I had read mixed reviews of the Hornady 105gr amax, and didn't want to order a 1k or more before doing some research, so I just bought a box of 100 105s to collect some data (lot# 2111419).
One of the complaints that I had read was that weights were all over the place with over a grain of variation.
Secondly, I had read that the boat tails had defects (approx. 25% according to one review), which could obviously manifest in point of impact shifts.
Lastly the next most common complaint was that the bearing surface Lengths were all over the map, the complaints weren't much more specific than that.
So I weighed each bullet (my weigh i201 scale, not the best, but pretty accurate with the fluorescent lights turned off) in the box with the following results;
105.2gr- 2
105.1gr- 23
105.0gr- 29
104.9gr- 44
104.8- 2
104.7- 1
I was a little skeptical about the 104.8 and 104.7 tips, and set them aside to re-weigh several times with other tips in between, but got the same results each time.
I also used my old and trusty Stoney Point tool to measure, what I would figure would be, the length to ogive, and after measuring 40 of them I stopped (it was time for dinner). All measurements were between .6995" and .7015", with the a preponderance (34 of 40)of them measuring .7000.
Lastly, I did a completely unscientific, visual inspection, of the 40 tips that I measured, and could find no defects in the boat tail section of the bullet, or any other part of the bullet for that matter, but I was mostly concerned with the boat tail section. These particular tips were packaged in a plastic bag inside the box, something I haven't seen in other sizes of Hornady bullets that I have bought.
So the questions that I am left to ask myself are;
Does any of this mean anything since the sample size was so small?
Would such insignificant deltas in bullet weight make any difference, especially if you tossed the 5 total tips that were not within 3/10s of a grain? They did include 102 tips in the box, for what it's worth.
How much difference in bearing surface length would there need to be before it makes a difference? Obviously the farther away you shoot, the more you would notice any small change, but how many rifles are accurate enough to prove this?
I wish that I had more accurate and complex equipment to do a more detailed analysis (maybe a spin balancer), but from what I can tell, and what I think my rifle will notice, this box appears to be pretty good.
Well, thanks for reading. Does any one have any thoughts, recommendations, or other opinions on any of the information or answers to the questions above?
One of the complaints that I had read was that weights were all over the place with over a grain of variation.
Secondly, I had read that the boat tails had defects (approx. 25% according to one review), which could obviously manifest in point of impact shifts.
Lastly the next most common complaint was that the bearing surface Lengths were all over the map, the complaints weren't much more specific than that.
So I weighed each bullet (my weigh i201 scale, not the best, but pretty accurate with the fluorescent lights turned off) in the box with the following results;
105.2gr- 2
105.1gr- 23
105.0gr- 29
104.9gr- 44
104.8- 2
104.7- 1
I was a little skeptical about the 104.8 and 104.7 tips, and set them aside to re-weigh several times with other tips in between, but got the same results each time.
I also used my old and trusty Stoney Point tool to measure, what I would figure would be, the length to ogive, and after measuring 40 of them I stopped (it was time for dinner). All measurements were between .6995" and .7015", with the a preponderance (34 of 40)of them measuring .7000.
Lastly, I did a completely unscientific, visual inspection, of the 40 tips that I measured, and could find no defects in the boat tail section of the bullet, or any other part of the bullet for that matter, but I was mostly concerned with the boat tail section. These particular tips were packaged in a plastic bag inside the box, something I haven't seen in other sizes of Hornady bullets that I have bought.
So the questions that I am left to ask myself are;
Does any of this mean anything since the sample size was so small?
Would such insignificant deltas in bullet weight make any difference, especially if you tossed the 5 total tips that were not within 3/10s of a grain? They did include 102 tips in the box, for what it's worth.
How much difference in bearing surface length would there need to be before it makes a difference? Obviously the farther away you shoot, the more you would notice any small change, but how many rifles are accurate enough to prove this?
I wish that I had more accurate and complex equipment to do a more detailed analysis (maybe a spin balancer), but from what I can tell, and what I think my rifle will notice, this box appears to be pretty good.
Well, thanks for reading. Does any one have any thoughts, recommendations, or other opinions on any of the information or answers to the questions above?
