What constitutes a reject pellet?

[Flatpicker]

I’ve recently started casting 22 wad cutters with the NOE mold and although my “cull” percentage has dropped down to about 28%, it got me wondering; those of you that cast pellets, when do YOU reject a pellet and toss it back into the pot?  These wadcutters tend to roll a nice smooth curve and I can watch the skirt for deformation if they are “good”.   They tend to have a “loping” cadence if they are “rejects” but I’ve seen a few whose skirts didn’t fill completely but oddly enough looked very uniform.  Those pellets rolled straight with no curve due to the diameter of the head and skirt being nearly identical.  I tend to cull those out as I think they may lack in the a accuracy department.  What tips/tricks do you use to reject and/or keep your reject percentage to a minimum?  TIA!

[Insanity]

Looks and weight is what I go by. I look at every pellet but I do not weigh every one I do samples out of the batch. If I have some wild numbers then I know something is not right. Wayne looks at and weighs all of his so he has a more strigent process. I plink so good enough is good enough for me.

[Flatpicker]

Looks and weight is what I go by. I look at every pellet but I do not weigh every one I do samples out of the batch. If I have some wild numbers then I know something is not right. Wayne looks at and weighs all of his so he has a more strigent process. I plink so good enough is good enough for me.

I know Wayne will chime in at some point...  😆 If those wadcutters all roll about the same “curve”, I’ve found the are within a tenth of a grain at either 16.3 or 16.4.  I wouldn’t push them more than 30 yards for minute of squirrel accuracy, but they seem to really shine in my Diana 460.  Not so much in my PCPs. The 460 puts them in a nickel at 30 and the best I’ve seen with the PCPs is 2” groups at 30 - even with similar velocities.  I’ve only cast about 500 good ones so far (two sessions) but the second time things went better as I added a little powdered graphite to the mold pins when cold then shook off any excess and preheated with a torch.  After three or four casts, I started keeping the pellets.  I’m using an RCBS bottom pour but I’ve watched Wayne use his “pressure pour” with a ladle.  I would think it’s about the same thing, but he may have a little more control with the ladle.   

[maraudinglizard]

Weight and looks for me. I all so use the speedy pellet inspector to speed up the process, it weeds out the undersized skirts. As for pressure pouring, it is doable with a bottom pour pot. I use a Lee bottom pour pot with my mold. I place the spout withing a 1/4 inch of the mold and do a quick lift of the handle. It will take some practice to get it right. Keeping the mold warm, having the right temperature for the lead, and the lead mix itself will help in the obtaining the perfect pellet. I am using a 2 cavity aluminum mold, if I cull about 25 % I am having a great day casting.


https://www.airgunproducts.com/shop/speedy-pellet-inspector

https://pelletgage.com/products