Do you hand weigh your powder charge for each cartridge?

[WYOMan]

For rifle.....Yes. I'm a perfectionist. Nowadays people use a less than flattering term to describe it. But I love doing the best I can at things.

 

[Otto]

If you're weighing every charge it's because you don't have confidence in the accuracy of your powder measure.

 

[RandyP]

103 posts .... not too shabby from a simple starting question....lol

Is the OP simply OCD?

I can only respond by saying that there are only TWO kinds of people in this world:

1. Those folks who require closure in all aspects of their life.

 

[WYOMan]

I have the utmost confidance in all of my scales. I also have that same confidance in my loads whether I'm shooting a match or hunting. All of my chosen loads register under 11 fps ES and single digit SD's. My hunting loads will go 3/4" at 200 and my long range rig is still touching at 200. Call it OCD, or (my least favorite)"being anal", but I strive for perfection in whatever I do. Just because others don't, doesn't make it wrong or odd when I chose to. I love to work on rifles and find what they like.

 

[Hondo 60]

So, how do you charge your cases?

When changing to another powder, I run a bunch (about 10) & dump it back.
Then I'll weigh the first 3 or so, if they all match, I then weigh every 10th charge.
If they don't match, I weigh every charge until I get consistency.

 

[Sport45]

I tried to hand weight, but quickly found my hand wasn't sensitive enought to discern the difference between less than +/- 50 grains or so. Instead, I find counting powder granules to be the most accurate means to ensure consitency. I discard all the granules that look larger or smaller than the norm since I figure their burning charactaristics will not be the same as the rest anyway.

Actually, for rifle or pistol for any use I weight the first 5 or so until the dispenser settles in and then weight every 10th or 20th until I'm done.

 

[Walkalong]

I never weighed charges for my Benchrest guns. Set the measure and go. I am surely not going to do it with range guns. Not happening.

 

[justsoIcanupvotethis]

Quote.

"Like it was said earlier, the Bench Rest guys don't weigh charges. Plus who would be buying all those $250+ electric powder charging toys?"

Guilty as charged! I have a Thumlers Tumbler, stainless steel media to clean with and a RCBS ChargeMasterCombo unit. I dont weigh anything. RCBS does. I just have to let my toys do the work for me. By the way though I travel as part of my job and get points for staying in motels as part of my job. My ChargeMasterCombo unit cost me a total of $25 bucks. I think the Thumlers was around $40 actual cash money too for that matter.

 

[Coldfinger]

Call me lazy but I have one of them electronic powder measure dispenser systems, then after it does its thing, I pull the pan and charge the case. I double check every 5th charge on a separate scale.

 

[Pete D.]

Here's a question which I hope is not too far off the topic as it has been discussed so far.
Has any one of you tested the difference in practical accuracy of loads that have been thrown against loads wherein the charged was weighed out exactly.
By practical accuracy I do not mean accuracy as shot from the bench; I mean accuracy when you are out in the field, standing up and taking a shot at that deer that just walked out of the trees 100 yards away.
Related to that .....for competition oriented shooting....the scores on that 200 yard offhand target?
Pete

 

[Walkalong]

I'd like to meet the man who can tell the difference shooting offhand with no rest.

 

[Walkalong]

The long range shooters may weigh all charged to keep the ES & SD numbers as low as possible to keep bullet drop etc as close as possible at those distances, but for shooting Benchrest at 100 & 200 yards it is no big deal. Reading the wind is 10 times more important. I never chronoed a single load for Benchrest. On target results were all that mattered.

 

[Slamfire]

Just this weekend, as I was shooting small bore prone, I was reminded just how important a consistent sling tension and a consistent trigger pull is to accuracy. Position is a given. With these target .22LR's you can see the bullet impact vary up and down as sling tension gets loose, or tighter, and you can see the bullet move down if you hit the trigger too hard. You can also see the bullet move left or right depending on where the stock is in your shoulder.

