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Case Weighing

Westtexan

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Jul 14, 2010
160
2
57
San Antonio, TX
How many of yall actually weigh your cases? I am just wondering how big and effect this actually has on accuracy. I do understand wanting to have everything the same but do you gain that much from it.
 
Re: Case Weighing

this has been addressed a few times before. most don't, a few eliminate the high or low cases (roughly 10%) and a very few have very tight allowances that would eliminate most winchester, black hills, LC, Remington brass
 
Re: Case Weighing

While I have done this, it is about the last thing I will look at as to accuracy. (Although I would cull the few cases which are way off the average) If I were to make it a part of my program I would do it by sorting the brass into weighed lots when it was new.
 
Re: Case Weighing

i think people weight their cases in hopes of getting the most uniform case capacity. If you have varying case capacities , well then everything else is going to change as a result of that.I dont do it but i think sorting cases by CC is better then just sorting by weight , but like i said , i dont do it. Though i think you might see some gains from doing it.
 
Re: Case Weighing

I'd rather spend my bench time turning the thick side off of necks, weighing precise powder charges, and addressing any issue with runout.

Much more productive........
 
Re: Case Weighing

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: turbo54</div><div class="ubbcode-body">See my signature. </div></div>

Guess you need to elaborate on your definition of "perfect".

A concentric round, made up of a good bullet seated in good brass to an optimum depth, loaded with a finely tuned and precisely weighed charge of powder, and ignited with a reliably consistant primer...is NOT a waste of time.

Weighing brass for some mystical advantage over random brass weights, however, is............

190 SMK's out of my 25" Krieger 30-06:

Measures 1.280" center to center, fired at 500 yards from bipods and rear bag....plain old random weight off the shelf bulk WW cases. Thick side turned off the necks, powder measured to the precise 10th per the repeatability of the RCBS 10-10, and runout is .001" or less.

I don't see the point of shooting junk ammo, and I gave up weighing/sorting brass over 15 years ago.............

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Re: Case Weighing

I typically don't bother with it. However, I recently got a lot of 308 Winchester brass that separated into two distinct lots of weight 20 grains apart. The higher weight cases held less powder, were 60 fps faster and were .5 mils flatter at 1k.

I am not going to be anal about weighing my cases, but I will start checking Winchester brass when I get new lots in.
 
Re: Case Weighing

I did a pretty convincing test with different weight cases a little while back. Im overseas and dont have the exact numbers on me and my memory sucks but the gist of it was:

3 pieces of fully sized/trimmed/ prepped brass, one was the heaviest of the lot, one in the middle and one that was the lightest in the lot. I think it may have been a spread of like 5 gr. or so. Anyways, same powder charge in each and almost exactly 20 fps. difference between them. Starting with the lightest then getting faster as the brass got heavier.
There were only a few way outside of the average weight, but those few would/could be 40 fps different then the rest. I keep my brass between 2 gr. for that type/lot.. the rest I still load up but use for sighters/foulers... I just cant throw away a good piece of brass
 
Re: Case Weighing

If I buy ten bags of brass, I'll weigh the first one. If I like the consistency, get good results and keep getting good results from subsequent bags, then I don't weigh them again. If I start getting stringing at distance, then I start sleuthing
 
Re: Case Weighing

Trip in Turbo's defense I believe "perfect" relates to spending too much time on frivolous items of loading. Some things are more frivolous than others and the skill of each individual dictates what they should be doing. It is my opinion that 90% of the shooters in this country are wasting their time with most of the advanced loading steps. Including neck turning. If you can SEE the difference then you are obviously in the other 10%.
 
Re: Case Weighing

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: armorpl8chikn</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Trip in Turbo's defense I believe "perfect" relates to spending too much time on frivolous items of loading. Some things are more frivolous than others and the skill of each individual dictates what they should be doing. It is my opinion that 90% of the shooters in this country are wasting their time with most of the advanced loading steps. Including neck turning. If you can SEE the difference then you are obviously in the other 10%. </div></div>

You've got it. Weight sorting, trimming to exact lengths frequently, primer pocket uniforming, flash hole deburring, neck turning, H2O capacity sorting.....all a waste if time unless you are a benchrest guy. In the world of tactical shooting, you'll never have the time to establish that "perfect" hold anyway.

I do subscribe to weighing each charge, doing proper and thorough load development, keeping like headstamps sorted, keeping track of firings and tweaking your setup for best concentricity/least runout.
 
Re: Case Weighing

My runout gauge has four bearings on which the round rides. Two support the case just forward of the rim, and the other two support the case on the neck. I built the gauge myself and it functions in the manner I feel the most productive. It also has the capability to straighted errant runout which I've proved to myself does NOT hinder accuracy in the least, but improves the chances the round will not be a flyer.

I turn necks on precision loads to reduce error on the runout gauge induced by thick/thin necks. It's a one time deal for the life of the case and time well spent to attain the goal of .001" runout or less, and it's about as fussy as I get beyond keeping brass clean, and annealed, and brushing out the primer pocket.

I whole heartedly agree most shooters spend too much time and thought on needless steps. My methods are born of decades of trial and error and constantly looking for the shortest way to the best practical results. The load I posted above is a solid 1/4 minute load. It took exactly 62 rounds to find according to my log, and that included several confirmation tests that included 1000 yard hits on steel. I didn't get there though by wasting my time at the load bench.

A good rifle that shoots good ammo is worth far more to me than any bass boat, or set of golf clubs, or any alcohol dependent social life. Those to me are perfect wastes of time. Not that I'm implying anything, just that shooting is my main gig.

Too each his own..........