bullet sorting

[marksman]

l know the majority of reloaders will already be on top of this but l thought l'd put this up for the guys who are not

l had to reload some ammo and was sorting the bullets by measuring from the bullet base to the ogive
these bullets are 142gr sierra matchkings so they are a match bullet that you would expect to be very consistent especially if you see the price of them
but like all bullets they are not perfect and l like to sort them for better consistency

these photo's show 2 bullets at the length measured from base to point





and then the measurement from the base to ogive that is within the limit l set



your seater die should be seating the bullet by the seater sitting on the ogive and pushing down so you may see a difference in bullet heights with the reloaded ammo but they will measure the same at the ogive, where it counts because your jump to the lands is measured from the ogive to where it touches the lands. if your seater die pushes from the bullet tip the ogive lengths will be all over the place resulting in bigger groups

here is a sighting target l did the other day with these 142gr bullets, the high shot is the first out of a cold clean barrel then the other 4 group together as good as l could shoot at 200y in a stiff wind, l believe every little bit helps

[SCJ429]

I find it is worth they money to use Berger bullets and find the ogive lenght is so consistant. I use SMK in my 6mm but am amazed with how many different ogive lengths you find. I am guessing each one represents a different machine that is producing the same bullet type.

[TassieTiger]

I recently weighed some Speer 180’s and SST’s 180gns and variances was from 179.3 to 181.0 for both brands...

[Blr243]

I just had a thought , it might not make sense , if anyone prefers a certain projectile , and when testing the ogive position they find lots of variation in a batch, and they are fussy about The ogive position in relation to their lands, does anyone already, or could they custom manufacture their own seating plug, especially shaped to set the ogive at the same depth, every single time....my understanding of most cone shaped seater plugs Is that they contact the surface a tad back from the tip so as not to deform the tip .....I just thought more about this custom seater thingy and I’m not sure it would work

[Larry]

I just had a thought , it might not make sense , if anyone prefers a certain projectile , and when testing the ogive position they find lots of variation in a batch, and they are fussy about The ogive position in relation to their lands, does anyone already, or could they custom manufacture their own seating plug, especially shaped to set the ogive at the same depth, every single time....my understanding of most cone shaped seater plugs Is that they contact the surface a tad back from the tip so as not to deform the tip .....I just thought more about this custom seater thingy and I’m not sure it would work

It does work, however even at the ogive there can still be unacceptable differences hence the people measuring to get more uniform batches. Redding sells different seating plugs ie normal and VLD. I have modified several Lee seating plugs as they dont or didnt sell or modify plugs for you. I used carbide grinding tips in a dremmel type tool.

[marksman]

I just had a thought , it might not make sense , if anyone prefers a certain projectile , and when testing the ogive position they find lots of variation in a batch, and they are fussy about The ogive position in relation to their lands, does anyone already, or could they custom manufacture their own seating plug, especially shaped to set the ogive at the same depth, every single time....my understanding of most cone shaped seater plugs Is that they contact the surface a tad back from the tip so as not to deform the tip .....I just thought more about this custom seater thingy and I’m not sure it would work

to add another way than what Larry has suggested
http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/202 ... ing-stems/
although you can use a drill holding the bullet or the seater stem and lightly polish, it does not have to be a full length contact
with some seaters the stem needs to be drilled deeper to suit the bullet point so it does not touch then polished to suit the ogive shape

if you can get your bullets to seat in a uniform smooth manner you will find that the OAL measurements will be more consistent

for the little work involved just once it does give a big gain IMH

[in2anity]

It’s a thing, at the top, sorting pills.