What would be a reasonable accuracy tolerance for BR bullets?

[sicero]

In other words there has to be some sort of industry standards as to the known cappabilities of hunting bullets, premium bullets target bullets. I know the larger bullet Manufactures have underground shooting ranges to do some testing but there still has to be some uncontrolable variables.Could we be sometimes be shooting groups better than the bullet is actually cappable of? I am not reffering to me of course. I was just remembering back to touring the Hornady plant this summer and of course wishing I would have asked more questions.As I remember at one station the tour guide mentioned taking bullets off the line and shooting them. If they shot a certain size group they were deemed within tolerance and the machine continued to run. Inquiring minds want to know. Kenny

[WayneShaw]

The acuracty expectations for true BR bullets is 100% perfect. No mass produced bullet can approach this level of accuracy. Maybe 20 years ago they could, but the level of accuracy being shot today is simply awesome, even scary at times.

Use a bullet for which it is made, hunting, varmint, etc. But when it comes to BR competition, anything less than a perfect BR bullet will loose.

[sicero]

I find that very interesting. Kenny

[Al Nyhus]

Wayne has pretty much summed it up. Surprisingly, the one thing in a BR bullet that doesn't seem to make much difference is minor weight variances. Given the current level of BR competition, nothing can be left on the table...'cuz the competition sure won't make that mistake.

[Rodgervich]

Could we be sometimes be shooting groups better than the bullet is actually cappable of?

My Savage 22-250 has 2 loads that will shoot 55gr Ballistic Tips 5 shots CTC less than .10" at 100 yds. These don't qualify as "benchrest" bullets and the rifle has a factory barrel. I have shot this rifle the most of all that I own and know how to shoot it pretty well. I doubt I could do the same with yours, or most of the rest of mine. I would answer your question with a "yes", but cannot say exactly how. It may be more of "should be capable of" rather than "actually". Some folks can likely shoot a particular bullet better than someone else but chances are good that the person could do that with any bullet/load. I doubt that any amount of case prep, benchrest action and the finest barrel could overcome a non concentric jacket/core but it would probably shoot it better than an off the shelf Remchester barrel. Same way a competitive shooter could shoot a tighter group than a twenty rounds a year deer hunter with any rifle.
The big bullet manufacturers I am sure qualify the bullets on a relative scale. If I were doing it all variables would be constant, barrel, , scope, machine rest, brass (weight segregated), primers (tens of thousands from same lot), powder (again, large amounts from same lot), single set of dies that never get adjusted once set. Every round would be as identical as physically possible and the groups would be compared to an initial grouping from a set of bullets that at one time was deemed "acceptable" by some other set of standards. As we all know by now, changing the gun, powder, etc. will change a group size so it can only be judged in a relative way.
They check the jackets and cores and each step along the way to some QC standards but ultimately the finished bullet must be fired to see how it shoots.

[Pappy]

All the BR bulletmakers try to get perfect uniformity, and it's a never-ending task. Every lot of jackets (I only use Berger J4s) is different, and unfortunately, sometimes there are differences between cases and buckets of the same lot. It keeps a guy alert. The variation in jackets from lot to lot means the dies have to be reset for each new lot, and also if there's a change in core weight or alloy. I try to find the core weight that makes the noses come out the best for each J4 lot. The jacket weights are mostly plus or minus a tenth of a grain, but if your cores are uniform you can feel it when you seat the core if a jacket is heavier or lighter than that. Then you set it aside and weigh it later to see if you were right.