[Maximus Slade]

I am a reloader. I have reloaded rounds for years. So here's my question. I see powder measures and all sorts of stuff out there. I have always used a Lee safety scale for my loading. When I put 50 grains in a cause there is 50.0 grains in that case. Am I being too anal about how I load my powder. I notice that just a few granuals can make a difference between 50.0 and 50.2 grains. It annoys me a little that loading powder can be slow and tedious, so I look at these quicker methods. Other than speed is there any advantage? Are they anywhere near as accurate in loadings? Or am I loading lots of match grade ammo and I don't even know it.

 

[FIVESHOT]

You've taken your skill to art .

Keep doing what your'e doing .



FIVESHOT

 

[Technova]

I am loading a few thousand M1 Carbine, it would take forever without a powder measure. I have an RCBS measure and find
it to be very accurate with most powders. With H110 it is almost perfect every time.
When I load for something like my 257 Weatherby, I measure each time on the scale.
The differnce is the first one is loaded for plinking and has a load near the minimum charge. The powder measure can be off a little
and I am still way safe.
With the Weatherby I have optimized (not quite maximized) the load and feel being off a little could give too much pressure
So I guess it matters what you are loading for.

 

[Gregg]

It all depends what you are doing.
If loading maxumum "balls to the walls" loads, then you are doing the only safe thing you can do.
If you are loading for absolute accuracy, you are doing the right thing.
On the other hand, if you are loading middle of the road "plinking" loads, then plus or minus one percent of the powder charge will not mean much at all.
Again, it all depends on what you are doing.
Gregg

 

[Ronbo6]

It all depends what you are doing.
If loading maxumum "balls to the walls" loads, then you are doing the only safe thing you can do.
If you are loading for absolute accuracy, you are doing the right thing.
On the other hand, if you are loading middle of the road "plinking" loads, then plus or minus one percent of the powder charge will not mean much at all.
Again, it all depends on what you are doing.
Gregg

+1.

A long time ago I decided that I would ALWAYS weigh my loads, and got rid of my powder measure. I can't turn out hundreds of rounds per hour doing this, but I am ABSOLUTELY SURE of what I am shooting.

Typically, I try to hold my plinking loads to +/- 0.1 grain.

 

[Ray Meketa]

Think about it this way.

Factories do not weigh powder charges. Military does not weigh powder charges, even for Match ammunition. The majority of Benchrest shooters do not weigh powder charges, they throw them with a good measure.

How much is your time worth? Weighing will take a lot more time and probably will not result in more accurate ammunition.

JMHO

Ray

 

[Jonnin]

I am a reloader. I have reloaded rounds for years. So here's my question. I see powder measures and all sorts of stuff out there. I have always used a Lee safety scale for my loading. When I put 50 grains in a cause there is 50.0 grains in that case. Am I being too anal about how I load my powder. I notice that just a few granuals can make a difference between 50.0 and 50.2 grains. It annoys me a little that loading powder can be slow and tedious, so I look at these quicker methods. Other than speed is there any advantage? Are they anywhere near as accurate in loadings? Or am I loading lots of match grade ammo and I don't even know it.

]

depends on what it is for. If its match ammo for serious shooting, that is the way to do it. If you blast off 50 of them in 10 min, perhaps a few 10ths of a grain difference is not a big deal? I use the lee disk loader for casual ammo. It is not terribly precise, easily 1/4 a grain difference in loads, maybe as much as 1/2. 50 vs 50.5 is no big deal. If its a 380, 3.0 vs 3.5, thats a much bigger deal... for some powders thats the min to max range on a small caliber! So, it really depends on what caliber it is and what you want from the ammo. All I have to say about is, for making hundreds of rounds at a go, the lee disk device is awesome.

 

[milprileb]

Your Lee scale is tedious and slow. How your load is precise and has no fault.
I would suggest a Ohaus or RCBS or Dillon dampened scale as its far quicker
and less aggravating.
I am assuming you have a Trickler and use that to add grains to get to your desired
powder charge ? If not, they will speed you up nicely.

