culling cast boolits

[rdwarrior]

Hey everyone,
I am having a bit of brain fog today. I cast some 120 gr, 149 gr, and 255 gr boolits today for .38 spcl. 40 S&w and 45 colt. I culled them by fill out and weight. I discarded any that were outside +/- 1%. Is that correct or should I have gone +/- 10%. Please help this old man get my head back on straight.
rdwarrior

[megasupermagnum]

That's really up to you. 1% of a 120 grain is 1.2 grains. That seems a reasonable window. 10% would be extreme, and would certainly be a major visual defect.

[la5676]

Never gone quite that drastic with culling. Mine was mostly cosmetic, ie., good flat bases, no inclusions in rest of bullet body, etc. To answer your question about 10%, I really doubt you ever see that much difference in any of those weights you mention above, unless, like I said about, the bullet isn't filled out completely, and then cosmetic culling will be sufficient. And a 25 grain drop is a heck of a cavity in your bullet that ain't there.

My two pesos

[mattw]

Bench bullets get sorted by .2 grains, pistol by appearance.

[DAFzipper]

For pistol bullets if they look good to me I load them. I've weighed in the past but didn't notice enough of a difference in accuracy to continue.

Sent from my LG-H700 using Tapatalk

[Misery-Whip]

Visual inspection only. Again when sizing. Any extra force in the sizer and they get culled.

[dragon813gt]

Pistol, visual only. Rifle, visual and weight. Doesn’t take long to weight sort. The lighter the bullet the less the variation that’s acceptable. It’s why I hate casting 22 caliber bullets. They pretty much have to be cast perfectly.

[DonHowe]

When it comes to "culling" bullets I don't plink so I don't keep plinking bullets, except for foulers. I do not mean this to be condescending so please do not take it that way. I just seem to be always casting for hunting or competition, rifle and pistol. And, well, that's just how my mind works.
I am pretty ruthless in sorting pistol bullets but visually only. When I started casting rifle bullets for match shooting I took the same approach then weighed each each bullet. First I sorted into +/- .1 grain groups. When I mentioned this to an acquaintance who worked at Sinclair International he said, "That's better than Sierra Matchkings." That conversation stuck with me. Some math showed what a tiny percentage of 400 grains 1 grain actually is. So I settled on .5 grain spread.

[DHDeal]

Visual inspection while casting. When I open the sprue plate and see a base that isn't perfect, I'll drop that one off to one side of my bullet box or if I can, into my sprue pan. I'll inspect again when I count the total. I will weigh a few just to compare, but when the temp of alloy and mold is where I like it, the weights are so close that the bullets will all be acceptable.

I've found that perfect appearing bullets will be so close to the same weight as to not matter.

[LenH]

I visually inspect while sizing. Rounded bases or any imperfections go into the cull container. I never got into the weighing of bullets but probably should for
rifle, pistol not so much.

[Land Owner]

Depends (handguns)...

...for plinking, even the wrinkled will do.

...for accuracy, 1% - 2% range.

...for Home Defense - ALL will do at room distances.

[reloader28]

Visual inspection for rifle and pistol bullets at the pot.
Rifles up to 30 cal I usually weight sort into groups when I'm working up a load, after that I only do half time.
Above 30 cal rifles and all pistol I dont bother. Just aint seen the need with my consistancy usually

[charlie b]

Basically same as above. I don't shoot competition. I shoot pistol only to remain confident that I can hit a target at 25yd or less. I never weighed pistol bullets, just visual.

Rifle bullets I want less than MOA out to longer ranges. I visually inspect as I cast. Then I weigh and toss back anything outside 2gn of my goal weight. Then I size and lube/coat. Weigh again and sort by 0.1gn

[RogerDat]

I'm visually cull and by feel when sizing. I get concerned if I don't see concentric sizing or consistent sizing. On surfaces being sized a blemish shows up as a wider or narrower "scuffed" area.

I don't want to make bad bullets but don't shoot competition or long range as a rule so just not worth it in general. I also only have beam scales. Would have to buy a digital to make bullet weighing practical.

Maybe one of these days I'll pursue that step but I still have loads to develop for hollow point revolver bullets and 308 and shotgun hulls to pattern and.... yeah weighing bullets is on the list since some swear it makes a difference but will only happen if the bigger bang for time jobs happen and my vision holds up long enough to make greater bullet accuracy a determining factor in grouping.

[mdi]

Weird guy here? I usually sort visually for fill out, square corners, etc. but I often measure the diameter of a bunch out of each batch. Occasionally an undersize boolit shows up...

[Bazoo]

I roll the bullets on an old shirt when visually inspecting. Bands that aren't filled out get rejected. Anything with an inclusion gets rejected. I don't weigh them though. Maybe if I get into making tight groups I will, but for now the bullets I make are acceptable for my shooting.

[kevin c]

Just visual inspection as I cast pistol boolits in volume whose use doesn't need tack driving accuracy.

My MP molds drop eight at a time that I can examine in the drop zone as the next pour cools in the mold, which then get cleared for the next eight. Once I get in the right cadence, the inspection becomes more cursory, as I know by seeing the right degree of light matte frosting that the slugs will be surface defect free and very uniform in weight.

