Hmmm found out why my 500 S&W NEF doesn't like Berry's 350's

[O.S.O.K.]

Take a look at this recoverd bullet:



The engraving is on the ogive and then... nothing.

No wonder it doesn't shoot them very well...

I guess they aren't uniform down the shank of the bullet. Weird.

My cast boolits (Lee 440 grian gas check) are sized around .502" - these are .500". I'm expecting much better accuracy out of them.


The big ones are the Lee boolits.

And again, this is the rifle that I'm referring to:

[JReed]

Weird. Have you measured them farther down towards the base?

[TedH]

Wonder if you could rig up your sizing die to bump up those Berry's bullets to .502"?

[O.S.O.K.]

Yes, it is weird. They seemed to be a bit larger there where they are engraved but not much.... first time I've ever seen this...

[O.S.O.K.]

Wonder if you could rig up your sizing die to bump up those Berry's bullets to .502"?

I'm sure I could - but it would require some kind of resistance on the top side... hmm.

[AJMD429]

Keep us posted; I think the .500 S&W unfortunately had its debut in an oversized revolver with no carbine or rifle counterpart, but it is one fine cartridge, and the Handi-Rifle at least is one way to explore the long-gun potential of the round.

If S&W had partnered with one of the levergun companies to bring out a "pair" in that cartridge (and/or the .460 S&W), it would have immediately been "THE" gun(s) to have.

Think about it - if you had a pair in .32-20 or .327 FedMag, or even .357 Mag, and a pair in .500 S&W, you'd have covered pretty much everything except the 500-yard stuff you need pointy-bullets for.

• a .327-.357 DA Revolver for CCW
  a .327-.357 Carbine for under-200-lb. critters
  a .460-.500 SA Revolver for Bear-defense or big game handgun hunting
  a .460-.500 Rifle for over-200-lb. critters

Add a rimfire, shotgun, and 'pointy-bullet' gun, and you have it covered with only seven firearms...!

[piller]

I think we need one of the experts who post around here to explain that one. If the bullets are undersized as they get toward the base, that makes me think there is a problem with the mold/manufacture. I like AJMD429's idea of matched revolvers and leverguns for caliber.

[JerryB]

I wonder what Mike from Grizzly would have to say about it.

[J Miller]

O.S.O.K.,

Questions:

A: Did you measure the bullets before you loaded them?
B: Are these plated or jacketed?
C: Have you measured the top of the recovered bullet compared to the bottom?

I ask these because looking at your pics it looks like the base of the bullet where it was in the case has been compressed. If these are plated bullets the lead under the plating is dead soft. It will compress if the case necks are too tight.
That is what it looks like happened to my eyes.

Joe

[kimwcook]

Professor, I believe Berry's bullets are copper plated lead.

[Hillbillygunsmith]

I have to agree with J. Miller's assesment of the problem. Barry's bullets are soft lead with a thin copper coating. From the photo it does appear that the bullets have been sized down by the case during loading. If this is the problem, you will need a larger expander on your sizing die to open the case more down to the bottom of the bullet base.

Mike your bullets and your rifle groove dia. and compare the bullet Dia. to your bore size. If the unfired bullet is groove dia. or larger, that would help to confirm that your die case expander is sizing the soft bullets down.

[O.S.O.K.]

Well I just measured one of the unloaded bullets - and yes, these are plated.

It was uniformly .5005".

So, something is going on with the dies. I'm using a roll crimp, so that's not it. Must be sizing them down when I seat the bullet - weird.

I need to pull one of the cast boolits and measure it too...

[cas]

Measure more than one. Berry's are all over the map size wise.
A few years back I had a problem with one of my SIG's in IDPA matches.
A dead reliable gun suddenly had problems with jams. Problem was in a match I could never stop and see what was causing it. After making me crash and burn in several matches, I finally pinned it down to lack of crimp. Bullets pulling and setting back in the mag and on the feed ramp. Wasn't my loading, my brass or my dies. It was the crazy Berry's bullets with the oddball undersized bullets.

[O.S.O.K.]

Thanks, I'll check some more of them.

[Buck Elliott]

Even on the bullets' shoulder, the marks almost look more like "bruising" than engraving... Slug the barrel and measure the bullets before loading... I can't believe they're being reduced that much by case tension.

[O.S.O.K.]

Yeah, I need to slug too. Its weird for sure.

[firefuzz]

Even on the bullets' shoulder, the marks almost look more like "bruising" than engraving... Slug the barrel and measure the bullets before loading... I can't believe they're being reduced that much by case tension.

Plus 1. I am curious to know what type of crimping die you're using tho.

Rob