Re: Why so many Hornady fans?
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 300winman</div><div class="ubbcode-body">smks are closer in weight therefor are more consistant. i shoot more sierra and berger for that reason than any other projectile. however to some shooters won't notice a difference </div></div>
Interesting perspective and not totally without merit, though mostly incomplete. Note the equation below and keep in mind how important seating depth can be in certain rifles.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: gams100459</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Hey,
I'm so curious as to why so many people love Hornady bullets??
I know terminal performance is very good, and they say the b.c. is very good. But has anyone ever weighed a box of 168 gr. 30 cal projectiles? Well i have, from 166.8- 169.1. To me that is unacceptable for a precision application. Just for s____ & giggles, weigh a box of sierra 168's, + - .3 grains max>
Gam </div></div>
Do you have multiple box data on the SMK's or even 1 box from 2 different lots to see how they compare?
Here's another test to do too: Measure base to ogive of a box of SMK's and Hornady's. See which one has a consistent measurement of +/-0.005" and which one varies wildly. When you're seating specifically near the lands to a set point, this is a big deal. SMK's lose the game here.
To see how much that really matters on bullet weight variation here's the formula to predict the velocity change
Actual Weight/Mean Weight = Actual Velocity/Mean Velocity.
So your outliers @ 2700fps would be:
166.9/168 = x/2700 ---> 2682.3 fps
169.1/168*2700 = 2717 fps
ES = 34 on bullet weight variation. I'd be surprised if on a 100 shot sample your reloads with SMK's had an ES under 34 too. 10 shot strings don't mean squat for that comparison. If you want a good number to sample, start at 20, for a better number, start at 100.
The down and dirty of it is what shoots and what costs to equal the performance. I don't run 168's because of the capability in a 30-06 over a 308, but the 178's and 175's do shoot differently in my rifles. I have much less trouble getting the 178's to run together across box after box without sorting by base to ogive like the SMK's require.
The 1 time I bothered to weight boxes of match bullets I came out with numbers that showed the Amax's were right in the mix. I weighed (all 30c) 180 JLK LBT, 185 Berger VLD, 208 Amax, 178 Amax, 175 SMK, 168 Hornady BTHP because that's what I had on the shelf in complete boxes. Nothing had an extreme range over 1.1gr total. I quit weighing bullets at that point.
Not saying that weight consistency is totally unimportant but keep in mind what the physics dictate. If you're doing that much you should be sorting cases by water volume, bullets by base to ogive, seeking certain bullet lots, uniforming and re-tipping the meplat, etc.
I want to see what the groups and hit ratio says. Thus far I've seen no reason to forego launching the little red tips just because of 1 test that is only a part of the picture.
