Questions on bullet weight and accuracy

[mac1911]

Purchased a LEE TL 452 230 RN bullet mold. Things are starting off well.

When I first started smelting my lead from wheel weights it was to make shot so I have assorted WW alloy ignots.
I ran a 50/50 mix of WW and soft lead mostly from lead sheathing and pipe.

I got around to sorting out the bullets. I have been checking them
dia runs from 451 to 452 ish with a few odd balls being larger(give a week hand grip on the mold maybe)

weight seems to vary more with a 20 bullet average of 231.9 extreme spread is 230(anything less went into the scrap bucket) to the heavy sideof 234

My Question is : Where is a point where accuracy will be largely affect or bee seen
I hate to cast over and really do not want to weight every batch to sort.
I am of average skill shooter can hit a pie plate with consistant groups @ 25 yards with my 1911. So would I see a noticeable diff in accuracy between the 230 and the 233ish grain heads.
Im useing 5 grains of bullseye. Test rounds function flawlessly no leading that I could see and hit the 5" steel spinner @ 20 yards 17 out of 20

[turbo1889]

A 230gr. boolit at 0.451"-0.452" diameter sounds like a 45-ACP 1911 to me especially considering your choice of user names. If so I wouldn't worry about a weight variance spread spanning less then 2%. When I load 180-190 grain weight rifle boolits in 7.62x54R for 300 yard line shooting (Yes with my best Mosin and tuned loads I can hit a paper plate target area at that range with cast boolit loads in that cartridge) I sort them before and after lubing to all be within a 1 grain spread. I usually end up with three or four piles of boolits that have been grouped into weighed "batches" but when shooting at the 100 yard line I don't bother.

If I am right about the cartridge and gun platform I think you are using, I would be surprised if you and your gun working together can shoot accurately enough to tell the difference in accuracy between 1 grain spread weight sorted loads and the 4 grain spread you are getting from the mold as is without any sorting.

[mac1911]

I hope to crony some loads tomorrow. Im going to load 10 ea of the 230 231 232 233 just to see.

[williamwaco]

My Question is :

So would I see a noticeable diff in accuracy between the 230 and the 233ish grain






No, I test at 25 yards with a TC and 8x scope. There is no difference in accuracy or point of impact in pistol ammo at that range with variations of 4 to 5 grains bullet weight.

I haven't tested anything below 124 grains, but I would be surprised to see any difference down to 95 to 100 grains.

[44man]

Forget it and load em and shoot. As you refine your casting procedures, you can get down to 1/2 gr differences. In the meantime, you will not see anything wrong with how they shoot.
I refuse to weigh my boolits, it is a huge waste of time.

[cbrick]

44man is correct, as you gain more casting experience your weight variations will decrease. A large part could well be variations in mold temp while your casting, especially with the first several pours as your mold comes up to temp. Seperate your first 15 or so pours and when your finished casting compare these to the weight of the later pours, they should be lighter.

Unless your shooting a long range bench rest match it's pretty doubtful you'll see any difference in grouping with your weight sorted bullets. I shoot 200 meter revolver matches and gave up weighing bullets several years ago, never saw a lick of difference in my groups from when I did waste my time weighing and after I stopped wasting my time. I'll weigh 8-10 or so from each casting session as a check of alloy consistency and leave it at that.

Rick

[stubert]

I'll weigh the first few, It makes me feel better knowing the mold is hot and I have no voids, I load mostly 250 grain and heavier, 2% variance is fine in my world

[mac1911]

I woke up the am and did not bother loading the variants and keeping them seperate.
I did try 3.5 grains of clays which performed well actually better than the 5 grains of bulls eye
After 50 rounds with no issues and a battered 25y pistol target Im happy
Had a bit of leading @ the muzzle at the end of 50 rounds.