Hello all,

I've seen and read the phrase "sorted by weight" many times referring to brass and bullets and I was wondering how all of you who do this practice accomplish said sorting.

Is there some master specification for each cartridge/bullet or does it vary by manufacturer? I've seen pictures of cross sections of the same cartridge made by different manufacturers and the wall thickness at various points varies greatly. I would have to assume that the weight of the case varies as well.

What I've done in the past is to grab say 20% of the pieces at random, carefully weigh each one, and enter the number into my calculator. Using the calculator I can calculate mean and standard deviation. It is then up to me whether to use 1,2, or 3 times the standard deviation +/- the mean to get an acceptable weight range. This usually culls about 7-12% of the candidates.

It would seem the most precise way would be to measure the amount of internal volume by the amount of water it holds, I guess. But that does seem like it would take a huge amount of time and you would still have the problem of knowing what the target weight would be.

Enough rambling, how does everybody else do it?

thanks,
irwin

Hey Irwin, I'll venture a guess that I do it "slower" than anyone else.

First off I fully Prep the entire "new" lot of 300-1000 cases.

1. I run the entire lot through the Full Length Resizer set to Partial-Full Length Resize(P-FLR) for my specific rifle and then tumble the lube off.

2. Square the Primer Pocket and cut the depth of it the same on all cases.

3. Deburr the Flash Holes.

4. Trim the cases to the same length with a Lee Case Length Gauge, which is more accurate than the Lathe style cutters.

5. Deburr the outside of the Case-mouth.

6. Chamfer the inside of the Case-mouth with a Lyman VLD tool.

7. Polish the Case-mouth with "0000SteelWool" wrapped around an old worn-out 22cal brush.
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Now I'm ready to begin Weight Sorting and Recording.

1. Place a Case on the pan and weigh it to 0.1gr, like 168.4gr. An electronic scale is well worth "borrowing" to do this with.

2. Write that weight on a sheet of Legal Paper - Sheet 1.

3. Take a small piece of 3M Magic Transparent Tape and place it on the Case-body.

4. Record the weight on the Tape.

NOTE: If for some reason you choose to use some other tape, you have the possibility of leaving glue residue on the Case when you go to remove the Tape later on. Jsut remember you were told so, because the other residue is a bear to remove.

5. Repeat the Weighing and Recording for the entire lot.

6. Locate the "lighest Case weight" on Sheet 1 and record that number at the top of Sheet 2.

7. Write in the ascending weights in 0.1gr increments and stop when you reach the "heaviest Case weight" on Sheet 1.

8. Start down Sheet 1 and put a Hash Mark by each appropriate weight on Sheet 2 for each case.

9. Count and verify that the number of Cases on Sheet 2 is the same as on Sheet 1.

10. Have a cold one or a few.

11. Make a few "copies" of Sheet 2.

Highlight the Lighest and Heaviest to run your "Initial Pressure Tests" with and compare them to each other. No need to waste "Weight Sorted Cases" on determining where the SAFE MAX is for a specific bullet weight in a specific rifle.

Now you can sit back at your leasure and "circle" how many cases you want in each group. I like groups of 9, 15 or 18. No need to pick 20 unless you just want to. You can end up with a bunch of "groups" that are exactly the same.

One last sorting is justifiable. When you load those cases and shoot them for the first time, if you get a "Flier", mark or separate that case. Shoot them once more and if the same case creates a Flier, relegate it for duty with the Pressure Testing cases.
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There you go, just that simple.

Can't comment about Benchrest or other fanaticisms, but weighing anything is not necessarly needed. Even powder can be measured by volume.

Most reasonable quality bullets would be sorted at the factory, and I've given up weighing them.

Most brass is also reasonable, but when I was weighing them I usually just sorted them into light, medium, and heavy.

People also tell me i'm waisting my time weighing powder except to maybe set a thrower.

Some long range target shooters useing supplied
factory ammo reckoned they could weigh and sort the whole cartridge into high and low batches to some benifit.
If i read your post correctly, it's not about finding out a bullet averages say 150 1/2 grains instead of 150g, but to have batches of similar weights.
JL.