What to do with bullets

[vrh]

I just recently cast approx.: 500 bullets for my 30-06 rifle. I got approx.: 120 bullets of 171 grains, approx.: 150 bullets of 173 grains and approx.: 230 bullets of 174 grains. Now I weigh and separate my bullets by weight. So I have 3 bags of bullets weighing different weights. Bullets that are not in the range of kept bullets are returned to the pot for re-melting.
I load and shoot from 1 bag until it is empty. Then I go to the next bag for more bullets to shoot.
I was wondering what everyone else does that cast their own bullets, in regards to bullets weighing different.

[gwpercle]

I was driving myself insane...or more like insaner... maybe it's more insane, with all the weighing, sorting separating adjusting powder loads for the .001 or .002 differences in boolit weight....Then I had an epiphany ...it came to me in a blinding flash or insight......Stop weighing them you fool !
Visual inspection, perfect base, sharp well filled out bands with no wrinkles....if they pass this test ....
Load Em and Choot Em. Unless you are shooting for money...then weigh them.
Gary

[high standard 40]

It really depends on your personal shooting and accuracy demands. I shoot competition. I thus strive for every edge I can get. I started weighing my bullets and was getting too far of a spread to suit me. I had a lot of rejects. What I finally did was to concentrate on casting the most uniform bullet that I could so that I could reduce my rejects. Proper alloy, a PID, a steady cadence, and technique all provided the uniformity that I was seeking. Now I can get by with a visual inspection only. Again, this is what I do for my competition loads. I'm less critical for my goofing around loads.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

3 gr of variance for a batch of 30 cal 170gr boolits, seems kinda high in my humble opinion.

Casting long skinny boolits can be more problematic than casting short pistol boolits, and typically you want rifle boolits to be more perfect than pistol boolits. Linked below, is a good read, because there are several reasons why you can get different weight boolits. So just sorting them by weight may not give you uniform batches if there are more than one type of irregularity that are creating your weight variance. It's best to tighten up your casting technique, than to weigh sort.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?269912-Consistency-applied&highlight=


Good Luck

[Walter Laich]

since I'm a cowboy shooter pretty much everything coming out of the mold ends up coming out of the barrel

all depends on what your needs and requirements are

[Texas by God]

I will weigh a few bullets to get an average to write down in my notes. Then I shoot them. A visual inspection is all I do and I shoot one inch groups regularly at a hundred yards out of the two rifles I cast for. As stated by others, if I shot in competition I would separate the bullets by weight.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[jimb16]

For my needs, on heavier bullets +/- 1 grain is good enough. I toss them together and don't worry about it. I used to weigh and separate by "exact" weight, then discovered that I'm just not good enough to see any significant difference. So why bother getting that anal?

[GhostHawk]

I did that once, near drove myself round the bend weighing and sorting 150 .30 cal bullets.

To make a long story shorter, no discernable difference on the target.

Low end was no better on average than the high.
I did notice that the more I shot the better it got.

I don't weigh mine, have not for 3 years. I don't shoot competitition, or long range.
If you do, it may be worth it, for you.

For me it is not.

[dverna]

There is no one right answer. These are the questions

How good are you?
How good is the gun?
How good is your load?
What are you using them for?

[largom]

I weigh my boolits, I weigh my cases, I weigh my powder. Why? Because I enjoy making my ammo as perfect as possible. Does it help my shooting? Don't know, but
at my age and health I need all of the help I can get.

[Grmps]

some say if they are within 5% of the overall weight you won't notice any difference under X yards.

Do yourself a test, load 10 boolits using the same brass, primer, powder charge and seating depth of each weight.

shoot 3 different targets at the same distance and see what the variation (if any) is. then let the rest of us know what you found out.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

some say if they are within 5% of the overall weight you won't notice any difference under X yards.

Do yourself a test, load 10 boolits using the same brass, primer, powder charge and seating depth of each weight.

shoot 3 different targets at the same distance and see what the variation (if any) is. then let the rest of us know what you found out.

I did that.
Back when I first started casting 22 boolits...What a challenge casting those small boolits was, til I honed my casting technique.
Anyway, I had this new 5 cavity NOE 225-055 (RCBS clone) mold. I cast a pile of boolits, about 70% were wrinkly. So I sorted them visually, then weigh sorted them. The nice ones that weighed close enough got a GC and Lotak lube sized to .225 and then I grabbed a handfull of wrinkly boolits, not weigh sorted, tumble lubed with 45-45-10 and GC and sized to .225 then tumble lubed again.

I Loaded them in 223 cases and shot them in a old Savage 340 (I forget the load, doesn't really matter) the unweighed TL'd wrinkles made a 2" group at 100 yards and the weigh sorted perfect boolits with Lotak made a 3" group. I was pretty new to shooting castboolits in a rifle, I'm sure there were a number of things I could have improved on to tighten those groups...which also means that 2" or 3" ...under those circumstances, were literally the same.

[40sand9s]

I buy hornady 55 grain 223 for rifle but for pistol I don't bother to weigh individual boolits. I do however weigh the whole batch after a casting session, it gives me a sense of accomplishment

[Kraschenbirn]

What .30 cal. mold are you casting? Single or multiple cavity? I've got a couple of DC Lyman molds that drop slightly different weights from each cavity...like a 311041 that consistently drops 172 (+/- .2) from one cavity and 173 (+/- .2) from the other. Pretty much the same story - 265 gr. vs. 267 gr. from 30/1 - with an old Ohaus DC for my .38-55. On the other hand, I recently received a 3-cavity 190 gr. .30 cal. from Arsenal that. using #2 alloy, drops within .2 gr. from all three cavities. Considering that I load the 311041 only for an iron-sighted .30-30 levergun, I doubt if less than .5% variance in boolit weight is going to cause any significant accuracy issue.

