Sorting .22's by rim thickness

[JohnD13]

Who sorts their rim fire rounds by rim thickness, and or cartridge weight? Have you found that it pays off in better grouping? Or is it just a way to pass the time between reloading sessions and trips to the range? If you do measure rims, what gague do you use? After 50 plus years of sending .22's down range, I'm wondering if I missed something!

 

[tomsmith51]

Sorting 22 Rimfire Ammo

Who sorts their rim fire rounds by rim thickness, and or cartridge weight? Have you found that it pays off in better grouping? Or is it just a way to pass the time between reloading sessions and trips to the range? If you do measure rims, what gague do you use? After 50 plus years of sending .22's down range, I'm wondering if I missed something!

I understand what you mean about shooting these things for decades without ever having had a thought about cartridge uniformity. For plinking, what's the point? Recently, however, a buddy of mine got me interested in things like "shooting one hole" and even offhand pistol shooting at 100 yards. I've got some great firearms, like S&W 617, Colt Diamondback, Kimber Rimfire Target and S&W 41. For the amount of shooting these new pursuits require I really wasn't interested in paying for match ammo to achieve consistency. Instead, I found Paco Kelly. I shoot only bulk ammo that goes through a personal QA process using his tools. Search the Internet or get in touch with Mr. Kelly at PO Box 1170, Cortsro, AZ 85652-1170. Good shooting!

 

[Almost_Blameless]

i recently acquired a .22 Savage fvt heavy bbl ... I never heard of measuring .22's for consistency/accuracy ... but, you've got my attention ...

 

[JohnD13]

Thanks for that suggestion on Paco Kelly, his tools look interesting. Bumping up the bullet diameter would probably not hurt in my Ruger convertible .22/.22 mag.
I found a Stoney Point, now Hornady, rim thickness gague on E-bay for $20, so I'll be trying that one out first, but I'll keep Kelly's tool in mind too. I'll try and remember to post what changes I find after sorting out some ammo. Thanks again.

 

[maine04619]

For serious target shooter the length and weight get measured some also measure the rim. Yes it does make a difference. Get a bulk box of 500 whatever spend a few hours in front of the tube and measure and sort them. Then shoot the same weight ones together and you do get less fliers.

 

[JohnD13]

Well, I got the rim thickness gague, and checked 50 rounds taken from a Remington 550 bulk pack. So far I am surprised by the consistency of the rims. 6 measure between .035 and .036 inches, 36 between .037 and .038 inches, and 8 ran between .039 and .040 inches. It will be interesting to see which thickness groups better, but that will have to wait a few days.

 

[maine04619]

Well, I got the rim thickness gague, and checked 50 rounds taken from a Remington 550 bulk pack. So far I am surprised by the consistency of the rims. 6 measure between .035 and .036 inches, 36 between .037 and .038 inches, and 8 ran between .039 and .040 inches. It will be interesting to see which thickness groups better, but that will have to wait a few days.

The ol length and weight are more relevant.

 

[JohnD13]

The ol length and weight are more relevant.

Eventually I'll get a digital scale and start weighing the rounds, right now with my beam scale, that would take more time than I have. The OAL though won't be any trouble. According to the specs for the .22 LR the rim is supposed to be .040" thick, so possibly I should start saving that batch for a serious test. I'll check the lengths and see where I can go from there. I'm not really a bullseye shooter, just a person that wants to do the best he can. Best effort sort of ethic I guess.

 

[no sheep]

bump, whats the word on this is it working better for people?