culling cast boolits

[rdwarrior]

Hey everyone,
I am having a bit of brain fog today. I cast some 120 gr, 149 gr, and 255 gr boolits today for .38 spcl. 40 S&w and 45 colt. I culled them by fill out and weight. I discarded any that were outside +/- 1%. Is that correct or should I have gone +/- 10%. Please help this old man get my head back on straight.
rdwarrior

[megasupermagnum]

That's really up to you. 1% of a 120 grain is 1.2 grains. That seems a reasonable window. 10% would be extreme, and would certainly be a major visual defect.

[la5676]

Never gone quite that drastic with culling. Mine was mostly cosmetic, ie., good flat bases, no inclusions in rest of bullet body, etc. To answer your question about 10%, I really doubt you ever see that much difference in any of those weights you mention above, unless, like I said about, the bullet isn't filled out completely, and then cosmetic culling will be sufficient. And a 25 grain drop is a heck of a cavity in your bullet that ain't there.

My two pesos

[mattw]

Bench bullets get sorted by .2 grains, pistol by appearance.

[DAFzipper]

For pistol bullets if they look good to me I load them. I've weighed in the past but didn't notice enough of a difference in accuracy to continue.

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[Misery-Whip]

Visual inspection only. Again when sizing. Any extra force in the sizer and they get culled.

[dragon813gt]

Pistol, visual only. Rifle, visual and weight. Doesn’t take long to weight sort. The lighter the bullet the less the variation that’s acceptable. It’s why I hate casting 22 caliber bullets. They pretty much have to be cast perfectly.

[DonHowe]

When it comes to "culling" bullets I don't plink so I don't keep plinking bullets, except for foulers. I do not mean this to be condescending so please do not take it that way. I just seem to be always casting for hunting or competition, rifle and pistol. And, well, that's just how my mind works.
I am pretty ruthless in sorting pistol bullets but visually only. When I started casting rifle bullets for match shooting I took the same approach then weighed each each bullet. First I sorted into +/- .1 grain groups. When I mentioned this to an acquaintance who worked at Sinclair International he said, "That's better than Sierra Matchkings." That conversation stuck with me. Some math showed what a tiny percentage of 400 grains 1 grain actually is. So I settled on .5 grain spread.

[DHDeal]

Visual inspection while casting. When I open the sprue plate and see a base that isn't perfect, I'll drop that one off to one side of my bullet box or if I can, into my sprue pan. I'll inspect again when I count the total. I will weigh a few just to compare, but when the temp of alloy and mold is where I like it, the weights are so close that the bullets will all be acceptable.

I've found that perfect appearing bullets will be so close to the same weight as to not matter.

[LenH]

I visually inspect while sizing. Rounded bases or any imperfections go into the cull container. I never got into the weighing of bullets but probably should for
rifle, pistol not so much.

[Land Owner]

Depends (handguns)...

...for plinking, even the wrinkled will do.

...for accuracy, 1% - 2% range.

...for Home Defense - ALL will do at room distances.

[reloader28]

Visual inspection for rifle and pistol bullets at the pot.
Rifles up to 30 cal I usually weight sort into groups when I'm working up a load, after that I only do half time.
Above 30 cal rifles and all pistol I dont bother. Just aint seen the need with my consistancy usually

[charlie b]

Basically same as above. I don't shoot competition. I shoot pistol only to remain confident that I can hit a target at 25yd or less. I never weighed pistol bullets, just visual.

Rifle bullets I want less than MOA out to longer ranges. I visually inspect as I cast. Then I weigh and toss back anything outside 2gn of my goal weight. Then I size and lube/coat. Weigh again and sort by 0.1gn

[RogerDat]

I'm visually cull and by feel when sizing. I get concerned if I don't see concentric sizing or consistent sizing. On surfaces being sized a blemish shows up as a wider or narrower "scuffed" area.

I don't want to make bad bullets but don't shoot competition or long range as a rule so just not worth it in general. I also only have beam scales. Would have to buy a digital to make bullet weighing practical.

Maybe one of these days I'll pursue that step but I still have loads to develop for hollow point revolver bullets and 308 and shotgun hulls to pattern and.... yeah weighing bullets is on the list since some swear it makes a difference but will only happen if the bigger bang for time jobs happen and my vision holds up long enough to make greater bullet accuracy a determining factor in grouping.

[mdi]

Weird guy here? I usually sort visually for fill out, square corners, etc. but I often measure the diameter of a bunch out of each batch. Occasionally an undersize boolit shows up...

[Bazoo]

I roll the bullets on an old shirt when visually inspecting. Bands that aren't filled out get rejected. Anything with an inclusion gets rejected. I don't weigh them though. Maybe if I get into making tight groups I will, but for now the bullets I make are acceptable for my shooting.

[kevin c]

Just visual inspection as I cast pistol boolits in volume whose use doesn't need tack driving accuracy.

My MP molds drop eight at a time that I can examine in the drop zone as the next pour cools in the mold, which then get cleared for the next eight. Once I get in the right cadence, the inspection becomes more cursory, as I know by seeing the right degree of light matte frosting that the slugs will be surface defect free and very uniform in weight.

[Rizzo]

I seem to be always testing different cast bullets with different loads and powders.
I want to maximize accuracy so I cull those that have obvious visual imperfections, then weigh them to cherry pick the ones that weigh the same to be used in a group that will be shot.

After weighing I can see what the variation is so I determine then what I won't use.
I'm probably to anal about this but recently I cast some 158 grain bullets and ended up choosing groups that were the same weight or within.1-.2 grains.

I do this to minimize any flyers.
I'm talking about rifle shooting.

I read an article about weighing cast bullets and it was stated that the heavier bullets were better filled out without any unseen voids that some of the lighter bullets probably have.

It's pretty interesting to see the weight difference on, say, 100 cast bullets after culling the bad ones.
If you chart them all out you will see a bell shaped curve of the different weights.

I only do this when I'm load developing.
After a load is developed I do not do that and just plink away.

[Shopdog]

The more "intense" the purpose,the more they get checked. If the load is a well behaved,balanced middle of the road type,I'll even shoot some lite wrinkles.

The reason for the post is however... and this is just how I do it,not preaching;

On new rifle barrels,the reason I use a "breaking in" regiment isn't so much about the barrel's machining as it is,getting a handle on that particular barrel's likes N dislikes WRT fouling/cleaning.Also use this time to fire form cases,and a cpl other things. Well,it's the same way with a new mould and "culling". I'm way more picky on a new mould because of it "breaking in",and trying to find what,or how it's going to "throw",down the road. Out of roundness seems to be a lot like factory barrels.... luck of the draw. But if you're chasing bugholes,the more round the bullet is,prior to sizing,well... your "odds" go up exponentially. So being real "picky" early on can eliminate right much tail chasing. Not that I won't find a use for a little oval'ness mould but know it's going to have certain limitations on an intensity scale. Furthermore,while it's a safe bet you have a better chance for perfection with a "custom" mould,some of my most round moulds are Lee's....

[Winger Ed.]

Unless your loading up to compete for the Bianchi Cup--- I'd just shoot 'em.