Ball weight/variation, etc.

[Sun City]

Ran this little test today with just ten different balls concerning variation in weights and I'd venture to say that considering the 'laws of probability' that if I had weighed 500, the results would represent the same percentages of variation! This was made with Hornady swaged .58 caliber balls. I have duly noted that there is concern reference balls being deformed when started with a short starter and IMO that begins possibly with either the incorrect sized ball and or patch material OR....an alloy that is too soft to negate the deformation of the ball! For what it's worth! :surrender: :bow:

If you click on the photo a couple of times it will enlarge such that you can see the weights!

Untitled by Sharps Man, on Flickr

 

[Claude Mathis]

Do I read that correctly, there's less than a grain difference between the lightest and heaviest?

279.2
278.3
====
000.9

 

[Sun City]

By my count you're correct!

:bow: :thumbsup:

 

[Claude Mathis]

By my count you're correct!

:bow: :thumbsup:

Personally, my shooting ability will have more of an adverse effect on accuracy than that small difference in ball weight. :wink:

 

[Sun City]

I made match bullets for years for NRA HP competition and in doing quite a bit of testing over that era I shot bullets all mixed up with as much as ten grs variation using a very accurate rifle with a 20X scope and all would shoot less than one MOA at 300 yards! Often all would do that from 600 yards!! :grin:

 

[Grimord]

My off hand shooting would negate any ball weight difference shown in your test. My personal experience is to weigh the balls I cast. For 45 caliber or less, I throw back into the pot all balls that vary more than a 1/2 grain from the average. For 50 caliber and greater, all balls that vary more than a grain from average go back in the pot.
My experiments comparing similar weighted balls versus light weight ones showed a significant difference in point of impact when shooting from the bench.
Using my .50 caliber target Tryon, with all variables kept constant, except ball weight,I found the light weight balls (2-3 grains from average) impacted 3-4 inches high and 3" right of the point of aim. This is from the bench using creedmore front and rear sights.
In conclusion, I would say if you are a bench rest shooter, weighing the balls for consistency may help your groups. For off hand shooting or hunting, the normal wiggles and wobbles more than make up for the weight differences in the balls.

 

[Kansas Jake]

The wiggles and wobbles, and I have plenty of them, is probably a bigger factor for me. The only concern is if a ball makes a 3-4 inch variation at 100 yards and I add in my own 3-5 inch wiggle and wobble, then I can be 9-10 inches off the target if everything goes badly. :redface:

 

[Don Steele]

That's how I look at it too Jake. :hatsoff:
I'm a pretty poor offhand shooter compared to the folks I see on the Offhand line at Friendship. That said though...when I do throw one off, I want to KNOW it's me and I do that by eliminating or controlling as many variables as possible.
NO Excuses. :wink: