Powder weight accuracy in rifle rounds

For rifles I weigh every round. The exception is .223 that I loaded on a Dillon 550 using H335. That powder measured so well I checked it in the beginning and just got to the point where I started cranking.

For accuracy you can't beat the consistency of checking every round.

My answer is all of the above.

At first I weigh every charge. Then progress to less often, as I see the powder/thrower etc. holds the tolerance and I trust the setup.

I have loaded ammo for matches and weighed about 10% of the rounds. This is with Varget, RL15, Ramshot, H4895. Redding, RCBS Uniflow and Dillon powder measures. I have also trickled every round up to weight.

I weigh every round for load development. I also weigh more when first using a given load.

I'm guilty of weighing every single round. I don't really know what effect that has on accuracy, but I would think it may have some. I actually enjoy weighing each powder charge. For me, I strive for the highest quality ammunition I can produce, that will deliver as high velocity as can be done safely. I think that pretty much explains why I weigh each powder charge. For others, getting as much loaded, as fast as can be done, provides for there enjoyment. Having said that, I think most of us share the enjoyment of shooting OUR product, regardless of how we measure the powder charge, ya buddy!

I had to vote for "startup and random spot checks." I actually check about halfway through a loading block, either 10 or 25 rounds when loading rifle ammo. This includes .223 I load for match shooting.

For bench rest shooting, I could see being more precise. But I'm shooting the rifle from position, slung up and using iron sights. I find time spent dry-firing and practicing at the range is more useful than time spent making sure every charge in every case is at the exact same weight. As always, YMMV.

Personally, I weigh every single charge. I'm also one of those goofballs that weighs the bullets, and the casings and match them up.... so that when I add the charges, I know what my final product should weigh before its done.

Obviously not all rounds will weigh exactly the same... some manufacturers have a tighter tolerance for bullet weights than for others, you do trim brass, etc... but you can control your finished product as you see fit. ( Most factory produced rifle rounds vary in finished nominal weight by as much as 5 grains depending on manufacturer and caliber/round.... up to 3 grains of that can be powder)

For my own rounds , If it doesn't weigh out within a .5 gr of the tolerance I have set for those rounds after the case/cartridge/powder combination, I reserve those rounds for my own plinking reserve.

One of the great benefits of reloading : You can be as strict or sloppy as you choose.

I will freely admit I fall on the far end of the perfection extreme.

I'll weigh each one as I work up loads. Then I'll check them randomly when I start loading quantity for most of my stuff. Remember that a 0.2 grain variation on a 25 grain charge is less than 1%. Ten rounds at 3000+ FPS will vary + or - 30 fps even on perfectly weighed charges. I have seen this time and time again. Results down range don't seem to matter much as the groups can still be real tight.

This group was shot with a 72 ft ES and a 20 SD. All weighed charges. Variation in velocity was approximately 2%.
The other five shots in this string ran 0.524 with a best four of 0.444. All shot with a sporter weight 700 BDL at 100 yards.



Greg

(from my range report yesterday)

Range Report .30-30
Light to Moderate winds 10-15 knts, light rain. Overcast.

All rounds fired from a marlin 336, 3-9x40 Optics

1st Round :

150 gr FN Sierra
30.4 gr H4895
CCI LRP

COAL : 2.530" Light Crimp into Cannelure

100yds

Rounds chambered easily, fired with noticeably light recoil, and produced 1" groups for three separate firers from bench. All rounds ejected easily.


To each their own !

I still use my old Harell powder measure from my benchrest shooting days. I don't know what benchrest competitors are currently doing, but in my day (20 years ago) few if any competitors weighed their loads. The good benchrest measures are accurate to .1 with most powders, so weighing is kind of a moot point.

Beyond that, I think it's kind of pointless to obsess about charge weights for "average" hunting loads. When the goal is to hit a paper plate-sized target at 300 yards, .1 grain variations in charge weight are utterly irrelevant. Of course, these days everyone is trying to make their pet deer rifle into an 800 yard gun, but that's an issue for another thread.

IMO, if you don't have a benchrest quality powder measure but are trying to to make benchrest quality loads to shoot in your benchrest quality rifle, then you should weigh every charge. For any other purpose, spot checking is perfectly appropriate.

It depends. For load development, I want them all to be within +/- 0.1 gr. That way, I at least know what my target is when I choose the optimum load. From then on, in a more normal production mode, it will depend on the powder. If I'm loading 50.0 gr for instance, I might settle for a +/- 0.3 gr variation. For some powders and my dispenser, thats easy to do. If I weigh the first 5 throws and they are all within that zone, then I'll go 5 or 6 without weighing, then weigh one to check again. But for other powders, I might get worse variations. If that's the case, I'll weigh them all. Normally I will accept about a 0.5% variation. Whatever it takes to get that.

Honestly, for me the accuracy is a side effect of the safety.

My wife is a far better shooter than I could ever be

With that said, I'd never put an explosive 3 inches from her face that I didn't make myself.... Something I always use as a mental final checklist, and has a lot to do with the extremes I go to in the construction of my rounds.

I voted every round, BUT that's because i weigh every round of my hunting ammo or any ammo that aproaches a max load.

