There are various “speed limits” mentioned by different plated bullet makers.  Berry’s, for example, says their regular 9mm bullets can withstand up to 1250 FPS, while their thick plated bullets can handle up to 1500 FPS.  Rainier says to use jacketed data, implying a very high max velocity for their bullets.

Is there any evidence that currently available plated (particularly 9mm) bullets can’t be pushed up to about 1300 FPS or so”

Unless you are trying to make major power factor, why would you want to push it that fast?  Just wondering.

Years ago I had some Xtreme plated bullets I loaded in a .38 Super.  I drove them to about 1300.  Not accurate at all.  Literally 6-8 inches at 15 yards.  I've been shooting some lately in my 9mm P320C at around 1100 fps with no problems.

I also had bad luck with the Xtreme .40 bullets in a Glock.  They would not stabilize with the polygonal barrel.

The heavy plated Xtreme bullets seem to hold up well to whatever velocity I get them to.

My first experience with plated bullets was loading the 125 grain Rainier flat point bullet in  357 SIG.  These loads were reasonably accurate, and probably were in the 1300 FPS neighborhood.  I decided to try some more, since I had enjoyed success.

Well, they won't take much of a crimp, so conventional revolver loading practices give poor results.  They seem to do well in auto pistol cartridges, though.

I have loaded the Rainier bullets in .50 Beowulf, at 1930 FPS, so they can take more velocity than what some people think, though once again, that cartridge has no crimp.

Most of the hollow points in plated bullets are worthless, though.  Might be accurate, but will not expand.  The .50 Beowulf is an exception, with its much higher velocity.

There are other exceptions to this, I am sure.  But most of the economy brand plated hollow points will be disappointing.

Federal Fusion = electroplated bullets.  They function fine right up to (and beyond) 3,200 FPS in the rifle calibers loaded with Fusion bullets.

The velocity limit depends on the actual bullet.  Berrys and Raniers are not Fusions, even though they are all electroplated.

The regular Berrys handgun bullets have thinner plating that probably will not take much beyond 1,400  to 1,600 FPS.

In contrast, the electroplating used in the Gold Dot from Speer, is thicker, and could probably take higher velocity.

None that I've seen.

I just finished a work up using X-Treme's bullets in .357 mag that is around 1400+ FPS for a Blackhawk, I've recovered some of them shot into soft dirt. The only abnormality I see is the plating is worn off where the lands grip into them.

For their rifle bullets Berry's says the speed limit is 1900 FPS but I have them going 2200+ in an AK and 2400+ in an M-1. I haven't pushed them faster because they shoot well right there.

Thanks for the replies.  To be honest, I was half expecting to hear some horror stories about "bullet Z melted in my barrel" and such.  I'm glad that's not the case.

I've been researching 9mm NATO specs, with all the details involved.  It looks like a velocity of about 1250 fps with a 124 grain bullet more than fits the bill for those specs,  But I'm not actually planning to make "real" 9mm NATO ammunition, just rounds that simulate it well enough to make them good for training.  So I'm looking at a less expensive option for loading "NATO-Like" 9mm rounds.

I plan to load this for a wide variety of firearms, from full sized pistols to pocket pistols, and from 9mm ARs to my MP5 clone.  I want to be able to use this load interchangeably among all my 9mm firearms and get close to the same ballistics I'd get with "real" NATO rounds.

There are a number of brands that offer thickly plated bullets - bullets with plating that can be close to half the thickness of a common bullet jacket.  Those are pretty much the ones I'm thinking of using anyway.  Some pistols beat up bullets during feeding, and a thicker plating should be able to withstand that, as well as handle higher velocities without messing up the barrel or the bullet.

And I plan to eventually cast and powder coat my own bullets, but that's going to be in the future, both because of current weather and because I have only just started working on my casting equipment and such.

So again, thanks for the input.  More research is indicated, but now I know I'm not barking up the wrong tree.

Well now...

I priced bullets for this application, and got an eye-opener.  Berry’s 124 gr RN plated bullets are $97.19/k.  RMR’s 124 gr JACKETED RN bullets are $82/k.  Berry’s offers free shipping on orders over $75, but RMR always ships free.  Never mind...

I’ll probably be back when I am actually casting bullets in 9mm, asking about which coating and/or technique handles velocities best.

You have hit the nail on the head by pointing out that loading for pressure is a bad idea.  Of course I plan to carefully load for the velocity I want while watching for indications of excessive pressure, basing my loads on published data that includes measured chamber pressures.

Lots of folks think “NATO is really hot stuff” and thus immediately think of it as at the hot end of the. +P range.  This is false.  A good bit of it has to do with the variety of methods used to measure chamber pressure, and some pretty odd wording in both SAAMI and NATO specs.

My experience with military M882 9mm NATO rounds and the M9 pistol was quite pleasant.  The Beretta was very comfortable to shoot with GI ammo, without any indications of excessive pressure.  Of course we had to “police the range” after firing, and being a handloader I checked out those primers.  Not a single one was flattened more than you’d expect from a full power 9mm load.

Using published data, I can definitely find numerous loads that give the velocity I want without pushing into the +P range.  SAAMI specs for standard 9mm allows a max of 35,000 PSI and for 9mm+P allows for 38,500 PSI max (both measured by piezoelectric transducer).  NATO’s specs (STANAG 4090) specify a max by piezo transducer of 230 MPa, which converts to 33,358.7 PSI.  The MIL-STD for GI M882 calls for a max of 215 MPa, which converts to 31,183.1 PSI measured at the case mouth.

I have found many loads that are listed as +P, and many that are not, all the while giving essentially the same velocity with the same bullet weight.

Considering that Winchester’s 9mm NATO load actually qualifies when fired in a 7.84” barrel, and is pretty close out of a 4” barrel, I don’t worry about wrecking my guns.