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Ever disassemble factory match ammo?

Jayne

Private
Full Member
Minuteman
Mar 1, 2006
7
0
RTP, NC
Just wondering if anyone had every disassembled a couple of rounds of factory match ammo and weighted out all the components. I can't find the collet set for my bullet puller or I would have tried it myself tonight.

I know I obsess about getting my powder to the .1 gr and sometimes have even weight sorted bullets and brass, but what do you get when you buy factory match of any type? How accurate are their powder charges case to case?
 
Re: Ever disassemble factory match ammo?

I bet they're not even within a half grain of each other.
 
Re: Ever disassemble factory match ammo?

Jayne,

I pulled 80 300WM Lapua rounds one time. Case weights including primers were O.K (within 1.5gr), as was bullet OGL (within 0.005") and COL consistency. Primer seating feel appeared to be the same. Powder charges were +/- 0.5 gr, with most +/- 0.2 gr.

HTH,
DocB
 
Re: Ever disassemble factory match ammo?

I weighed out some M118 and M72 loads and they exhibited charge weight spreads of as much as 1.5gr. I handloaded some equivalents, using 173 LC and 175SMK bullets to match handload specs, and they shot pretty much the same as the arsenal loads in my M1 and M1A. Go figure.

Greg
 
Re: Ever disassemble factory match ammo?

I haven't pulled match ammo, but I have pulled a lot of factory ammo. Most factory ammo was within .4-.6 grains. The worst I found was Weatherby. I pulled a few boxes of 300 Weatherby ammo, and the ES was .8 grains! No wonder it won't shoot well in some guns. For $3-$4 a round, I'd expect better consistancy. I now load on an Acculab VIC-123, and is accurate to .02 grains. I like it!

Chad
 
Re: Ever disassemble factory match ammo?

If you pulled my match ammo you wuld not find such large discrepancies.
 
Re: Ever disassemble factory match ammo?

I pulled some GMM .308 and was not real impressed by the numbers. Powder varied about +-.3 and runout was about .003-.005, but it still runs about 1/2moa so they must be doing something right.
 
Re: Ever disassemble factory match ammo?

Satisfied my curiosity.

Thanks everyone.