[Rizzo]

I seem to be always testing different cast bullets with different loads and powders.
I want to maximize accuracy so I cull those that have obvious visual imperfections, then weigh them to cherry pick the ones that weigh the same to be used in a group that will be shot.

After weighing I can see what the variation is so I determine then what I won't use.
I'm probably to anal about this but recently I cast some 158 grain bullets and ended up choosing groups that were the same weight or within.1-.2 grains.

I do this to minimize any flyers.
I'm talking about rifle shooting.

I read an article about weighing cast bullets and it was stated that the heavier bullets were better filled out without any unseen voids that some of the lighter bullets probably have.

It's pretty interesting to see the weight difference on, say, 100 cast bullets after culling the bad ones.
If you chart them all out you will see a bell shaped curve of the different weights.

I only do this when I'm load developing.
After a load is developed I do not do that and just plink away.

[Shopdog]

The more "intense" the purpose,the more they get checked. If the load is a well behaved,balanced middle of the road type,I'll even shoot some lite wrinkles.

The reason for the post is however... and this is just how I do it,not preaching;

On new rifle barrels,the reason I use a "breaking in" regiment isn't so much about the barrel's machining as it is,getting a handle on that particular barrel's likes N dislikes WRT fouling/cleaning.Also use this time to fire form cases,and a cpl other things. Well,it's the same way with a new mould and "culling". I'm way more picky on a new mould because of it "breaking in",and trying to find what,or how it's going to "throw",down the road. Out of roundness seems to be a lot like factory barrels.... luck of the draw. But if you're chasing bugholes,the more round the bullet is,prior to sizing,well... your "odds" go up exponentially. So being real "picky" early on can eliminate right much tail chasing. Not that I won't find a use for a little oval'ness mould but know it's going to have certain limitations on an intensity scale. Furthermore,while it's a safe bet you have a better chance for perfection with a "custom" mould,some of my most round moulds are Lee's....

[Winger Ed.]

Unless your loading up to compete for the Bianchi Cup--- I'd just shoot 'em.

[fredj338]

I only weigh bullets for extreme accuracy, like for my hunting rigs. I do, cull bullets on base appearence. Poor bases rately shoot well, throw more fliers than +/- 5gr.

[Patrick L]

I sort mostly just visual. The main thing I look at is the base. I want a nice, crisp, well filled base. I'll accept visual flaws on the nose or base that many probably wouldn't, especially on pistol bullets, because in my experience those bullets will still shoot better than most people can shoot them.

I do, however, weight sort the bullets I use in Highpower into batches of exactly the same weight, color coded with a sharpie. I generally keep all the bullets in a 1 1/2 grain range for my season supply. That means about 500 bullets for each gun.

I shoot an 03A3 Springfield, and a .223 Howa that I set up for that game. We shoot the NRA reduced course, which is scaled targets at 100 yards (simulating 300 and 600.) There is some offhand, and rapid fire sitting and prone, and for those stages, like I say my shooting ability is far more of a determining factor than bullets. However, for the final 20 round prone slowfire stage, I do like the fact that the bullets are all the same weight. In my mind at least, it's one less thing to worry about.

The funny thing is, I've all but proven to myself (through repeated testing; I've been shooting cast for score since '96!) that even in the prone slowfire stage it really doesn't matter, yet I continue to sort. Call it superstition, game day ritual, whatever. I think it was the late, great Jim Clark Sr. that said, "If you think it matters, it matters!" He was talking about the head games we all play.

As for my method, its pretty simple. An electronic scale makes short work of it. I have compartmentalized trays that I sort into, then I put a colored stripe on the nose of each weight, and then gascheck and lubesize each batch, and pack them base down into my storage boxes. I generally load the ammo from lightest to heaviest over the course of the season, and shoot it the same way. The loaded ammo goes stored base down also, so the color on the nose is always visible.

[gwpercle]

Handgun shooting , a good close eyeballing for visible defects will do it .
You can spend way too much time weighing and sorting when you could be shooting .

My advice ...If It Looks Good , Shoot It !
Gary

[fredj338]

Handgun shooting , a good close eyeballing for visible defects will do it .
You can spend way too much time weighing and sorting when you could be shooting .

My advice ...If It Looks Good , Shoot It !
Gary

^^THIS^^^ The avg shooter can't offhand hold 2" at 25y so bullet wt isn't the issue. The only reason I weigh hunting bullets is to find any possible inclusions that would destabilize my bullets. Shooting out to 100-150y, I want the best bullet I can get. A 270gr bullet that varies more than +/- 5gr probably has an inclusion in it.

[kmw1954]

Chirp, chirp.

I am still relatively new to casting as I've only been at this about 8 months so I don't know how valid my opinions are. Being as I am still learning this craft I first do a visual inspection for fill-out, inclusions and heavy frosting. Then I am still weighing and sorting bullets but then I am probably only dropping a couple hundred at a time. So that doesn't take a terrible amount of time.

