Meplat Uniforming Tool ?

JpSnareGuy · May 9, 2009, 04:40 PM

I know what they are, I just want to know how many of you use them.
Post your thought on the tool, what brands you prefer, if you think there is a need, etc. Thanks !

amamnn · May 9, 2009, 05:42 PM

I have one that I bought from Sinclair. Once I learned how to use it properly it did make a difference when shooting at distances where the BC of the typical (if there is such a thing) match bullet begins to fall off. When I use mass produced bullets like Bergers, I check them to see if meplats need trimming. Bergers are pretty good and usually only a few from a 100 count box would need to be trimmed. If your time is more valuable than a few dollars, and you shoot a 6mm, hand swagers like Don Lahr at Precision Ballistics can do all the work for you, and you can rely on the fact that each bullet is identical to its brother. I ordered my bullets from Don as they come from the die; I have the time and don't mind doing the meplats myself, but the darn things came pretty well perfect anyway.............. For reasons I won't go into, my shooting is limited these days to 200 yards and under, so I don't find much use for my meplat trimmer.

There are a few BR shooters who have bought into the latest version of the meplat pointing die, and will tell you how they got their bullet to impact 8" high at 1000 yards, but are silent on the subject of wind bucking which to me as a BR shooter shooting at fixed distances, is more important than trajectory. As long as you can uniform your bullets, with a meplat trimmer or a pointer, it does not matter whether your sighters were 8" higher than last match or not. Berger is doing some interesting work with dimpled bullets, which IMHO should have been explored when the news came out years ago that the navy and air force were coating submarines, torpedos, and airplanes with a roughened surface similar to sharkskin (the real shark) in order to reduce drag, which is one thing we want in order to fly a bullet straight. Additionally, while it is more important to fix the front of the bullet to help uniform BC, there is a widely ignored BC improvement at the other end in the form of the rebated boat tailed bullet, which has lately gotten some attention through the efforts of Corbin and Barret.

furtaker · May 9, 2009, 10:05 PM

What is a meplat? What does it do?

JpSnareGuy · May 10, 2009, 02:25 AM

A Meplat is technical term for the tip or nose of a bullet.

impalacustom · May 10, 2009, 04:31 AM

I have used Whiddens Tipping die and I can say it works, but if your not shooting more than 600yds it's not really worth the effort to do it. Tipping and meplat uniforming are 2 different things though, you uniform first and tip second. It is time consuming and yes it helps with the BC, it makes them much more uniform from bullet to bullet. I would recommend either the Whidden or Accuracy One, I believe Corbin has something too but not sure.

That dimpled bullet has been going around the net for a while now and it's a complete fake. Give Berger a call and ask for Eric and he will give you the in's and out's of doing it and anything you want to know about BC's.

F. Guffey · May 10, 2009, 04:46 AM

The flat or blunt end of the nose of a bullet. The French pronunciation "meh-PLAY" is seldom used.

http://www.cci-ammunition.com/educat...y/default.aspx

http://www.6mmbr.com/MCRmeplat.html

F. Guffey

TEDDY · May 10, 2009, 11:44 AM

whats the use of this operation.I shoot at 200 yds would it help me???

amamnn · May 10, 2009, 12:53 PM

There are short range BR shooters who trim meplats. I think most do not. Maybe Berger dropped out of the dimple project, but it's a real experiment. For a general discussion of it by some folks who were or are involved try the archives at benchrest.com. It's not exactly dimpling but a roughening of the surface like a shark skin...
There is a good discussion of the meplat pointing tools--new and old-- there as well, and on 6mmbr.com. I had one of the old ones, which as far as I can tell from looking at one of Whidden's that a local shooter bought, works just the same. The BC can be raised a tiny bit, which makes your trajectory a tiny bit flatter, a boon to snipers and varmint hunters, but for shooting at known and fixed distances, it does not make the purchase price worthwhile IMHO, since no data has been adduced in support of truly improved wind bucking through its use. I still have mine in a box somewhere, where I put it along with some other gadgets years ago. having not found it to be any real improvement over uniforming the bullets through culling and trimming. This was back in the 80's when I was regularly shooting 1000 yard BR.
These days for 200 yard shooting I never bother to even trim meplats, since I do not use mass produced bullets, except for Walt Berger's in one caliber. I don't think I would buy a meplat trimmer if I did not already have one. I still check all the bullets I buy for base to ogive and base to tip dimensions. I get so few culls that I just use them for sighters on practice days and to be honest I don't really see any difference in performance. Over 300 yards would be a different story........

May 9, 2009, 04:40 PM	#1
JpSnareGuy Member Join Date: December 18, 2008 Location: Everywhere Posts: 43	Meplat Uniforming Tool ? I know what they are, I just want to know how many of you use them. Post your thought on the tool, what brands you prefer, if you think there is a need, etc. Thanks !

