Nosler vs. Zero vs. Montana Gold 185 JHP

[John C]

Prior to a long hiatus from centerfire shooting, I loaded 160 gr Valiants over 3.5 gr of Bullseye for my Pardini GT45. The load caused a fair amount of leading from the edge of the chamber to about 1/4 or 1/3rd of the length of the barrel.

To avoid the hassles of leading, I'm now looking at loading jacketed bullets exclusively for this pistol. I've narrowed it down to 185 gr JHP bullets from Nosler, Zero, and Montana Gold. Does anybody have experience or recommendations?

Nosler is very expensive, but very successful shooters seem to feel the additional price is worth it. Montana Gold and Zero are lower priced, but seem to be decent bullets.

Thanks,

-John

[Isabel1130]

For a while, I shot the Zeros at the long line. They work great. I quit using jacketed because they are quite pricy, and it seems a waste at the short line. However, if the Valiants lead your gun to the point where you have accuracy issues than going to jacketed is certainly a solution.

[GunRunner]

Zero is every bit as good as nosler, and preferred by many national champion level shooters Like Phil Hemphill

[John C]

Thanks, gentlemen, for the info. I'll try zero bullets. Based on price, I may try plated bullets for the short line.

-John

[GunRunner]

Thanks, gentlemen, for the info. I'll try zero bullets. Based on price, I may try plated bullets for the short line.

-John

Dont waste your money, plated bullets like raniers are nothing but junk. Shoot a lead bullet at 25

[Rover]

I know John Zurek and Steve Reiter shoot Zero products. Don't know which ones, but they're comped.

I never had leading problems with a .45. Go figure. I agree with GunRunner.

[JimPGov]

I HAVE RANSOM REST TEST ALL THREE OF YOU ORIGINAL OPTIONS AT 50 YDS IN SEVERAL BULLSEYE AND PPC AUTOS.

THE NOSLER AND ZERO 185GR JHP ARE HEAD AND SHOULDERS ABOVE THE MONTANA GOLD AT 50 YDS.

EASY TO SHOOT THE NOSLER AND ZEROS INTO SUB 2" GROUPS WITH A GREAT NUMBER OF POWDERS.

MONTANA GOLDS WERE AT BEST 4". THE MONTANA GOLD BULLETS ARE GREAT BULLETS FOR THE SPEED GAMES. IDPA, ACTION PISTOL AND SUCH , 35YDS AND IN.

I SHOOT THE ZEROS AT 50YDS. SAME GROUP AS THE NOSLERS BUT 30-40 DOLLARS A THOUSAND LESS. HELL THAT'S LIKE FREE PRIMERS AND POWDER. JP

[GunRunner]

At what type load are you using?

[Peter B]

If you look there is a lot of info on leading. One problem is too hard of a bullet at slower speeds. The load stated at the begining of 160 head with 3.5 of bull sounds real slow to me.

[C. Perkins]

I will second, that 3.5gr of BE behind a 160gr is too low.

I shot 160gr Valiants over 4.45gr Solo 1000 with no leading problems.

Clarence

[John C]

I realize that I haven't done all my homework on this. I've been reading a bit on other forums, and I think the issue might be that my Dillon Square Deal B is sizing the cases down quite a bit, and the expander is a bit too tight. This causes the case to size down the lead bullet (when an FMJ bullet would be fine), making it undersize to the bore. This will apparently cause the type of leading I'm seeing. I'm buying a Lyman M die, which is specifically designed for lead bullets. It expands the entire seating length of the case, making sure the bullets aren't squished down too much.

I'm going to load some test batches of rounds with this method, and see if the leading issue is resolved.

A lot of other folks in my club load 160 gr. Valiant bullets over 3.5 gr. of Bullseye, with excellent results. But they're shooting them through 1911s, typically with Kart barrels. My Pardini may have much different rifling than a Kart barrel. I will load some test batches with higher charge weights.

From what little use of 185 gr JHP bullets, they shoot great in my pistol, hence my thought to change. I'll put some more work into the load before I switch over, at least for the short line. The long line might just need a JHP bullet.

Thanks for all your input.

-John

[Rover]

RE: The sizing down by cases.

There are a lot of people out there saying this is true. Maybe it is, but in my own testing there was no difference in the size of bullets pulled from uncrimped cases.

You guys have heard me say it before, "test for yourself."