Boolit weight, how anal are you?

[Nora]

I'm just wondering how close others like to keep the weights of their CB's for those who weigh them. I've not had a problem being satisfied with the consistency of my own boolits. I'm merely asking out of curiosity as to what tolerances others are trying to stick to.

[Edubya]

For pistols, I accept +/- 1.5 gr. In other words about 10%. These are not for 50-yd-plus shooting, as I imagine that would be a bit more stringent.

[2TN Mules]

It is not of super importance to me. I cast with a .452 Lee 230g RN for tumble lube. My mold consistently drops the boolits at 0.452 but with a consistent weight of 223g. I guess the difference is in the alloy I use as compared to the alloy Lee used when testing the mold. Since my alloy is free that small weight difference is ok by me.

[runfiverun]

if i am searching groups in the rifle.
weights are usually held to .2 grs.
i will usually weigh them and sort in .1 gr increments.
like 145.1 145.2 etc then 145.3 145.4 otherwise i would end up with 10 different cups full of boolits and only have 10-20 in the first and last 2 cups.
the best way to make consistent boolits is to alloy 100 to 120 lbs of alloy then make at least 30 lbs of boolits at one time in a high humidity setting.
i then keep casting in sessions till the alloy is gone.

[High Desert Hunter]

Depends on the bullet weight, the heavier the bullet, the more variance I allow. Mostly if they look good, I shoot them, I don't shoot competitively.

Dave

[ktw]

Batches with less than a 0.5 grain spread for load development in rifles(6mm, 270, 30).

Less than 1 grain spread for larger caliber rifles.

"Look OK" for rifle plinking bullets and most all handgun bullets.

-kw

[Slow Elk 45/70]

Agree, it depends on what you are doing, If developing loads and or shooting competition, I try to stay around 10%. I'm sure others are more Anal than I. 95% of my shooting doesn't require this , I sort the ones that don't pass visual inspection and re-melt them. The rest just go bang.

[softpoint]

Only weigh when group size is the only goal. 10%is usually good. I believe 99%of flaws in cast bullets can be detected by close visual inspection. Maybe others are plagued by invisible internal defects, but my experience is that they are few and far between. Now, if I was shooting BR, I'd weigh everything that could be weighed, maybe even the lube!, But most of my bullets are over .30 caliber, and being too picky would give very little return. I guess the differenc is if you reload so you can shoot, or if you shoot just so you can reload!

[HeavyMetal]

AS with everyone else how anal I am about batch weights depends on the goal at hand!

General plinking: cast and lube Load development: wieigh with in a + or- 1 grain spread. Same as for shooting group size.

What I have found out, once I bought a digital scale, wasn't that I had huge varainces in bolit weight is was the "surprise" boolit that was either way to heavy or way to light for the batch being run.

My first experience was "wading" through about 2000 Lee H&G 68 clone 45 boolits ( Lees mold not the GB) and find about 10 or so that were either 15 grains above or below the average weight for the batch of alloy I was casting from. In this cast the ran 198 to 200 grains with the ones I culled weighing either 184 grain or 210 grains!

Loaded in a string of 5 or 6 shots 3 200 with one 210 and one 184 your gonna get a flyer simply based on different velocity!

After my first sorting session I noticed my groups were " rounder" and much more uniform then thay had ever been before.

So I don't advise sorting to the .05 grain but do recommend you look for boolits outside the range of average weight of the alloy you have cast you batch out of.

[oldhickory]

The only ones I bother weighing are my .30 boolits for .30/06 and .308. with those, I leave a 3gr spread and seperate them into batches of 4, 186gr, 187gr, 188gr, and back to the pot.

[303Guy]

If I may ask, is the weight difference important from a pure 'weight difference' or as an indication of internal defects (or any defects) ie gas bubbles or some imbedded foreign partical?

[Shiloh]

Saturdays boolits weigh 170.6 to 172.5 grains. LEE .401 TLSWC
Thats just over 1% variance. Fine for me.

Shiloh

[NSP64]

I dont weigh pistol boolits, just give them a visual inspection. I don't weigh rifle boolits unless they are for load development or competition. I weigh all those boolits then place them in trays of likewise weights( say the boolit weighs on average 130gr I place the 129.9,130.0,130.1 all together) seems like I always get 2 groups of weights, 129.9-130.1 and 132.0-132.2 and then there will be some that are way outside those groups both lite and heavy.(these go in the plinker pile) I think the 2 weight groups come from the mold heating up.

[Edubya]

If I may ask, is the weight difference important from a pure 'weight difference' or as an indication of internal defects (or any defects) ie gas bubbles or some imbedded foreign partical?

I ain't no expert but from my experience and what I've read the biggest culprit is a variance in the alloy (foreign matter). Lead is the heaviest of the common alloy mixture, if the tin or antimony percent has been altered, the weight will vary accordingly. That's why it is better to first make casting ingots in a large quantity for consistent bullet quality that will give consistent results (better groups).

[pdawg_shooter]

+ or - 1% of bullet weight here.

[Throwback]

I couldn't care less about weight variation but this is perhaps a relection of what I shoot. I have done some weighing in the past just to see what I could expect and verify what a mould would deliver with my particullar alloy. But, as long as bullets look good and fillout is perfect there is not enough diference to matter. If, and only if, I was developing loads for competition in a rifle, then I might worry about it. Fact is I don't even own a "target" rifle. I own two Remington 700s, both very accurate but mounted with 1-4 variables. Everything else either has open sights or apertures. I use my rifles for hunting and iron reactive targets. I only use paper to sight in and to develop loads.

