How Good is Good Enough?

[JonB]

Casting a good bullet isn't about how well you cull, but about how well you cast. If you're culling more than 5% it's time to figure out the problem and fix it.

Cast Rifle Bullets:
I wasn't gonna comment on how good is good enough? Because I don't really cull very many. But in the big picture, I cull a lot, maybe more than half. Ian makes a excellent point here.
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When I am casting Rifle bullets, I keep them in chronological piles as the casting session goes along. There is a point that things start going great and they all have the same "look" and then when that period ends, I usually try to re gain that level of greatness, but rarely comes back. In the link I posted above (post #26) where I discuss my issue with long skinny bullets...those great periods can be short and stopping and getting the mold cooled or reheated "evenly" in the mold oven, seems to be the only way to get back to a great period. Anyway, I save the bullets cast during those great periods, and cull the rest, which can be a lot culled. Of the saved bullets, I have found there is so few to be culled from the great periods, that I found I don't need to visually inspect as a separate function, I will inspect and reject a rare few during GC/lube-sizing and or seating.
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Now, I kind of do the same with pistol bullet casting, but pistol bullets being easier to cast, there isn't much of a non-Great period of the casting session. But, while casting pistol bullets, I do dump hot sprues back in the pot, as I do with hot culls...something I don't do while casting Rifle bullets. So after a pistol bullet session, I rarely see how many are culled...so maybe it isn't as few as I think, LOL.

 

[RBHarter]

1% is .6 gr on 62 gr 22s , but 5.3 on a 535gr 45 cal . Im actually a lot more particular about bullets as they get larger ...... Relatively anyway .

I don't know if it's the tool or the confidence it inspires but the Lee 6s are the moulds that that give a consistent inconsistency. The exception is the 358-200.
That H&G monster throws under a grain for all 8 holes and under 3 even in 3 pot runs. .453-196.
The Mountain.453-350 I can't tell the difference between the two cavities and if it's off its me.
I have 11-12 NOEs and had 2 more 2,3,4,5 cavity , only 3 gave me any trouble with inconsistencies , but a 5 cavity 22 in the standard blocks isn't an easy one to manage . The 285-154 is a me problem . The rest just run .
I'm still in negotiations with the 257412 I'm yet to get a good solid 75% keeper run it's a hulking block set with 4 little bitty holes .
Its an even split really with the iron doubles as far as having 2 uniform bullets just like the many Lee that have come and gone .

After all of that , I don't think I'm a ruthless culler , I've certainly never been a perfectionist . I throw a bunch back out of the mould , I cull out bad bases ,bad bands ,and excessive drop dings . I often weigh especially if I have a need for something above the average and always with a new mould . I don't want to have that 10 gr to heavy for data in a little case again .

 

[jonjon]

See my earlier post above.