Sorting Bullets

[gilream]

Which is most important; sorting bullets by bearing surface or sorting bullets by weight?

I just picked up a box of 100 Berger 52gr match bullets for my factory Cooper 22 PPC. Just wondering, with this small amount of bullets which way should I go? I've always weight sorted bullets but now I'd like to sort by bearing surface too. Which variable makes the most difference?
Mike

 

[Ranger007]

Just going to leave this here for those who may of not stumbled upon this nifty thread.

22 LR Bullet Sorting

I recently started shooting rimfire. Seems I get a lot of flyers in most brands of ammo I have tried. Last week I took the time to measure rim thickness. I had three bricks of different brands of ammo and sorted each brick. I sorted them at .005. Each brand came in at three different thicknesses...

forum.accurateshooter.com

 

[Joe Salt]

Bearing Surface is one but Tip to base is also important, Weight I quit doing a long time ago. Had a bullet years back that was a Grain and a half heavy, shot it a 1000 yards and it went right in the center! Should I say more.

Joe Salt

 

[cw308]

All that sorting , weighing and measuring. My see a difference if you can consistently shoot that 5 shot one hole group. Some mat like going down that rabbit hole . I for one got back to shooting and having fun.

 

[Fast14riot]

Truthfully, with good quality bullets like Bergers, BTO, bearing surface and weight are all going to be pretty close. You can find any outliers quickly and easily with sorting by OAL. The biggest thing on FB bullets that will cause fliers is going to be deformities or defects on the base of the bullet. Cull any of those out.

 

[johara1]

Truthfully, with good quality bullets like Bergers, BTO, bearing surface and weight are all going to be pretty close. You can find any outliers quickly and easily with sorting by OAL. The biggest thing on FB bullets that will cause fliers is going to be deformities or defects on the base of the bullet. Cull any of those out.

You must be getting them some where different than I do, just checked the new 109 Bergers and found only 30 the same out of a 100.... jim

 

[Patriot007]

You must be getting them some where different than I do, just checked the new 109 Bergers and found only 30 the same out of a 100.... jim

Agreed 100%.,,, If you don't sort them, you will never know.,, I measure mine from the base to the ogive and break them down into sorted groups in dollar store plastic containers. Then I go through all of them and break the down into smaller groups, based on weight. I use the Sinclair bullet sorting stand, It by far takes the guess work out of it. I've found, that the work, that you skip out on, in reloading, has a tenancy to show up on the target down range. Opinions vary on this subject and I believe that if you take the time to measure them,, you should take the time, and weigh them also. No need to half, butt something. Your call Sir, and good luck in your decision. JMHO.

 

[JMayo]

Read all the threads below ...

Burger fb bullets are near the same, imo.
Id measure base to tip after loading and put them in the box in order.

 

[zipollini]

Bryan Litz will tell you that you really only need to measure BTO

 

[rkittine]

After three times at the Williamsport 1000 Yard Bench Rest School I have continued my anal tendencies and now sort projectiles in a number of ways. Overall Length, Bearing Surface, Concentricity and weight. Now if I would just get more shooting in.

Bob

 

[Mulligan]

After three times at the Williamsport 1000 Yard Bench Rest School I have continued my anal tendencies and now sort projectiles in a number of ways. Overall Length, Bearing Surface, Concentricity and weight. Now if I would just get more shooting in.

Bob

How do you measure a bullets concentricity?
That’s a bunch of little baskets of bullets if sorted 4 ways....
Wow!
CW

 

[rkittine]

Modified Shahe Shaft Gauge.

Andy taught us how to use masking tape on a flat bench for separating the projectiles as we went through the different sorting steps.

 

[Patriot007]

How do you measure a bullets concentricity?
That’s a bunch of little baskets of bullets if sorted 4 ways....
Wow!
CW

LOL It's not hard at all. Here is how I do it with my Neco. For the ones that do not know this. This is the concentricity gauge that the bullet manufactures use and the US Military.
Sierra 142gn HPBT.

 

[Mulligan]

LOL It's not hard at all. Here is how I do it with my Neco. For the ones that do not know this. This is the concentricity gauge that the bullet manufactures use and the US Military.
Sierra 142gn HPBT.

