35 Whelen
03-12-2007, 03:26 AM
Not sure if this is the right place to post this, so if it isn't, please move it!
I got in on a Fat 30 groups buy last spring/summer, but due to family issues, etc., didn't have a chance to cast any until last week. I cast two batches with two different lots of wheelweight alloy. One batch of about 100 bullets was water-quenched and the other air-cooled.
The bullets cast out at a .318" diameter, which is OK, but when I started sorting by weight I was a little dismayed to find that there was a 2+ grain variance in the bullets. This was the case with both batches of bullets. One batch cast at 193.5-196.0 grs. and the other from 194.1-196.5 grs.
Is this normal? For what it's worth, I also cast a couple hundred 314299 bullets from a late production 2-cavity mould with the same two batches of alloy. Their weight variation was maybe a hair over 1 gr.
I'm sure they'll shoot fine, but I'd sure rather be able to keep individual lots of bullets with 1/2 gr. of each other. With the Fat 30's I had to fudge on my limit of .5 gr. to .8 gr. variation just so I wouldn't have too many different lots of bullets.
Any input appreciated.
35W
I got in on a Fat 30 groups buy last spring/summer, but due to family issues, etc., didn't have a chance to cast any until last week. I cast two batches with two different lots of wheelweight alloy. One batch of about 100 bullets was water-quenched and the other air-cooled.
The bullets cast out at a .318" diameter, which is OK, but when I started sorting by weight I was a little dismayed to find that there was a 2+ grain variance in the bullets. This was the case with both batches of bullets. One batch cast at 193.5-196.0 grs. and the other from 194.1-196.5 grs.
Is this normal? For what it's worth, I also cast a couple hundred 314299 bullets from a late production 2-cavity mould with the same two batches of alloy. Their weight variation was maybe a hair over 1 gr.
I'm sure they'll shoot fine, but I'd sure rather be able to keep individual lots of bullets with 1/2 gr. of each other. With the Fat 30's I had to fudge on my limit of .5 gr. to .8 gr. variation just so I wouldn't have too many different lots of bullets.
Any input appreciated.
35W