Assistance required! Sierra & Others - Jacket Weight?

[aaronraad]

Does anyone have the average jacket mass (+/-0.05gr) for the current Sierra 308 cal 155gr Palma projectiles stock codes should be #2156, #2156C, or #2156M?

I'm also interested in any of the other brands (HBC-BJD, Nosler, Berger VLD Target, VLD Hunting, Hybrid, Fullbore etc.) in the 155 to 156gr weight range if you have melted the lead out of the core.

Starting weight before melting would also be useful...death by metal lead fumes not so useful, so maybe read this article before smoking up the reloading room as a starting guide:

http://www.ssaa.org.au/stories/ammunition-what-is-your-bullets-jacket-thickness.html

I'm certainly not recommending a particular process because you would be the one taking the risk, not me.

PM or post the results. Any assistance is much appreciated!

[aaronraad]

At a guess for the Sierra jacket I'm going with 53.0gr with a range of +/-5%.

[aaronraad]

Okay everyone put down your propane torches I picked up my order of Sierra 30 cal 1.155" match jackets from Customs this week.

Here are some basic measurements from the batch I received:

Mass - 44.7gr
Wall thickness (mouth) - 0.0115"
Wall thickness (mouth+0.5") - 0.0175"

So the Sierra Match Jacket would certainly seem to be on the thin side. Considering the closest length 1.150" Berger J4 jackets I measured at 45.4gr, Sierra are really using a thin jacket for their Match jackets. At least in the 30 cal 150 to 168gr weight range.

Pity, I was actually chasing something a bit thicker and was lead to believe the Sierra MK jackets were thicker than the J4's.

[bruce moulds]

the original j4 is what berger now call their hunting bullet.
as you know, the target jackets are claimed to be thicker.
the difference would be interesting.
keep safe, bruce.