[mrbill2]

What I have found out, once I bought a digital scale, wasn't that I had huge varainces in bolit weight is was the "surprise" boolit that was either way to heavy or way to light for the batch being run.

When you get a bullet that is way to light some casters believe that bullet has a void caused by a air pocket. Now I have always wondered how to explain those that are way heavy?
mrbill2

[HeavyMetal]

mrbill2:

I to wondered about the heavy boolits I rejected.

Since I wasn't getting a lot of the way heavy ones, mostly 2 or 3 out of every 1000 or so, I figured that alloy in the pot had a "current" and some times I would drop a boolit from a section of the alloy that was more lead than "alloy" this is the only Idea I have for boolits that are excessive in weight. It's also a good reason keep fluxing as part of the casting rythem.

My goal, when I worry about score, is to remove those that might do more "wandering" than I'd like. As with most shooter I don't need the help!

The more consistant the components the more consistant the ammo loaded with them!

[jonk]

I do cull for obvious defects but rarely weigh bullets- or for that matter charges after I set the scale. For what I do with mainly old military guns, it just isn't an issue. Yes, if I'm shooting a match, I do weigh powder, but even then rarely weigh bullets- it is usually a service gun match and I've tried weighing before- and it didn't get me much better results. 4" at 200 yards with an M1 with open sights will keep them all in the 10, X, and a few in the 9 ring if dialed in correctly and that's good enough for my purposes.

[dragonrider]

I weight some at the beginning just to know what the weight is, I do not separate by weight.
I check for obvious fillout problems, wrinkles and such, load em and shoot em.

[Cap'n Morgan]

Now I have always wondered how to explain those that are way heavy?

Probably the mold wasn't closed properly. Try measure the boolit perpendicular to the seam.

[felix]

Jonk, when you weigh, you'd do better weighing the boolits and not the powder. ... felix

[Shuz]

For .44 handgun or rifle boolits I merely inspect the bases as I lubrisize, if the bases look good and the boolit doesn't have obvious wrinkles, warts or freckles, they get loaded! Now for CBA match rifle shooting, I weigh every boolit on an electronic scale and separate into .2g piles. The "lighter" boolits get loaded to be used as "foulers". The "heavier" boolits are used for the match. Total weight range distribution for .25 cal is about .6g on a boolit that weighs nominally 105g from 3:1 (ww:lino).

[243winxb]

The bullet has to be the correct diameter. Here are some of my bullet weights. 45acp 200gr 208.3 207.8 206.8 207.7 208.0 207.5 208.4 208.4 357 158gr swc 165.0 164.7 165.1 165.2 164.6 164.3 164.4 164.5 I was testing the weight of the first 4 good bullets to the last 4 bullets out of a 10lb pot. If you want match ammo, weight each bullet. http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=430180

[Beekeeper]

I asked this once before and the post got hyjacked (no offence taken).
I tried the weighing of boolits with my beam scale and was considering an electronic.
I Know everyone has a favorite but would like some info.
The Frankford Arsnal mini scale seems to be good enough for weighing boolits and still compact enough to pack away and take with you.

I do not have a Man Cave for reloading anymore, I have a garage with 2 cars in it (required parking) and all of the junk you normally have in a garage , fishing tackle,freezer, gun safe, tools, you know the same junk you have in your garage!
So everything is portable, Do you think the Frankford Arsnal scale is an acceptable scale? or not?



beekeeper


PS: How do you get the icons to post? When I try all I get is a [bbllah bblah java script ] thingy???

[Nora]

Beekeeper I'm don't want to come off sounding like a jerk. That's not my intention. But you had just commented that your thread got hijacked and that there was no offense taken. The initial question I posed and was trying to find out was the personal preference of weight tolerances others were using for their CB's. Not what scale will do the job better. Hmmm I guess I'll just say "no offense taken". [smilie=1: Repost your question it sounds like a good one.

[geargnasher]

I personally use a "1%" rule I made up for myself for most stuff, but I don't clean primer pockets anymore, either, except on hunting, defence loads or a small run. I spend more time shooting and less time fiddling being super-precise with fun shooting loads (please do not read that as "careless" or "unsafe", I weigh at least every 11th powder charge no matter what and weigh all my boolits, I just don't cull at less than 1% because it seems to not matter unless I need super-accurate loads). I have also found differences in unsized diameter approaching .5% and differences of hardness of 15% with a run boolits cast from the same pot of alloy (no doubt caused mostly by temp fluctuations of alloy and mould) and that makes more difference than 2 or 3 grains is going to as far as accuracy goes. Check out the weight variations in a box of commercial Jacketed bullets sometime for a real eye-opener.

Gear

[Gun Junkie]

Well I might as well confess. I don't weigh pistol bullets at all....but for 30 cal I weigh into about .3 grain lots and for my 22 hornet....I sort to .1 grain. Yup I'm that picky....but I've always thought the dang hornet was too.

Here's another little confession. I sort Hornady 190 30 cal match J-word boolits when I use them for long range competition. ...again .3 grain lots. I believe it actually helped with a 1000yd vertical dispersion problem I had prior to sorting.

[runfiverun]

you ain't kidding about weighing j words i weighed 500 223 bullets in the early 90's and was sorting them in .1 gr weights and ended up with so many can's of them i forgot where i was putting what.

[6.5 mike]

I weighted 50 nosler 120 ball. tips for my t/c barrel. 2 tenths of a grain spread.
Helps explain why that barrel shots so well.