TargetTalk

Do you sort your .32S&W wadcutter by weight? If so, with what tolerance?

I was using Lapua and Speer 98gr bullets so far and they were quite consistent. I weighted about 200 Speer bullets from my last batch and the weight tolerance was +/- 0.3gr which I decided to be insignificant enough so I didn't sort my bullets till now (I had other issues with these bullets though).

Yesterday I got my first package of H&N .314 100gr greased HBWC bullets. I was pinning my hopes on them and they looked really nice and shiny at first glance. But when I weighted only 30 of them it turned out that they weren't particularly consistent in their weight - the extreme spread was almost 5gr!
I still didn't try them out but I have a feeling that 97gr bullet can hit a target in a different place than a 102gr bullet (or maybe not?). Then the question is: are your bullets so inconsistent as well? How do you handle this - sort them or just ignore it?

Greetings,

With the commercial swaged bullets, I do not weigh them. Think about it. The bullets have grease or lube which is probably inconsistent. So are you determining the uniform weight of the bullet or the grease?

When I swage my own HBWC bullets, I have weighed them. They would vary +/- 0.2 grains. Currently, I just "squash" them and lube them with the Lee Liquid Alox. If I were to start shooting well again, I might consider weighing them.

I think that uniform shape is more important than weight. By shape, I mean no nicks or dings and "hopefully" statically balanced.

I have attached images of the home swaged bullets tested at 50 yards using my Haemmerli SP-20 barrel.

Image 0001.jpeg is the H&N 0.314 100 grain HBWC for comparison.

I have recorded the best groups in my barrels with the H&N bullets.

With kind regards,

David

fc60 wrote: With the commercial swaged bullets, I do not weigh them. Think about it. The bullets have grease or lube which is probably inconsistent. So are you determining the uniform weight of the bullet or the grease?

Dear Dave,
You are absolutely right, grease (or lube) is definitely an important and probably inconsistent factor in a bullet's weight. I just simple expected a smaller spread. For example, Speer bullets that I have tested varied only +/- 0,3 grains. So I was really surprised to see such a significant weight spread in H&N bullets. However, both manufacturers use different kinds of lubes for their bullets.

fc60 wrote: I think that uniform shape is more important than weight. By shape, I mean no nicks or dings and "hopefully" statically balanced.

I must admit that most of the H&N bullets look almost flawless. I can't say the same thing about Speer bullets.

fc60 wrote: I have recorded the best groups in my barrels with the H&N bullets.

I'll prepare a testing batch and then I will know for sure. Thank you Dave again for your invaluable input.