Hornady match grade bullets?

BC604

BC604

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To make the long story short, i bought a box of
168gr Hornady BTHP Match on sale.

I never weighted projectiles before but just for fun I put them on the scale.

The lighter ones weighed as low as 167.62Gr and the
heavier ones weighed 168.500.Gr
There were about 25pcs that weighed very close to 168Gr.
Most (51) were around 167.78Gr and the rest in the extreme low or extreme high side.

That is almost a grain variation in on box.
As I said before I have never weighed bullets before but it seems like it is very inconsistent
for something called "match" bullets.

So, my question is.
Does it matter +-1gr of bullet weight, or am i just overthinking this?
 
I was wondering the same thing for .223 bullet weight as well as the brass weight.We will have to wait until Jerry from Mystic gets out of bed to give us some insight.
 
I just weighed and sorted 300 of the same bullets ( On a RCBS 505 beam scale :HR: ) . And they varied from 167.3 to 168.4.
I will keep them in that order when loading and using them .
I was told by a F class shooter some of them weigh the primers like this too.
 
I started weighing my pills last year. Now I reload groups of 5 with the same weights. I bought 300 pcs of 168gr SMKs from a vendor here and I was expecting them in the retail green plastic box. What I got was a bag of bulk bullets. The weights were all over the place as low as 165.x grains up to 169.x grains. When I weigh my retail packaging ones, they were from 167.x to 168.x grains. Anything outside of 0.5gr +/- goes towards my 300BLK ammo or sighting in/plinking ammo. Maybe I'm overthinking things but I'm just trying to reduce any external controllable influence on accuracy. i got enough to worry about with my sh!tty shooting lack of skills. lol

How many grains variance makes a difference with accuracy and groupings?
 
chalkriver said:
I was told by a F class shooter some of them weigh the primers like this too.
Click to expand...

ten-science-myths-black-and-white-image-of-clairvoyant.jpg
 
BC604 said:
To make the long story short, i bought a box of
168gr Hornady BTHP Match on sale.

I never weighted projectiles before but just for fun I put them on the scale.

The lighter ones weighed as low as 167.62Gr and the
heavier ones weighed 168.500.Gr
There were about 25pcs that weighed very close to 168Gr.
Most (51) were around 167.78Gr and the rest in the extreme low or extreme high side.

That is almost a grain variation in on box.
As I said before I have never weighed bullets before but it seems like it is very inconsistent
for something called "match" bullets.

So, my question is.
Does it matter +-1gr of bullet weight, or am i just overthinking this?
Click to expand...

With everything, it depends. 1 gr on a 168gr bullet is a very small variation vs 1gr on a 80gr bullet.

Would you find this size of weight variation in a "match" bullet like Berger... not in your life. So, we need to always understand how "match", a match anything is.

Like Tactical or other industry buzz words, stuff is way over used and the actual meaning gets lost in the marketing hype.

Hornady's new bullet as advertised by them is a "true 1/2 min bullet" match bullet. I am sure they will meet this goal as I have many times with their products BUT 1/2 min at its best is not going to cut it in most forms of competition precision shooting today.

So... just depends on your needs, goals and expectations. I shoot ALOT of hrn "match" bullets in my practise and LR rifles. For the money, their quality vs performance is hard to beat so I recommend them as a solid buy. But would I recommend them for F class competition????

Does that mass variation matter? Shoot it in your rifle and find out. For many rifles, it will not matter at all as they are at best a 1/2 min rifle... many far worst.

FYI, I do not weight brass.. doesn't tell me anything.

I do not weigh primers BUT will test each lot for performance AND there can be a difference.

1mm variation in ride height to a NASCAR is of little consequence. 1mm in a F1 car got a very big team disqualified from a podium costing them millions.

YMMV

Jerry
 
it is only relevant to the distance your shooting, at 1 and 2 hundred yards it is almost mute with a off the shelf rifle, as well as a full blown custom, at 300 it may come into play and of course the farther you go the more you will see it, but only if your using the best of the best equipment to weigh your powder and seat your bullets.
if you think it makes you shoot better bu weighing them then do so, if you weigh them all out and shoot in lots and see no difference then stop worrying about it and just concentrate on your trigger pull and your wind flags, nobody has won a major match or set any new records with hornady bullets for a long long time, that alone should tell you something
 
One company's best might not be as good as another's worst. That pertains to quality as well as cost!! I use HRN bullets in 30-30 and sometimes the 222, the rest get Nosler, Sierra, Swift, or Matrix. 90% of the time anyway. If I was to shoot long range match my choices would likely be much different, but since 1/2 MOA is more than good enough for my uses, I worry more about what the bullet does inside my intended target.

I weighed VMax's and AMax's out of curiosity and decided I could lump most boxes into two groups and be quite happy. I only do this to satisfy my OCD, probably makes no difference in the field.
 
Mystic Precision said:
With everything, it depends. 1 gr on a 168gr bullet is a very small variation vs 1gr on a 80gr bullet.

Would you find this size of weight variation in a "match" bullet like Berger... not in your life. So, we need to always understand how "match", a match anything is.

Like Tactical or other industry buzz words, stuff is way over used and the actual meaning gets lost in the marketing hype.

Hornady's new bullet as advertised by them is a "true 1/2 min bullet" match bullet. I am sure they will meet this goal as I have many times with their products BUT 1/2 min at its best is not going to cut it in most forms of competition precision shooting today.

