[Texxut]

How much, is too much variation?
Keeping in mind, I'm not a competition shooter and will probably not shoot over 300 yards. I'm sorting 1000 ea. 147 grain projectiles. So far I've weighed a couple of hundred. They vary from 146.3 to 147.8 grains. Nothing over a grain off. Not enough to worry about?

 

[steve4102]

Never weighed a bullet in my life. Cept one or two I dropped on the floor and wasn't sure if they were 165gr or 180gr. Load em and shoot em.

 

[gdmoody]

I weigh a lot of bullets, just for the hell of it, to see how consistent they really are. I feel that what you are experiencing is about the spread that I have found. With Sierra 168 grain bullets, I have found them from 167.7 to 168.3 which is a .6 grain difference. The Hornady 168 grain bullets have about the same spread. I once pulled a bunch of old military surplus .308 bullets from India and found them to have a spread of about 5 grains but I don't think that is normal at all with US made bullets.

This past Tuesday I was reloading some .223 cartridges and was using 62 grain Berger bullets, some of which I weighed. I found that out of the 20-25 I weighed, they were either 62 grains even or 61.9 grains. That impressed me because I have never used Berger before and the consistency was way better than I have ever seen.

 

[woolleyworm]

Nothing to worry about with your stated circumstances. Some brands are more consistent than others. Lead is almost always more varied than jacketed bullets.

 

[312shooter]

Waste of time, are you using the appropriate bullet weight for your barrel twist? Scaling each powder charge, and grouping your brass by weight? There are many influences tjat affect accuracy, unless you meet all of them just weighing your bullets wont reflect on paper.

 

[LDBennett]

Then there are all the variations in the process of shooting that are unknown. While shooters like Bench Rest shooters get extremely small groups after doing everything they know to do they still don't get all the bullets in one hole.

Accuracy in shooting is a very complicated subject. Not only is the cartridge part of the process but then there is the gun and the vibratory action of the barrel. The barrel actually whips around flinging the bullet off course. "Finding the load that works in your gun" is actually and mostly timing the bullet to leave the barrel as the barrel stops in its motion to turn around and move the other way.

Small differences in bullet weight are only a small part of the accuracy equation especially when it is less than one grain. The barrel motion plays a much bigger part in accurate shooting. Then there is the inconsistency of the shooter himself which can out weigh any of the other parts of the accuracy equation.

LDBennett

 

[Texxut]

Thanks for all the good information guys.
I won't get concerned about minor variations in projectiles for most of my shooting. I only have one rifle that is a <MOA rifle, and that is my Remington 788 in .308 . I actually shoot that one less than any other. Most of my rifle shooting is with the Mosins and other WWII rifles, just for fun at the range. The projectiles is question, are a batch of .311" 147 grn FMJ for the Mosins. I'm currently working up a load for a 1943 Tula PU w/ a 1943 Factory 297 PU scope. I really like shooting these old rifles.