thicker towards the inside of the bullet.
Before purchasing the 185gr Berry HBRN I believed these bullets would offer the same basic advantage as the "THV" bullets, but not as markedly, meaning the hollow base increases the combustion space of the case. This allows the reloader to increase the powder charge above normal (I DO NOT USE fast powders as with the THV) for a solid, flat base bullet. Using slower powder (Unique, Auto Comp and Blue Dot) than what is popular with the light bullets in 45 ACP, I got what I was looking for. Because the question asked was about Unique, I shall share the following: My starting load of 7.9gr (Speer #14 lists 8.2gr as maximum) did not even cycle the slide on my 6" Springfield Longslide, but did cycle the slide of a 5" Norinco and my Ruger SR1911. I have used more powder than Speer's max load with this 185gr HBRN bullet, and still found it to be milder than 230gr factory loads. Because these loads are more than the manufacturers max, I shall not share them, only the principle involved.
As an aside, the inverted 185gr Berry HBRN bullets make very impressive HP bullets for my 480 Ruger, when using a 45 ACP case as a jacket for making the bullets (I shoot away all my small pistol primed 45 ACP cases). I add lead pellets to then get to any desired bullet weight I want, from 275gr up to 400gr. Accuracy is good enough to play with out to 50 yards with the 2x magnification scope on my 480 Ruger. Cases of the 45 GAP work better, but are much more expensive.
RSA1
