powder measure

T

trazman

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Hello guys, I am considering to buy a powder measure for precision rifle shooting...
Is it a good idea or is it better to reload with standard scale(which is boring)?
Which brand of powder measure do you recommend?
 
when it comes to scales nearly everything out there under $200 is plus or minus 0.1 .

powder thrower's typically are not as good....one of the best throwers out there, with the most common powder used in a 6ppc (n133) throws at plus or minus 0.2 on a good day with an ocassional .3 or so thrown in.

if this is a factory rifle...the lee perfect is perfect both from cost and function.


mike in co
 
I have had excellent results with the "Bonanza Benchrest Powder Measure" marketed by Forester Products
http://www.forsterproducts.com/store.asp?pid=24828&catid=19938

It would be a rare occasion if it was out as much as a tenth of a grain... fine powders (ball especially) drop as close to dead on as it gets... consistency in working the handle is important, you have to know your measure...
 
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I don't think that you have given us enough information so that we can make an informed recommendation. As you probably are aware, measures all are limited in their performance by the size of the particles of powder that are being used. Generally, the finer the particle size, the less variance in charge weight. Measures are also technique sensitive. What powders will you be measuring, and do you plan on doing all of your reloading at home, or will you be doing some at the range? As to electronic scales, there has been a recent entry into the market that I think bears looking at. The Gem Pro 250 seems to be getting good reviews, and is priced at well under $200. According to reports it seems to be able to perform at a higher level of precision than typical reloading scales. Another issue is the distance of your targets. It is common for long range shooters to weigh their charges to reduce the spread in their velocities that correspond to vertical dispersion at the target. If you give us some more information as to your plans, we can make a better recommendation.
 
Boyd Allen said:
I don't think that you have given us enough information so that we can make an informed recommendation. As you probably are aware, measures all are limited in their performance by the size of the particles of powder that are being used. Generally, the finer the particle size, the less variance in charge weight. Measures are also technique sensitive. What powders will you be measuring, and do you plan on doing all of your reloading at home, or will you be doing some at the range? As to electronic scales, there has been a recent entry into the market that I think bears looking at. The Gem Pro 250 seems to be getting good reviews, and is priced at well under $200. According to reports it seems to be able to perform at a higher level of precision than typical reloading scales. Another issue is the distance of your targets. It is common for long range shooters to weigh their charges to reduce the spread in their velocities that correspond to vertical dispersion at the target. If you give us some more information as to your plans, we can make a better recommendation.
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Ok... My caliber is .300 WM and plans are to shoot up to 600m on targets and also hunting... The bullet will be 190gr probably sierra MK and the powder vihtavuori N160, 165 or 170, i have to decide. I will reload only at home...
 
I am not familiar with the particle size and shape of those powders, but if they are coarser than 133, I would plan on either using a Chargemaster or any measure, in conjunction with a scale, throwing changes a little light, and then trickling up to final weight. I think that at that distance, you might be leaving some accuracy on the table with thrown charges, no matter what the measure.
 
me thinks boyd is right. and...
when adding powder to the pan, touch the pan and make it move. not all scales track well from a dead stop.

chargemaster is too expensive for the accurracy for one gun...a 25 dollar beam scale from lee will do...

mike in co
 
Boyd, for his purpose, I think I'd skip it. Couple years ago, I started weighting my charges by trickling up instead of just hitting the number. I am happy to report my groups haven't gotten any larger.

Story about an IBS Silver-Level, Long-Range Marksman. Gunsmith, I'll say no more. So, we've finished the relays for a 1,000 yard match, and are getting ready for the shootoffs. A voice comes over the PA: "Anybody got some 210s and a priming tool for a .404 Jeffrey case?" He noticed the absence of primers because there was a few grains of powder in the loading tray . . . Well, I had a tool & someone else had some 210s, so he was able to prime those (somewhat) charged cases. You guessed it, he won. He also use to charge his 1,000-yard cases by throwing the powder . . .

For a hunting rifle, Sierra 190s and occasional fun target shooting, I'd just throw 'em. Wouldn't fuss over much about the measure, either. All the ones mentioned are quite accurate. Not so good for making small adjustments, but once you've got the load dialed in, quite repeatable.
 
I will say one thing, monitoring a friend's progress as he figured out how to wring the most out of a .17Ackley Hornet taught me that the smaller the case, the tighter the tolerances have to be on powder weight. Going the other direction, for a .300 WM a tenth or two represent a much smaller percentage of the total charge than for my 6PPCs. It's just that I keep reading of long range shooters chasing small SDs to cut down on vertical, and that was the reason for my answer. At home, I am pretty fast with my manual trickler, and unless I am loading a lot of rounds for varmint shooting (in which case I make sure to use a powder that I can throw well) , the small amount of extra time is not an issue.
 
It's just that I keep reading of long range shooters chasing small SDs to cut down on vertical,
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Oh, they do -- we do -- I do, but there is a lot unnecessary stuff done, & by me, too. Times past, I've kept SD to 5 or so using an old Denver Instruments scale, that weights only to .1 grains. I remember Steve Shelp getting lost in the holy grail of SD/ES -- for about 5 minutes, when he discovered the load with the best SD wasn't close to as accurate as the one with an SD of 20.

If you're consistently getting 10-15 inches of vertical & 4 inches horizontal, time to get fussy about charges. For some reason, that's never happened to me. I've seen targets come back that way on a particular relay, & the shooter remarks "I've gotta work on my load to get the vertical out." Never mind that all the other targets on the relay showed the same pattern.

I kind of look at it this way: If you're going to throw charges, you need a good scale anyway to establish a consistent technique. If you're not going to load all that many rounds, skip purchase of the powder measure & just use the scale. If that's too slow, buy a measure & see if you can throw to +/- .2 grains for those big, 70+ grain cases.

It would be interesting to do a double blind test. Load 20 rounds to +/- .02 grains, or whatever people are going for these days. Then load 20 held to +/- .2 grains. Without telling the shooter what's what, shoot the two lots & see if there is a difference.

Bet not.
 
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