How to sort pellets after using PelletGage

Take a look at Tom's videos on You Tube. He has a series (5 parts I think) that covers everything from washing (part 1) to rolling (part 5). He has a cool box he uses to sort as well. I use the same one and it works great. Home depot... 8 bucks. -Dave

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_prZ0pxX9bw 

The box is in Part 2...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbacOhMREB8

I'm curious. The pelletgauge looks to be a laborious process compared to using a cheap digital caliper. Not to mention one caliper does all calibers versus buying a gauge per caliber. I'm not knocking it, just wondering why you chose it.

Kyler, 
The pelletgauge also allows you to make sure the pellet is spherical. i.e. it is not oval. To do the same thing with a dial caliper, you would need to make 3 measurements of the head of the pellet, roughly 120 degree apart. Go, no-go gauges have been a classical method of sorting round objects for over a hundred years, and it reduces the risk of deforming a soft lead object as well. And how hard you squeeze when you are measuring makes a difference in how a Dial Caliper reads. A micrometer has a thimble, which is designed to "slip" with a repeatable amount of force to ensure consistent pressure between the anvil and face, which renders consistent readings. A caliper has a slip roller wheel, which is not quite as consistent on a soft object.

​ I find that by the time you gauge them, and weigh and sort them, you have a pretty good chunk of time invested in your pellets. But it also teaches you a little bit about each brand of pellet. You many discover that you have a lot more (or less) variation in your pellets than you expect. Long-term shooters all have a story about the "magic tin" of pellets they once bought, which would stack shots amazingly. With a gauge and a scale, you can figure out what makes those pellets special in terms of head diameter and weight. For those who shoot Match, they often try to cull and sort pellets for consistency in velocity and flight characteristics. It is less critical if you are simply plinking. Back in the 80s, RWS used to sell some awesome pellets, which were turned and shipped in a soft Styrofoam and cardboard box... I sure wish they still made them to the same standard today. For now, all I can do is sort. 

I'll try to answer. A good set of calipers is guaranteed to 0.001" accuracy. That's 0.025 mm. They may be better than that, but some definitely are not, especially considering how they are manipulated.

If you are trying to resolve the difference of say, 4.51 and 4.52 mm pellets, the calipers are going to be questionable. 

Pelletgage apertures are checked with class X plug gages and are within 0.0025 mm (0.0001 in) of nominal inside diameter.

There are those (where are you NCED ;-)) who can use calipers to get this kind of accuracy. I suggest that you need to lock the jaws on a given setting so that the re-positioning is not a factor - then fit the pellet between the jaws, and judge as a go/no-go check of the diameter. There is some "lash" in the mechanics of the instrument. My experience using my plug gages as a gage reference for my own (pretty good) calipers is that they indicate an error of 0.005 mm. You should be using some kind of gage block or plug gage to check how closely the dial or digital display is to a known size reference.

Consider, you are going to have a measure of two points on the OD of the pellet. This may mean your result is not really true around the circumference, and also that you would get a different result on another two points across the head. If you do a geometric analysis and apply trig functions, note that a "flat spot" on the circumference of a 4.52 mm pellet that results in a 0.01 mm depression would be about a 7 degree chord. Picture a watch with all the seconds marked. One minute's travel is 6 degrees, giving you an idea of the size of a "ding" that would alter the result by 0.01 mm...and those dings probably produce both a flat spot, and a projection. Given that the best pellets use very pure and soft lead, you will need to close those caliper jaws very gently to avoid compressing that tiny chord of the pellet head where the steel jaws close on two radial points of the pellet head.

I'll concede, using calipers (or better, micrometers) is possible, but it takes great care. Using a Pelletgage is faster, requires less skill/concentration, and checks the entire circumference of the pellet head. Of all the methods I know, Pelletgage will give you more reliable and repeatable results. I have had a great many favorable reports from users confirming this. And of course, I would like you to buy one! ;-)

I have recently purchased some two ounce screw-top tins, and labelled them with the brand, caliber, and head diameter. I put them in the tins after sorting. I wish JSB would use a screw-on lid - but these are not expensive, and they are made of aluminum so they don't rust.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00YZ866CE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

During the sorting process, I have some plastic bin boxes that are handy to put the pellets into as you check them. There are a big variety of them at Harbor Freight stores. I put a little paper slip into the divider segments to keep the sizes straight.

And a point worth repeating. I do 100% sort pellets for competition, but I think a 10% sample being checked may be all you need. If you find that you are within +/- 0.01 mm of nominal on all of them, you have a good tin of pellets - assuming that you have the nominal size you wanted.

I shot a match with a world class shooter. He shoots straight out of the tin. No sorting.

If you buy JSB or Air Arms pellets, they are usually pretty good. And some rifles are a lot more forgiving than others, in terms of how sensitive they are to head size. I'll also postulate that if you have consistent head size in the tin, your groups are likely to be OK within a pretty big range of diameters. The conditions that you need to identify are whether the tin contains an undesirable head size variation, or whether there is a significant difference in the head size vs. nominal that would be critical for a given barrel. 

I've had numerous highly successful competitive shooters tell me they use Pelletgage, and at least one guy tell me that he thinks one bad pellet cost him a field target national title. In my experience and that of friends, I have seen what I call terrible variation of head diameter in tins from all the "name" manufacturers.

I'm recommending that Pelletgage users adopt a "sampling" strategy for the most part, and that's after identifying the best head size for their own gun. 

"Skip-in-WV"I shot a match with a world class shooter. He shoots straight out of the tin. No sorting.

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Skip and all, the world class shooter may be correct but like Jerry suggests, a number of them do use Pelletgage. I am certainly not a world class shooter, just a guy who can say that I use Pelletgage and it has brought my groups down in size, on several different rifles. Of course shooting more helps that also. I shoot Field Target and like most FT shooters know, sometimes a single shot is sometimes the difference between 1st and 3rd place. Just my opinion, YMMV.

Best,

Gary

I shot a match with a world class shooter. He shoots straight out of the tin. No sorting.

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Skippy, buddy (you avatar lends itself to having fun with your stage name, not trying to belittle you)

did your hero tell you he does not believe in the pellet gage or is there perhaps another reason for him doing that

Like, he has 50 tins of a batch that work in his fav gun

Like, he only has so much time on his hands

Like, some other reason(s) perhaps

and please what sport does he particate in and in what class

meant to be inquisitive not combative 

Agree with addertooth and pelletgage-a caliper seems a poor choice for the task.