In precision reloading, bullet sorting is a step that helps some people get noticeably tighter groups. This is not a process to bother with if you are reloading 9mm for a 3 Gun competition - pistol targets are almost never more than 25 yards away, and slight variance in bullet length or weight is not going to make a significant difference at those distances. If you are reloading for 300+ yards and your sport worries about 10ths of an inch in group size, bullet sorting might be in your future.

The way I sort is a two-step process. I first sort by weight. Using a very precise electronic scale, I individually measure about fifty bullets to see what the variance is and how many containers I need for sorting. Some manufacturers have very tight tolerances and weights will be quite similar. Other companies are willing to accept a significant deviation as long as the fat part of the bell curve is near nominal weight.

We'll use 6.5 Creedmoor as the example cartridge, with a plastic-tipped 147 gr projectile as the theoretical test bullet. After running 50 bullets over the scale, the low weight comes in at 145.8 gr and the high at 148.5 gr. Here's how a 1,000-round run might break down based on that 50-round sample:

My process would be to set up seven bins - one just in case a projectile comes in below the expected low - then weigh each bullet and place it in the correct bin. This is a time-consuming process, but it will make a difference in velocity, BC, and even spin mechanics depending on why the weight is different. At the end of sorting 300-1,000 bullets, you will have batches that are no more than half a grain apart. These batches should remain separated and get loaded together.

In the above example, I would relegate the three extreme outliers to fouling and sight confirmation shots and mark them as such with a Sharpie. If the distribution didn't hold at those percentages, another approach might be appropriate. In an example with a copper-jacketed tip, after sorting for weight, meplat trimming might help as well.