Pecos,..I happen to be one of those anal retentive benchrest shooters (although have no records to my name,.......yet ) And I shoot 1K which usually involves variables associated with distance and wind which far overshadow slight variations in internal volume.



ASS CLOWN,..you and I probably are in almost 100% agreement on the match prepping of brass for benchrest apllications. The water test,,which I have performed quite often is accurate,..but usually the last step in segregating the outliers for a perfect batch which is within 1-2% variance in internal volume (the standard practice in benchrest). However,..this CAN'T BE DONE until the cases are fireformed for the particular rifles chamber, and are all therefore blown out to THE SAME EXTERNAL DIMENSIONS. As with my 220 swift brass example,..in order to properly turn the necks,.they had to be sized, therefore they were uniformed by the sizing die with respect to their external dimensions. Thus,..if I run the water test after fireforming, I am betting that the .3gr variance across that lot won't change much. The change even at 200%,..will only yield .6gr which won't make a bit of difference unless the rifle is to be used in LV, HV, or Hunter class competition where groups are winners or losers due to .01" differences. But,..like I said, I don't expect there to be that much variance from the tolernaces I observed on a completely random sample of 10 of those cases.



My digital scales checked against each other as well as a beam scale vary by no more than .1gr every time I re-test them,..but I have the new PACT set up with the upgraded software etc so that may have something to do with it. That however doesn't explain why the RCBS Micro pro that is 6yrs old agrees spot on every time as well,..guess I got lucky with my scales.



As to powder variances,..that is operator error and has nothing to do with internal capacity. Also,..one hole groups at 100yds are very obtainable with as much as 100fps variance in muzzel velocity (a conclusion one usually does not draw until they have tested factory ammo across their newly purchased chronograph and comes to some realizations that defy (sp) what they have been told by "experts") These variances can also be related to inconsistent neck tension on sloppy american,..unprepped factory brass with crimps applied by a machine. The groups don't start to show inconsistencies until several hundred yards have passed beneath them.



And yes,..for the average sportsman/hunter/plinker,..these proceedures are a waste of your time,..but for paper shooters they pay large dividends on competition day. As stated,..tolerances are only made acceptable by the purpose of the owner.

JustC,

I have only had two digital scales (one Lyman and one Hornady). I now have only one. On good days they were very consistent against the beam (which I trust) and on bad days they would provide the horrendous error I posted earlier. So I trust them only as well as their bad days. Anyway long story short, if I want consistent powder charges (which is the norm) I TRUST the beam, not the digital. I guess you could chalk that up to personal idiosyncracy.

I tend to agree that we are in agreement on this entire question.

ASS_CLOWN

Cull them all and buy 100 cases of the same lot number. I have weighed recent batches of new Win brass with no more than about 3.5 grains spread. Lapua or Norma even less.

100 cases should last for the life of your current barrel. $25-50 for good brass of the same lot is cheap.

JustC - No insult intended with my remarks about the benchrest boys. I tried it at one time in my misspent youth but never had a decent rifle for it nor the patience.

I've always been into the hunting, plinking, experimenting side of shooting. My serious competitive shooting was with combat pistol and combat rifle.

But I think you and I both agree all this flagalation about cases is virtually worthless EXCEPT in the benchrest world. (Which excludes 95% of the shooters on this forum.) Thus my advice to the threads originator...FORGET IT.

Good luck with your future efforts.

I agree with Pecos, it is for the Benchrest boys and not for the hunting faternity that can get by just fine without a 1/10th difference in group..I doubt that anyone would argue that point..at least not anyone in their right mind

I'll jump in on Ray's side. Case weighing, especially the "lets fill up the cases with water and weigh them and then empty them and weigh them again", is for very anal stool shooters with a lot of time on their hands.
And as far as these folks talking about all the anal driven crap they do to a case before its ever fired, they are really peeing against the wind. Any significant prep that needs to be done is pointless until the case has been fire formed.
Its a simple test: load say 10 cases of one weight extreme, 10 of the other extreme and then 10 of a blind draw without weighing. put each lot in a seperate paper sack along with a scrap of paper giving the detes on the contents. Shuffle the bags around and, starting with a clean rifle, shoot the groups, cleaning the rifle between groups. Don't look at the info papers until it over. If you think its worth weighing cases, go to it.
Me personally, I rather load 'em up (without all the water and angst) and shoot 'em. If I get an unexplained flyer, I toss it.

You were X-ring off the bat Pecos. I got into a detailed discussion with ASS CLOWN and got off topic,..but I think despite whatever you and he have in your past, we all three agree it is a waste of time for any purpose other than group/score considerations.

I understand how one could lose patience with benchrest shooting The frustration pays off sometimes.....