Hornady 55 gr FMJBT bulk variation

[CMV]

Grabbed a handful (35) & weighed & noticed my 55 gr projectiles aren't 55 gr.

55.0 - 1 - 2.9%
55.1 - 5 - 14.3%
55.2 - 23 - 65.7%
55.3 - 6 - 17.1%

Don't know the significance - just an observation from one small sample.

 

[ljnowell]

Thats pretty good for fmj in my opinion.

 

[helotaxi]

Pretty good for bulk FMJ bullets. I've seen more expensive bullets with more variation.

 

[Walkalong]

That's real good, but insignificant versus the base. No open base 55 Gr FMJ is going to shoot great, although the Hornady' have a rep for being very good for 55 Gr FMJ.

 

[Ares45]

Winchester FMJ are worse.

 

[Walkalong]

Not only the weight of the Winchesters, but the cannelures are all over the place as well.

 

[capreppy]

Wow, that is pretty bad. This is pretty much why I don't load to the cannelure.

 

[wanderinwalker]

Not only the weight of the Winchesters, but the cannelures are all over the place as well.

That's why I gave up chasing the tail of using 55gr FMJs for 200-yard "practice" (because I was using Winchesters...). I know a few people who still use FMJ .223 to practice offhand shooting, but they use the Hornadys, which seem to be much more consistent.

 

[gpb]

"Don't know the significance - just an observation from one small sample. "

A target will tell you the significance.

 

[Walkalong]

Wow, that is pretty bad.

Yep, but hey, they were $30 per K, many years ago. Wish I had bought more than I did.

I buy cheap for plinking blasting ammo. I don't need 1 MOA for playing. Heck, 2 MOA for that matter. I am shooting surplus powder I bought at $62.50 per 8 pounds delivered.

For more accurate ammo I buy V Max's or SP's or whatever is on sale. Heck, I'm not target shooting, just playing.

 

[Blue68f100]

Walkalong, That's pretty bad. But there is a reason there bulk. Could even be classified as seconds...

 

[RustyFN]

That's real good, but insignificant versus the base. No open base 55 Gr FMJ is going to shoot great, although the Hornady' have a rep for being very good for 55 Gr FMJ.

Walkalong just wondering what you would consider not great at say 100 yards? I have shot mainly the Hornady bulk 55's in my AR and was wondering if my groups were decent. I'm going to order some better bullets and see if I can get the groups any smaller.

 

[atblis]

Try the Hornady Flat base Soft Point 55s. They sell them in bulk. The flat base is a bit annoying to load.

 

[Walkalong]

The flat base is a bit annoying to load.

How?

 

[beatledog7]

Walkalong,

Those Winchesters are all different profiles as well. I'm thinking they might be a mix of models that just happen be all the same weight. They are pretty much the same weight, right?

 

[helotaxi]

Walkalong just wondering what you would consider not great at say 100 yards? I have shot mainly the Hornady bulk 55's in my AR and was wondering if my groups were decent. I'm going to order some better bullets and see if I can get the groups any smaller.

Not him, but my experience has been as bad as 5MOA on a rifle that shoots MOA on a bad day. This is from a bolt gun, not an AR. I was using them to try to sight the rifle in, not knowing any better. Waste of time chasing a zero since they patterned rather than grouped.

 

[helotaxi]

How?

No kidding. With a good seating die and just a small chamfer on the case mouth, flat base bullets go right in.

 

[Walkalong]

but my experience has been as bad as 5MOA on a rifle that shoots MOA on a bad day

About right, with 3 or 4 being average. They are not for target shooting. Not designed for it, nor suitable for it.

Yep, they all weigh 55 Grs +/-

 

[atblis]

No kidding. With a good seating die and just a small chamfer on the case mouth, flat base bullets go right in.

Any extra steps, especially ones that involve me having to handle the case are an annoyance. Having to chamfer = annoying. BT bullets I can just drop right in and seat. That being said, I just a Lyman M die for the flat base bullets.

 

[helotaxi]

By a "small chamfer" I mean simply removing the burr from trimming. Depending on your trimmer, that may or may not be required. With my 3-way cutter, it isn't. With a Gracey, Giraud or Dillon it isn't. I can't speak for the WFT. I do have to break the burr in and out with the Possum Hollow. I do it out of habit with my Forster lathe trimmer even though it leaves a nice clean cut that doesn't need it.

 

[Walkalong]

Deburring and chamfering is just good reloading practice, but I can see where you would not like flat base bullets if you do not chamfer at all.

 

[RustyFN]

Not him, but my experience has been as bad as 5MOA on a rifle that shoots MOA on a bad day. This is from a bolt gun, not an AR. I was using them to try to sight the rifle in, not knowing any better. Waste of time chasing a zero since they patterned rather than grouped.

Thanks. I'm shooting a RRA AR 15 from a rest. I'm getting three shot groups you can touch all three with a dime and five shot groups you can touch all five with a quarter.

 

[atblis]

Deburring and chamfering is just good reloading practice, but I can see where you would not like flat base bullets if you do not chamfer at all.

On low volume precision stuff, I certainly do that. For bulk 5.56/223 where I am trying to load up 5k+ rounds at a time, chamferring is a hassle and minimally beneficial. If I can't do it on a Dillon with a case-feeder, I ain't doing it.

Anyways the solution I found was to use a Lyman M die immediately after the Dillon trimmer, and the tumble. The M die and tumbling removes the burrs. Adding a slight step flare with the M die allows easy seating of the flat based bullets.