variance in amounts of shot

[harvester]

question - new to reloading -

i've been doing a little "practice" loading, and instead of crimping and finishing the shell, i empty the contents and weight the shot and powder to verify correct measurements.

my powder charges have come out very consistent - within a few tenths of a grain of each other.

my shot weights have varied more - up to 8-10 grains.  for example, a 3/4 ounce shot, which should be approximately 328.1 grains, might come out anywhere between 323-330.  i know that's a variance of about 3% - is that ok?  my lyman shotshell reloading manual states that variances in excess of 5% should not be used.

at this time, i'm not reloading for trap or skeet, etc., only hunting.

[mountainview]

I doubt such a small variance in shot weight is a big deal. Personally I only measure powder every couple of shells and don't worry too much about shot variation. I do eyeball the level of shot after it drops and as long as it appears to be consistent, I crimp it and head off to the trap range. I am not sure what the tolerance is on shot diameter but I suspect it adds up and can contribute to variation in the amount dropped on top of whatever the loader varies.

[dave375hh]

harvester,
Wiegh out 10 grains of shot and you'll see it's not worth obsessing about. You will get a bigger variation between chilled shot and magnum shot because the magnum shot is a lighter alloy. Lymans warning sounds like a CYA to me. In fact Hornady makes different bushings for target loads with mag. shot(larger). They also have them broken down by shot size in 7 1/2, 8, & 9's to give full wt allowable for the various target games.

[harvester]

thanks guys - in fact, i contacted hornady because they are pacific reloaders, and i needed some measure seals that fit in the ports in the casting above the bushings.  while talking to them, i asked about the variance, and they said that a 10 grain or less variance in shot amounts would not produce noticeable results - ie: not to worry.  Thanks for the responses.

[ras1500]

Try weighing just a few shot pellets.  Depending on shot size, you'll see that only a few pellets can vary the charge weight several percent.  Not enough to worry about