bullet weight?

[rocketattack]

I've been reloaded for only 2 years. The gentleman that taught me how to reload taught me to measure measure measure measure. Weather it was the length of the casing, the weight of the powder or the weight of the projectile. I am reloading 10mm and I am using Hornady 180 grn HAP P/N 400421. I have chosen my charge weight at 7.8 grn. per Hornady manual 8th Edition. My question is should I be concerned about the projectile weight? As I weigh each projectile they do not weigh 180 grns. Out of 40 that I have weighed only 5 weigh 180 grn, 8 weigh more then 180 grn and the rest weigh less then 180 grn but more then 178 grn. To get the best accuracy from these rounds should I adjust my charge weight per projectile or is that being anal retentive?

[Misssissippi Dave]

It depends on what you are expecting from you load. If you are loading for a bulleye competition then you might want to match things up as close as possible to get the most consistant load.

For range ammo and general plinking most pistol reloaders won't even consider weighing each bullet. When I want pistol ammo to be more consistant I will buy bullets from places known to have consistancy in their product. I'm not going to worry about a couple of grains plus or minus. I may check a few and be done with it. I do like my power to measure as close as possible to the same each time. I use progressive presses and I'm not as concerned about only loading up ammo to make a single hole in the target all day long. I don't shoot that well. At times I do sort brass by head stamp. It makes the loading process quicker when every case is from the same company. Pistol cases normally don't stretch during the sizing process. Trimming all your revolver cases once does make crimping work better.

[Mike / Tx]

What I learned with my 10mm was that as long as your in the load range, the tiny bit above or below the noted weight of the bullet isn't going to be noticeable unless your shooting from a ransom rest. Most loads are going to have a variance to them regardless of how tight you tolerances are. Granted weighing every thing out to the last 100th of a grain will lesson that, but then you still ahve things like the shooter, which is the biggest issue. Then there is things like barrel fouling, powder residue, and other little things that will all add up to cause shot to shot variations in the loads.

My favorite load uses the 180gr Speer Gold Dot, but the 180gr Winchester bulk JHP's which range around what your talking about or more in weight, shoot just as good and have actually turned in a few tighter groups through the years. That said, when I am on my game I can easily shoot 2" or so groups with it at 50yds rested with either.

Bottom line is the powder your running will usually have more influence over the pistol than the tiny variations in bullet weight will. Stick with the slower powders like AA-9 or similar for the 180's and up and you should hit some good loads pretty quick.

[g.willikers]

If you're going to be concerned about a few grains of bullet weight, then you owe it to yourself to worry about case thickness variations, powder drop variations, bullet to case alignment, primer depth, case length............
Sorry - now, you'll never get a good nights sleep.