.224 reloads

i just bought 200 projectiles of winchester 55gr fmj. only 7 actually weighed 55grs. i would like to know if i can salvage the rest by lightly filing the bottom of the projectiles, so that they all weigh the same.



p.s. sorry for any miss spelling!

How far are you shooting these? What are you shooting with them? Are they just for plinking? if they are just for plinking load em up and shoot the heck out of them. If you are lookng for a squirrel load with a tight group at 150 yds, you may have to invest in some better bullets for a consistent weight. Even then, the will be discrepancies

Bullets such as these are not designed for accuracy, but for less expensive practice/plinking ammo. Unless you are shooting long range in a precision rifle you will probably still be fine. Filing the base would probably end up will even worse accuracy.

I would just load these and shoot them as intended. If you are want absolute consistancy in your bullets, you will need to invest in match bullets (Sierra Match Kings, Bergers, etc).

If you wanted to make all projectiles the same weight, you could remove small amounts of lead with a router bit (in hand). I don't think you will see any improved accuracy. The design of these projectiles with it's open, inconsistent base creates turbulence that's a real 'drag' on accuracy. Some pun intended.

Welcome to The High Road!

What kind of variance did you measure? +/- a grain won't make a difference with 55gr FMJ. As they said above, those aren't match bullets. The base is generally accepted as being more important than the tip when talking accuracy. That's why most match bullets are BTHP. The HP doesn't really do anything, but the jacket has to be open at one end and an enclosed base can be made more consistent than an open one.

Lay a half-dozen or so of your FMJ bullets on the table with the base facing you. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that you can see a definite difference in the amount of lead exposed on them. That's why we say the small weight variance doesn't matter.

Here are three bullets that came out of the same 100-pack of Winchester 55gr FMJ.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v474/Sport45/Gun%20Pics/102_0671.jpg?t=1302699235

Agree, dont worry about it. Load them up and shoot them!

As posted a bit of variance is normal with 55 Gr FMJ bullets. They don't shoot very well because of the open base which is poorly shaped. Any decent HP or SP bullet will outshoot them. The base is the single most important part of the bullet for accuracy. By the nature of how a FMJ is made makes them unsuited for target work. Messing with the base will only make things worse. All match bullets have the open end of the copper jacket at the front.

Welcome to THR

Win 55gn FMJs are somewhat notorious for being inconsistent and that is reflected in their accuracy (or lack thereof). If your rifle will shoot them reliably under 2MOA you're extremely lucky.

If you're looking for arguably the best, most consistent 55gn FMJ bullet, you want the Hornadys. If you really want excellent accuracy, go with a varmint bullet or match hollowpoint.

Thanks everyone, the variants are from 54.3gr to 56.1. I was just trying to get match accuracy out of a crap bag. I'm new at the reload game, Lesson learned.

The weight variation will not hurt accuracy as much as you might imagine.

It's the non-uniform base on most all military style FMJ bullets that causes poor accuracy.

As the uneven bullet jacket base clears the muzzle crown, more gas escapes on one side then the other.
That starts the bullet wobbling down-range.

The uneven bullet base has the same effect on the bullet path as a damaged muzzle crown.

Any cheap, or expensive, bullet with the jacket opening in the nose and a perfectly flat base will out-shoot them.

Here is a target shot with identical loads.
The 9/16" 5-shot group was Nosler 55 grain Ballistic-Tips.
The 1 7/8" 5-shot group was Win 55 grain FMJ-BT!

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/rcmodel/KTOG/EoTecGroup.jpg

rc