As the title asks; Is it required to Meplat trim before bullet pointing?
Thanks
Thanks
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- Thread starter mclevela
- Start date
Yes or no? I'm confused now
I am not an expert, but I see on the 6.5 SAUM 4s threads they talk a lot about pointing, but I've seen nary a mention of trimming. So my vote is no.
I thought, I don't do it so don't shoot me, that pointing can be done without Meplat trimming. Because you are badicslly "pointing" the bullets which is Beyer then the Meplat trimming
No, it is not required to meplat trim prior to pointing, but that is where you get the best results. Meplat trimming by itself will reduce the BC of the bullet, but the resulting uniformity may make up for the reduction with better consistency. Pointing recovers or improves the BC lost by trimming, and the combination will usually have beneficial results. Pointing, alone, will help increase the BC somewhat without trimming.
Paul
Paul
Pointing is done by using the base of the bullet to jam the bullet into the pointing die, so the amount of pointing actually accomplished for a given pointing die setting is determined by base-to-meplat length, which is known to vary within bullet lots.
Meplat uniforming, on the other hand, is done by pushing the bullet into the trimmer tool until it stops on its ogive, then trimmed to a uniform ogive-to-tip length.
I was told the correct procedure was:
Sort bullets by base-to-ogive length.
Uniform meplats, enough to trim them all to the same ogive-to-meplat length.
Since base-to-ogive has already been sorted, you now have a lot of bullets which are uniform base-to-meplat (total length).
Now when you push them into the tipping die, they will all receive the same degree of tipping, resulting in uniform performance at distance.
Meplat uniforming, on the other hand, is done by pushing the bullet into the trimmer tool until it stops on its ogive, then trimmed to a uniform ogive-to-tip length.
I was told the correct procedure was:
Sort bullets by base-to-ogive length.
Uniform meplats, enough to trim them all to the same ogive-to-meplat length.
Since base-to-ogive has already been sorted, you now have a lot of bullets which are uniform base-to-meplat (total length).
Now when you push them into the tipping die, they will all receive the same degree of tipping, resulting in uniform performance at distance.
It is no problem to length (OAL) sort bullets, then point. Adjust your pointing die mic according to the length differential between each sorted length group of bullets and you'll be fine. If you wish to trim before pointing, it's not going to hurt you. However, the gains of doing that over length sorting and pointing are marginal at best, and length sorting of bullets is a lot less time-consuming than trimming. Either way you choose, they'll be better than loading straight out of the box.
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