weighing and measuring.

[CarbonMTN]

how many of you are weighing each .22 bullet on either a beam scale or a digital scale to try to get the most accurate groups?

A also read somewhere a while back that you can use digital calipers to measure rim thickness to measure the rim.

help inform me on the myths and facts!

 

[billmeek]

Not worth my time from what I've read. I'd rather spend some additional money on better ammo and use that time to shoot more.

 

[justin amateur]

Ohhhhhhh boy....my OCD just lit up to level 10.

Measuring rimfire cartridges to improve accuracy.
Y'er gonna need some tools.
Precision calipers and a digital scale accurate to the thousandth of a gram.
And something to measure the rims consistently.
I like empty 223 brass.
Measure the 223 case first and record.
Drop the 22lr into the 223 and measure the combined length.
Subtract the 223 length and you have a consistent rim measurement.

Don't just measure rims, take the time to do it right.
Set up a table on a couple sheets of paper.
Use a sharpie to number the cartridges 1 through however many you do.
Record the data alongside each cartridge identifier.
Measure:
Overall cartridge length
Rim diameter
Rim thickness
Brass diameter next to the rim
Brass diameter next to the case mouth
Bullet diameter at the drive bands
Bullet weight

Do this for each and every cartridge.
More data allows better analysis.

Now that you have all those numbers, there's one more thing.
Visual inspection for cartridge defects.
If the cartridge/bullet is bent, remove from the lineup, it'll stray no matter what you do.
If the nose of the bullet is dented or dinged or scratched, remove from the lineup, it'll stray no matter what you do.
If the drive bands are irregular, smeared, damaged, tilted, remove from the lineup, it'll stray no matter what you do.
If there is any visible damage or problems with the brass, remove from the lineup, it'll stray no matter what you do.
Now that those cartridges with visible defects have been removed, those that are left, are worth testing.

Ya' know, maybe, it might be more efficient to cull the defective cartridges before doing all that measuring, eh?

Assuming you have any cartridges left.

Wise ass? Who? Me?

 

[Hoser]

I tried that a couple times. Sorted by rim thickness and weight.

Didnt do squat for me if I missed a wind change.

 

[justin amateur]

If you really want to get into it, dissect a few cartridges. Weigh the powder, weigh the bullet, weigh the brass,
remove the primer and weigh the brass again. Powder amounts are usually very consistent.
Primer amounts vary more than the powder, and are visibly different cartridge to cartridge, especially in US made rimfire.
Those primer variations can cause hefty differences in mv and vertical spread.

 

[WadeKow]

I was thinking about doing it but, have yet too. I found the following while looking into it though, it may or may not be worth looking into.

Amazon.com : Raven Eye Custom Rimfire Rim Thickness Gauge for 22LR : Gateway

Amazon.com : Raven Eye Custom Rimfire Rim Thickness Gauge for 22LR : Gateway

www.amazon.com

 

[justin amateur]

If y'er gonna do it as a learning experience, knock y'erself out.
If you expect an improvement in the results due to the measuring, y'er gonna be disappointed.
What you can measure on the exterior of the cartridge will not quantify the internal problems.
If the nose of the bullet is beat to heck, the heel will be also.
When y'er bullet heel is asymmetric, results on target will be unsatisfactory.
When the primer amounts are different the vertical spread will increase.
Damaged bullets will not produce consistent trajectories. You get unpredictable strays.
If you need a hobby and are OCD, it's a good way to kill a few evenings measuring
and a few range trips shooting the sorted cartridges.

 

[RackOpsTactical]

So far my tests have not been able to prove that sorting in any category is correlated to performance in rimfire. check it out here