Bullet interchangability

J

JesseB123

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Hello,

I'm getting in to reloading and I've made an order of bullets.

I'm going to be reloading 9mm ammunition.

The order is of 115gr plated RN. The Lyman 'recipe' book (49th) edition says that (and I made a mistake here) 115gr JHP uses Blue Dot powder, which is the powder I purchased.

My question is, can I treat the plated round nose bullets the same as the jacketed hollow point bullets that are listed in the book. The problem is that there is no CPRN 115gr in the book, let alone one that included blue dot powder.

I hope my question is clear, I'll be standing by in case anyone can pick it apart, or needs more information.

Thanks in advance.

Jesse B
 
A) a jacketed Hollow point is not a full metal jacket.
B) The TMJ {total metal jacket} is just a full metal jacket with some copper on its ass.

I would think a plated round nose is a FMJ however may have a thinner jacket. There are also plated flat nose bullets.
Unless I am wrong I'd say you are good to go.

If they are a thiner jacket start with lighter loads and work you're way up. Which should be done in any case.
 
Treat it the same, start at the minimum and just don't go as high.
9mm isn't going to go fast enough to be a problem IMO. I've had no issues other then my accuracy skills.
 
Spawn-Inc nailed it.

Generally speaking, in handgun cartridges it is safe to use jacketed bullet data for loading cast bullets because cast bullets generally produce less friction in the barrel than j-bullets. Lower bullet friction translates into lower chamber pressure with the same powder charge using a cast bullet as compared to the same weight jacketed bullet. Very high velocity cast bullet loads might lead your barrel but it shouldn't be a probelm at 9mm velocity and most handgun calibers.
 
I would be more concerned about the case volume remaining after the bullet is seated myself. My understanding is pressures can go high very quickly with a reduction in that area!
 
Blue Dot is a good high velocity powder.

For general purpose shooting, the plated bullet is a good choice, although I would prefer a 124 to a 115, and i would use a medium speed powder rather than Blue Dot. Power Pistol is a good choice if you want medium to hot loads.

For general purpose plinking/accuracy ammo, try 124 and 147 plated bullets with SR7625 (similar in speed to unique, but meters better) or Win 231.
 
One thing to note is I have seen lots of .40S&W rounds sold as "TMJ" that are actually thinly copper plated lead bullets. Many other "TMJ" bullets are regular FMJ bullets with a copper disk on the base so there is no exposed lead. I don't know if "TMJ" is as standardized in the industry as "FMJ" is.
 
I believe Berry's cautions against using their plated bullets above 1200 fps. Because plated jackets are thinner than FMJ jackets the plating can separate in the barrel at high speeds. However, unless you are going with balls to the wall velocities with your 9mm exceeding 1200 fps shouldn't be an issue. Blue Dot isn't your best choice but can probably be used. Something in the Unique burn rate would be more suitable for most applications, however.
 
I have loaded thousands of 9mm cartridges and Plated are not the same as Jacketed. Many manuals have load data for plated and separate data for Jacketed like the Lee manual. Typically you can use the jacked data if you start low and do not go to max! Up to mid range or just above is safe. Some plated bullets have a very thick plating and can be loaded to jacketed spec with no problem such as the Berry thick plated bullets or the CamPro bullets which say you can use jacketed data.
Start low and do not exceed the max loads. Increase you load by .1 gr. at a time as 9mm is a very small capacity case and many powders have a spread of only .5 gr from min. to max. loads. Also it is very important that you do not seat the bullet deeper that the min. AOL stated in the recipe. short seating depths can cause serious spikes in pressures again because the case volumes are so small in 9mm. I would suggest that you start with a mid range powder that is easy to work with like W231/HP38 they are the same powder, and meter very well. Once you are comfortable with reloading 9mm then try other powders. Fast powders give you very little room for error.

I would also suggest that you try 124 and 147 gr bullets as they tend to be more accurate for me. I have a number of proven recipes that I use and you can PM me if you would like.
 
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