Weight vs volume

[hounddawg]

I did a small test yesterday of my RCBS Chargemaster 1500 vs my Hornady Powder throw. It was no surprise that the throw did poorly with stick and course flake powder but with the fine ball it was very accurate. It did poorly with the WIN 231 which is a fine flake but the static with that powder was horrible. Even used dryer sheets were no help. The Chargemaster was consistent all powders in so I only tested a few

Fifteen charges of 25 gns were thrown and measured on my modified Lyman M5 beam and the fractional readings smaller than .1 gn were estimates based on where the pointer was between divisions. All readings were obtained by sitting the pan on the balance two or more times looking for repeatability, the balance is sensitive enough to where it will respond to adding a single kernel of Varget and 4 to 5 sticks will move it one full division mark

I also timed the RCBS and it averaged the following times. For a 5.0 gn charge 15 seconds, for a 25gn charge 30 seconds, and for a 50 gn charge 35 seconds

AVG = average - self explanatory
STD DEV - Standard Deviation - measures the dispersion of a dataset relative to its mean. The more spread out the data, the higher the standard deviation.
ES- Extreme Spread - The distance between the two most widely separated data points

Hornady Powder Throw

IMR4350		TAC		Unique		HS6		Varget		HS4831SC	RL10X		CFE223		Win 231

AVG	24.64	AVG	25.00	AVG	25.14	Avg 	24.98	AVG	25.10	AVG	24.88	AVG	25.07	AVG	24.85	AVG	25.05
STD DEV	0.61	STD DEV	0.02	STD DEV	0.31	StD Dev	0.03	STD DEV	0.10	STD DEV	0.33	STD DEV	0.05	STD DEV	0.48	STD Dev	.09
ES	1.6	ES	0.1	ES	1.0	ES	0.1	ES	0.3	ES	1.25	ES	0.20	ES	1.70	ES	.3	



RCBS Chargemaster 1500

IMR 4350	RL10X		CFE223		Win 231	

AVG	24.96	AVG	25.0	AVG	25.02	AVG 	24.95
STD DEV	0.07	STD DEV	0.05	STD DEV	.05	STD DEV	.04
ES	0.2	ES	0.2	ES	.2	ES	.10

yes I get bored and have way too much time on my hands

 

[BBarn]

Thanks for running those tests. The variations you measured with IMR4350 seem similar to my impressions and results of using it with a Uniflow. But I didn't notice Varget being much different than IMR4350, where you achieved much better results with it. What little bit of CFE223 I've used seemed consistent from my Uniflow, where your results showed it to be relatively poor, about the same as IMR4530.

Unique doesn't dispense well from my Uniflow and you saw considerable variation as well. HS-6 dispenses very well for me, and did for you as well. Lastly, I think I get a little better consistency with W231 than what you measured.

 

[hounddawg]

Technique matters a lot when using a throw, someone with more consistency in their throws could easily get better results. These were thrown with no baffles or weights which I normally use. I dumped each load back into the hopper to ensure a constant powder column weight to some degree. A set of Uncle Nicks powder baffles would have helped tremendously I think.

I only had about a 1/4 lb of CFE223 and could not fill the hopper or it may have done better. The static issue with the Win 231 made it a nightmare both in the pan and the throw, normally it throws better for me also. I had to use a acid brush to get all of the powder out of the pan when emptying it

A lot of the extremes occurred when I was cutting a stick and had to force the handle. When I am reloading for real and feel a stick jam or cut I dump that charge back into the hopper and try again, but that would have thrown the test off if I had cherry picked the charges

It would be interesting to do some of the tests over with and without using baffles

 

[Metal god]

Your ES with the Hornady powder measure and CFE-223 is just that , extreme . I just ran those same test and got very different results . I did as you asked and did 15 with the baffle and 15 with out .

My Redding scale also has the .1gr marks on the scale as well so I guesstimated where the needle was when in between the hash marks .

I also used check weights before each test run to calibrate the scale . Here are the weights , I did not feel like writing them all down in the thread so here's a pic .
With baffle the ES is .16gr --- with out baffle the ES is .14gr

So my test showed regardless of baffle or not CFE 223 in my Hornady powder measure throws to a +/- of LESS THEN .1gr Which is far less then your +/- of .85gr

I don't have that bad of numbers when throwing IMR 4064 or 4350 . Are you sure you wrote those down right ? I made the mistake a couple times and wrote 24.02 when I meant to write 24.92gr but caught the mistake .

 

[hounddawg]

I will repeat the CFE later today. Considering that it is a small flake it should in theory measure almost as well as the TAC. I am slightly dyslexic so I could have screwed up a number when writing them down.

I just did a few more of the 4350 with a baffle in and when I get a stick cutting the numbers jump all over the place, could be your throw is gentler on the stick than mine, or maybe your throwing technique is more consistent

I have noticed the Lee Perfect rarely if ever cuts a kernel so all measures are not created equally. If someone does mostly stick that el cheapo Lee would be my choice but with TAC or other ball it likes to leak but there is a cure for that

 

[hounddawg]

just did the retest on the CFE 223 and have no idea of what to think. Seven or eight throws come out plus or minus .05 gns but then suddenly out comes on .3 to .9 off for no apparent reason. After getting two of those weird throws in a row at load number eight I did not record any more. Eight out of ten were normal then wham not only high but swing the pan to the bench high. I then threw a bunch more, probably thirty or more, and it seemed to happen at least once out of every ten charges. Baffling, that powder should meter like water and it does not seem to be a problem for others. It has to be some problem with my throw or technique.

No biggie I have a JD Quickthrow on it's way from the west coast to replace the Hornady and I will run similar tests on it next week