Reloading Question

So I recently got an old Herters single stage press and decided to load some rounds for my .40S&W. My first loads were 150gr Nosler hollow point bullets with 5.7grains of Accurate No. 5 powder. When i went to buy more bullets all i could find were Berry's plated bullets. I loaded them the same way as i did the Noslers with 5.7 grains of No. 5 powder, but didnt crimp the bullet as hard because I had heard that it will make the copper plating separate. So anyways i went out the other day and shot a few rounds to test for accuracy and such. The rounds loaded with the Nosler bullets performed very well and were dead on accurate. The rounds loaded with Berry's bullets were more accurate than the factory loads yet about every other round either jammed or failed to fully eject. I thought i messed up my gun somehow but couldn't find anything wrong. I put a dozen more rounds loaded with the Noslers down range and had no problem at all. Tried the Berry's again and same thing again, every other round jammed or failed to eject fully. Has anyone else on here loaded with Berry's bullets? Am I doing something wrong? I looked at their website before loading and they said to load them light. Am I going too light? Seems like the Nosler bullets of the same weight would perform the same way, but i guess I just am not understanding all of the physics behind it.
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I too have had to go to Berry's Bullets in my 45 ACP. They suggest using a load between the jacketed and lead bullets so I did. I got excellent accuracy but lots of unburned powder. I used HS-6 and Unique behind 185 grain semiwadcutters. I was leary of crimping them hard too but when I tried it there was no unburned powder and they shot better. I can chase bullet holes now which is a fun game. You will need to experiment with overall cartridge length (COAL) and seat the bullets to different depths to find a spot where they may feed better and not tie up the gun. Find a suggested length in a reloading manual for the same style bullet and move it slightly to experiment. Make sure the bullets aren't rubbing in the magazine. Some pistols just won't feed some bullets. My Beretta digests anything at all but the 1911's are fussy, they like round noses. Not fully ejecting my be due to not enough pressure. A better crimp may help. I'm looking at my Speer # 13 manual and it lists 7.9 to 8.7 grains of AA # 5 for a 155 grain Speer bullet so I think you are light enough that you aren't hurting the pistol. You may need a bit more powder. I like to get data from at least two reliable sources to compare them. The COAL is 1.135 ".
Mark
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79Ford
Thanks for the info sir. I'll have to try a tighter crimp since I got carried away and still have about 150 rounds loaded. If not then i guess it's a good thing they work just fine in my Hi-Point. Next time i load some up i'll bump it up to 7.5 grains or so and see how that works. For target shooting and plinking I dont see any real need to load very hot as long as I can get a decent performance out of the rounds. Reloading is addicting, its too bad reloading supplies are so hard to come by right now.
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You can just back out the bullet seating plug so it doesn't touch the bullet and readjust the die and recrimp them. It won't hurt anything.
Mark
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