am I being too picky

[corey012778]

I been casting up lee 452-255-rf. they are dropping from 258gr to 264gr. until last night I been keeping only 258grs and 260grs and putting them in separate containers.

262grs to 264grs have be prefect, and ended up in my scrap bucket.

last night I put every prefect boolit I made went in my good boolit container.

have I or am I just being too picky.

[koehn,jim]

When I cast for my rifles i seperate into tenth of a grain piles with no blemishes of any kind. But if you are getting that wide a variation somthing is wrong, the same alloy should cast fairly close. Are you adding alloy while casting. It also depends on use for the bullets, I am a picky paper puncher not shooting at cans or sil, targets so any variation is a lot.

[corey012778]

80 to 95% are in the 260gr. so an low percent other weights.

going to be used in muzzleloaders with sabots.

been shooting j bullets weighting 230gr to 250gr with the same charge and same scope settings. getting the same results.

[corey012778]

doubled posted

[geargnasher]

I been casting up lee 452-255-rf. they are dropping from 258gr to 264gr. until last night I been keeping only 258grs and 260grs and putting them in separate containers.

262grs to 264grs have be prefect, and ended up in my scrap bucket.

last night I put every prefect boolit I made went in my good boolit container.

have I or am I just being too picky.

Is that a statement or a question?

Gear

[turbo1889]

Ok, let me get this straight.

You are getting a 4 grain plus variation range in a 260-ish grain mold and you are throwing the heavy ones back as rejects and keeping the light one ?????????

Unless you are having a problem with you mold blocks not closing all the way completely all the way then what you are doing is backwards. The light weight boolits should be the rejects not the heavy ones. Incomplete fill out, wrinkles, and bubbles or voids make boolits lighter. Complete fill out without bubbles or voids make boolits heavier.

I think you are throwing the wrong ones back; unless you are having the mold blocks stick and bind on each other (entirely possible with the Lee single and double cavity molds if you aren’t using bull plate lube on the waffle like alignment grooves) and this is resulting in some of the boolits being slightly beagled.

[WHITETAIL]

Are these pistol boolits?
Need more info.[smilie=1:

[Bret4207]

It depends on what you're using them for and what your standards are. I gave up weighing boolits a couple decades back, I couldn't tell the difference on target. If you're going for a big money prize or high rating in a game or match then maybe it's worth it IF you and your gun can tell the difference. Can you? What's 2-4 grs of 260 grs? 1-2%? If it makes you feel better stick with it, if not I think you should try shooting them and see. I'd be inclined to toss the light ones too.

[Bass Ackward]

Back in the 60s custom rifles really took off. There was a problem. Some of the biggest names wouldn't make a barrel above 30 caliber. Some wouldn't offer hand lapping or air gauged quality over 30 caliber. Some still to this day.

Why? Bullet quality. And they didn't want their reputations impugned.

It used to be believed that bullets weren't made to target quality over 30 caliber and as a result, these barrel makers wouldn't put their name on a product. And it is true. I have seen 4 and 5 grains weight difference in 375 and larger. Certainly slugs that were out of round. Some under and over bore diameter.

If you bought the bulk bullets of that day that WERE nothing more than full length GCs, then they had the same overall quality issues. Just the bulk weight of the manufacturing process would squash those on the bottom. Nosler was started in the late 40s for this very reason.

But the bulk slugs shot with many sub MOA groups. Even in the larger bores where barrel quality was never produced like for the smaller bores. These bullets shot good enough to build accuracy reputations for factory rifles. Ever hear of pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters as an example?

So how did these rifles actually get these top notch reputations with bad bullets? The answer is that the bases were thick enough to stay square. And they were nose filled.

Remember this when you decide about your cast bullet quality. Problems with working range accuracy are seldom with the bullet at normal targeting ranges.

I am always in need of bore preppers, low velocity lead removers (still a type of bore conditioners) and grandkid material. Shooting these slugs soon show me that lube, sizing, and hardness are my biggest concerns to avoid fliers. If the base is solid. So I over vent my molds in the base area as heat rises and I avoid concerns there.

The only times I have to worry about bullet quality / weight is when I am too soft and going above the pressure threshold into the plastic region. Then I need uniformity.

So are you too picky? What does Professor Target say? And if the grade isn't what you would like, did you answer all the questions on the test or are you stuck on that single question about bullet quality?

[onesonek]

It depends on what you're using them for and what your standards are. I gave up weighing boolits a couple decades back, I couldn't tell the difference on target. If you're going for a big money prize or high rating in a game or match then maybe it's worth it IF you and your gun can tell the difference. Can you? What's 2-4 grs of 260 grs? 1-2%? If it makes you feel better stick with it, if not I think you should try shooting them and see. I'd be inclined to toss the light ones too.

My thoughts also.

[44man]

Bret and Bass are steering you right. Put the scale away.
If the boolit looks good, shoot it! If the food looks good, eat it!
Unless you are shooting tiny calibers or BR shooting, all a boolit needs is a quick inspection.

[x101airborne]

Bass... probably the most difinitive post ive read on the subject yet. :drinks:

[Jim]

If I may, I'd like to add that consistency and continuity in casting method contributes to boolit uniformity.

[corey012778]

thanks guys. since these are going to be shot out of an muzzleloader with sabots. guess I was being too picky.

just going to shoot targets and maybe if all works out, game.

[snuffy]

My first inspection of my cast boolits is while still in the mold, just the bases. If the base isn't filled out, it goes in the sprue bucket. Next is a visual inspection after they've cooled. Then I look for fill-out, wrinkles or dirt that got through the nozzle if bottom poured. I must see the driving band sharp and clean and the nose filled out. That's all the further I go, except to weigh a couple to see what the alloy used does for what the mold is SUPPOSED to weigh.

I tried weighing, then segregating into groups once for pistol bullets. What an exercise in futility![smilie=b: Random weight boolits shoot better than I can aim!

If for rifle, then I might weigh just to weed out light boolits that may have a hidden bubble. That's after the above look-see.