So... just depends on your needs, goals and expectations. I shoot ALOT of hrn "match" bullets in my practise and LR rifles. For the money, their quality vs performance is hard to beat so I recommend them as a solid buy. But would I recommend them for F class competition????

Does that mass variation matter? Shoot it in your rifle and find out. For many rifles, it will not matter at all as they are at best a 1/2 min rifle... many far worst.

FYI, I do not weight brass.. doesn't tell me anything.

I do not weigh primers BUT will test each lot for performance AND there can be a difference.

1mm variation in ride height to a NASCAR is of little consequence. 1mm in a F1 car got a very big team disqualified from a podium costing them millions.

YMMV

Jerry
Click to expand...

Very good read, thank you, and everyone else for contributing.
My guns shoot better than I can, and I am nowhere
near skilled enough to be able to attend competitions anyways.

Ill just shoot more and worry about such a tiny details
when I get to the point were it actually matters.

I loaded them by weight since I already had them sorted,
it will be interesting to see if it makes any difference
with me behind the trigger.

The only thing I noticed is that the OAL varies depending
on the bullet weight. It could have the potential to cause problems
when trying to put the bullets close to the lands.

Thanks
 
BC604 said:
Very good read, thank you, and everyone else for contributing.
My guns shoot better than I can, and I am nowhere
near skilled enough to be able to attend competitions anyways.

Ill just shoot more and worry about such a tiny details
when I get to the point were it actually matters.

I loaded them by weight since I already had them sorted,
it will be interesting to see if it makes any difference
with me behind the trigger.

The only thing I noticed is that the OAL varies depending
on the bullet weight. It could have the potential to cause problems
when trying to put the bullets close to the lands.

Thanks
Click to expand...

are you measuring to the tip or to the ogive? the ogive is where it is important. the tip measurement will drive you nuts fast
 
Hornady bullet comparator mounts on your calipers .There are different inserts for certain caliber ranges.
The tool for measuring the O.A.L required ( or for measuring throat erosion) is shown as well.



 
BC604 said:
Very good read, thank you, and everyone else for contributing.
My guns shoot better than I can, and I am nowhere
near skilled enough to be able to attend competitions anyways.

Ill just shoot more and worry about such a tiny details
when I get to the point were it actually matters.

I loaded them by weight since I already had them sorted,
it will be interesting to see if it makes any difference
with me behind the trigger.

The only thing I noticed is that the OAL varies depending
on the bullet weight. It could have the potential to cause problems
when trying to put the bullets close to the lands.

Thanks
Click to expand...

With a factory rifle, you will see more affect on target with powder charge and proper primers then variations in bullet weight and spec in a 30cal. As a percentage, the weight variations are smaller then your error so just enjoy them.

Focus on the stuff that will matter like a better scale, maybe a hotter primer in cold weather, good neck prep and of course, consistent shooting.

from proper rests, position behind the rifle, eye to scope alignment, breathing, trigger control, shooter fatigue and follow through... all have profound affect and the cold is not helping.

If you can see the bullet holes (hint, hint, SEE the bullets holes), track every shot, how you felt, where it went. As much as you are testing your load and rifle, you must also keep track of YOU.

It is pretty much a given that you will shoot worst when cold and tired then when fresh so take plenty of breaks that do not include COFFEE or stimulants.

When I am practising now, I want to track if and how my shooting degrades with fatigue. If I find a consistent error, then I want to be aware of it during a match. Example... I am pulling a bit high and left due to the extra clothing of winter. maybe this goes away, maybe it doesn't but I better know a pulled shot like that is NOT wind related or I will be my worst enemy.

So by keeping good notes and separating gear error from shooter error, things will improve and become more consistent OR more importantly, allow you to see problem areas to correct.

Then you can worry about whether somethings is capable of sub 1/2 min.

Enjoy the journey... practise, practise, practise... but make it good practise with the goal to get rid of bad habits and poor form.

Jerry
 
Mystic Precision said:
With a factory rifle, you will see more affect on target with powder charge and proper primers then variations in bullet weight and spec in a 30cal. As a percentage, the weight variations are smaller then your error so just enjoy them.

Focus on the stuff that will matter like a better scale, maybe a hotter primer in cold weather, good neck prep and of course, consistent shooting.

from proper rests, position behind the rifle, eye to scope alignment, breathing, trigger control, shooter fatigue and follow through... all have profound affect and the cold is not helping.

If you can see the bullet holes (hint, hint, SEE the bullets holes), track every shot, how you felt, where it went. As much as you are testing your load and rifle, you must also keep track of YOU.

It is pretty much a given that you will shoot worst when cold and tired then when fresh so take plenty of breaks that do not include COFFEE or stimulants.

When I am practising now, I want to track if and how my shooting degrades with fatigue. If I find a consistent error, then I want to be aware of it during a match. Example... I am pulling a bit high and left due to the extra clothing of winter. maybe this goes away, maybe it doesn't but I better know a pulled shot like that is NOT wind related or I will be my worst enemy.

So by keeping good notes and separating gear error from shooter error, things will improve and become more consistent OR more importantly, allow you to see problem areas to correct.

Then you can worry about whether somethings is capable of sub 1/2 min.

Enjoy the journey... practise, practise, practise... but make it good practise with the goal to get rid of bad habits and poor form.

Jerry
Click to expand...

Thank you for the excellent write up.

Sometimes it takes someone else to point out the obvious.
I just connected the dots and realized that I almost always go to the range with
much less sleep than I usually get.
While I won't be giving up coffee, I will try to make sure to get enough
sleep before heading out.

Thanks.
 
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