berrys ffmj-bt help

O

ohihunter2014

New member
Hey guys I need some help. I purchased berrys 223 fmj Bt bullets and I can get hornady fmj bt to shoot under an inch at 100yards but the berrys last night some would shoot almost touching and some would have flyers.

right now I'm seating them to where they are just off the lands. benchmark powder, lc brass, cci 450 primers. I worked up from 22gr to 23.3 grs and 23.3 shot the best but still like a 2.5 inch group out of a bolt action.
 
pick the charge that shot the best and start pushing the bullet in the case little at a time see what the gun like. Some bullets like to jump to the lands. My have to try another powder with same process.
 
i'm not saying this to disparage berry's in any way shape or form, however not all bullets are manufactured equal!


one company's 55gr FMJ is not going to always be comparable to the next guy's bullet. This may be a design feature, or a quality control issue (or lack of), or just a component quality issue.

generally speaking "mil spec" bullets are going to be just that "mil spec" which i think for the 5.56 = 4 MOA capable. Doesnt take a whole lot of QC to achieve that. I know first hand this holds true with 147 gr M80 spec .308 bullets. they're pure fecal matter when it comes to consistency.


you mention that you're seating off the lands so get your comparator out and take a few base to ogive measurements on a random sample of bullets or at the very least do a OAL measurement on a handful of them - the results may shock you.

if you start seeing inconsistency's in either (or both) of those measurements, that can easily explain your accuracy issues.

you can also take a weight sample and check the consistency there.


one other thing you failed to mention is are you using matched headstamp brass - using mixed range brass can have a striking effect on accuracy due to case volume differences. Even mixing years of LC can cause it, though usually not as striking as using different brands, but that will depend on the year of the LC in question.


the other suggestion i can also make is to open your ladder up a bit more to the full min/max charge range with that powder. You may well be missing the accuracy node for this bullet by a few FPS vs what your hornady's like.
 
Originally Posted By: Tim NeitzkeWhy waste powder on an FMJ ?

I was running v max but getting expensive for punching paper and I got some bulk hornady fmj-bt awhile back and loaded some up and got 23-23.3gr of benchmark to make them shoot one hole with mixed LC so figured the berrys would do good too.
 
Originally Posted By: Plant.Onei'm not saying this to disparage berry's in any way shape or form, however not all bullets are manufactured equal!


one company's 55gr FMJ is not going to always be comparable to the next guy's bullet. This may be a design feature, or a quality control issue (or lack of), or just a component quality issue.

generally speaking "mil spec" bullets are going to be just that "mil spec" which i think for the 5.56 = 4 MOA capable. Doesnt take a whole lot of QC to achieve that. I know first hand this holds true with 147 gr M80 spec .308 bullets. they're pure fecal matter when it comes to consistency.


you mention that you're seating off the lands so get your comparator out and take a few base to ogive measurements on a random sample of bullets or at the very least do a OAL measurement on a handful of them - the results may shock you.

if you start seeing inconsistency's in either (or both) of those measurements, that can easily explain your accuracy issues.

you can also take a weight sample and check the consistency there.


one other thing you failed to mention is are you using matched headstamp brass - using mixed range brass can have a striking effect on accuracy due to case volume differences. Even mixing years of LC can cause it, though usually not as striking as using different brands, but that will depend on the year of the LC in question.


the other suggestion i can also make is to open your ladder up a bit more to the full min/max charge range with that powder. You may well be missing the accuracy node for this bullet by a few FPS vs what your hornady's like.



don't own a comparator I was using the old color the bullet and chamber it and seat until no more rifling marks on the bullet.

I was using mixed brass as I have seen no difference when shooting v max of fmj-bt by hornady. LC is mostly 07 with some 04 mixed in. I stopped at 23.3gr which was the most accurate with the hornady. ill go up higher and see what happens.

for seating depth I should go deeper to see if it helps? I noticed some of them the OAL was off on some of them and all brass is trimmed. some were say 2.240, 2.236, 2.235. could this be inconsistent bullet length?
 
If you are simply going by OAL, that is likely a big issue. You can not load "to the lands" without a comparator, because you have no idea as to the location or consistency of the ogive. Thereby, you likely have varying lands engagements and this is a big reason for the larger groups. Also, these are budget bullets, they're not even as consistent as most typical name brand...a comparator will show this, as well as weight variations and such...I imagine it is quite a variance. OAL variances are typical and not a clear indicator of bullet variances overall.
 