Basically what I am looking for when I weigh check is to establish what the mold is dropping with my alloy and how consistent is my casting. With this information I have been able to determine that my casting is getting better and much more consistent and I have also been recording the mean weight of the mold with each alloy.

The alloys I have been using are straight COWW, range scrap and range scrap with 10% linotype added. I have also been able to determine that the range scrap is pretty consistent when using the pencil hardness test.

[Billwnr]

I approach inspecting rifle and handgun bullets different ways. Rifle; I visual inspect and weight sort all bullets. That IDs ones with hidden defects. I cull ones to the left side of the bell curve. This is after a visual inspection. Handgun; I've shot a lot of crap looking bullets and find it hard to tell the difference between perfect bullets and crap bullets at 25 yards. Further distances visual inspection and culling will benefit. On shooting crap bullets at 25 yards this is OMHO.

[Hanzy4200]

I've never weight culled a cast bullet. Unless it has a blemish to a bearing surface it's going down the bore. No offense, but if you are going that far, you mayhave a case of the OCD. Nasty stuff that.

[charlie b]

I've never weight culled a cast bullet. Unless it has a blemish to a bearing surface it's going down the bore. No offense, but if you are going that far, you mayhave a case of the OCD. Nasty stuff that.

Depends on your accuracy goals. When I shoot cast from my rifles I want sub MOA accuracy at 300yd or more. It does take a lot more care to get that kind of load with cast bullets.

If you just need 'minute of deer' at 100 yd then you are right. I can hit a paper plate with just about any bullet I cast at 100yd.

[pworley1]

I look for flat bases sharp grooves and no wrinkles. Once the mold and melt are at the right temperature there will be very few culls.

[Gobeyond]

I've never weight culled a cast bullet. Unless it has a blemish to a bearing surface it's going down the bore. No offense, but if you are going that far, you mayhave a case of the OCD. Nasty stuff that.

Perfectionism is for those who can handle it or who have very narrow window to travel through. Like a two inch group at five hundred yards. I an basically a plinker, but I like to hit stuff. I can’t see making bullets and throwing too many back. I’ve gone as far as 25%. I cull the ugliest of them. Some they will size out and shoot well enough.

[metricmonkeywrench]

Like many others visual up front for everything listed above. As I’m not consistent with my lead alloys (my own issue) bullet weight does vary in the bulk storage box.

When it comes time to size/lube after the bullet rest/stabilize time I will weigh to stay within 1-2g for both rifle and pistol with more allowable variation based on the weight of the bullet. This clears anything with non visible inclusions and keeps the shooting lot consistent within the box.

[Harter66]

I'm in the look for the flaws camp .

My definition of flaws has changed as I've changed my needs .

After I dump the obvious junk , about 15-25% of a session , I have what seems to be a tiny little gap of over under , some moulds make it a lot easier . The H&G 8c #130 drops 8 when running from 195.8-196.4 . There's an AL 3c NOE .461-535 , 2 loads of alloy I get 533.8 to 535.6 . If I can keep everything just so with the assorted 150-260 gr Lee 6c I can hold 4-6 gr and some days I do better , some not so much .

I'm not a competitive shooter ....... except maybe with myself .
Everything is tooled to the hunt and if I'm loading for business it's possible that I'm almost as picky as a match shooter maybe more . I want 1 gr over 200 gr and a half down to 100 gr , <.2 for the 22 cal most of which are 55&62 gr .

I'm told 2% is close enough .....so .4 on 50 gr , 2 gr on 100 , 4 gr on 200 , and a whopping 10.6 for the 535s . I can't imagine knowingly loading a bullet in 45-70 or 458 WM that's someplace between 530&540 gr but somehow 99-101 seems ok in a 25 cal where load data is different from 115-117 gr jackets.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I consider expected distance to target and whether casual or competition. The longer the range, the more critical the selection. Inside 25 yards, most bullets will do. At 200 yards, selection is more important. I do a visual inspection, if I can see a wrinkle or defect it does not get used. Usually I go with a +/- of a grain, that is - less than 2 grains from heavy to light, sorting into similar groups within that range for 100 yards or farther..

[35 Rem]

I do a visual test for complete fillout by spinning each bullet in my hand and that's it. Having never bought a digital scale, weight sorting individual bullets on a balance beam is not something I'd want to even consider. :) This has worked for me for all my handgun and rifle shooting for many years.

[mac60]

Visually for wrinkles/defects, flat/square corners on base then pick 10 at random and weigh for average so I can set my powder charge accordingly. I don't get too fancy with it.

[jdgabbard]

For me... I'm getting more relaxed about it as I get older. I used to only keep perfect boolits. Now, I toss the first 2-3 pours, and keep everything after that unless it has a major defect (like an obvious deformity). I don't worry about wrinkles or minor fill-out issues. I powder coat now, so most of these imperfections get covered up and are not as noticeable. For me, less time in front of the pot, and more time at the bench/range is what is important. Plus, I've started buying my newer molds oversized, so I no longer have to worry about fill-out causing issues with final boolit size. If you buy a .359" mold even less than optimum pour will get you .358"....