Bullet type and data

DieHard4

When load books list data for a certain bullet, is it the weight that matters or do you need that exact bullet type and weight? As an example, the Lee book will list out loads for a 115 grain jacketed bullet, and others for a 115 grain lead bullet. But suppose I'm working with 115 grain plated bullets. If there is data under the jacketed or lead section for say red dot powder, could I use that for my plated bullet, or do I have to buy some jacketed or lead bullets to use? Asking because there isn't always data for every bullet type, but there will be for most powders at the weight I have.

perry shooter

weigh is most important lead bullets most times are loaded for target shooting "lighter powder charge " Fot plated bullets just don't load super hot Lead with the right soft lube and correct size .001 larger thab bore size will let you shoot Thousands of rounds with close to no wear. [^] I think plated is a waste of $$$

11b6r

Berry's is a maker of plated bullets. This is a C&P from their website:

We do not research or publish the load data. Please consult load data books or your powder manufacturers' website for load information. You can use published load data for lead/cast bullets or low to mid-range FMJ data, as long as it is the same weight bullet. Berry's offers our standard plate bullets which can handle velocities up to 1,250 fps and 1,500 fps for our Thick Plate (TP) versions.

charliemeyer007

I have no use for plated bullets. I cast lead ones and swedge half or more jacketed bullets. I have seen youtube vid's of plate your cast bullets, which I might try if I had some oddball diameter I couldn't size down to or bump up to.

Depends on the core material for how hard you can push them I suspect. If you drive them too hard accuracy will suffer and you will likely lead or copper foul your bore. Shooter's Choice with a brush and a tight patch should fix the problem.

Shoot a few, look in the barrel - seems ok shoot a box of 50 or 2 boxes and really clean the bore to see what's in there. Too much crud slow them down some and try again. I wouldn't load 5000 rounds until I figured out what works in your guns - a box or two at time until you are dialed in.

Bullet composition as in all copper, makes for a longer bullet than normal - stability issues can happen. Longer bullets often require deeper seating to fit in the magazine - that can increase pressure.

Generally if you start at the lowest listed load for a given weight, you will be safe with any normal bullet construction.

I think I have like 50 loading books plus I look on line too.

243winxb

Look at all available data. Then use the starting load and work up.

Steve's pages has the lowest and highest charge for a given bullet weight. Covers lead, jacketed and plated.

Load 1 round at the starting load, see if bullet exits the barrel or works the action.

http://stevespages.com/page8a.htm

Mobuck

FYI: The LEE manual is simply a compilation(and not even a current one) of data from other sources. I'd consider it barely a "basic guideline" source rather than an in depth data source.
Regarding the original question: Using data from a known source both bullet weight and type(ie.115 grain jacketed round nose) and starting low on the suggested load is USUALLY fine. Mixing lead(plated falls into the lead category), jacketed, and samegeneous metal bullet composition can get you in trouble.