singleshotbuff
02-28-2008, 01:27 AM
Gentlemen,
I loaded my first 20rds of 308 Norma ammo tonight, nothing special, just want to fireform the brass for a good chamber fit so I can neck size it and hopefully extend the life of this pricey Norma brass. The load is:
Case: Norma
Primer: Fed 215
Powder: 59grs IMR-4895
Bullet: Military pulldown 150gr FMJ
None of which is relevant to my question [smilie=1:
Anyway, my typical procedure when loading rifle rounds is to set my Lyman 55 measure to drop the appropriate amount of powder, then I drop each charge and weigh it on my RCBS electronic scale. If the charge is within +/- .1 gr (.2gr total variance), I dump the charge into the primed case. If the thrown charge varies more than .2gr, I dump it back and drop another. FWIW, both of my Lyman 55s drop charges so consistent (with most powders) that I normally only reject 2 or 3 charges out of 20, even fewer with ball powders.
As I stood there at the bench tonight, following normal procedure, it occured to me that I am using PULLDOWN military FMJ bullets. These bullets typically vary a grain or more in weight, which finally leads me to my question (and sort of ties this to cast boolits).
Which (in your opinion) is a bigger factor in consistency and accuracy? Exact powder weight or exact bullet/boolit weight?
I realize that different applications will produce different answers, so let's say when seeking good or better accuracy from a 30 caliber rifle, particularly with cast boolits, which would you pay more attention too? Would you spend your time weight sorting boolits or trickling powder charges? Maybe both??
Thanks for indulging my ramble and for any input.
SSB
I loaded my first 20rds of 308 Norma ammo tonight, nothing special, just want to fireform the brass for a good chamber fit so I can neck size it and hopefully extend the life of this pricey Norma brass. The load is:
Case: Norma
Primer: Fed 215
Powder: 59grs IMR-4895
Bullet: Military pulldown 150gr FMJ
None of which is relevant to my question [smilie=1:
Anyway, my typical procedure when loading rifle rounds is to set my Lyman 55 measure to drop the appropriate amount of powder, then I drop each charge and weigh it on my RCBS electronic scale. If the charge is within +/- .1 gr (.2gr total variance), I dump the charge into the primed case. If the thrown charge varies more than .2gr, I dump it back and drop another. FWIW, both of my Lyman 55s drop charges so consistent (with most powders) that I normally only reject 2 or 3 charges out of 20, even fewer with ball powders.
As I stood there at the bench tonight, following normal procedure, it occured to me that I am using PULLDOWN military FMJ bullets. These bullets typically vary a grain or more in weight, which finally leads me to my question (and sort of ties this to cast boolits).
Which (in your opinion) is a bigger factor in consistency and accuracy? Exact powder weight or exact bullet/boolit weight?
I realize that different applications will produce different answers, so let's say when seeking good or better accuracy from a 30 caliber rifle, particularly with cast boolits, which would you pay more attention too? Would you spend your time weight sorting boolits or trickling powder charges? Maybe both??
Thanks for indulging my ramble and for any input.
SSB