Any advantage to sorting?

[CWLONGSHOT]

Always thought about it... Never actually did it.
I have weighed my cast randomly and they are pretty consistent at least I have never found big differences.
Just thinking out loud.
Do you donit?

cw

 

[RBHarter]

I've weighed a few usually for important work . Mine are pretty uniform also .

 

[S Mac]

I think it's more critical with smaller bullets, ie 22 cal. A few tenths is a bigger ratio than on say 35 or 45 cal.

 

[Rick H]

I have and do...weight sort and load in groups.....but honestly I don't think it makes any real difference in performance for the type of shooting and ranges I shoot at. I have two loads that I use in my 44 mag rifle. (CVA single shot) Two different bullets, 240gr. and 234 with two different powders (2400 and WW296) and velocities of the loads of 1650fps and 1775fps. I fired three from each load at 100 yds and had one 6 shot group of about 2 1/2 inches and could not tell which load was which.
I don't think weight sorting does any better than sorting for obvious visual defects.

 

[Ian]

If your rifle load won't already do 1.5 MOA at 100 yards, weight sorting won't make any difference unless your weights are off more than 2%.

 

[telebasher]

Playing with a couple of Hornets, I've found that neck tension and uniform flash holes give better results than weighing bullets. Just for grins, I weighed and sorted brass and that helped more than weighing bullets YMMV.

 

[waco]

I keep 308 bullets for long range work to within .3gr
That's about the only time I really fuss with it.

 

[Walks]

I sort for 3 reasons.
1) I still think better bases make for more accurate. Bullets.
2) I Don't want other Shooters to see Ugly bullets and look down on My Cast Bullets and Bullet Casters in General.
3) I just like better looking bullets.

 

[waco]

I sort for 3 reasons.
1) I still think better bases make for more accurate. Bullets.
2) I Don't want other Shooters to see Ugly bullets and look down on My Cast Bullets and Bullet Casters in General.
3) I just like better looking bullets.

Pretty darn good answer!

 

[Brad]

Weigh sorting? I ain’t got time for that.

I rarely shoot off a bench for groups so I see no point? If Iw as doing long range, HV stuff like Waco then it would make sense.

 

[Intel6]

I like to weigh to discard any bullets that are way off indicating voids or incomplete fill out that isnt obvious. I figure if all bullets are close in wieght to each other they will work well but if there are a few sprinkled in the batch that are off by 3+ grains then that can mess up the overall performance so taking the time to get rid of them works for me. I sort typically after they are finished and keep the culls for short range blasting.

 

[Rick]

I weight sorted match bullets for a few years, didn't see a bit of difference in my scores when I stopped doing it.

Walks, I too believe perfect bullet bases shoot better, I believe the base steers the bullet not the nose.. My first bullet inspection is when I open the sprue plate with the blocks closed before the I drop the bullets. Any defect in the base will show up at that time like a neon sign.

 

[RicinYakima]

I am a benchrest match shooter. The best weight sorting will do is 1/10 inch difference, and that is random. The same as orienting the case and bullet, you are down to making 1/100 inch difference. However, with that said, I won the National Issue Military Rifle match from a tie by shooting one more X than the other guy at 200 yards for score count. You have to decide if it is worth it to you.

 

[KeithB]

^^ What he said ^^

If the bases look guide I lube and size them. Any of them that take abnormal effort compared to the average get pulled out, they are usually heavy from not having mold closed all the way.

 

[Walks]

4) I cast up to 4 different bullets at a time.

I HAVE TO SORT.

 

[Intheshop]

Several,well known ways to "sort". One very important ingredient is how quickly or,efficiently can you do it?

Throwing bullets on a digital scale is pretty quick and is an excellent way to monitor your overall casting technique. So while you may not have a rig that can tell the difference,that isn't the full measure of the procedure. At some point,better bullets are going to be needed..... so weighing is "one" gage to that end.

Visual ques to bases,and fillout sharpness in general is pretty durn quick. Rolling them(nekid bullets,after GC install)on an inclined flat plate isn't or shouldn't,take too long. "Gaging" them at this point slows down the process but can help diagnose poor casting techniques and establish baselines for mould quality.

A lot of this boils down to a cpl pretty important items. Short range or long range? Low velocity or high? What is the rig(gun/optics/rest/shooter) capable of? Are you pressing the envelope or not? Personal enjoyment vs work? Good luck with your project.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

I also watch the bases as I cast. Any Anomaly they go back in the pot. The first say ten drops dont get mixed with remainder. Later they are culled.
But I have never weight sorted.
Just wondered what others do thats all.
Thanks

CW

 

[Bret4207]

I have weigh sorted in the past. It can make a small difference. I can't see well enough to bother with it anymore. I think once we really get the hang of casting with a particular mould (Get it HOT enough and learn what it wants) the quality jumps up to the point weighing for other than match purposes is unnecessary. OTOH, I am rather ruthless as far as visual sorting goes. And I'm 100% on board with the base having to be as near perfect as can be, even if it's getting a GC.

 

[Rick]

I'm 100% on board with the base having to be as near perfect as can be, even if it's getting a GC.

Absolutely . . . A defective base is still a defective base even if you cover it up with a check and can't see it.

 

[Intheshop]

In a lot of ways a GC on a funked base is worse. But it certainly doesn't "fix" anything.