Bullet casting weights

[uno676]

I'm curious if there is a rule of thumb on bullet weight tolerance. Like +or- ....

 

[Cowboy]

I don't know if there is an actual rule of weight tolerances. Before I started casting my own ball, I bought factory swaged balls from Hornady or Speer. They varied from 1 to 3 grains in weight.

Everyone who casts their own have their own expectations or limitations on what they consider keepers or what's to toss back.

For myself personally, Mine have to be within 1 grain. Everything else gets tossed back.

It's a personal preference from one caster to another.

Others do not even weigh their balls at all but if it looks good use it!

It's more of a personal choice!

Respectfully, Cowboy

 

[necchi]

It's kind of a personal choice with casters and how far they want to go to eliminate variables in the load.
Bullets tend to be heavier and a bit harder to control then ball.
I cast ball and keep them within 1grn or +/- .5grn,, some guy's will go as far as +/-1 full grain.
Some friends cast big bullets for 45-70 and +/-2grns is acceptable for them.
Then there's Idaho Ron,, they all have to be exactly the same.

 

[wattlebuster]

Its a do as you please thing. The ones i hunt with I weigh an want them within half a grain. The rest is just flingin lead at paper an such an i dont make such a big deal of :hatsoff:

 

[mooman76]

If they look good, filled out correctly, I shoot them. I usually doesn't make much difference for the average shooter but if you are picky, bench shooter or shoot in contests, you'd want to weigh them. You could weigh a bunch, separate them accordingly and shoot them. Then compare to each and it will give you a difference where you are at.

 

[uno676]

That gives me a better idea. Mine have been +/- 4 grains but 90% are about 1.5 grains. I don't think my lead is a good mix mine are 3.5 grains lighter than mold value.

 

[mooman76]

Moulds are rarely right on the money. Lead being heavy and only need to be off .001 or out of round by .001 could throw it off several grains. But yes allot of lead may be soft a close to pure but often isn't. I know mine isn't.

 

[Donny]

My experience is what distance do you shoot.

A number of target shooters who cast their own use rather sorry looking rejects at 25 yd targets.
....Close Weighed balls at 100yds.
Decent looking ones at 50.

I can't see how 70 gr. of powder at 25 yards would give the ball time to fly.
Is it more of a steady eye/hand?? :hmm:

 

[Patocazador]

It's hot down here and I don't compete so I don't want to spend hours more in a hot area. I reject wrinkled or frosted balls and segregate the others and mark them with a 0 (zero), + or - depending on whether they are close (1 gr. +/-), too light or too heavy.

I shoot them all but save the good ones for hunting. For deer-sized targets they all shoot close enough but I want to eliminate that error when hunting.

 

[Grumpa]

Shoot them all!

Wrinkles, lightweights, "uglies", whatever...shoot them, and keep a record of what they do on the paper, and at what distance.

When you're good enough that you can see the difference on the paper, (which may be right now), then you can start sorting and culling, and decide for yourself which ones you want to use, and how you want to use them, and which ones go back into the pot.

Then, you can share your experience with us, and show us what works for you.

I look forward to a future report. :wink:

Richard/Grumpa

 

[Tom Compton]

I shoot in matches both big and small and work to eliminate all of the variables possible. My preference is + - .5 grain especially on smaller calibers like .40. On bigger balls like .54 I'll let .7 or .8 gr slide. The .58 musket Mini'e balls may slide to 1.2 again that's +- . Correct and consistent Technique, hot lead (950* or so) and lead mix make for very few culls.

Another thing is I don't over do the time at the pot. Pour 50 or so w a single cavity, put sprue in and lay mold on top then do domething else. Fatigue will make your technique sloppy.
TC

 

[TNGhost]

If you want to be Historicaly Correct about it, I doubt thay had a scale sitting around the campfire. If it came out round, it was a go, if not, it went back in the pot. I am pretty much the same way and don't notice a mess of difference between me and my shooting buddies' store bought.

 

[M. De Land]

I think this simple test will answer your question better than any of us can.
Mold a bunch of balls and segregate the most consistent in weight then test then against the random poorly cast ones.
I think you will find little if any difference in accuracy but the test will give you your own personal answer.
You may have to repeat the test several times to have a meaningful comparison.

 

[jfaldo]

Yep what M.D. said. Been tested in other black powder disciplines and results tend to show that several grains difference made zero difference. Of course these are projectiles weighing in the 400-550 grain range so a lighter round ball may show degradation with a smaller weight variance than the heavier slugs but still if your casting is up to snuff there should be negligible difference anyways. I quit weighing anything I cast years ago.

I think there are way more important things to be worrying about like maybe practicing shooting more.

 

[Donny]

Cap't Obvious.
But A noticeable difference here, those who want an accurate squirrel/deer load, 20-50 yds.
and those who shoot competitively and need the 10x at 100 yds.

And considering bench, X sticks, offhand. etc.

 

[Billnpatti]

I understand what you mean by "Rule of Thumb". The general rule of thumb in regard to bullet weight variance is plus or minus 1 grain if you are shooting for the X ring in a match. Most people are not good enough with their rifle to see any change in accuracy if the balls vary by more than 1 grain. Those are awfully tight tolerances. For hunting accuracy, you could probably get away with plus or minus 10 grains for .50 cal. balls or larger. For smaller calibers, you might want to tighten up those tolerances a bit. I think for most purposes, you can get away with plus or minus 2% to 5% of the ball's nominal weight. Now if you start shooting X rings for score, and you and your rifle are potentially good enough to keep them in the X ring, you had better start weighing each ball and then throw out those that are more than plus or minus 1 grain.

 

[uno676]

Thanks for all the input. New to the casting thing I just hadn't thought about it till I was reading Dutch Schultz webpage. It didn't go into a lot of detail there. I guess I need to buy his book.

 

[jfaldo]

Cap't Obvious.

Obviously not so obvious to some. When people are posting that a pound of powder will last them a year or more and then obsess with the weight of their balls. Well nuff said. Not saying that the OP was that person, just a general statement.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Keep in mind, this is a do yer own thang game.
No rule of thumb for what you ask.
Back in the days when I was a serious 'X' hunter my toleration was .1 gr. for my cast balls. Single ball only moulds.
These days, if the ball looks good I use is. If not perfect I'll use if for 25 yard matches only and practice.
I'll venture, if you want consistency, a 1.0 gr. tolerance will put you in the hunt at any match.

 

[tenngun]

I agree. You best results come from consistency. Everything should be the same from shot to shot.
For myself if it's smooth,shinny, and I can't see a hole it goes down range