Plated or Full Metal
Jacket (FMJ) Bullets for Reloading?
FMJ Or Plated Bullets?
If you are reloading your own
9mm Luger
ammunition you need to buy bullets for the
reloading process.
Among your choice of bullets you are faced with the choosing to
buy
full metal jacket (FMJ) bullets or plated bullets. What is
the difference between these? Is one better to use than the
other? See also
Ammunition Reloading Instruction & Reviews.
PLATED & FMJ BULLETS
 |
 |
Plated 115gr Bullet on Left
FMJ 224gr Bullet on Right |
Berry's Plated 115gr Bullet
Cut in Half |
What
is the difference between Plated Bullets, Full Metal Jacket
Bullets
and Lead Cast Bullets?
-
Plated
Bullets -
Berry's
Preferred Plated bullets begin as a swaged lead core. The
plating process works through electrolysis. The swaged lead
cores are tumbled in an electrically charged cyanide bath
containing high-grade copper ingots. The copper clings to
the lead and the longer the bullets remain in the bath, the
thicker the plating. Our bullets are plated to the correct
size and then taken out of the bath.
-
Jacketed
Bullets -
Jacketed
bullets start with a copper cup, which is "drawn up" into the
form of a jacket. Lead is then infused into the jacket.
-
Cast
Bullets -
Cast
bullets are made up of lead that has been poured into a bullet
mould. These bullets come in various hardness levels depending
upon the alloy of the lead. All of our cast bullets are lubed
and all have the same hardness (about 20 bhu). We distinguish
between Hardcast and Cowboy only in that our Cowboy bullets are
often used in Cowboy Action Shooting events.
Bullet
Comparison
-
Jacketed Bullets
- Generally are most expensive but can be shot at
magnum
velocities and require less cleaning than Cast bullets.
-
Plated Bullets
- Not as expensive as Jacketed and cleaner than lead but you'll
want to stay away from magnum velocities when loading plated
bullets.
-
Cast Bullets
- Usually cost the least, but are very "dirty" and often cannot be
used in indoor ranges.
ref:
http://www.berrysmfg.com/faq.aspx?q=8&c=1
Deciding
Which Bullet Type to Use for Reloading
The type
of bullet you use for reloading depends on your needs. Since I
am reloading ammunition for practice and target shooting at the
range I choose to go with the plated or FMJ 9mm Luger bullet. I
shied away from the cast lead bullets because of everything you
read about them regarding lead poisoning, being dirty and
fouling up barrels.
References
A full metal jacket (or FMJ) is a bullet consisting of a
soft core (usually made of lead) encased in a shell of harder
metal, such as gilding metal, cupronickel or less commonly a
steel alloy. This shell can extend around all of the bullet, or
often just the front and sides with the rear left as exposed
lead. (A bullet that is completely enclosed by the shell is
alternatively termed a total metal jacket round.) The jacket
allows for higher muzzle velocities than bare lead without
depositing significant amounts of metal in the bore.
- Because the bullets do not expand, they are more effective at
piercing armor.
- They are more likely to kill since they more reliably
penetrate the body and reach vital organs.[1]
- They are more durable and withstand rough handling on the
battlefield.
- Their rounded tips facilitate proper transit up the feed ramp,
whereas the usage of
hollow point bullets in some weapons may
increase the chance of a failure to feed. Most modern weapon
designs, however, will feed reliably with both types of bullet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_metal_jacket_bullet
Plated Bullets
FAQ: How thick is the "jacket" on your bullets?
Depending upon the caliber, the thickness of the plating on our
bullets ranges from 3.5 up to 8 thousandths of an inch of
plating on each side. This is thicker than paper and ensures no
lead in your bore. The bullets designed for higher velocities
(45-70, 500 S&W etc.) have the thickest plating.
http://www.berrysmfg.com/faq.aspx?q=12&c=1
Feedback Messages
-------------------------
Sent: October 24, 2011
Subject: Difference Between Full Metal Jacket & Steel Jacketed Bullets
I have been reloading for years and gave it much though, is there a
diffrence between full medal jacket bullets and steel jacked bullets?
Jerome
Response - Jerome,
I don't know much about steel jacketed bullets, but according to
Wikipedia it seems that the steel jacketed bullets have two jackets
(copper over steel) while the fmj bullets have only one.
Here are the excerpts from Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_Ammunition#Steel-jacketed_bullets
"Steel-jacketed bullets
Not only the cases of Wolf rifle ammo are steel. Most of Wolf's rifle
cartridges use steel jacketed bullets, though they look like copper
jacketed. The copper exterior of the bullet is only about .005 inch
thick, (about twice the thickness of a sheet of paper) with a steel
jacket underneath about 1/32 inch thick. Only the cartridges in the
yellow and black boxes have real copper jackets. The core of the steel
jacketed bullets, sometimes marked "bimetal", are lead. Some rifle
ranges have started magnet testing shooter's ammunition to determine if
bullets are steel jacketed. The steel is said to be more likely to
ricochet, and also to cause sparks on impact, which can be a problem
when shooting in dry grassland, or forest areas. In addition, a large
majority of pistol ranges will not allow shooters to use Wolf, or other
Russian ammunition types because of the steel jacket components on many
of their products. An oft-cited reason for this is because they claim it
damages the backstops. A more likely reason for not allowing steel-cased
ammunition is that the ranges are unable to re-sell the berdan-primed
steel cases for reloading, an important source of revenue for many
ranges."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_metal_jacket_bullet
“Full metal jacket bullet
A full metal jacket (or FMJ) is a bullet consisting of a soft core
(usually made of lead) encased in a shell of harder metal, such as
gilding metal, cupronickel or less commonly a steel alloy. This shell
can extend around all of the bullet, or often just the front and sides
with the rear left as exposed lead. (A bullet that is completely
enclosed by the shell is alternatively termed a total metal jacket
round.) The jacket allows for higher muzzle velocities than bare lead
without depositing significant amounts of metal in the bore. It also
prevents damage to bores from steel or armor-piercing core materials.”
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