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In the battle of budget plated bullets, we go over why we give the slight edge to Xtreme (Extreme) bullets vs Berry’s bullets.
Results are our opinion based on reloading 9mm in race guns.
Plated Bullets
Plated bullets are when the entire bullet is encapsulated with copper so there’s no exposed lead which reduces lead exposure during shooting. Here’s a refresher on Calibers & Types of Bullets.
Berry’s Bullets
Well known name for affordable bullets. We first started with 1,000 124 gr RN (round nose) 9mm bullets from Berry’s as we liked factory 124 gr compared to 115 gr. They looked shiny, reloaded fine, and shot great. The overall cost was $93.45 (9.345 cents each) utilizing free shipping with orders over $75.
Xtreme Bullets
Recommended by a fellow competitor for slightly cheaper prices. We tried out their 147 gr RN (round nose) 9mm bullets. They also were very shiny, reloaded fine, and shot great. In fact, we were converted to the 147 gr 9mm weight due to the more “push”-like recoil. Price was $43.75 per 500 and $5 flat shipping. We bought 1,000 for 9.25 cent each.
Why Xtreme?
It really just boils down to price. Keep in mind that 147 gr are more expensive than 124 gr bullets simply because of the extra materials. If we bring it all to 124 gr, Xtreme bullets cost $39.90 per 500, so the per bullet cost would be 8.48 cents for 1,000 rounds including shipping. Xtreme lately has been running 5% off promotions for a different caliber almost each day. You should see your wanted caliber if you check the site everyday for 2 weeks. That promotion would bring 1,000 rounds of 124 gr 9mm to 8.01 cents each compared to Berry’s 9.345 cents.
Conclusion
We go with Xtreme for price and no glaring performance issues. There’s nothing wrong with Berry’s but when you’re buying thousands at a time, each little penny adds up. Â All we need to do is hit our A-zones and plates and Xtreme does that just fine. Â 6,000 rounds and counting!
20 Leave a Reply
This subject has my dandruff up a little bit and that's not easy to do as I've gotten older and with my style of haircut. I had a little trouble with extreme but they finally came through with my order and said they were having difficulty with keeping up with everything that's been going on. Right now it's hard to find projectiles anywhere. I've also dealt a lot with Berry's and they have caught up with her orders and I received what I ordered from them also in time. It is a good idea somebody else suggested to order more of what you need and keep some in stock pile. I have done the same thing with powder and primers and it seems to work very nicely. Now for me here's the aggravating part and that is the demise of Rainier ballistics Co. They were unfortunately put out of business but either a greedy landlord or wanted another business in his building. In my opinion Rainier ballistics Co an extremely top-notch plated bullet and I'm very sad to see them go. I had friends in that building and they were very good people with an extremely good product in my estimation. If anybody is interested there's also Missouri Bullet Co company, they make a casted bullet with a coating on them and I'm not sure if they're okay for indoor ranges but for outdoor they're just fine.
I have been buying from both for years with mega thousands loaded from each. For pistols, each are fine with comparable prices and sometimes comes down to stock on hand. Plated rifle is a whole different story. Extreme has a thin plating limited to around 1200 fps, while Berry's is good for 2000 fps. A huge difference! Extreem's 7.62X39 I bought for my SKS will not even cycle until around 1800 fps, then the accuracies are in the toilet. Same for my M1 30. Carbine. A total waste of $$$$
Hi! I shoot .40 S&W. I have 500 XTreme 165 Gr., round-nose flat-point bullets. Does anyone have any load data for these?
I've been a long time customer with Xtreme, but lately their customer service really is bad. I've had an order with them for two weeks now with no response! The bullets are in stock according to their site!! They used to be sooo good about filling and shipping my orders, till now!!! I've emailed them three times with only one response, to the first one of course! I've put a lot of my friends on to Xtreme for their reloading bullets and this is what I get in return, SAD!!!
Xtreme and Freedom Munitions is owned by the same company and the parent company has filed for bankruptcy. I would assume that is why the customer service has gone down.
I'm having a similar problem with Freedom Munitions.
I've used thousands of X-Treme bullets. They load well and are accurate. My favorite for my Glock 34 & 17 9 mm is the 124 grain RNFP. I just got a box of Berry's to try and find them to be oily, where the X-Treme are not. I'll test them next weekend at the range.
X-terme 124 grn. RN are my go to bullet , Yes you have to plan ahead , but taking advantage of free shipping when it's offered saves a bunch. I use Rainier same deal if you find reduced or free shipping jump on it , they are equal to X-Treme in every way. I have not tried Rocky Mountain ,but sounds like a must check .
Hey Doug, thanks for your input...I haven't tried Rainier nor RMR yet.
Doug, I'm sure by now you have tried Rocky Mountain Reloading. I had a bad experience with Xtreme bullets too and RMR went straight to my order and helped get it shipped quick. Great customer service.
used rmr bullets no problem. even used their brass 9mm . good company for me it's a go to!!!!
Over the last year and a half I have reloaded about 20,000 rounds of 9mm, every one of those with plated bullets. I started with several thousand X-Treme bullets, then moved to Berry's which gave me slightly better accuracy and the plating was holding up better on test bullets I would recover from downrange. But then I came across RMR (Rocky Mountain Reloading) Hardcore plated bullets and have never considered going back to either of the others since. The bullets hold up excellently (absolutely no breaks in the plating when fired at max loads) and the best accuracy by far of any of the three. I have found RMR to be the best plated bullet yet, and at 7.8 cents each I don't see myself going back to Berry's or Extreme anytime soon.
Hey Dominick, thanks for the rec!
Not unusual for xtreme bullets to be back ordered a couple of weeks. If you need bullets NOW (talking to you milleniums) then don't go with Xtreme. If you can build up a little bit of a stockpile and just add to it as you use your bullets, then you can't beat Xtreme. Had a order of 4000 once that had one box of 500 busted along one side. I was missing 17 bullets from that one box. The sent me another box of 500 at no charge, just had to send them a picture of the busted box.
Just a heads up, if time is an issue, am now at 20 days and my order from xtreme has still not shipped. When we called a week in, one item was out of stock. Website said in stock for each of 3 items we ordered. No notification, just let us wait til we decided to look into hold up. Shipping label created (not shipped) 2 days ago. Called again. Another item out of stock now. Again, no notification. Also if it was in stock at first, then they sold our order to someone else. Supposed to be looking into it, and emailing me, but I'm not holding my breath.
We will not go with them again. Few pennies not worth the disrespectful for my business.
Hi Renae...that sucks especially since you were calling in! I hope they make it right.
Thank you. They finally shipped, ground, would have thought with the trouble they ,might have upgraded shipping, but in all fairnes, it wouldn't have made a difference in my choice of suppliers next time. The bright side? Looking for a place to leave a review, I found this site! Will be back often, lots to learn.
Glad it's finally on it's way and thanks for the review. And I'll be seeing you around on the site!
Same issue with myself. I ordered 12 days ago and still no word. This is my first order with them and probably my last. I will try Rocky Mountain next.
Are you familiar with Everglades Bullets? How would you compare them to Xtreme bullets? I agree for the money I have found Xtreme to be the better buy.Id like to know what you know. And is there anyone out there carrying a great bullet to hand load for self defense carry?
Hi, thanks for your comment. I'm unfamiliar with Everlades Bullets. But it looks like their branded ammo are jacketed vs Extreme's plated which means they'll be more expensive.
As for bullets to hand load for self defense carry...I would suggest using factory ammo for liability reasons.