May 9, 2009, 05:42 PM	#2
amamnn Senior Member Join Date: May 13, 2006 Location: WA, the left armpit of the USA Posts: 1,323	I have one that I bought from Sinclair. Once I learned how to use it properly it did make a difference when shooting at distances where the BC of the typical (if there is such a thing) match bullet begins to fall off. When I use mass produced bullets like Bergers, I check them to see if meplats need trimming. Bergers are pretty good and usually only a few from a 100 count box would need to be trimmed. If your time is more valuable than a few dollars, and you shoot a 6mm, hand swagers like Don Lahr at Precision Ballistics can do all the work for you, and you can rely on the fact that each bullet is identical to its brother. I ordered my bullets from Don as they come from the die; I have the time and don't mind doing the meplats myself, but the darn things came pretty well perfect anyway.............. For reasons I won't go into, my shooting is limited these days to 200 yards and under, so I don't find much use for my meplat trimmer. There are a few BR shooters who have bought into the latest version of the meplat pointing die, and will tell you how they got their bullet to impact 8" high at 1000 yards, but are silent on the subject of wind bucking which to me as a BR shooter shooting at fixed distances, is more important than trajectory. As long as you can uniform your bullets, with a meplat trimmer or a pointer, it does not matter whether your sighters were 8" higher than last match or not. Berger is doing some interesting work with dimpled bullets, which IMHO should have been explored when the news came out years ago that the navy and air force were coating submarines, torpedos, and airplanes with a roughened surface similar to sharkskin (the real shark) in order to reduce drag, which is one thing we want in order to fly a bullet straight. Additionally, while it is more important to fix the front of the bullet to help uniform BC, there is a widely ignored BC improvement at the other end in the form of the rebated boat tailed bullet, which has lately gotten some attention through the efforts of Corbin and Barret. __________________ "If the enemy is in range, so are you." - Infantry Journal

May 10, 2009, 11:44 AM	#7
TEDDY Junior member Join Date: December 10, 2006 Location: MANNING SC Posts: 837	meplat whats the use of this operation.I shoot at 200 yds would it help me???

May 10, 2009, 12:53 PM	#8
amamnn Senior Member Join Date: May 13, 2006 Location: WA, the left armpit of the USA Posts: 1,323	There are short range BR shooters who trim meplats. I think most do not. Maybe Berger dropped out of the dimple project, but it's a real experiment. For a general discussion of it by some folks who were or are involved try the archives at benchrest.com. It's not exactly dimpling but a roughening of the surface like a shark skin... There is a good discussion of the meplat pointing tools--new and old-- there as well, and on 6mmbr.com. I had one of the old ones, which as far as I can tell from looking at one of Whidden's that a local shooter bought, works just the same. The BC can be raised a tiny bit, which makes your trajectory a tiny bit flatter, a boon to snipers and varmint hunters, but for shooting at known and fixed distances, it does not make the purchase price worthwhile IMHO, since no data has been adduced in support of truly improved wind bucking through its use. I still have mine in a box somewhere, where I put it along with some other gadgets years ago. having not found it to be any real improvement over uniforming the bullets through culling and trimming. This was back in the 80's when I was regularly shooting 1000 yard BR. These days for 200 yard shooting I never bother to even trim meplats, since I do not use mass produced bullets, except for Walt Berger's in one caliber. I don't think I would buy a meplat trimmer if I did not already have one. I still check all the bullets I buy for base to ogive and base to tip dimensions. I get so few culls that I just use them for sighters on practice days and to be honest I don't really see any difference in performance. Over 300 yards would be a different story........ __________________ "If the enemy is in range, so are you." - Infantry Journal

May 9, 2009, 10:05 PM	#3
furtaker Senior Member Join Date: February 27, 2009 Posts: 119	What is a meplat? What does it do?

May 10, 2009, 02:25 AM	#4
JpSnareGuy Member Join Date: December 18, 2008 Location: Everywhere Posts: 43	A Meplat is technical term for the tip or nose of a bullet.

May 10, 2009, 04:31 AM	#5
impalacustom Senior Member Join Date: January 26, 2009 Posts: 492	I have used Whiddens Tipping die and I can say it works, but if your not shooting more than 600yds it's not really worth the effort to do it. Tipping and meplat uniforming are 2 different things though, you uniform first and tip second. It is time consuming and yes it helps with the BC, it makes them much more uniform from bullet to bullet. I would recommend either the Whidden or Accuracy One, I believe Corbin has something too but not sure. That dimpled bullet has been going around the net for a while now and it's a complete fake. Give Berger a call and ask for Eric and he will give you the in's and out's of doing it and anything you want to know about BC's.

May 10, 2009, 04:46 AM	#6
F. Guffey Senior Member Join Date: July 18, 2008 Posts: 7,249	The flat or blunt end of the nose of a bullet. The French pronunciation "meh-PLAY" is seldom used. http://www.cci-ammunition.com/educat...y/default.aspx http://www.6mmbr.com/MCRmeplat.html F. Guffey