Too much attention is being spent on bench rest stuff to tighten groups when people should be focusing more on sight alignment and trigger pull.

Its a skill people, you can't buy better scores with exotic reloading techniques.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

I use Lee dippers for most pistol rounds, 25 to 50 yd field use, mostly for a .38 Spl. and for a Mauser C96.

When I help my son reload for his Savage Tactical in .308 for 200 and 300 yd precision shooting, we measure every charge on the scale.

 

[Walkalong]

you can't buy better scores with exotic reloading techniques.

Absolutely.

90+% of the guns/loads on the line were capable of winning at a match. Once you have an accurate enough load and rifle, it's the nut behind the trigger that needs the most attention. The big dogs always place at or near the top because of shooter skill, not because they have great equipment. Anybody can buy great equipment, and most anybody can develop a load good enough to win.

 

[788Ham]

I've got a Redding BR powder measure, first one I've ever had. Using 2 different powders, I can't seem to get the exact measurement down each throw, sometimes off by 3/10. I throw into the brass, dump into the pan and trickle from there on in, not too bad if only loading 50 - 100 rds. I'm not in a any big hurry when reloading, thats where the mistakes happen, I enjoy this aspect of shooting. YMMV

 

[AABEN]

I use the Pact loader for all my bolt guns and some AR15 for target shooting. Most of my shooting is target. All hand gun is throw a Lyman 55 powder measure or Lee auto disk. Most of my rifle triggers is set at 21/2 lb. If I am going hunting I like a 31/2lb trigger.

 

[MCMXI]

Its a skill people, you can't buy better scores with exotic reloading techniques.

So I assume you don't buy Eley ammunition for your small bore rifle.

 

[redclay]

I use a trickeler for extruded powder for use in target loads. Hunting loads I set my powder measure and test a few throws when it gets close enough (plus or minus .05) I load 'em

 

[jcwit]

So I assume you don't buy Eley ammunition for your small bore rifle.

Neh! I use Remington Yellow Jacket or ThunderBolt. Snicker snicker

Actually the dude behind the trigger is the most important part, and obviously being the dude is "with it & knowing what he's doing" he is going to use a match ammo.

I should add, its skill with all aspects of the sport.

 

[Sniper66]

I have the RCBS Chargemaster and it scratches the itch to weigh every load. I used to double check, but gave that up when it was always accurate. Loading goes quickly and smoothly and I shoot tight groups and long distance p-dogs.

 

[Dthunter]

For many years I hand threw every cartridge I loaded. Both rifle and pistol.

Eventually I started shooting long range (1000+ yards).
And it burns up allot of ammo!(if you want to get good at it)
I have a new family, and time is at a premium. So I descided to go outside my OCD behaviors/set ways and try using an automatic powder dispensor.

I bougbt the RCBS chargemaster, and pushed myself through the painful curve of adjusting my powder charging routine. I found it hard to trust the consistancy of the charges! It took me only two trips out shooting realise that I was worried about NOTHING! My Tactical & hunting rifles remained as accurate as normal! Now in good. Conditions I can shoot MOA groups out to 1760 yards (1 mile)! I even shoot out to 2000 on occasion.

One thing for sure, is that If my rifles shoot that well with charges thrown by an automatic powder dispenser, I have nothing to worry about! Plus it takes me a SMALL fraction of the time to load up my 50-100 rounds! Mutiply that for 5-10 other firearms, and you save a big pile of time! Mission a complished!

I am glad I tried the auto powder charging! Just check every10-20 rounds or so to ensure everything is o.k. RE:check weights.

 

[dragon813gt]

No. I use a Chargemaster or a Lee AutoDisk. I will weigh the autodisk at the beginning of a session and when the powder level in the hopper changes by 25%. I don't load max charges w/ the autodisk so any variation isn't going to hurt anything.


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[boredintr]

Yes I load for 1895 marlin 45/70 each powder, load is hand weighed before dropping into case. And after crimping for a final check sorta like having 10 fingers