HBC's - Quality Control

higginsdj · Post by **higginsdj** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 9:23 am

Is it just me or has anyone noticed any 'quality' issues with their latest batch of HBC's?

I measured their Ogive and weight and had 5 distinct projectiles in a sealed box of 500 I won at a recent Queens:

Ogive A (0 thou +/- 2 thou)
Weight 153.3-153.7
Weight 154.5-155.1

Ogive B (+10 thou +/- 2 thou)
Weight 153.6
Weight 154.5-155.0

Ogive C (-60 thou)
Weight 155.0

The projectiles (3 of them) with Ogive C were described by other more experienced shooters as Sierra's. Before anyone suggests that I might have mixed these up myself, I have never purchased or owned Sierra's.

My first 2000 HBC's all sat in the Ogive A, weight 153.3-153.7gn category

Cheers

David

Quick · Post by **Quick** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 9:51 am

Do you shoot TR or FS? If TR, unless your A grade I don't think you would notice the difference. No offence intended however.

I stopped running them in my FS rig because they had inconsistencies and were all over the place in weight. Shot 155.5gr Bergers and they are awesome bullets. Very accurate bullet.

TOM · Post by **TOM** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 6:41 pm

What are the tolerances per batch? This variation may fall within.

flatlina · Post by **flatlina** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 7:26 pm

Have you thought about contacting Dave Gifford re this " problem" , he might be able to shed some light on it or fix it if needed.

Regards
jb

higginsdj · Post by **higginsdj** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 8:22 am

I shoot TR (my wife shoots F Class) and I am loading for both. So I take it these variations are not considered an issue? Just thought it strange that the last box of 500 were very different from the previous 2000.

Cheers

David

flatlina · Post by **flatlina** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 8:58 am

As I said if you are having problems the best man to speak to is Dave. He welcomes feed back.

Regards
john

macguru · Post by **macguru** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 9:12 am

I think thats why most f std shooters have moved to bergers, at least around nsw OPMs .....

Brad Y · Post by **Brad Y** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 12:57 pm

Each time you open a new batch of bullets that are of different lot to the previous batch you should be re measuring and re testing. Buying in bulk has its benefits so you dont need to do it all the time.

johnk · Post by **johnk** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 1:03 pm

Brad Y wrote:Each time you open a new batch of bullets that are of different lot to the previous batch you should be re measuring and re testing.

But there was a time when it didn't matter a damn, when one batch shot as well as the last & tolerances were such that in most instances, there wasn't a need to sort projectiles, adjust loads or tweak dies.

Brad Y · Post by **Brad Y** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 1:19 pm

John, I think that was before we are at the level we are now. Before world championships, before magnetospeeds, barrel tuners, electronic targets and probably before lots of us younger shooters got to see. Anyway a bit of good out of it is I know that some people buy tubs of different batches of powder and boxes of different lots of projectiles and they still load the same ammo no matter what and best of all enjoy themselves. What its all about at the end of the day.

TOM · Post by **TOM** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 2:39 pm

Each time you open a new batch of bullets that are of different lot to the previous batch you should be re measuring and re testing. Buying in bulk has its benefits so you dont need to do it all the time.

Agreed, but the way I read the initial post, David's issue here is the variation in the same box/batch?

Brad Y · Post by **Brad Y** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 2:52 pm

Yes he did, but also compared them to his previous batch which all measured quite consistent. Good thing he checked a large sample of them or could have risked missing some of the bad ones. All makers can have a bad batch so nothing against HBC's. Agree he should contact them if unhappy with them. How can they improve if they dont know.

BATattack · Post by **BATattack** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 5:51 pm

So you have a total of .070" variation? That is massive!!

IanP · Post by **IanP** » Wed Jan 08, 2014 7:05 am

I find the HBC 155gr bullet to be excellent for fireforming my 30-06AI cases. Once they are fireformed I then use projectiles with real world target tolerances and quality.

They are sold as target quality bullets and the price has crept up to the point where you might as well buy target quality bullets from Berger, Lapua, Hornady, Nosler and Sierra. Its time the NRAA sanctioned all 155gr bullets as being suitable to use in our competitions. Its been long overdue and now time to allow a total freedom of choice for bullets. Only weight restrictions being applied where required and no restrictions on manufacturers!!!!!!!!

Ian