Weighing Charges

[HuntAway]

I'm very new to reloading and I have a question. Once your powder dispenser has been calibrated cto throw a certain charge, is it necessary to weight each and every charge? Or do you just weight the odd one to make sure it is throwing the proper charge?

Thanks,

HA

[PA-Joe]

With the exception of pistol loads, I measure each one and top off with a trickler! But I only do a few hundred at a time. Some say do 1/10 to make certain it's still throwing correctly. Key with using the dispensers is tapping once on both the up and down strokes to settle the powder into the measure and to make certain it all drops out. Also look in each filled case while they are in the block to make certain they are all at about the same fill level before you start seating bullets.

[skb2706]

Depends on the powder. Some powders that are extruded (coarse and larger grained) don't go thru a powder measure worth a dam. Some powders that are sperical go thru like water and measure out very well. it also depends on the operator, if you want consistent dropped charges you have to use a consistent method of operating the measure....same motion, same effort. Try dropping 15 20 charges and weighing each one to see how consistent you are.

[HuntAway]

Thank you for the replies. I'll be using two powders to start. Hodgdon Varget for the 308 and IMR3031 for the 45-70.

HA

[Blackhawker]

As mentioned above, some powders meter well and some are very inconsistent.  Another source of error that will make your powder measure dispense erratically is vibration and/or bumping of the table or powder measure itself.  Even dispensing via the charge handle differently (slow vs. fast) will dispense powder differently with every charge.  You must learn to do everything on your bench with equal force, from seating your bullets to charging the cartridge if you want consistent charges. 

If you're not shooting competition and loading say 9mm or 45 ACP's and tend to plink with the rounds, then it would be wise to check the variance of the charges initially.  Once you've determined your variance and it is slight or within a reasonable or safe margin, then you might check (weigh) every 5 to 10 rounds. 

If you're shooting for accuracy or shooting high pressure loads and/or near max loads, I would recommend checking (weighing) every charge.  As you load more and more, over the years you may find yourself checking every charge anyway.  When I first started loading I checked the charge once in a while or if I bumped the table hard.  Now I check every charge almost out of habit.  It all depends on your style but never let your style disregard safety. 

[Steve P]

That answer it easy:  It depends................

Depends on a lot of things..........Ball powder vs extruded...case capacity vs powder measure capacity, type of powder measure, etc.

As stated in the posts above, some loads have to be trickled to be consistent and some are consistent as long as the loader is consistent.  Here are a few things that I do that may help you out:

I always shake my bottle of powder before I pour it into the measure.  I don't know if powder at the top or against the sides dries a little or if the powder compacts, or what, but I always get more consistent loads if I shake the powder up a little before putting it in the measure.  

After the powder is in the measure, I set the measure and start dumping loads.  I do not lock any measure setting until I am within .5 grain under my desired load.  Once I am within the half grain of my desired load I lock my adjustments on my measure and check weight again.

If I am using extruded powder, this is my setting.  I drop this charge and trickle the last half grain of the charge on the scale to get the exact powder charge.  

If I am using a ball powder, I throw three charges and weight each.  I then adjust my powder measure up .1 or .2 grains and lock it down.  I adjust and lock my measure until it throws three charges in a row that weight exactly the same.   Once I have thrown three exact loads, I consider my measure set to load my ammo in this batch.

Depending on the type of powder measure there are little things you can do to make the loads more consistent as you set them up and use them.  My Lyman #55 measure is mounted to my bench.  It has micrometer type settings on it.  It fills the drum when the handle is moved up.  It drops the powder then the handle is moved down.  On the up stroke, I tap the handle twice, then drop it straight down to dump the powder into the case.  Up tap tap down.  Up tap tap down.  The little taps vibrates the powder down to fill the cavity in the drum.  Cavity is more consistently filled each time if you do this.   I have a Lyman pistol powder measure with rotors.  I can either mount it on the bench, or use it by hand.  Same type of stroke, but this measure doesn't have a baffle and doesn't need the second tap.  Just one solid up stroke and one solid down stroke.   My Dillon measures have the powder bar that slides.  As long as I am working my progressive press in rythem, the loads are consitent as the vibration is consistent.  Any time I get out of beat, I check my powder charges until my press is loaded and I can get back on beat again.

With flake powders, it is more of a gray area.  Some folks will weight the charge.  Some will use the measure by volume only.  Flake powders are more often used in shotgun shells and in pistols.  Some flow consistently thru measures and some don't.  Anything I load on a shotgun press is volume period.  Once my charge bar is adjusted for appropriate weight, I don't weight again unless I change powder lots or loads.  Same with my pistols that are using a flake powder.  I pick the appropriate rotor that throws the weight nearest to what I want and then just load up my shells by volume.  Shotguns and pistols have more variables in the way they shoot and the powders they use just adds another variable.  

I hope I have given you some things to think about.  If you have a more specific question, please let us know.

Steve

[HuntAway]

Thanks BH, I think I'll take your advice and weigh them as I go. Better safe than sorry. The volume I'll be loading won't be huge so it will only be a minor delay.

HA