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Ordered some of these due to the attractive <$0.20 price point. In my prior experience, the Nosler Factory Seconds are not quite as "just like factory first run" bullets like they try to imply. At a 600 yard match trying to make High Master using their 80's in .223, I will tell you first hand they are not good enough for the task. But for a 6.5 Grendel project out to 300 yards which is my intent for these, I went ahead, because for that, I think they should be fine.
So, out of curiosity, I did a weight check:
First, my control (known-good first run bullets):
.308 168 gr Nosler first-run Custom Competition HPBT bullets (#65934). Grabbed about 10, and measured them.
Avg = 167.89 gr;
spread = 0.3 gr;
%spread = 0.18% of bullet weight;
standard deviation = +/-0.0129 gr
Now for the Nosler Factory Seconds 123 gr Custom Competition (#53415) Grabbed about 10:
Avg = 122.82 gr;
spread = 0.6 gr;
%spread = 0.49% of bullet weight;
standard deviation = +/-0.1363 gr
Based on this small comparison, the Factory Seconds have about 3 times the % spread of bullet weights, compared to the first run bullets I cross checked. Does it actually matter downrange? At 200 yards, almost certainly not. At 300-400 yards, probably not really. At >500 yards range, likely will start to show up.
Anyway, as brass builds up and time allows, I'll likely do some tests with a few different powders.
So, out of curiosity, I did a weight check:
First, my control (known-good first run bullets):
.308 168 gr Nosler first-run Custom Competition HPBT bullets (#65934). Grabbed about 10, and measured them.
Avg = 167.89 gr;
spread = 0.3 gr;
%spread = 0.18% of bullet weight;
standard deviation = +/-0.0129 gr
Now for the Nosler Factory Seconds 123 gr Custom Competition (#53415) Grabbed about 10:
Avg = 122.82 gr;
spread = 0.6 gr;
%spread = 0.49% of bullet weight;
standard deviation = +/-0.1363 gr
Based on this small comparison, the Factory Seconds have about 3 times the % spread of bullet weights, compared to the first run bullets I cross checked. Does it actually matter downrange? At 200 yards, almost certainly not. At 300-400 yards, probably not really. At >500 yards range, likely will start to show up.
Anyway, as brass builds up and time allows, I'll likely do some tests with a few different powders.
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