Bill

[nun2kute]

Waddaya shoot'n Cowboys for ? Aintya got nuff Hogs in Texas to shoot at, ya gotta shoot at Cowboys too ? :kidding:

[303Guy]

My concern is hidden cavities. Hopefully, weighing the castings will reveal those cavities. But as has been said, hone ones casting technique, checking weights in the process then go for it.

[TXGunNut]

My casting technique is far from perfect but I've found that a visual inspection generally results in a variation of less than 3% (generally 2%) of boolit weight and that seems to deliver acceptable accuracy in my rifles...at least with me shooting them. I'll weigh the boolits destined for hunting loads in my bolt guns but my testing has proven that my lever guns and handguns simply aren't worth the fuss.

[robg]

I'm lazy ,if the bases are good and they weigh within 1% of each other I shoot them.

[pls1911]

After years of weighing and sorting slugs from an SAECO #316 for .30 cals, I've found that after initial start up, none from all four cavities varied more tan +/- .1 grain.
Now I cast a dozen or so throws after the bullets look fine, then cast 10 pounds of bullets without stopping. The result is always substantially less than "minute of pig" with very little hassle.

[SyberShooter]

I weigh them only looking for the really light outliers and separate the best +/- 1 gr together and everything else gets lumped in another pile for plinkers

[blue32]

vrh, I've read more than a few posts of rifle shooters who do that. What I'd like to know is if the standard deviation on paper (accuracy wise) is present to warrant your process of sorting by weight. Have you done a blind test of say ten rounds or so to your weighed lots? Not being critical. Just want to know if you're seeing a difference, and if so, how much.

[9.3X62AL]

98% of my rifle castings get the No. 1 Mk III eyeball exam throughout the process, and I am a kinda unforgiving of flaws I see on a bullet. I did scale some #225438 bullets for a 22 Hornet test series I ran in 2014, and shot some fairly impressive group sizes (10-shotters) at 100 and 200 yards. 9.0 grains of 2400, W-W cases, Rem 6-1/2 primers, Carnauba Red lube, .225" sizing. Velocity ran 2360-2415 FPS ES. At 100, groups ran 1.3" to 1.7", at 200 they ran 2.8" to 3.5".

I had bullets in 3 weight groups, 1% of mean weight (42.2 grains) as the standard--Group 1 (41.7 to 42.0); Group 2 (42.1 to 42.4); Group 3 (42.5 to 42.8). Group 3 bullets did the first grouping test. The next test used bullets taken from all three groups in equal numbers and loaded in the same fashion as the Group 3 bullets. Grouping at 100 and 200 yards was for all practical purposes identical to the more segregated bullets. FWIW.

[Three44s]

I would categorize by caliber.

In large bore handgun such as 41, 44, and my 480 I do a visual. The uglies go into two piles. The very ugly get reran and the less ugly are dirt cold busters.

I also do a middle grade of visual as well as a top grade.

So I end up with three shooter piles of boolits. The top or perfect grade are my hell freezes over slugs, the middle grade are for just bumming around and the lower grade for a charging dirt clod.

With a rifle I can see more exotic handling especially as the bore size shrinks. I have not gone below 25 caliber rifle and precious little of that thus far. My best rifle thus far is my cherished .338-06 and that was a piece of cake!

Three44s

[JBinMN]

Somewhere I read a topic/post by Larry Gibson about sorting by weight, but cannot remember where it is & I am too tired to look for it. AT least I think it was Mr. Gibson & about this subject.

In the post he describes how he tested something like a "bell curve" of boolit weights to see how the difference factors in a longer ranges in the firearm he was using. He may have been testing the firearm & just as an aside mentioned the process he used about sorting by weight with the boolits, but IIRC, he found some effect on the boolit grain weight but I do not remember either if it was of any significance or not in regard to the testsd he was doing.

{ I am tired & running with little sleep right now, so I am a bit "foggy" in my memory, it seems today}

Perhaps he will chime in here & say something about what he has experienced as well. { I think I know where I read it as I think about it, but I think it was in a different forum than this one & I am a bit uncomfortable with bringing it here to this forum.}

-----------
As far as my "opinion to comment here...

I weigh my rifle boolits and try to stay within a couple grains +/-. I currently only cast one mold for rifle & share it over to .308 & 30-06. I do not have enough experience using cast to know what effect it may have at long distance, but I do not shoot competitively & not as often as I used to or like, so I can't really say any more than the weight of the boolits doesn't concern me for my type of shooting right now to make it worthwhile to get too picky about what my rifle boolits weigh. When it comes to handgun, I also do not shoot competitively, but usually only shoot 25 yds or less, so I do not think it would make much difference. Now if I was to be shooting regularly with handgun at 50 yds +, then I might weigh those boolits.

I guess it is one of those, "do what ya like & don't worry about anyone else" deals, if you are not shooting competitively. Unless you are trying to "strive for perfection" for your own reasons.
I am picky with some things, but not "too" picky with things I don't think matter much for "me".

G'Luck!
:)

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

JB,
I believe you might be refering to one of goodsteel's posts?
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?224168-How-consistent-are-you-REALY
sadly, I don't know why the images don't work :(

[JBinMN]

JB,
I believe you might be refering to one of goodsteel's posts?
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?224168-How-consistent-are-you-REALY
sadly, I don't know why the images don't work :(

Yes, JonB, that may be one.

I also found it here at CB.GL forum in one of Mr. Gibsons posts as well:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?358896-Starting-out-a-project-with-a-308-Winchester&p=4345422&viewfull=1#post4345422

^ I made it a direct link to the post, so no searching to find it. ;)

Hopefully the pics & graphs work at this link above. They do for me anyway.

Thank you! JonB, for your help!
:)