If (and I suspect it is) you are good with your results and have the patience to continue
with the Lee scale, then I don't recommend you change anything.

Costs as much to load a half great ,less accurate load as a precisely made accurate load.

 

[milprileb]

Leon, you want to roll in here and talk comparison of your Lee scale vs your RCBS 505 scale use?

Don't leave out the part of you using tweezers to add grains of powder ~

 

[Leon]

Leon, you want to roll in here and talk comparison of your Lee scale vs your RCBS 505 scale use? Don't leave out the part of you using tweezers to add grains of powder ~

I use the RCBS/Ohaus 510 scale. I do not like the current beam scales with the paper clip thing you slide along the counterpoise. These scales are too easy to set +/- 5 grains off (that is FIVE grains, not 0.5 grain). I use the Redding 3BR powder measure and weigh every charge. To me, a powder measure is merely a convenient way to dispense powder. I throw a charge and trickle to zero the scale. I also have the Lee Perfect powder measure for throwing Varget, since it alone throws Varget smoothly, and accurately, without grinding. Why weigh? My thinking is, with all of the trouble I go through with case preparation, there is no point in short changing myself with approximate loads. When I finish a box of reloads, I have the assurance, and satisfaction, of knowing every cartridge has the same powder charge.

 

[Ray Meketa]

Unless you have a rifle that is capable of telling a measured charge from a weighed one, and unless YOU are capable of telling the difference, weighing is a waste of time. With a good measure, your charges will be sufficiently accurate and consistent. As I said, the majority of Benchrest shooters throw their charges. I shoot Benchrest, both point-blank and long range, and I throw mine from a good measure. Most all military and factory Match ammunition is loaded using charge plates, and I doubt if 90% of shooters can realize it's full accuracy potential.

JMHO

 

[AZshooter]

I've used an Ohaus-made RCBS scale for nearly 40 years - sometimes scale-weighing each round of some hi-precision handloads, and more often to double-check powder measure charges randomly selected from a loading block.

A little over a year ago I got the RCBS digital scale & dispenser combo - wish I had gotten it years ago! It's faster and for the most part, more consistent round-to-round. Nevertheless, the digital scale needs to be used to verify a load thrown from the dispenser on a regular basis. The digital scale keeps zero pretty well, but I still grab random samples & verify the weight.

No matter what you use, check random samples to ensure the powder charge at the beginning of your loading block match that at the middle and end.

 

[jk2008]

Me too...

You aren't alone in this, Maximus Slade; I do the same thing. I measure each load individually because I enjoy the process and I like knowing that the ammo I'm assembling is as uniform as I can get it. I don't care what anyone else thinks about it... I find it relaxing.

 

[Motor]

There are a lot of variables. Some powders "throw" more accurately than others. I have a new question. Have any of you ever loaded ammo to +/- 1.0 grain and tested the results. I have. My results may not be the same as others because every rifle or pistol is different. In this case it was a rifle and 1 grain was about 2.5% of the charge. My .308 Win silhouette match rifle would shoot just fine 1grain above or 1 grain below it's sweet spot. I would load my practice ammo with my Uniflow to save time. It was stick powder and would throw about +/- 1grain at worst. I had ZERO problems in practice hitting any of the targets or with my dialed in settings. This was with targets from 200 to 500 meters.
Here is another question for you guys who use a manual trickler and beam scale. Did you ever notice that if you take the pan off of the scale after you trickle your load then put it back on that the load will read a little high. Mine does consistently. It will settle .2 high every time. I have proved this with a digital scale. My beam scale is a RCBS 510. I purposely set it .2 low when trickling, especially if it's a near max hunting load.
Motor

 

[swedeM63]

Motor has raised the right point. Apart from testing the results why focus on just one variable of dozens? You weigh powder, but what if the moisture contant of the powder changes? You are not putting in the same quantity of powder. What about the other variables of your load, case weight, neck thickness, neck tension, flash hole uniformity, case headspace etc etc etc and that's just the case. More variables for the bullet. More for the primer. More the the various assembled dimensions.

