Pistol Bullet options

Up until now the only ones I've used were the Xtremes, about 3000 bullets so far. Mostly happy with the quality, but service has been lacking for the past 2 orders, and the prices increasing quite a bit in the last couple months prompted me to look elsewhere. I've heard good things about the RMR bullets, both here and on other forums.

I did have several of the xtreme 230gr 45acp bullets that had the copper plating scrape off when seating the bullet. Removed the damaged bullets and seated new ones with no problems, so I think the cases were run thru the expander die correctly. The first batch of 500 I loaded didn't have any issues, but it happened on 5 out of 250 loaded so far from the next batch.

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Originally Posted by DenverGP

Up until now the only ones I've used were the Xtremes, about 3000 bullets so far. Mostly happy with the quality, but service has been lacking for the past 2 orders, and the prices increasing quite a bit in the last couple months prompted me to look elsewhere. I've heard good things about the RMR bullets, both here and on other forums.

I did have several of the xtreme 230gr 45acp bullets that had the copper plating scrape off when seating the bullet. Removed the damaged bullets and seated new ones with no problems, so I think the cases were run thru the expander die correctly. The first batch of 500 I loaded didn't have any issues, but it happened on 5 out of 250 on the next batch.

Attachment 49995

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Happens to me when I don't take care to make sure I have the bullet as straight as possible.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DenverGP

I did have several of the xtreme 230gr 45acp bullets that had the copper plating scrape off when seating the bullet. Removed the damaged bullets and seated new ones with no problems, so I think the cases were run thru the expander die correctly. The first batch of 500 I loaded didn't have any issues, but it happened on 5 out of 250 loaded so far from the next batch.

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Looks like a little more belling is in your future...

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Originally Posted by Hoser

Looks like a little more belling is in your future...

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I agree with Hoser's conclusion.

SR

Yeah, I cranked the powder feed die in a little further, so far so good.

Got my shipment from RMR yesterday. $78.00 shipped for 1000 115gr thick plated copper.

Placed the order 10 minutes after midnight on wednesday, got them friday. They shipped in a USPS priority mail box wrapped in lots of packing tape. Inside was a thick plastic bag with all 1000 bullets in it.

Bullets look nice, no visible defects or irregularities in the plating. Might not be as shiny as the Xtreme, but still nice and clean, no dirt on my hands or scale after handling the bullets.

The RMR bullets are not quite as long/pointed as the 115gr rn from Xtreme. Xtreme's measured at .551 -.555 (from my random sample of about 20). The RMR bullets ranged from .545 to .550 (also sample of 20).

The weight of the RMR's seems to have a little more variance than the xtremes (at least for my small sample of 20 of each) Xtremes ranged from about 114.7 up to 115.5. The RMR's ranged from 114.6 up to 115.7 (only 2 at the 115.7 in my sample) with both Xtreme and RMR averaging right at 115.0.

Xtreme's are packed nicer (and I like the bullet boxes that are inside their outside packing box, I re-use them for loaded rounds), but the little hunks of copper and lead didn't really seem to care about the less fancy shipping from RMR.

RMR is damn fast shipping. With price being close, I'd even be willing to pay a little extra for RMR if I needed them quick. At least right now, RMR was cheaper by a few bucks, so even better. I know shipping speed is partially based on the shipper (I think UPS Ground for Xtreme, USPS Priority Mail for RMR)... but RMR shipped out 9 hours after I placed my order. My last Xtreme order (for basic in-stock 115gr plated bullets) didn't leave their building for 2 full weeks.

I'll load up some test rounds and shoot them this weekend, but i expect they'll load the exact same as the xtremes. I might shorten the OAL by .005 to keep the bullets seated the same amount.

My suggestion is check out black bullets international out of Alamo, Tennessee. I just ordered 1,000 of their 115 gr. 9mm bullets for $72 no taxes and no shipping charges.