Acceptable loaded round run out

[chappo (Greg Chapman)]

Hi all,
I have a question which has been bugging me for some time. When you load for 500 fly and 1000BR just what is acceptable run out on a loaded round.

I have worked on less than .002 goes in the shooter pile, .002-.0035 goes to sighters and anything greater than .0035 gets pulled apart.

My question is what do you guys deem "acceptable" run out. I am being sloppy or too anal??

By the way Im using the RCBS runout guage. I place the indicator needle just behind the ogive of the bullet.

So feel free to tell me your techniques and opinions.

cheers
Chappo

PS I hope everyone had fun at Little River over the weekend. Still cranky I couldnt make it.

[Les Fraser]

Hi Chappo i do less than a thou, i also measure mine at the tip and the top of the ogive about where the lands are going to come into contact.

If you are talking about making sure that your run out is good it is not only the bullet that you check.

Case prep goes along way to maintaining runout consistency.

It takes me about two weeks to prep 100 cases for a rifle these cases get thrown out when the barrel is changed.

Hope this helps
cheers Les

[Petevm]

Greg,
I can't remember when I last checked a round for runout - could be 10 years ago. Testing done prior to that revealed no discernable difference in grouping ability. With our long range shooting you will find that to accomodate the long VLD bullets the chamber normally has at least .100 " of free-bore and typically a 1.5 degree throat. What this means is that by the time the bullet is jammed in there it has to be centred in the bore. Even if you jump it .040" it will still self-centre. To aid in this process I will normally full length size my cases every firing so that the bullets placement is not constrained by the case. It's like the tail wagging the dog but it works. I also don't neck turn for most long range applications. Because of the amount of ammo we go thru in a year (upwards of 6,000 rounds per year) I need to keep things as simple as possible - so no unnecessary case prep, no bullet sorting, no weighing of powder charges etc, etc. If I get a flyer I can live with it.
Pete

[john mc quire]

Hi Chappo    if you use a good set of dies  and bullet seater  you will find that the run-out you get will
                            probably be within .002 "  most of the time  if you do your job
                    i do check every round  for my 6.5 x 47  and  sort them into batches  for sighters and record
                  you will find that it takes a lot of testing to find the ammount of run-out that will ruin your group
                        you can spend a lot of time  for very little gain
                                                 john mc quire