weight deviation

[kooldecker]

hey guys,
Had a quick question for you. I am noticing a deviation in my bullets. presently i am casting .45 200gr SWC. Using 50/50 WW / Pb . they are all heavy, (which i am reading is tottally normal) but i am noticing 4-6 grain deviation here and there. my questions are .....

1. Is this normal? Or am i expecting too much from hand casting?

2. What can i do to correct it?

3. What would you guys consider "acceptable" tolerances ? I realize some people will say " they all go down the bbl dont they ?" but i am trying to refine my skills here and get the best product i can , and any help will be appreciated.

Thank you ,
Jason

[gravely]

I just cast several thousand .45 200 grain H&G 68 bullets using 2 diiferent molds using recycled range lead which contained a mixture of jacketed and non-jacketed bullets. I weighed nearly 700 bullets using my new Dillon electronic scale and offer these findings:
mean: 200.9
min: 198.0
max: 207.2
standard deviation: .9 (measure of variability - includes 34% of values below and above mean)

The range from 198.0 to 207.2 is a bit disconcerting and probably reflects some heavy outliers resulting from the mould not being totally shut. I decided to weigh and select "match" bullets that are within 1 standard deviation of the mean, .e.g 200.0 - 201.8. I have also thought to reduce variablility in range lead in the future I will segregate jacketed bullets and combine them with wheel weight lead. Its not clear how much this variablility makes in one-handed bullseye pistol shooting. Probably not much at 25 yards but a difference of X grains will matter at 50 yards but I dont' know what X is without ransom rest testing.

-archer

[mooman76]

Practice and consitancy in what you do will help improve them. It is less important in pistols because of shot distance fired. They will shoot fine or you can remelt them and practice some more. That's one of the good things about casting. You didn't loose anything except for your time invested.

[MtGun44]

Not too big of a deal, but as stated above, you can get better results with practice and
consistent alloy composition, mold temp and such.

I'd not sweat it for .45 ACP unless you are shooting 2700 Bulleye competitions.

Bill