I have been doing some long range shooting for a couple years now and find my self OCD with load development and reloading, I do complete brass prep from turning outside necks to annealing, primer pockets, flash holes, and once rounds are loaded I spin them for concentricity. Now I am looking for the 1 last thing I think that will complete the trilogy, how many Nutz here trim the Meplat of their bullets and then use a bullet pointing die to finish them up? I would like to hear Pro's and con's if any and people thoughts and this topic! Thanks in advance I look forward to hearing back Jim.
Meplat Trimming and bullet pointing
- Thread starter accumark
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I like to use every trick possible to improve accuracy, but I would not put that one very high on the list to try. A lot of the work on accuracy of rimfire ammo (Eley) has found that the nose of the bullet is much less important than the base of the bullet. Eley found that even when they intentionally damaged the nose of a bullet it didn't have much effect on accuracy. Just going from memory, but I recall that Harold Vaughn described doing similar testing in his book, Rifle Accuracy Facts.
One overlooked aspect of bullets is how they are deformed in the process of firing. Bullets are much softer than one thinks, and geometry at primer firing and the short time after that, can have a big impact on the condition of the bullet when it exits the barrel. And another theory of Vaughn's is that in high spin barrels used for long distance, the jacket and outer layer of lead can separate from the inner core of lead. In other words the jacket is spinning faster than the core at muzzle exit, and that impacts accuracy. Berger has found that lighter jacketed bullets can get so hot that the inner core melts, and the bullet can even explode. So somewhere short of exploding, the Vaughn theory has a lot of credibility. Berger found the solution was a thicker jacket, not to hold the bullet together, but to thermally insulate the lead so it does not melt, especially near the base. A reloader does not have much control of these things, other than choosing the bullet wisely.
The meplat does have impact on the drag factor and long range ballistics. However it would seem that it may be more prudent to inspect out bad bullets and use them for fouling shots, than to try and fix them. There was a test done on measuring actual vs manufacture claimed BC's. One bad actor was a Nosler plastic tipped bullet. They found the tip fit to the bullet was lacking in quality control and degrading the actual BC, and obviously creating variation from bullet to bullet. Then there is the issue of the plastic tip melting and deforming. It strikes me that the fix for this is inspection, and probably avoidance of the plastic tip type of construction. The new Nosler RDF bullet with the very small meplat and claimed high quality control may be a good option. However, they are the same company that have bungled the plastic tip construction...
Short answer? I inspect the bullets but don't try to change them. I just use the best ones. I also believe that bullets are the most significant reloading component when it comes to accuracy. If one bullet does not shoot, I try another.
Long range success is very much a mental game. You have to be confident.
By thinking about pointing your bullets, you have created a distraction and concern you don't need. So do it. If you find it does not help, then you can stop without any remorse.
I know shooters who swear by it.
By thinking about pointing your bullets, you have created a distraction and concern you don't need. So do it. If you find it does not help, then you can stop without any remorse.
I know shooters who swear by it.
Time consuming but worth it if you test pointed bullets at 900 m vs non pointed you will see difference immediately
I shoot 90 gr Berger's in 223 Rem + 1/2 moa in elevation and groups will defiantly be smaller.
Last year I shot 14 v bulls in a row at 700m missed the last shot by 1/2" I know that pointing works along with all the other brass prep, neck turning to be a must
I have pointed some 155gr Sierras in 308 win and get 1 moa in elevation over non pointed.
Mepplate trim should be kept to bare min 1 to 2 k
View attachment 79390
I shoot 90 gr Berger's in 223 Rem + 1/2 moa in elevation and groups will defiantly be smaller.
Last year I shot 14 v bulls in a row at 700m missed the last shot by 1/2" I know that pointing works along with all the other brass prep, neck turning to be a must
I have pointed some 155gr Sierras in 308 win and get 1 moa in elevation over non pointed.
Mepplate trim should be kept to bare min 1 to 2 k
View attachment 79390
You mean the 308s shoot a minute flatter? Or the group is a minute better? Flatter is an improvement - less drift, I assume.
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You won't notice the difference at short ranges, however at 800+ yards you should see a difference. We have done tests at 1000 yards and found the pointed bullets outperformed the non-pinted. Some bullets are worse than others. For example in the Berger 180 hybrids in 7mm they need to be trimmed and pointed to get the best performance out of them, while the Sierra 7mm 183's are already done at the factory. Before trimming, you must sort your bullets either by base to ogive using for example a Sinclair sorting tool, or sorting with a Bob Green tool which does seating stem to base. After sorting bullets you will have a bunch of sub-lots. Within each sub-lot you have to inspect, measure the length of each and trim to the shortest only taking odd a few thou with either the Hoover or Whidden trimmer. After that re-point using the Hoover like manitou is showing or the Whidden. I think the Hoover is superior. I have a Giraud case trimmer which also trims the meplats but does it much faster than manual ones.
Yes I have looked on other forum's of people who do both trimming and pointing and done tests that show improvements that seem to confirm it is worth the time, I shoot a couple custom 338 Edge's using 300 grain Berger Elite hunter bullets and want to get the most out of them. I know the short range stuff is not worth doing it for but seeing as we shot any where from 200 yards out to plus 1600 yards every bit of advantage will help.
I use mine a bit; but not in the way you'd expect. Sometimes
I get into a situation where a rifle will still shoot if seated to the lands but the cartridges don't fit into the mag box any more. I've used my Sinclair meplat uniformer to snip the ends off so
I still have a repeater for awhile longer.
I get into a situation where a rifle will still shoot if seated to the lands but the cartridges don't fit into the mag box any more. I've used my Sinclair meplat uniformer to snip the ends off so
I still have a repeater for awhile longer.
