Powder charges, weigh or measure ?

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WillBird

Guest
I was wondering, just how many BR shooters weigh and trickle each powder charge, and how many just use a good powder measure they are familiar with ??

My impression from study of the sport from afar was that ammo is loaded at the range so that the shooter can tune the gun to the day....and that loading conditions and facilities at the range would not allow the use of most of the devices that dispense powder electronically....IE powered trickler/scale units ??

Bill
 
One can only tune if

They have tested in various ambient conditions. It appears that these tuners will permit one to load @ home and use their tuner. I hope it is true because I load at home and if I can have a device that will allow me to continue to do this and keep my rifles shooting well, i will be most pleased.

I don't like to load at the range when I am shooting. I don't think it necessary most of the time for what I am using. I want to carry minimal equipment and there is too much without carrying loading equipment . I have several hundred pieces of brass prepared for all the rifles I shoot. ( we have 5 or 6 months of winter up here).

After going through a number of powder measures I now use an RCBS dispenser/scale setup. I refuse, STILL to believe that a .4g variation will be forgiven by any of my rifles.
 
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Also I would assume pre loading would require "making" a lot more brass than loading at the range ?

Bill
 
Bill

At this time,the majority of shooters still use a powder measure, and drop the charges.
However, there is a growing trend toward weighing each charge. It is not as simple as it may seem. First, the means that is used to weigh the charges must be accurate, or the effort is wasted. I have seen shooters using the RCBS Chargemaster. They say it is a little slow, but up to the task
There are some time constraints that have to be considered., but most that do weigh charges seem to get it done.
The biggest drawback to weighing each charge is the shooters own attitude. How do you know, in the end, if all of the effort is worth it. Right now, there are some pretty phenominol aggs being shot using the conventional method, many shooters just do not see how weighing each charge would get them that much smaller.
There is one shooter who has taken weighing to the extreme, and he is arguably one of the best shooters in the World. That is Larry Costas.
From what I have gathered, he has hundreds of glass vials that he weighs and places a specific powder charge in. There are enough to shoot an entire Two Gun Event. Keep in mind, he has enough of different loads in vials to change the load if neccessary. I have no idea how long it takes him to sit and weigh all of these, but it does seem to be paying off.
His method combines the accuracy of pre-loading, and the ability to change the load at will.
That is dedication with a capitol "D". I really don't know how many shooters are willing to go there........jackie
 
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Jackie,
I found your explanation of what Larry Costa is doing very ineresting. That is the exact same method that I have settled on after trying just about everything. It does take some level of dedication to put in that much time on powder charges, but once it's done there is one less variable to consider. That alone is worth the effort for me. I've wondered what people would think if I suddenly passed away and they found those hunderds of little vials of powder.
Russ
 
jackie schmidt said:
First, the means that is used to weigh the charges must be accurate, or the effort is wasted. I have seen shooters using the RCBS Chargemaster. They say it is a little slow, but up to the task
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Jackie, I use a Chargemaster at home, but always check it against a Denver Instruments. Each charge. When both are calibrated and zeroed, the DI seems to weigh about .05 more -- that is, they round different. They also disagree: the Chargemaster will throw .1 high or low, based on the DI. Not saying which is right, but I go with the DI.

The real killer for me is that both change with a change in temperature. The Chargemaster seems more sensitive to this. I threw all the charges for the Rockingham winter league this winter, and turned the heat off when weighing charges (the DI is sensitive to air currents). Problem was, when it dropped into the mid-to-low 60s from the high 60s, the Chargemaster started weighing differently.

It may just be mine. But I know if I were using it at a match, I'd calibrate it each time I loaded. To be fair, that doesn't take long.

FWIW
 
Lou Murdica said:
Chargemaster for v133
Powder measure for 8208
So it depend on what powder and case your using. The smaller the case the more critical the charge weight matters.
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what lou said.

if you do a good sampling, you will see variations in 133, and essentially none with 8202.
my belief( from my limitied testing) is that 8208's real asset is its size. it meters like no other stick powder i have tried. the consistancy of thrown charges is why it shoots so well from those that throw vs weigh(back when essentially all shooters threw charges).

mike in co
 
4 real

Steve Robbins weighed at the last SS'
dedication?????this is a form of madness called benchrest .If weighing is a improvement i will do it..WHO won't??????
What ever it takes,I'll even have a shower.Shave.Go to church.brush my
hair.weigh primmers,drink less beer,
Here's a story from way back ,I dont know if its truth or myth,some guy drilled his powder each kernel,some older shooters may know the story.He sent the drill to japon.They drilled a hole thru it & sent it back?????
if you ain't dedicated you won't win at this loonasy.
We do the absurd in our quest for perfection,don't we?CRAZY PEOPLE shoot benchrest.CRAZY PEOPLE.:D
 
Francis

I don't know. When you suddenly wake up, in a cold sweat, at 2:am in the morning, anguishing over a shot that did not go into the group at a Region Unlimited Championship two months before, there is a word for that.
Excuse me while I go and wipe my brow:D........jackie
 
Weighing powder

Some folks will tell you a tenth of a grain either side of your intended load won't make any difference, and they may be right, but I've never heard ANYONE say that a variance like that is desirable.
Weigh your charges if you can.
Bryan
 
Measure....

WillBird said:
I was wondering, just how many BR shooters weigh and trickle each powder charge, and how many just use a good powder measure they are familiar with ??

My impression from study of the sport from afar was that ammo is loaded at the range so that the shooter can tune the gun to the day....and that loading conditions and facilities at the range would not allow the use of most of the devices that dispense powder electronically....IE powered trickler/scale units ??

Bill
Click to expand...

V135 out of a Harrell powder measure.

virg
 
Jeff Stover said:
At this year's Shamrock, Larry Costa was using two RCBS Chargemasters next to each other - for speed.
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If you are using the RCBS 1500 just to weigh charges, say, in the 29-31 grain range, they can be programmed to drop faster. Problem is when you speed them up for a select range they kind of go funky outside that range.

The factory set parameters drop a charge about every 22 seconds. If you reprogram it, say, at 30 grains you can get it down to about 18 seconds.

Then at that programmed setting, for example, you go to 45 grains, the measure will speed to 35 grains or so, go into medium speed for 5-6 grains, then go into trickle speed for the remainder of the 45 grains. In this example it would now take about 45-50 seconds to drop the 45 grain charge where at the factory setting it would have taken about 22-24 seconds.

If you want to speed your Chargemaster 1500 up, call the RCBS 800 number in the users manual and ask for Don Legg Jr.
 
francis

As far as wind is concerned......and the openness of loading areas, various vehicles are now equipped with 110 internally. My Jeep Patriot is one.
BA
 
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