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I wont say that berry bullets are totally useless but they are close to it. Their claim to fame is low budget blasting / high volume handgun bullets. They work well in this respect and I have burned through a bunch of them. But, the weights vary several grains + or -. No big deal in a semi auto handgun but challenging in a rifle if you want tiny groups. They are plenty good to punch paper off hand, kneeling and while learning different field posotions off of your sticks. If you want one hole groups you are gonna have to pay up. Again, Im not bashing, only stating the facts.
 
Originally Posted By: ohihunter2014Originally Posted By: Tim NeitzkeWhy waste powder on an FMJ ?

I was running v max but getting expensive for punching paper and I got some bulk hornady fmj-bt awhile back and loaded some up and got 23-23.3gr of benchmark to make them shoot one hole with mixed LC so figured the berrys would do good too.




thankfully reality stepped in and ruined your hypothesis before you dumped a whole bunch of money stocking up on these.


you just found the reason why hornady FMJ-BT's cost $0.14 and the berry's are only $0.09 each.

when it comes to quality in gun stuff, just like everything else firearm related - good bullets = more money.


i doubt you would test drive a Lexus and then expect a ford focus to give you the same performance right?

then why would you expect a blaster grade bullet to perform the same way as one made under strict QC
smile.gif
 
pro tip - if you want to run VMAX as your plinker, watch for the blem sales that happen a couple times a year. its not hard to get them at 10-11 cents per if you're willing to buy 1k or so at a time. Last batch i bought was $100.85, delivered, for 1000 55gr vmax.
 
Berrys are for blasting. Try some Midsouth Shooters Supply Varmint Nightmare HP's. They are cheap and shoot 1/2moa for me. I tried some of the SP's from them and they didnt shoot worth a crap for me. Midway has some of the 50gr Hornady Z-max in stock.
 
Originally Posted By: Plant.OneOriginally Posted By: ohihunter2014Originally Posted By: Tim NeitzkeWhy waste powder on an FMJ ?

I was running v max but getting expensive for punching paper and I got some bulk hornady fmj-bt awhile back and loaded some up and got 23-23.3gr of benchmark to make them shoot one hole with mixed LC so figured the berrys would do good too.




thankfully reality stepped in and ruined your hypothesis before you dumped a whole bunch of money stocking up on these.


you just found the reason why hornady FMJ-BT's cost $0.14 and the berry's are only $0.09 each.

when it comes to quality in gun stuff, just like everything else firearm related - good bullets = more money.


i doubt you would test drive a Lexus and then expect a ford focus to give you the same performance right?

then why would you expect a blaster grade bullet to perform the same way as one made under strict QC
smile.gif


Being somewhat new to reloading I figured a FMJ-BT was a FMJ-BT. ive shot 600+ v max and do pretty well with them. I was able to get the hornady fmj-bt to send 3 through the same hole and a lot of online stuff says hornady makes the berrys fmj-bt.

I have a couple buddies that run AR-15 so ill see if they want to buy the bullets. im going to try the other 3 powders I have and see if I can get something better out of them before I do that though.
 
Originally Posted By: ohihunter2014
Being somewhat new to reloading I figured a FMJ-BT was a FMJ-BT. ive shot 600+ v max and do pretty well with them. I was able to get the hornady fmj-bt to send 3 through the same hole and a lot of online stuff says hornady makes the berrys fmj-bt.

I have a couple buddies that run AR-15 so ill see if they want to buy the bullets. im going to try the other 3 powders I have and see if I can get something better out of them before I do that though.

Well then it MUST be true...you read it on the inawebs!

Berry's About Us

Berry's Manufacturing Inc.
401 North 3050 East
St. George, UT 84790



Hornady Manufacturing Company
3625 West Old Potash Hwy
Grand Island, NE 68803
USA
Phone: 1-800-338-3220
Phone: 308-382-1390
Fax: 308-382-5761

Naturally, taking internet word for gospel can lead to disaster. One could easily pick up a phone and validate or dispel claims...but that is hard to do, I guess.


Next time you want some good 55 gr BT bullets for less cost...Keep an eye out for MidwayUSA bless, Shooters Proshop, Midsouth Varmint nightmare...plenty of options. Keep buying cut rate products and you will get cut rate results. I can find very good bullets for 10-15¢ a round. Easy peasy.
 


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