Hi guys,
I just received 3500 pieces of .223 brass from RVO. I would like to start sorting by weight for my SpaceGun (built by Frank White). I'm hoping that the difference in brass weight might help with the ocasional flier that wrecks an otherwise great group.
Can someone help with a game plan on the best way to approach it? Do I keep them within .2grs in the group? Is that tight enough? I will be weighing them on an electronic scale. Thanks for the help, Keith

[ 12-06-2002, 23:38: Message edited by: wksinatl ]

Keith, I don't wanna burst your bubble but I may save you a ton of work. Bottom line for a highpower shooter - barring mutants and aberrations, it doesn't matter. Weigh em all once to sort out the ones with pebbles in them then practice shooting instead.

I spent (wasted) most of one winter sorting Lake City Match only to realize absolutely no gain in groups or scores. I was crushed. *sniff*

Redial

I would have to agree with Redial. If your load is properly developed, small variations in the cases won't affect your POI noticeably.

Since you're working with the .223, you might be interested in this link:

http://216.219.200.59/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=13&t=000256

You'll note that in this test, the weights of my Lake City cases varied quite a bit, but the groups were all in the 1/2 MOA range at 100 yards.

With loads developed in the manner used in this link (this is what I call the OCW for "optimal charge weight" load development method) you won't notice case weight variations. I've even shot 2/3 MOA groups at 300 yards with my 30-06 recipe using Winchester, Winchester Nickel, and Remington cases all in the same group. The Remington cases weighed a full ten grains more than the brass Winchester cases, but POI was not affected beyond MOA.

Now. I'm not saying that you can't tighten your groups a bit by uniforming the cases. I'm simply saying that for all purposes of practical riflery, you won't notice the difference.

Best of luck with your loading. If you want to weigh the cases, there's certainly no harm in doing so.

I would say that anything with a .5 grain range would be fantastic.

Take care,

Dan Newberry
green 788

Sorting by weight is something you do when it is 35 below outside, with 6-feet of snow, and 50 mph winds.

That is the only practical purpose in sorting cases by weight...

It keeps you inside...

Unless you want to drive yourself completely nutz been there done that do what redail suggest. You'll be happier.

I recently posted this elsewhere too:

I recently weighed some 60 300 Ultra brass first then checked the water weight too after marking and sorting all the cases by weight. These were three different lots also of once fired factory ammo all trimmed to equal length.

Case weight varied over a 4.0gr spread.
Case + Water weight varied over 4.0gr. spread as well.
The lighter brass did not hold more water, at ALL.
The heavier brass did not hold less water, at ALL.

Case weight was subtracted from the weight of both together.
Weighed on RCBS Powder Pro digital scale to the tenth.
Eye dropper used to fill all cases EVEN with mouth, no convex.

Internal case capacity was +-2 tenths of a grain and I aint lyin!!....not even by a tenth either.

With the 4gr spread I never would have thought it even possible, nor did I....until I weighed them. Now we'll se how long it lasts.

I'll check some others too, but I'm about ready to conclude case wt doesn't mean crap as to capacity.

I GIVE... I GIVE!!!
The thought of weighing that many DID NOT appeal to me, and I definitly am not bored to the point I am looking for thing s to do.

I did use Dan's OCW to find that my SpaceGun loves 77gr MK's/24gr Varget/205m's. I tried br4's but they don't do as well as the 205m's.
Mine was built by Frank White at Compass Lake Engineering. Mine has a Krieger 1-7"/Jewel 2-stage/NightForce NXS 5.5-22-56mm, etc. It is extremely accurate and fun to shoot.

BTW, I am a big fan of the OCW for developement. I have done this on several rifles with great results. Give it a try!

Thanks for the info, Keith

Thanks for the kind words, Keith. I have recorded your data for the heavy .223 in my own OCW load records.

Take care and be well,

Dan Newberry
green 788

For anyone interested, cartridge brass is a little more than 8.5 times denser than water. Consequently, a difference in weight between two cases of about 1.0 grain will result in a difference in water capacity of about 0.11 grains. Stated another way, it will take a difference in weight between two cases of about 8.5 grains to equal a difference in water capacity of 1.0 grain. With very few exceptions, smokeless powders have a density of less than 1.0. So, sorting cases to the nearest half grain, will result in no more that 0.1 grain difference in powder charge. I doubt if your powder scale is measuring any more accurately than that.