do you measure every powder charge ?

[marklyftogt]

Using my chargemaster 1500 is see the weight every time.
Slower than some other methods but this isn't a race.

[m&p45acp10+1]

Handgun rounds I weigh when setting up the measure. I throw, and weigh two batches of 10 throws. After that I randomly check 5 of every 50 cases in the loading block. I use powders that meter well.


For rifle rounds I weigh every charge because I use an automatic dispenser.

[William T. Watts]

Either a RCBS 505 scale or RCBS electronic 750, I prefer the 505 for rifle and the 750 for pistol.. If I shot a lot of ammunition I might consider other options, I spend very little time at the range anymore. Since I retired I'm busier than I've ever been with chores in the yard and around the house. William

[jib]

We shoot rifle competatively and check every 4-5 charges, when loading 100 or more rounds. If it's drifting, we go back and check more. Usually, it's quite consistant. My son and I each have to dial in our own charges, as we must operate the powder dispenser differently, because the charge that works for him is different (barely, but measureable) than mine. Working the dispenser consistantly is really key. I'd like to see a Chargemaster in my future.

[Ethan.G]

i weigh every single round.. call me paranoid but i dont trust the powder thrower to not blow up my gun. i see that it throws consistently but it only needs to throw ONE big and my gun will become frag in my face.

i saw someone do that at the range one day, wood right behind the receiver just detonated into his face <- my exact face when it happened, i guess its a small ptsd lol

[Hawg]

I weigh every hunting round but I only weigh every third one of anything else.

[chuckee]

Every 5.

[HKGuns]

Pistol no. Rifle yes.

For pistol I weigh 5 after I have the drop set correctly to ensure consistency and out of 100 rounds I'll check one in the middle and one at the end to verify something didn't go wrong in the middle.

[bluetopper]

After reading all this I might as well throw my progressive press in the trash.

[Edward429451]

I measure every round since when loading single stage, I will use my Uniflow powder measure. When loading on my progressive 550B's they have their own measures. I hand weigh on a scale every 5th or 10th round depending on what type of powder I use, how close to max I am, and what the tolerance of the particular powder is.

When I open a new can of powder I weigh 10 charges and record them on a piece of paper that I tape to the can of gunpowder. I figure the average weight, and average deviation and the extreme spread of the throws. Then I can reference it when I begin loading to make sure I'M not out of acceptable range.

[Snobal]

I've used the same RCBS Uniflow powder drop since the 1970's.

I mostly shoot pistol matches and use Bullseye powder.

With the small drum, I run about 20 charges through it, then start adjusting until I get 10 drops to average the charge weight I'm after. This is simple to do, just drop 10 charges into the tray, weight it, and divide by 10.

I check the total weight of the 10 drops with both of my powder scales.

Once the RCBS powder drop is set, I check the total weight of ten drops before and after each box of 50 bullets.

I'm currently loading 3.8 grains of Bullseye. Ten drops typically come in between 37.9 grains and 38.2 grains.

In .45 ACP, I've found that the POI does not change much at 25 yards with 200 grain bullets with charge weights of Bullseye between 3.5 grains and 3.9 grains. One day this Spring when testing loads with 3.5, 3.7, and 3.9 grains, I found that an overlay of 9 targets (all 90 shots) fired at 25 yards went into less than 3.5 inches, c-t-c.

Therefore, I truly believe the minor drop-to-drop variation with Bullseye powder and my 200 grain cast bullets have no significant effect on my Bullseye Match scores at 25 yards.

Since I shoot 4,000 to 5,000 rounds a year, I'd quit shooting if I had to weight every charge.

JMHO - YRMV

[SIGSHR]

Dean Grennell said for pistol powders he adjusted his powder hopper until 10 thrown charges measured 10 times exactly.

[Snobal]

SIGSHR,

I'm way too old and shaky to be able to "rap" the handle exactly the same for 10 raps.

And, I don't find much difference (by my chrono results) between 3.79 grains and 3.82 grains of Bullseye Powder with a cast 200 grain bullet.

If the crimp and COAL are uniform, the standard deviation is amazing low.

JMHO - YRMV

[PaulGL]

For pistol- I check every 25 or 50.... or whenever I top off the powder in my dillon 550.

However, I also don't ever load to within .1 grain of the max.... I just don't ever feel the need to push the envelope that hard.

[10-96]

I guess I have the paranoids too- I weigh each and every load whether it be pistol or rifle.

[tkglazie]

Dean Grennell said for pistol powders he adjusted his powder hopper until 10 thrown charges measured 10 times exactly.

Then Dean Grennell is fooling himself. There is no such thing as any TWO charges matching exactly, let alone 10.

As an above poster mentioned, my chrono (and target) doesnt see a difference between pistol charges that vary by .03grains, or even .06-.08 for that matter.