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Sorting Bullets

Reloading Bum

Reloading Bum

Anyone sort factory bullets? Is it worth it? Some bullets are off by nearly a grain. I don't have any particular brand in mind as I use most of the popular ones and I’m more curious to know what other shooters are noticing as it relates to the accuracy of the smaller 20 Caliber cartridges.

Thanks,
ReloadingBum
 
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I'm guessing you are not shooting targets with it. If you sorted 32 to 40-grain bullets, for example - you will find variation for sure - but not enough to stop you from hitting a varmint within range. If you like to go 'extreme' to see how far out you can hit something - every little bit helps. Let's say it improved your group by 1/8" (if it did) that is only 1/2" at 400 - the range most folks are probably shooting out to. I weigh long-range target bullets in my larger rifles - but no way on the .20 when shooting varmints. With 40-grain bullets- about 450 to 500 yards is pushing it in real field conditions.
 
Sorting commercial bullets by weight is typically not going to pay large dividends in terms of precision unless the range of bullet weights within a given Lot# is substantial. My use of the term "substantial" here obviously depends on the amount of weight variance (i.e. weight range) as a fraction of the average or "advertised" overall weight of the bullet. There is no exact amount of weight variance that constitutes "substantial"; it depends on the bullets you're using. However, you can easily obtain a rough estimate of the effect of a given weight variance on velocity using a derivative of the formula for kinetic energy (1/2MV*2) as follows:

M1V1*2 = M2V2*2 [i.e. (mass1) times (velocity1 squared) = (mass2) times (velocity2 squared)]

For example, let's say you have a 40 gr bullet (M1) that has an average velocity in a given load of 3200 fps. How much would the velocity be predicted by this formula to change for a bullet that weighed 41 gr?

(40 gr)(3200 fps)*2 = (41 gr)(X)*2 >>> solve for (X)*2 (i.e. "X squared"), then take the square root. The theoretical answer comes out to be that the 41 gr bullet should give an average velocity around 3161 fps, or almost 40 fps slower than the 40 gr bullets. Is that enough to make a difference? It really depends on your needs and application, but it easily could be. Weight variance of a few tenths of a grain or less would obviously have a much smaller effect on average velocity.

In general, there are a variety of means for sorting bullets, including by weight, base-to-ogive, OAL, etc. If you're interested in learning the potential usefulness of any of these sorting methods, the easiest approach is to do the sort, then load up some rounds from the two most extreme groups (i.e. low/high) from within the sort and see if you can tell a difference on the target. If you can't tell a difference in precision between the two extremes, it is very unlikely you will be able to tell a difference between the sorting groups that are closer to one another. If you can tell a difference in the extremes, then that sorting technique may be a worthwhile effort.
 
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I didn't weigh bullets, but I sorted (measured rim thickness) a few different boxes/brands of rimfire ammo, all target ammo, and was surprised to see the variances coming from each box of ammo. Some brands had more variances than others.

I 'think' when I sorted those boxes I didn't see as many of the 'out of nowhere flyers' that I sometimes see.
Was it because I sorted or was it the ammo? I don't know for sure, but its something I did notice. I would have to continue sorting to get more data.

If nothing else it was a learning experience and a fun experiment.

If you see positive results from sorting for your shooting purposes, then yes its worth it.

Did you notice any differences from shooting your sorted rounds?
 
I have weighed 17 cal bullets, don't recall seeing enough variation to worry about shooting fur. Have seen some 2nds in .224 that were .3-.4 either side of the model weight. I am prepping a couple hundred of those for the nephew to shoot at pd next week. He will have to finish them the night before we leave, having to load what you shoot slows the rate of fire for kids.
 
Brian Litz (Berger Bullets) has said that the only sort that helps at long range is measuring base to ogive.

That said it also depends on the quality of the manufacturer. Hand made or Berger seem to be the most uniform on everything. Lower cost have looser tolerances. You get what you pay for

David
 
The only sorting I do is on bulk bullets that tend to have larger variability in weight. I'm just a target, varmint, shooter and that only out to about 100 yards. The lighter the bullet the more it matters in my experience, 34 gr + or - 1gr is huge compared to 178gr +/- 1gr.
 
If you are going to sort bullests,sort them BTO,Base to Ogive, or OverAll Length in .003 groups if shooting distance, a couple of tenths in weight is meaningless
 
Ned Ludd said:
Sorting commercial bullets by weight is typically not going to pay large dividends in terms of precision unless the range of bullet weights within a given Lot# is substantial. My use of the term "substantial" here obviously depends on the amount of weight variance (i.e. weight range) as a fraction of the average or "advertised" overall weight of the bullet. There is no exact amount of weight variance that constitutes "substantial"; it depends on the bullets you're using. However, you can easily obtain a rough estimate of the effect of a given weight variance on velocity using a derivative of the formula for kinetic energy (1/2MV*2) as follows:

M1V1*2 = M2V2*2 [i.e. (mass1) times (velocity1 squared) = (mass2) times (velocity2 squared)]
Click to expand...

If anyone's head hurts looking at this, I made an online calculator that does this for you.

Velocity Estimation for Rifles

A calculator that will estimate the velocity of a bullet based on a known velocity.
bisonballistics.com bisonballistics.com
 
Rainy weather had me indoors so I sorted some ammo to try my own 'scientific experiment' I'll share my findings.

Sorting
I sorted 22LR by overall bullet and casing length. I did not weigh and I did not sort by rim thickness. Measurements in inches with a digital caliper.

Ammo
Popular brand of target ammo was used.
Ammo varied from 1.000 to .967 = .033 thousands total variance
The most common lengths of ammo measured from the boxes was used. Most of the ammo is .984-.985
The rest of the ammo I marked 'barrel warmers' and will use as such.

Target Setup
50yds - 5 shots at each - very light to no wind - 90 degrees
Target ring is 1" diameter


sorted ammo.jpg
 
So is this picture telling us that changing bto will help with horizontal with a centerfire?
1626562241172.png
 
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