Bullet Weight Variances . . .

[6hold]

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I have read that the long range rifle competitors weight each and every bullet to get the most precise loaded round possible (for competition). I know this is only one of many procedures they go through to get the best accuracy they can.

I never heard of pistol competitors doing this but undoubtedly there are some. I’m just getting back into reloading (ever so slowly) and was wondering just what the variance is in pistol bullets was. I remember many years ago weighing a dozen or so of the bulk lead bullets I received and if memory serves me correctly there was a two thousand grain lighter or heavier on my 200 gr. SWC. That means they ranged from 198 gr. to 202 gr. which I thought wasn’t too excessive.

When I weighed a dozen or so of the bulk bullets I received recently the variance was quite surprisingly small;

158 gr. Bullet varied by only half a grain each way.
157.5 to 158.5 gr.​

Is that surprising to others or are they getting to be more precise in the manufacture? There may be a difference in the bullet too. The 200 gr. was hard cast lead and the 158 gr. is plated swaged bullets. Perhaps swaged is a more precise method of manufacture?

This is all kind of petty in the scheme of things and I don’t weight any bullets for accuracy (my lack of practice cut me down on that score) but sometime I just get to wondering and I want to see if anyone else has noted these things in their travels.​

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[bpm990d]

I know that bullets that come from Sierra are fine right out of the box all the way to 1000 yards when shooting at conventional high power targets. I made the Palma 20 twice with Sierra 155s right out of the box. I don't really know anything about benchrest or pistol, so I can't say.

I would suspect that it's not worth the time or energy, if you start with good match grade bullets.

B

 

[GTOShootr]

never mind....