Sorting cases by weight ??

[Berger.Fan222]

If you look around on this website you will find at least one example of people setting 1000 yrd. records without weighing , measuring volume or annealing cases. I am not saying it isn't usefull. I understand you are only talking about making the best ammo but I think the biggest variable is the person doing the shooting. How do you put his/her skills into a formula. If there are 150 competitors at a match you can put together a short list of about 15 shooters that will probably be in the top five regardless of the distance. The rest never make the top 10. In Tony Boyers book he said that 90% of the shooters have a rifle that's good enough to win but they usually don't finish well.

More likely with Lapua than with R-P.

Some companies exercise much more diligent quality control before the brass goes in the box.

 

[Sheldon N]

This was the very reason why I decided not to publish this data. There were too many variables that did not appear to be under control. I did not feel that we could definitively answer YES or NO to weight sorting either volume or by brass weight and many others were far more qualified to answer that question.

I can't blame Sheldon for sharing the charts as he put in a lot of work processing the raw data, graphing, and providing input into the tests.

I plan on performing a future test when I'm capable of handloading to single digit ES/SD and share results with the community.

Yes, thanks for all the hard work you put into the testing, I was glad to help out. I personally think that no matter how "perfect" you get your reloading practices and how scientific your approach, ultimately the results can only be conclusive for your gun and your components.

For me the big takeaway was seeing how hard it can be to prove that something actually makes a difference. Lots of opinions get tossed around saying "This reloading practice is how you get good results" but when you put them to the test it may or may not actually pan out. To than end, I think it's helpful to share info with others whether it's perfect or not. Each little bit of info helps others be more informed.

My own opinion from all this is somewhat generic, more of a ranking of order of importance of reloading practices so I can decide where to put my efforts. I'd call it something like this:

Selecting the right node for your load > component selection for that node (bullet/powder/primer) > brass preparation > powder weighing > case sorting

If you don't get the first two right, then no amount of work on the last three is going to save you.

 

[waldo1979]

The one thing he made very clear to us was he had an Rl550B Dillon, I explained to him I also had the same press but I will not use it woth straight wall cases without a lock out die.

How do you have room for a crimp die on a 550B when using a lockout die. How often does a powder drop not drop powder?

I'm using a Lee auto disk for my pistol loads. I'm new to progressives and haven't heard of anyone having issues like this.

 

[Endyo]

How do you have room for a crimp die on a 550B when using a lockout die. How often does a powder drop not drop powder?

I'm using a Lee auto disk for my pistol loads. I'm new to progressives and haven't heard of anyone having issues like this.

It happens. I had a Lee Auto Disk years ago and used flake powder that was very "sticky" the powder funnel had a rubber collet on the inside that captured a lot of flakes and would cause light charges. I was new and didn't pay attention and learned the hard way what a squib was. I didn't have previous handloading experience or anyone to show me the ropes other than Mr. Manual and Youtube.

I always load with a powder check die if there is a possibility (pistol cartridge) of a double charge, rifle ammo is different.

The vast majority of double charges/squib loads are user error. Especially if you get distracted and look away from the press, get fatigued, had too many beers, etc...one extra stroke or one half stroke can be disastrous. A powder check die can and will eventually catch something you miss, but they aren't fullproof.

 

[Frankr]

Sheldon -
How can accurate qualification or correlation be determined from such large ES?
In my opinion, one needs a rifle-n-load capable of low ES, to be able to accurately pin-point culprits. Then if there is a culprit extreme seen both in the velocity as well as on the target, it would truly be a culprit.
Myself, I consider ES much over 15 to 20-fps to be excessive.

Thanks for sharing....
Donovan

I am disappointed to read the findings..I have been weight sorting cases for years and I have proved to myself that a set of weight sorted cases. with a full throttle load tuned to them cases have Consistently shot better..key word is consistently better than on unsorted brass..BUT not that you can not have a load tuned to shoot as well on unsorted cases. I have gone unsorted to sorted and it always seems more consistent on sorted. that is actual groups on paper and stability of the load...guess I'm just nuts..