Do you weigh individual charges?

[R.W.Dale]

Simple question (see poll) Do you feel compelled to weigh each and every charge for whatever reason or do you consider the practice to be a waste of time and energy. Or is your view of the matter neither.

Speaking for myself once I acquired a quality powder measure I phased out weighing individual charges rather quickly with any and all propellants. In the process of doing this if anything my groups have gotten better and better.

IME a good powder measure operated with a good well practiced technique can throw charges of even extruded powders darn near inside the margin of accuracy all but the most expensive reloading scales.

 

[Damon555]

It depends.


If I'm loading varmint or target rifle loads I'll measure every one. If I'm loading bulk I just use the powder thrower and check every 10th round or so.

 

[ScratchnDent]

For rifles, I weigh each charge. I usually only load 20 rifle cartridges in a sitting, and it takes just as long to get my measure set up and throwing consistent charges a it does to just individually weigh them all.

For handguns I use the measure and do large batches.

 

[LiveLife]

For pistol -

When starting a session on the progressive press, I measure first 1-3 charges to:
1. Make sure I got the right charge disk/hole on the Lee Auto Disk
2. Make sure the charges are consistent (hopper and disk are fully primed)

When loading my test rounds (10 of each powder charge) to make sure I got the exact 0.2-0.3 grain increments.

 

[PCCUSNRET]

I weigh every charge for rifles and since I haven't loaded any pistol in several years I answered "yes" to the survey. I have a Dillon 550 and when I start reloading pistol again I will weigh every 10th round once I have it set.

 

[bubbinator]

I set my measure to drop the charge very close to spec, then trickle the last couple .10s of a grain in on rifle ammo. It is worth it, given all the other time spent on case prep. Loads prove the effort worth the time. Pistol loads, depends on the caliber. It seems to pay off too. I once won a bet with a neighbor about handloads V. factory ammo when I shot a better group @ 100 yds w/ my Ruger Super Blackhawk handload than he did with a Winchester .308 w/ a 4X scope and factory ammo!

 

[wankerjake]

Rifle yes, pistol no.

 

[R.W.Dale]

Rifle yes, pistol no.

This seems to be the trend

BUT IMO it's completely backwards if you're worried about variations in the amount of powder dispensed.

Lets assume a nice simple + or - .1grain variation or 0.2 total

of a 50grn rifle charge 0.2 grains represents little less than HALF of one percent of the total charge.

but for a 4.4grn 9mm charge that same 0.2 can make your charges vary by almost 4.5%

So logically if a person were to be worried about throwing charges they would be much more reluctant to do so on handgun rounds long before rifle cartridges

 

[wolfeyes]

For rifles always...............JH

 

[Afy]

For target rifles yes. And cross check every 5th wieght on a different scale.
For plinking ammo and pistol, I use the Lee Dippers. Just goes quicker. I will however wiegh every 10th or so round to make sure I am throwing a safe charge. If it isnt in a safe range, I will rethrow powder for all the cases between the current out of spec case, and the last in spec case.
Piror to seating (normally lots of 100) I will randomly slect 10 cases to wiegh to ensure I am safe.
Over cautious... maybe but its easer to re-throw powder than to try and re-grow a limb.

 

[NotSoFast]

It all depends...

on what I'm doing.

If I'm loading a proven handgun load, I'll check a few at the beginning to verify the powder is dropping correctly. THen I'll reweigh it every 50 rounds.

If it is a new handgun load, I'll measure each charge.

For a proven rifle load, I usually measure each load to start, then every tenth time, just to be sure. I also check each case before I seat the bullet to make sure the charge looks consistent.

And for a new load, as for the handgun, I will measure each charge.

 

[Randy1911]

I load on a progressive. I wiegh the first 5 to comfirm that they are consistant. Then I weigh about every 50 or so. I'm not interested in tack driving accuracy, just plinking.

 

[mcdonl]

I do. I am a newbie and do not want to find out the hard way what a grain or two off will cause.

 

[Walkalong]

No.

The only time charges need to be weighed is when you are shooting 1000 yards and beyond where ES & SD numbers are so critical. (This is what I am told by folks who shoot 1000 yards) I have nowhere to shoot over 300 yards right now, and weighing charges will make zero difference there.

I just throw and go. None of the 300 yard and in Benchrest shooters weigh charges. (Well, there might be a couple out there)

AC

 

[army_husbandky]

Yes

I weigh all my charges, I like to try and shoot to improve my shooting ability, so why wouldn't I want to make sure that I got exactly what I want when I go and shoot. I also look at reloading as a hobby, I kinda like my hobbies to take some time, so I go ahead and slow it down and weigh all my charges.

 

[qajaq59]

For the rifles? Yup!

 

[Hangingrock]

Weighing every charge would negate the usage of a progressive loader. Reloading for the 45ACP, 44Spl, 38Spl, and 9mmX19 if it can’t be done with W231 and a progressive reloader I’m not doing it. I check the powder measure dispensing charge weight periodically during a reloading session. I’ve established a tolerance of plus or minus “X” for the charge weight.

As for loading the .223Rem for across the course shooting I utilize “Commercial Processed & Primed Cases”. The powder charge (Rx15) is dispensed with a Redding measure and the bullets seated with a Redding competition bullet seating die. I see no advantage of weighing individual charges for 200yd & 300yd lines. The same maybe said for the 500yd/600yd lines with in reason but most of my shooting is now done on short courses.

With IMR powders a Belding & Mull measure is employed with example cartridges such as the 308Win or 30-06.

 

[nm3]

I do for my .40 pistol, as all I have is a digital scale with a powder dispenser. Currently new to reloading.

 

[Afy]

I just throw and go. None of the 300 yard and in Benchrest shooters weigh charges. (Well, there might be a couple out there)

I believe almost everyone winning is weighing their charges...

 

[halfded]

Yup. It started as paranoia but is now just a habit. I've developed a little "system" that speeds the process a bit. When I hang the pan on the scale (Lee balance scale, forget the name) I line up the indicator with the level mark so it takes less time for the scale to stop moving. I have what I've come to know as "acceptable wobble" which is nothing more than knowing the indicators back and forth travel and recognizing when it stays within acceptable (.1 grain) parameters. Any small additions are made by tapping powder from a Lee scooper.

Using my method, I can load 50 cases in about 15 minutes, give or take due to my accuracy with the powder measure.

 

[shenck]

If a powder meters well (w748 blc2 ect.), I check every fith one. If it's a powder like Imr 4350 or Imr 3031 I throw a light charge and trickle in the rest on the scale.

 

[Uncle Billy]

I "tare" my digital scale with the primed case, throw the charge and weigh it again- the reading the second time is the weight of powder in the case. I'll do it this way for the entire batch if:

I'm loading Unique, which is a pain in the pratt to meter accurately because of its shape.

The load is small, like for .22 Hornet or anytime when the error in my measure's accuracy approaches 1% or 2% or more of the load.

 

[tehweej]

+1 what Damon555 said. That is exactly what I do. Plinking=every 10th, precision/hunting= every one.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Yes...I freaky that way. If it goes into a case, it has been weighed on a RCBS powder Pro or RCBS 5-0-5...

 

[R.W.Dale]

I believe almost everyone winning is weighing their charges...

You'd be wrong

many benchresters load by the number of clicks on a harrels powder measure with total disreguard to charge weight