For light loads, especially with a powder that goes through a powder measure easily, i only weigh the charges that don't "feel right" when i operate the measure handle. I DO look at the height of every charge in the chase, looking for any that look out of norm... (except those that come off my progressive presses)

DM

I have been weighing every round for my 30-06, accurate to the .1gn. Is this necessary, and how much will it alter accuracy by just using the powder drop itself.

Click to expand...

I took apart a box of Black Hills 308 Match ammo and the powder weight variance was .8 grains. I took apart a box of Hornady 308 Match ammo and the variance was .4 grains. Both of these shoot .5 MOA. I weigh my powder, but on a Chargemaster, so it's fast and easy. I don't think throwing charges from a measure affects accuracy all that much at short ranges (under 500 yards).

+1 on Robert Wilsons post.
The only time I weigh charges is to work up the load. Then I write down the measure setting and go. A good consistent measure matched up with a good consistent measure technique will give you as consistent powder drops as 99% of the rifles out there are capable of shooting. As Robert mentioned 1-2% variance is meaningless for any factory rifle I have ever shot. You'll find a lot more possibilities in varying your seating depth than trying to hold your powder charges to the nearest tenth or two.

While I don't shoot F-class 1000 yard competition, I do shoot some long range prairie dogs (500-800 yds) with a 6 Dasher throated for 87 Vmaxes that does an honest 1/2" @ 300 yards, and yes I throw those powder charges also. We don't have much locally for benchrest shooting, but have a bunch of live targets. I like those reactive targets much better, and I'm doing the rancher a real service eliminating the pasture rats.

FWIW

PS: forgot to add, whenever lot numbers of powder, primers, or bullets are changed. A new load workup is in order.

I weigh every round loaded. I know, some of us haven't anything better to do, BUNK! This is the way I was taught to reload, down to 0.1 of a grain, every cartridge reloaded, I know this takes time, but this is why I do it this way. If I'm trying to become a better shooter/marksman, why do I want varying loads in every box? This way I know who's the culprit, the wind, rifle, trigger, me? I reload to unwind, get some stress relief, think about other things besides the Afghan war and what's supposed to be going on in D.C. that's aboveboard! Like blarby, this is what I'm after also, maybe not into the same hole, but as danged near to it as possible. YMMV, JMHO

Only when loading for the varmint rifle (Panda action).

Neither Rem700 .30-06 and nor AR-15 are accurate enough to be worth the effort to weigh every charge.

Every round cuz I use a ChargeMaster now. But even before I got that, I would use an under weight dipper and trickle up. I never knew I had to be a BR shooter to want accuracy. With all the other work I put into my cases, it's the least I can do for them.

I throw ball powder and measure stick

If folks really wanted to settle the issue for themselves, they'd do some experimentation. It would be interesting to know how much variation it takes to actually affect accuracy in the guns you shoot.

That wouldn't be nearly so much as arguing opinion and anecdote, though, would it?

Every single round. I was told never trust any thing but your scale. Best consistant accuracy is what I look for. The rest is up to my trigger pull and recoil management. Weighing every one I can get to 2-3 stick granules I would say. I am going to get the trickle chrage with digital scale. Your grains are waiting for you to use already weighed ...

Assuming that your dispenser is accurate the H4895 is easy to do visual verification due to its density. Do not just trust this method for accuracy loads. So if you want good match accuracy you do not only weight every powder measure but segregate the bullets and cases by weight and take notes. Cases must be presorted by brand-year-weight. Then have brass resized, necks turned, etc.. So it is tedious. Some people swag their bullets and run them by a micrometer. I don't. You have to decide how much is too much and how little is too little.

At the other hand for good consistent training loads I weight every few rounds (8 to 10) after I get a few consistent fills. I use a LVG digital scale that can tell me the grains with the .001 grain variance. Also is very fast to reset and precise even doing baseline (zero the scale) with the empty brass.
I can also can calculate the aggregated weight of 10 cases loaded and see if the math adds up, if it doesn't then I look for the potential trouble maker before I seat the bullets. This powder gives you a good tolerance if you stay in the middle.

Always inspect all cases before seating to look for double charges or something not looking right and then seat or set aside with the notes to seat. Whatever you do, do not try to save too much time, don't do huge batches reloading and get very tired into the later hours of the night or try to accelerate by taking some dangerous shortcuts.
It is not worth the risk.

For consistent starting pressure I put a light crimp. I consider this one of the most important aspects of reliable loads. This helps along with the simple pre-sorting of cases by brand-year-weight and verification of powder measures to achieve consistent speed spreads.

Cheers.
E.

I weigh and measure every round. As mentioned, I do it to spend an afternoon/evening trying to achieve the ever elusive one hole pattern. I'm strickly a meat hunter but, I do have time on my hands (at times) to spend at the range just to see how good I can be and to maintain a level of marksmanship that I demand from myself. I know lotta guys that just throw powder charges and weigh here and there. OK, that's what THEY do. However, if that is the case I wonder why they spend all that money on a reload set up and components instead of just buying factory rounds. To each his own I'd say. It's beyond me to be critical on how intense a guy is with a hobby. Just enjoy what ya do however ya do it.