A "good load" is one which is not supersenitive to small variations in the major variables. Don't focus on just some. If your standard bullet in your standard case shoots well enough with that powder charge and a lot of primers, then stick with it.

If you made the national team you would want to refine things.

All my loads get checked to see they are performing the same, especially if I am preparing for a major competition.

 

[armyrat1970]

I am a reloader. I have reloaded rounds for years. So here's my question. I see powder measures and all sorts of stuff out there. I have always used a Lee safety scale for my loading. When I put 50 grains in a cause there is 50.0 grains in that case. Am I being too anal about how I load my powder. I notice that just a few granuals can make a difference between 50.0 and 50.2 grains. It annoys me a little that loading powder can be slow and tedious, so I look at these quicker methods. Other than speed is there any advantage? Are they anywhere near as accurate in loadings? Or am I loading lots of match grade ammo and I don't even know it.

If you are satisfied with your results, I say stick with what you are doing.
If you want to increase your loading capability, a powder measure will of course speed it up, giving you more loaded cartridges in a session. Just as a progressive, or turret press will give more than a single stage.
I personally don't load or shoot as much as some others here. My Lyman D7 scale is fine for me if I want more precise loads. My Lee dippers are fine just for casual target shooting. I still use a Lee Challenger single stage press and a Lee handpress. If I had the opportunity to shoot more, I would get a turret press with a powder measure.
As others stated, all depends on what you want to do.

 

[RU shooter]

Unless you have a rifle that is capable of telling a measured charge from a weighed one, and unless YOU are capable of telling the difference, weighing is a waste of time. With a good measure, your charges will be sufficiently accurate and consistent. As I said, the majority of Benchrest shooters throw their charges. I shoot Benchrest, both point-blank and long range, and I throw mine from a good measure. Most all military and factory Match ammunition is loaded using charge plates, and I doubt if 90% of shooters can realize it's full accuracy potential.

JMHO

Big +1 to the above, Most good powder measure/throwers will throw within .2 gr easily ,Also the bigger the charge weight and the bigger the powder granules are the less effect the variation will be

 

[milprileb]

Ray Meketa: what powder measure are you using?

I keep reading and hearing that " a good powder measure will throw within .2 gr".

I think that statement is depending on what powder is being thrown. My Ohaus, Pacific and my Dillon
won't throw 800 X or Blue Dot worth a hoot. They will toss WW 231 just fine. IMR 4895 is hardly .2gr
with any of them.

My antiquated Belding & Mull which I bought out of frustration over powder measures will do IMR 4895 to
.2gr or less (less being the norm).

Short of a $300 Culver measure, I just have not found (B&M exception but its so slooooooow) a modern measure
that is not a PITA. If anyone has a model they recommend and it works with most powders, pls let me know what it
is. I do own the RCBS digital powder measure combo and its just fine with everything but a great manual measure for volume
loading of ammo (not plinking but match ammo) is something I would like to find.

 

[Ray Meketa]

milprileb

A "good" powder measure is one that will throw consistent charges with most of the readily available powders. It doesn't have to be expensive, although the expensive ones are usually "good" ones. The Harrell line up of measures are hard to beat. They are really clones of the old Culver types. Any of the other clones are equally accurate. Going down the line a notch, the RCBS Uniflow with the micrometer thimble is hard to beat. Even less expensive, and still very accurate is - wait for it - the plastic Lee Perfect at less than $20.

At least 50% of your load consitency comes from the operator. You need to experiment a little to see exactly what your measure likes, and what it doesn't like. Slow - fast - a bump at the bottom - two bumps at the top - no bumps - whatever works. They are not all the same. Once you find the sweet spot and do it consistently you'll be surprised at how accurate most measures are. For large charges, sometimes they work best by making 2 dumps of 1/2 the weight each. Measures are like women, do what they like and they'll repay you in kind.

Ray

 

[Technova]

I sometimes will set my measure to throw light and then trickle in the rest on the scale.
This is for when I need more accuracy and want it faster than scooping powder to the scale.