I have been using Berry's plated pistol bullets for quite some time, but of late I have been less than impressed with them, accuracy wise. So I set out to find something better, if I could. I had heard good things about both Precision Delta and Montana Gold, so I ordered 1000 each from those guys. I then set out to measure and see what I could find out. I included Berry's into my comparison so that it would give me some idea about how much variance there was between my old standby and the new things I was trying out.

I am only interested in 9mm 147gr round nose style bullets. Please understand that these measurements and my observations are a moment in time, and cannot be considered indicative of these manufacturer's other bullet weights and calibers. Also you should know that the two batches of bullets from Montana Gold and Precision Delta were recent, whereas the Berry's I tested were from a year ago when I ordered in bulk. Today's Berry's may be better or worse.

With all of those caveats in place, I will state that by the time I was done with these tests, I know which bullet I will be using from here on out. But follow along...

I weighed and measured a sample of 30 bullets from each of those manufacturers. (30 being a significant statistical sample.) I weighed each on a Dillon scale and measured them in length and width with my calipers. I measured them to the best of my ability and to the best my measuring equipment could tell.

Berry's Plated:

Mean Weight: 147.2566667
SD: 0.251455533
Min: 146.6
Max: 147.9

Mean Length: 0.671933333
SD: 0.000925997
Min: 0.67
Max: 0.6735

Mean Width: 0.356433333
SD: 0.000314405
Min: 0.356
Max: 0.357

Precision Delta:

Mean Weight: 147.3966667
SD: 0.179046003
Min: 147
Max: 147.8

Mean Length: 0.675866667
SD: 0.002785224
Min: 0.671
Max: 0.6815

Mean Width: 0.355466667
SD: 0.000182574
Min: 0.355
Max: 0.356

Montana Gold:

Mean Weight: 146.8533333
SD: 0.113664155
Min: 146.6
Max: 147

Mean Length: 0.634833333
SD: 0.000422091
Min: 0.634
Max: 0.6355

Mean Width: 0.355566667
SD: 0.000172873
Min: 0.3555
Max: 0.356

The things that stood out to me are as follows. Firstly, the Montana Gold bullets are beautiful. If it were a contest of looks, they'd win, hands down. The Berry's look nice as well. The Precision Deltas look fairly dern ugly. If you look at the stats, the Montana Golds are freakishly consistent. Look at the really low Standard Deviation numbers. Those bullets are consistent in every dimension that I bothered to measure, much moreso than anything else I've seen at or around this price point. The Precision Deltas held bore/width very tightly but they were all over the map in length. That length variance played hell with me reloading them. I had to shoot for a very broad range of overall length for my loaded cartridges. And lastly, the Berry's. They are much fatter than the other bullets, averaging higher than their stated 0.356".

One side note, both Precision Delta and Berry's are slightly heavy. Both average out just north of 147 grains, whereas the Montana Golds average out slightly light. The only case where this is important would be trying to make power factor in IDPA or USPSA. If you are running the bottom of the floor and your bullets are just below 147 grains, you may very well not make power factor. That is a total bummer if you've ever been there, so adjust your velocity accordingly.

Of course, all of these numbers are nice, but the real question: how the hell do they shoot? I have to confess I was not having the best day on the trigger today. I was a little shaky and my eyes weren't where they should've been, but you get what you get. At least I shot all of these back-to-back, so you get a pretty good comparison of what I was capable of with each run.

All bullets were loaded with 3.3gr of Titegroup, a Federal small pistol primer, and mixed cases. They were all loaded to approximately 1.130". The only variable was the bullet. They were shot at 25 yards, rested on my shooting bag. These were 10 shot groups, which I feel are much more indicative of real shooting, rather than a 3 or 5 shot group.

Speer Lawman 147gr (for comparison): 3.250", with much vertical stringing. I attribute that to me, this ammo is capable of shooting tighter.
Berry's Plated: 5.870", although if you throw out one flier, it comes in to 4.336".
Precision Delta: 5.773", and this group was evenly distributed, I can't find a flier.
Montana Gold: 4.784", and discarding the flier brings it in to 3.814".

Bottom line, the MGs shoot as one would expect, based on the lack of variance in the bullets. Unfortunately they aren't the low cost leader, coming in a good $30/1000 higher than their competitors. Based on what I have seen here, I'll continue to buy them. They shipped fast when I ordered, and I had no issues with them whatsoever.

If price is no object, I'd point you toward the Hornady XTPs. I've shot some amazingly tight groups with those, and all the ones that I've measured were a boring 0.3550. They're also 0.18-0.20 a bullet, and that is why I don't shoot them much, at least compared to some cheaper FMJ fodder.

I also think that Titegroup may not be THE best choice for accuracy behind a 147gr fmj, but it does pretty well, recoil is easy, muzzle flash is nonexistent, and the price is right. I'm probably going to stay with Titegroup, even though I just killed the last of my 8# jug on this test.

Anyway, there you have it, more than you ever wanted to know about 9mm 147gr bulk bullets...

Now, I guess the question to be asked is about preferred vendors of Montana Gold...???

First of all... WOW, awesome review!  But, just out of curiousity, were you able to chrono these, and if so, what was the speed?  I'm about to get into reloading, and am primarily interested in the subsonic loadings, somewhere in the neighborhood of 900 - 950 fps.  

Your review was the best I've seen for 147 grain loadings!

Thank you,

Brett

Wow, thanks for all the work! I just picked up 5000 115gr 9mm from Montana Gold. Glad to hear,

I bought mine right from them.

Nicely done, very methodical.



kind

good work, I'm moving on to 9mm and 45 ACP after this .223 thing wears off

They ship Flat rate USPS to your address for $5.  The Post office will hate you because the box will weigh 68 pounds.

If it is a commercial address the shipping is free.

Their boxes inside the flat rate boxes are heavy duty cardboard that is glued and stapled.  These are just the right size to fit in a flat rate box.

Thanks! I didn't chrono any of these, but historically speaking, the Berry's with 3.3gr of Titegroup always made PF, i.e. 900-920 fps out of a G34. Slightly less out of a G17, but still in the 860-870fps range. A different run of Hornady XTP (147gr) with 3.6gr of Titegroup made like 950-970fps out of a G17. (3.6 being max book loading, but still quite genteel on the shooting.)

Another popular choice is Golden West.  Lots of Garand Shooters are using their bullets.  Got to try me some Montana Golds though.