I've been using electronic scales, all accurate to within +/- 0.1 grain, since I first started manufacturing my own rifle ammunition a decade ago. And of all the multifarious tools used to craft precision rifle ammunition, no one ever said to me that I could do better in the way of the RCBS, Pact, or Dillon scales that I've owned. But at one time or another, I've been told to upgrade virtually ever other piece of reloading equipment I've ever purchased pursuant to realizing sub-0.5, or even sub-0.25, MOA. I suppose that's why when Sinclair International started carrying a new, heretofore unheard-of electronic scale last December, I wasn't happy about feeling the urge to get one. But hey, it was as much as ten times more accurate than any of the other scales specifically sold for handloading ammunition (+/- 0.02). So last Spring, I went and bought one. Still, I couldn't fully rationalize having dropped the nearly $300 for it when I had two other, ostensibly perfect, scales . . . until yesterday!!!
Previously, I was doing well to keep extreme spread in terms of MV to < 30 fps across 50 rounds, and < 20 fps across 25 rounds. On bad days, I might even see spreads of > 50 fps across only 10 rounds. Of course, I had heard more stories than I care to ever recount of guys who would see spreads of < 10-12 fps, but I (as well others who were in the same boat as myself) would always chalk it up to peculiarities in the propellants being used rather than the consistency of the weights/volumes of the individual charges across X number of rounds.
Indeed, gentlemen, I never would have imagined how unbelievalby uniform in their properties modern metallic cartridge propellants really are! But look at what Sinclair International's new Acculab scale helped me achieve in a Krieger-barreled .300 WSM (barrel length: 28.5") using 64.5 and 65.0 grains, respectively, of VV N160 and Sierra 190-gr MKs!
MVs (fps):
1) 2981
2) 2980
3) 2982
4) 2981
5) 2982
1) 2999
2) 3004
3) 3003
4) 3004
5) 2999
I could scarely believe my Oehler chronograph! In ten years of painstaking handloading, I have never risen to this level of consistency! And needless to say, both 5-shot groups were well under 0.5 MOA!
I think it's high time I start competing, boys!
Previously, I was doing well to keep extreme spread in terms of MV to < 30 fps across 50 rounds, and < 20 fps across 25 rounds. On bad days, I might even see spreads of > 50 fps across only 10 rounds. Of course, I had heard more stories than I care to ever recount of guys who would see spreads of < 10-12 fps, but I (as well others who were in the same boat as myself) would always chalk it up to peculiarities in the propellants being used rather than the consistency of the weights/volumes of the individual charges across X number of rounds.
Indeed, gentlemen, I never would have imagined how unbelievalby uniform in their properties modern metallic cartridge propellants really are! But look at what Sinclair International's new Acculab scale helped me achieve in a Krieger-barreled .300 WSM (barrel length: 28.5") using 64.5 and 65.0 grains, respectively, of VV N160 and Sierra 190-gr MKs!
MVs (fps):
1) 2981
2) 2980
3) 2982
4) 2981
5) 2982
1) 2999
2) 3004
3) 3003
4) 3004
5) 2999
I could scarely believe my Oehler chronograph! In ten years of painstaking handloading, I have never risen to this level of consistency! And needless to say, both 5-shot groups were well under 0.5 MOA!
I think it's high time I start competing, boys!
