How much do your cast boolets vary in weight in a single casting session

[Dthunter]

I recently cast about 2000, 160 gr. RN,.358 bullets.

I weight segregated all of them, and got a "typical" varience of 3 grains.
I had less than 20 bullets under 160grains.
About 1 in 6-7 weighed in at 160-161grains
About 1 in 10 weighed in at 162-163.
All the rest are in the 161-162 grain weight range.

Does this range of varience seem well contolled, or is it a "Average/Normal" degree of varience?

I really tried to keep a repeatable, steady pace/pour procedure to minimize varience.

I have never cast a volume like this before.
Normally 2-300 only.

Thanks for your input guys!

[sqlbullet]

That is about what I see. I understand that a PID controller to keep the lead temp spot on helps. I start casting at 700° and add sprues and new lead to the pot at 750°, letting the pot restabilize on 700° again before I cast.

I always have a few, probably around 1% that have voids and are light. The rest probably break up into a bell curve about like you describe.

[Crawdaddy]

Sounds about right.

[williamwaco]

Exactly matches my experience.

See:

http://reloadingtips.com/pages/bullet-weights.htm


for some test results.

[beagle]

That sounds reasonable for a bullet that size.

I once weight a "bunch" of Lyman 225415s on an electronic scale and got about 1.2 grains variance from the heaviest to the lightest and threw out 4 or 5 that were really light probably due to internal voids./beagle

[geargnasher]

I usually get an extreme spread of about one grain per 150-grains of boolit weight, with 90% or better being within half that. I cast with a PID controller sometimes and a thermometer others, and am in the habit of keeping the pace consistent and culling the first ten pours after a short break, even if the mould is parked in my temperature-controlled mould-warming oven.

Gear

[stubshaft]

How much variance do you get between cavities?

[Sonnypie]

My 'speriance was that they'll vary some.
Gear offered that even when you thunk you are doing things the same, you might not be holding the mold as tightly closed at each filling. So you get lead globs fatter than others.
One thing I found was that with a single cavity mold, I get amazingly close pours boolit after boolit. (Lyman 311291 mold)
My 2 and 6 cavity molds are never as close.
There is some readin for you over here (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=126055) when you get finished with Williams thread.
I don't care if you shoot $25 boolits, you can still miss. :roll: :drinks:

[45-70 Chevroner]

I feel that that is an allowable veriance. I personally do not weigh my pistol boolits. I have weighed factor J word handgun bullets and have found them to very that much at times. Even run of the mill J word rifle boolits will very by +- 1 gr. and sometimes more.

[Ratliff]

Keep the lead moving, don't let it set for a few minutes or it will settle like muddy water, the heavy goes to the bottom.
I use an old cutting board marked off in ten lots with 1 through 10 marked, weigh each piece after cooling and inspecting, place it in the right spot on the board. When you have molded enough for the weight you are seeking, put them in a container, marked with the weight. Yes, they will very but I try to reload the same grain in groupes of 20 (a box) or more, seems to shoot better. the odd ones gets recycled.

[LAH]

+or - 1% is no problem. You are well within that. I've never checked between cavities.

[cbrick]

Dthunter, what are you using these 35 caliber bullets for? If these are intended for short range (anything under 50 yards) I doubt you'll see any improvemnet in accuracy by weighing them assuming all the bullet bases are good and they are sized to properly fit the firearm. I shoot long range revolver (to 200 meters) with a 180 gr 357 and gave up weighing them many years ago. I weigh 8 or 10 from each batch I cast just as a check on any possible alloy changes from the last time I used that mold.

As was already mentioned, have you weighed any commercial full length gas check bullets, they can and do vary more than your cast bullets did.

Rick

[fredj338]

Depends on the size of the bullet but a +/- 3gr is fine for most 9mm to heavy 45s. If I cull by wt, I throw back bullets w/ a greater wt diff than that. It often signals an internal void. I haven't cast smaller bulelts dia but 2% variation seems acceptable. I am more concerened about perfect bases than exact weight.

[Bullet Caster]

I have weighed all my .45 LC boolits, you know the 255 grain RNFP. I have found about the same as being reported here. I usually throw the overweight and underweight ones back into the pot for future melting. Almost all of the 255 grain weigh in at 265 grains and vary by + or - 3 grains over the total cast. I've been told that the alloy is the culprit for weight variance as I try to keep a steady pace when casting after the mould heats up and I flux the melt about 3 times per casting session. I think all casters who weigh their boolits will find a norm they can live with. I've only weighed the boolits on an electronic scale as the balance beams would be a complete nightmare to weigh 400 boolits. After putting them through a .452 sizer, none had any lead shaved off so I'm assuming the mould drops correctly at .452. Since sizing 400 some odd boolits I've decided that sizing is NOT necessary and from now on I will just cast, weigh (to weed out the deformed ones with internal voids), lube and shoot. I also dropped all 400 through my .45 Colt chamber and every one of them went through the chamber without sticking. Just my 2 cents worth. BC

[Dave C.]

I have an eight cavity H&G#68 that drops all eight the same +or- one half grain.
It helps that I do not try to set any speed records when I cast.