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6/20/2017 7:55:00 PM EDT
Does anyone have any Berry's plated .40 caliber bullets on hand that they can measure?  

A lot of data sources list some Berry's and some Rainier plated bullets, but not all options, and not necessarily both brands.  I have Rainier's RNFPs on hand, and to adjust COAL data correctly I need to know the actual lengths of the Berry's bullets in the load data listings.

I need the actual length of the bullet (JUST the projectile) for their .40 caliber 180 grain round nose, 180 grain hybrid hollow point, 180 grain flat point, and 180 grain round shoulder bullets.

Just FYI, there are a couple of resources for bullet length data online.  One is JBM Ballistics, and another is http://www.shootforum.com/forum/bulletdb.html]ShootForum, a UK-based shooting and loading forum.  Of course if these (or any other source) listed the data I need, I wouldn't be asking for help...
6/21/2017 6:35:40 PM EDT
[#1]
Update:  I've contacted Berry's, X-Treme and Rocky Mountain Reloading, asking for length data for their .40 caliber, 180 grain bullets.  If they give me anything, I'll post it here.
6/22/2017 8:32:47 PM EDT
[#2]
I've already heard from X-Treme bullets.  They have three 180 grain .400" bullets:
The hollow point bullet is 0.610" long
Both the RNFP and RNFP - HPCB bullets are 0.580" long.

The difference between the two RNFP bullets is that the HPCB (Heavy Plate Concave Base) bullet is more thickly plated and is intended for 10mm Auto's higher velocities.

Trevor S at Freedom Munitions/X-Treme was very helpful.
6/22/2017 11:27:15 PM EDT
[#3]
Glad you got your answer, as I am no help with 40 S&W.
6/23/2017 7:53:27 PM EDT
[#4]
There are just so many different 180 grain bullets for .40, and the manuals don't even begin to provide data on more than a few of them.  My focus is, at the beginning anyway, basic flat point and/or round nose bullets.  Most manuals cover the other bullet I'm interested in, Hornady's 180 grain XTP.  But since the XTP is hardly "cheap enough for plenty of practice," I really want something else for that.  Hopefully I'll be able to develop a practice round that is more or less ballistically similar to the XTP so I can blast away mostly with cheaper bullets.

X-Treme's HP bullet is 0.610" long, while the XTP is 0.661" long, which makes enough of a difference to warrant COLA adjustment.  Their RNFP bullets at 0.580" are even shorter, but pretty close to Rainier's RNFP, which is 0.595" - and Rainier's bullets are frequently listed in a number of manuals, which helps a lot. Edit to add: I spent some time inspecting the Rainier bullets, and I noticed that they have a concave base.  That might play into seating depth as well... end of edit

Hopefully the other bullet makers will get back to me eventually, so I can compile this information into a usable form.

Since bullet substitution is a fairly common thing, I would hope that somewhere, somehow, the whole industry figures out that bullet length data is a good thing to publish.
6/28/2017 10:14:23 PM EDT
[#5]
So far, here is what I have.  All are 0.400" diameter and 180 grains, sorted by length.

X-Treme RNFP (P), 0.580
X-Treme RNFP HPCB (P), 0.580
Rainier RNFP (P), 0.595
Speer TMJ, 0.600
X-Treme HP (P) 0.610
Nosler JHP, 0.620
Sierra JHP, 0.628
Speer GDHP,0.630
Hornady XTP HP, 0.661

The only real "outlier" in this is the XTP, and there's lots of data for that one.
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