View attachment 1230123

I guess I am a slacker....... I did not know this was a thing!!!
Completely oblivious to this step in the process.

CW

 

[Patriot007]

I guess I am a slacker....... I did not know this was a thing!!!
Completely oblivious to this step in the process.

CW

I shoot a lot of Sierra 142gn HPBT bullets and the truth is. I get a better assortment out of the single 100ct boxes than I do out of the 500ct boxes. The quality and the grouping comes out a lot better.
A lot of times when I'm sorting the bullets by the Ogive on the Sinclair Bullet sorting stand. If a bullet is reading way off, it will show up there. "Them, I check on the Neco for concentricity". I'm guilty there also, in the respect that I do not sort my bullets by the Bearing Surface. I'm only shooting Factory Barrels, but if I was shooting out of a custom barrel, with my OCD, I most certainly would. In the next month or two I'm adding a Bullet pointing Die to my process. That should really make a difference in bullet consistency, and the ballistic coefficient. I hope any ways. Just keep in mind. Opinions vary on this subject.

 

[JFrank]

I guess I am a slacker....... I did not know this was a thing!!!
Completely oblivious to this step in the process.

CW

Ditto

 

[Ned Ludd]

Sorting bullets can be a great thing...taken in moderation, of course. If you fall all the way down to the very bottom of the sorting rabbit hole, sorting bullets by every known parameter until you end up with one bullet in every sort group, what have you really accomplished? I would suggest picking a single sorting approach, and then testing bullet treated with it to determine for yourself whether the approach can provide any demonstrable benefits in your hands. I sort bullets by OAL, solely for the purpose of pointing them, and length sorting does provide a measurable benefit when used for that purpose. In my hands, the majority of bullet length variance resides in the nose region, as you would expect. Base-to-ogive dimensions are far more uniform than nose length, or OAL, which also includes the nose region.

Nonetheless, you can sort bullets based on any dimension or physical aspect you desire. So pick your sorting approach, sort a few, then load and test them directly to determine whether you can actually shoot a difference with the sorted bullets. If you observe an improvement with the sorted bullets, great. You've identified a sorting procedure that may be useful in your hands. If not, try another. It's easy enough to sort bullets by several different methods, then load and test them all together. Once completed, the final choice you will have to make is whether any of the sorting procedures that provided some demonstrable benefit on the target are actually worth the time and effort it takes to carry them out. There is no generally applicable answer to this question. Each shooter must decide for themselves how much effort they are willing to put into sorting procedures, but having some idea of the potential relative benefit of each approach might make that decision easier.

 

[rkittine]

You can control how many you end up with in a sort group by modifying the allowable spread. I bought a cutter and Hoover tip closing die, but than started shooting Closed Tipped Sierra's.

 

[Patriot007]

You can control how many you end up with in a sort group by modifying the allowable spread. I bought a cutter and Hoover tip closing die, but than started shooting Closed Tipped Sierra's.

LOL, From the looks of it, I'm headed that way also. I have to ask,,, Did it make a difference in the bullet run out and was it repeatable from bullet to bullet??? The Metplat is so small on the 142gn HPBT bullets, that in the 500ct box's, I find a lot of them have a closed Metplat. To my understanding, it is the Metplat on the MatchKing 142gn HPBT that gives it, it's high bullet coefficient. The Boat Tail helps to minimize the drag and improve the BC also. My OCD brain is telling me that,,, that is counter productive, if I am removing the Metplat altogether. LOL So,, Now our HPBT bullet is now a Spitzer with a boat tail. How did the BC work out for you and the POI on target??? And the Big question is... Was it worth it???? Yes I know, I'm full of questions. I figured I ask before I bought that rabbit hole next door to yours. Any thing that you could share would be greatly appreciated. Thank You.

 

[rkittine]

I am very new at this and not the one to ask. I just have followed the things I learned at Williamsport and added some steps of my own. I was told to stay away from trying to close the tips on Berger Projectiles due to their thin jacket material, so I have not tried to do that. Maybe Andy can comment on your questions. Since the pandemic started, I have only been shooting at my local club and it is limited to 200 yards. What I am doing is certainly working at 200 as per my targets.

I am sorting primers and bought a primer seating tool with a depth gauge so I can seat primers with the appropriate "Crush" which people seem to have mixed feelings about too.

Bob