Weighing bullets

[Dildobaggins]

Not finding much on the subject, so it's probably a stupid question, but those are the only kind I ask.

Took 4 different brands of bullets.
Hornady
Sierra
Speer

98 percent weighed within .01-.02 grains of the said bullet weight. The other 2 percent were .03-.05. Would sorting them actually make a difference with that little weight variation? Or just take out the real bad ones that are .03 or more.

If you're curious most accurate weights were Sierra, followed by Hornady, and then speer.

Thanks fellas

 

[spife7980]

Unless you’re doing benchrest comps I wouldn’t worry about weight sorting match bullets from major manufactures.

I haven’t made any positive conclusions for myself when I’ve tried it but usually that’s because I’m attempting to make a poor bullet/barrel combination work grasping at straws.

 

[moaorbust]

I weigh my Sierra 175 Match Kings. I get weights from 174.75 up to 175.25. Most seem to be in the middle of the bell curve where you expect 174.90-175.10. I save the highest and lowest weights for 100yd practice and establishing zero. Can I really tell the difference on steel at 600 yards with weights between -.25 and +.25? I would be lying if I said yes. I figure with all the time and expense, especially at today’s prices, I want my reloads rock solid for peace of mind.

 

[Dildobaggins]

Unless you’re doing benchrest comps I wouldn’t worry about weight sorting match bullets from major manufactures.

I haven’t made any positive conclusions for myself when I’ve tried it but usually that’s because I’m attempting to make a poor bullet/barrel combination work grasping at straws.

View attachment 8036102

Good info! I'll probably end up doing this once I find the bullet my gun likes and buy in bulk.

 

[hafejd30]

For my fclass gun I sorted 1000 of my Berger 180 vld. I weighted them initially and weeded out the very few that were slightly off from the others. Overall weight was very consistent. Then sorted them by base to ogive or surface area which requires two comparators.

When sorting I believe base to ogive the Berger were 99% within .005” in length. Sierra matchkings we’re very good as well. Hornady AMAX I think I used (was a few years ago) we’re .017” difference in a box of 100 bullets. Clearly came off two machines in the box I had.

For my normal stuff I just run Berger, SMK or for hunting run Hornady ELDX which were much tighter tolerances than the AMAX I had

I would only sort for benchrest or fclass where controlling your vertical dispersion can make a difference

 

[TheOfficeT-Rex]

I hear it's now in vouge to sort by bullet OAL.

I tried that and saw no difference at 100 yards. Unless you're chasing score, pointing, or really bored, it's not worth the time IME.

 

[mtrmn]

I've only weight sorted some bulk FMJ's to see if it made a difference in my group sizes. As far as I could tell it did make a very visible difference. But these 145gr bulk bullets had a range of ~+/- .8gr. That's not .08gr. The difference in my groups was significant enough to matter if I was really going for the gold, but I only did this to eliminate variables while looking for the best powder charge for my 308 blaster ammo. Once I settled on a load, I no longer sorted bullets.
When I moved on to quality bullets for other uses, the weight variance was so small I decided it wasn't worth pursuing further.

 

[supercorndogs]

Unless you’re doing benchrest comps I wouldn’t worry about weight sorting match bullets from major manufactures.

I haven’t made any positive conclusions for myself when I’ve tried it but usually that’s because I’m attempting to make a poor bullet/barrel combination work grasping at straws.

View attachment 8036102

You too eh.. Thats about the only time I start dong things like turning necks, weighing cases and bullets, or measuring BTO. Although i think after measuring BTO on some of those 70RDF blems, I think I figured out why i couldn't get them to shoot. Then sometimes you put 5 bullets all the same in the mag by chance, and get a great group.

 

[BuildingConceptsllc]

Not finding much on the subject, so it's probably a stupid question, but those are the only kind I ask.

Took 4 different brands of bullets.
Hornady
Sierra
Speer

98 percent weighed within .01-.02 grains of the said bullet weight. The other 2 percent were .03-.05. Would sorting them actually make a difference with that little weight variation? Or just take out the real bad ones that are .03 or more.

If you're curious most accurate weights were Sierra, followed by Hornady, and then speer.

Thanks fellas

I don't do this anymore but I have weighed Berger, Hornady, and Sierra bullets and the bergers were most consistent for sure. However, there was a whole lot more variation than .03gr!! Are you sure you are typing this correctly, or is your scale broken or what? If Hornady was that close I would still be shooting them.

 

[Dildobaggins]

I don't do this anymore but I have weighed Berger, Hornady, and Sierra bullets and the bergers were most consistent for sure. However, there was a whole lot more variation than .03gr!! Are you sure you are typing this correctly, or is your scale broken or what? If Hornady was that close I would still be shooting them.

Shit! .3 grains. I added a zero. I weighed a box of 100 Hornady match 105 bthp last night and they were all 105, 104.9. so I didn't bother to sort them.

 

[CK1.0]

For shits and giggles, I've tried sorting by weight, base to ogive, and both...

For PRS-style shooting out to 1250 yards, I'd say it doesn't really matter much. For F-class and/or ELR-type stuff..? Arguably, maybe.

I don't think one would see any discernable difference at 100 yards, likely not even until out past 600 when BC starts to take over vs MV.

 

[BuildingConceptsllc]

Shit! .3 grains. I added a zero. I weighed a box of 100 Hornady match 105 bthp last night and they were all 105, 104.9. so I didn't bother to sort them.

Yeah I figured that's what happened. Not trying to nit pick you or anything. I don't think the Hornady ELDM I sorted and weighed was that close though still. I want to say it was more like 1.00 grains or more . Maybe I had a bad lot. It's been a while

 

[alamo5000]

Not finding much on the subject, so it's probably a stupid question, but those are the only kind I ask.

Took 4 different brands of bullets.
Hornady
Sierra
Speer

98 percent weighed within .01-.02 grains of the said bullet weight. The other 2 percent were .03-.05. Would sorting them actually make a difference with that little weight variation? Or just take out the real bad ones that are .03 or more.

If you're curious most accurate weights were Sierra, followed by Hornady, and then speer.

Thanks fellas

This subject was talked about on some recent podcasts. Back in the 1950s manufacturing had much less precision and a lot more tolerances. Hence back then sorting would make a huge difference.

Now, as you have noted they are pretty close so sorting has less of a total impact than before.

If you have some specific need to sort then go for it, but in general you are wasting your time.