When things don't work out well what would the problem be - is it the bullet or dozens of other things.
Measuring bullets will work to some extent. I have some 2nds and I use them in my 118 year old M96 Swedish, and get on paper bullets. I bought a few pounds of 6.5 120 Nosler Customs and sorted enough for each days use; I noticed that the open points varied in diameter and the bullets with smaller openings were longer, best group at 100 was about 3 inches unsorted and 4 inches sorted - flyers. Rolling other bullets on a flat surface shows a very few wobbling plastic tips. Weighing blems shows very minor variations, like .1-.3 grains. Apparently, ogive variations are the biggest problem. I compared some first rate 6.5 130 ELDM with same blems with identical loads in my 6.5X47L. The nice bullets grouped less than .5, the bad bullets had flyer problems despite my sorting and inspection routine.
Good for get on paper sight in & some pressure indications when seated back. I avoid buying blems.
Local bullet stores have almost totally empty shelves - like 3-4 boxes of odd ball bullets instead of 100's of common useful ones for shooting deers, rodents, elks,, targets & defense use with popular calibers - or real expensive bullets like for $80 per hundred having aluminum tips. Saw some 410 grain .416 bullets a few days ago, gopher season is approaching.
