The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The Skunkworks > Handloading, Reloading, and Bullet Casting

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old January 15, 2006, 08:48 PM   #1
Schmeisser
Member
 
Join Date: November 14, 2005
Location: San Francisco, CA
Posts: 52
Sorting by weight

For the development of a new load I am for the first time sorting cases & bullets by weight. I simply took the required number of brass and bullets out of the middle of the Bell curve +/- 1%. But this can't be the professional way of doing it.

I'm wondering therefore,
- what is the most practical way to sort brass & bullets by weight?
- what do you do with the remainder on the left and right side of the Bell curve? Toss it?

Thank you for sharing your expertise.
Schmeisser is offline  
Old January 15, 2006, 09:17 PM   #2
caz223
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 15, 2002
Location: Michigan
Posts: 1,429
A little background info....
What caliber are you loading for?
What are you trying to achieve by weighing your cases?
What headstamp are your cases?
__________________
I'm not just a gun.
I'm YOUR gun.
(Hold me.)
caz223 is offline  
Old January 15, 2006, 11:33 PM   #3
Leftoverdj
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 15, 2004
Posts: 934
It ain't something I would bother with for anything other than benchrest or the upper levels of military match competition.
Leftoverdj is offline  
Old January 15, 2006, 11:45 PM   #4
Jim Watson
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 25, 2001
Location: Alabama
Posts: 18,492
I went through 500 .223 cases for target shooting. About 45% were in the 45% in the 95.0-95.9 grain range and are my match brass. Another 45% were in the 94.0-94.9 grain range and are my spares for when the first batch shows wear. The few 96+ were for my new barrel break-in and rough sight-in. I'll probably just drop the sub-95s in with some odds and ends for plinking in the Ruger.
Jim Watson is offline  
Old January 16, 2006, 01:05 PM   #5
Schmeisser
Member
 
Join Date: November 14, 2005
Location: San Francisco, CA
Posts: 52
@ Caz223:

I am reloading the .308 Federal GMM cases (all same lot) which I have collected over the past months. My aim is to duplicate the factory ammo. To start with, the test loads should all be comparable and as precise as possible. A laboratory test, so to speak. When it comes to mass production, I'll follow Jim Watson's practice. Sounds very sensible.
Schmeisser is offline  
Old January 17, 2006, 03:11 AM   #6
T. O'Heir
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 13, 2002
Location: Canada
Posts: 12,453
"...duplicate the factory ammo..." Don't. Work up a load for your rifle. The whole point of reloading is to load and shoot the most accurate ammo for your rifle. Not to duplicate generic factory ammo.
T. O'Heir is offline  
Old January 17, 2006, 12:32 PM   #7
Schmeisser
Member
 
Join Date: November 14, 2005
Location: San Francisco, CA
Posts: 52
I fully agree with you, T. O'Heir - but .308 GMM is "the" ammo for my rifle and handloading is fun and saves my $$$.
Schmeisser is offline  
Old January 17, 2006, 02:11 PM   #8
30Cal
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 3, 2002
Posts: 1,264
Quote:
It ain't something I would bother with for anything other than benchrest or the upper levels of military match competition.
There's a great story on www.jarheadtop.com about how Boots Obermeyer went through and sorted first brass and bullets by weight, individually weighed each charge, then weighed the assembled rounds from heaviest to lightest (which should give you the most consistant POI as the day warms up--the heavier cartridges will have slightly higher pressures/velcities). He shot a fantastic score at 600yds only to find out the ammo he'd just fired were the practice rounds he'd built from the culls and the nice stuff had been left at home.

Ty
30Cal is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:33 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.03695 seconds with 10 queries