Weighing bullets

Discussions of powders, bullets and loading information.

Moderators: Kirk, Lucinda

Coltsmoke
Posts: 1513
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2010 8:55 am
Location: GA.

Re: Weighing bullets

Post by Coltsmoke »

Wow!! Dave, you should have weighed the 5 that went out. Just think what could have happened. :idea: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Normal isn't coming back, but Jesus is.
SchuetzenDave
Posts: 864
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2013 9:07 am
Location: St. Albert, Alberta

Re: Weighing bullets

Post by SchuetzenDave »

Wind was blowing 45 degrees across the range and the flags were out 30 degrees off the staff.
From my target you can see I was having elevation problems.
I called the left right windage but did not get the slight velocity changes that put five bullets a little more than halfway outside the bullseye ring.
The bullet weights never had an effect but the shooter's judgement of wind velocity did.
hepburnman
Posts: 111
Joined: Tue Nov 09, 2010 10:39 am

Re: Weighing bullets

Post by hepburnman »

I too have been in the Silhouette sport for many years but still use a lot of the traditional reloading practices because it is perhaps more convenient, and perhaps safer, to keep doing them. I still weight all my bullets, shoot them in weight-order, index my bullets to the case, case to the chamber, etc. Could I discontinue some of these practices without affecting my scores? Maybe. However, the testing that would prove one way or the other, is extremely difficult to do if one does not have the near-perfect environment to conduct these tests. By near perfect what I mean is a range without wind or lighting effects, etc. Because the sport of Silhouette is fairly long range things that can make a difference may not show up until say, 300 yards and beyond. I have tried testing at 300 meters and each time, although I was seeing some great accuracy potential, there would be too many variables occurring for me to test fine changes in reloads. Wind and lighting were big factors. While I tried my best to compensate I could not reduce effects that would move the next shot. Just seeing holes in the target at long distances can be a big issue.

I try to do my bullet casting before the start of a new season and try to get this done over a series of days, casting about 175 bullets each day. These sessions in the past have been in my garage with the door partially open for ventilation and a fan below across my face to carry away the lead fumes. I was typically doing these sessions on fairly cold days where the temps could be 25 to 30 F. These environmental effects meant that bullets casted one day could be averaging different weights from other days. I would cast up to almost 500 bullets from these sessions. Once finished I weigh each bullet and group them in groups where the bullets varying by about 0.2 - 0.3 grains. Once finished weighing all bullets I then put them in Styrofoam bullet trays where they are arranged from the heaviest to the lightest bullet. Some bullets that are too on the light side are discarded.

These are my practices. Can't say they are the best but seem to give me good results and confidence that a miss is my fault and less of a chance that there's something wrong with my ammo. I also ensure sure that all my bullet bases are sharp and that the lube bands are well filled out and there are no wrinkles and significant dross stuck in the sides of the bullets. I inspect the base of each bullet as its casted by using a gloved finger to roll it a bit after dropping it onto a padded towel.
bruce m
Posts: 3350
Joined: Tue Aug 04, 2009 5:25 am
Location: australia

Re: Weighing bullets

Post by bruce m »

good post hepburnman.
if all is good, perhaps indexing could be done away with.
at longer ranges you can really only go by vertical, but light and change of windspeed and direction. can affect this too.
bruce.
ventum est amicus meus
Post Reply