Weighing bullets

[Ned Ludd]

The answer would depend on how consistent the bullet weight was for a given brand/Lot #. Sorting a very consistent batch of bullets by weight that only differ by the tiniest amount isn't going to accomplish much. However, it is not uncommon to find the occasional outlier or two in a box of bullets that differ markedly in weight from the rest, some by enough that it easily could make a difference. For the purpose of culling extreme outliers, there is no other reliable way to do it other than by weighing bullets. So it's a matter of choice. One can either spend the time weighing bullets to cull extreme outliers, maybe finding a few or maybe finding none, or don't weight them and never know whether or not there were any extreme outliers.

 

[David Christian]

I only shoot Berger bullets. Short hand, directly from the source: Bullet weight and BC are almost a 1:1 correlation. Therefore, a bullet that weighs 1% more will have a 1% better BC.

All else being the same, I don’t spend any time weighing bullets.

 

[dcali]

For match grade bullets, none. It just doesn't matter. I suppose if you're looking for a manufacturing outlier, then it could make sense, but sorting by weight is a waste of time. Maybe if you're going to travel to a big national match and you don't want to leave anything to chance, it's worth culling the occasional mistakes.

 

[dcali]

I only shoot Berger bullets. Short hand, directly from the source: Bullet weight and BC are almost a 1:1 correlation. Therefore, a bullet that weighs 1% more will have a 1% better BC.

All else being the same, I don’t spend any time weighing bullets.

Nitpick: weight and BC are *exactly* a 1:1 correlation. But to further flesh out your point, suppose you have a 1% increase in BC for, say, a 200 grain bullet, thats 2 grains! And a 1% increase in the BC of .300 would take you to... .303. More realistically, the BC variation due to weight is a rounding error.

 

[Dave M.]

+1 on did but don't. Never saw it show on paper for me. It was a feel good in the brain thing. I agree with
@Dave M. on OAL.

Nice to see a great shooter and resource like John agrees with my position here. It gives me a good feeling that I’m doing the right think. Thanks John.
Dave

 

[Dave M.]

I will measure and sort by OAL if I plan to tip the Berger 180’s. I don’t trim the meplat, but I have seen the benefits of tipping bullets (versus non tipped bullets from the same lot, shot side by side from the same rifle in the same conditions). My studies show a 5-8% improvement in overall group size in 20 shot strings (which could add up to 0.5-0.7 points per round on average, which is a very small improvement, but every little bit helps).
Dave

 

[Dave Way]

A heavier bullet will have a higher BC but a slightly slower velocity and I have not seen where weight sorting shows up on paper, possibly because of this relationship. I have certainly seen where OAL sorting shows up on paper though.

Dave.

 

[jpjulian]

Never saw any need and I've better things to do.

 

[Dave M.]

A heavier bullet will have a higher BC but a slightly slower velocity and I have not seen where weight sorting shows up on paper, possibly because of this relationship. I have certainly seen where OAL sorting shows up on paper though.

Dave.

This has been EXACTLY my finding as well

 

[Texas Solo]

I never saw more than .010 grain difference with quality bullets.
I think basr to ogive is more important. There I have found some differences of .005".

 

[Dave M.]

I never saw more than .010 grain difference with quality bullets.
I think basr to ogive is more important. There I have found some differences of .005".

0.010 grain difference??? Across a whole lot of bullets. I don’t think you could accomplish this if you turned all of your bullets on a lathe. I think your decimal point is off? Or perhaps you get way better bullets than I ever have.
Dave