How much is too much deviation in a powder charge?

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first off im courious as to what bullet you are loading and at what col. I referenced the date you provided with my speer manual and came up with a 180gn with a col of 1.120. accordind to my records I used the lee disk #66 for a 5.1gn charge. this gave me a velocity of 928fps with 180gn berrys. If you are loading true self defense loads i might suggest that you weigh each charge and baby the round to get everything as near perfect as possiable since you or your family lifes might depend on it. If your only loading go boom rounds I have had good luck with the above load as far as it metering consistant with the lee auto disk and it cycles the action fine. Also if you have powder bridiging causing a light charge it has to go somewhere. you are at the upper levels of a high pressure round that is known to have guns with chambers that are loose to the point that it causes the brass to have a guppie belly. what if the powder becomes dislodged and is added to another powder charge. Unique is a good powder for the 40 (and about everything else), but it can be difficult to meter. What type of prep have you done to the auto disk. You should have gave it a good claening with some type of degreaser espicaally the metal tube that goes into the powder expanding die. dont forget the riser if you have it and the die itself. make sure it is free of moisture.