What's your favorite method of precise powder measuring?

Z

zanemoseley

New member
I've been hand loading for a couple years now, started with shotgun then went to pistol and am now reloading .308 and .223 (both for precision shooting).

I started with the Lee scoops, Frankford Arsenal scale and Redding hand trickler, worked pretty good but was slow.

Then I bought a RCBS Chargemaster which I like the operation but have been having issues with it overcharging Varget even after screwing around with several variation of a Mc.D's straw, my best attempt was still just "on" about 70% of the charges. I had been talking with the guys at RCBS and they offered to swap me out for a new unit and pay shipping both ways, very nice of them. So I'm in a dilemma, do I give the new unit a shot or sell it while its new and try something else? My gut tells me it won't dispense Varget any better. After doing some reading about 2/3 of people seem to experience the same issues with extruded powders but the baffling part is that about 1/4-1/3 of people say they use as stock with no mods and can run 50-100 in a row with no over charges.

I've not seen anything else that really tickles my fancy. Honestly the Omega trickler looked pretty darn neat bit it looks like its not for sale any longer, shows discontinued on MidwayUSA. If I had that and a nice scale it may fit the bill nicely.

What do you guys like using to measure extruded powder. That will likely be 95% of what I use as I run my pistol loads through a progressive.
 
My hornady overcharged w quite a bit when I got. I took it to a local auto parts store and got a oring to fit in the end of the drop tube. it helped quite a bit.
 
How much is over charged ?

I use a beam scale and what I do is throw close , trickle closer and if needed use tweezers to toss in the last couple kernels . Now that's using IMR 4064 and that's not my favorite , just what works best to get that powder spot on . I found the tweezers method best because I'd rather be short and have to use them rather then over charge and have to take the pan off and dump some out . I found RL-15 to trickle ok , Better then 4064 that's for sure . I've never used Varget so I don't know how long they are . If it's like RL-15 or IMR 4320 size . It should trickle fine .
 
I used to use the Lee scoops, powder trickler, and scale as you have been doing but gave it up on the realization that 1/10th or so of a grain isn't making any difference; there are other more important factors to control. For rifle loading I am using two RCBS Competition model powder measures. I've never once checked to see the differences between powder drops and hardly care what the differences might be. If RCBS thinks they have a better measurer than the Competition, I would recommend that you get one.
 
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I'm going to be honest and say I've never researched how much of an effect variations of 1/10 grain increments make in accuracy. It does however seem to be one of the easiest to control variables.
 
My favorite method is not to. Use a ladder test to work up a load that is tolerant of slight variations in charge weight.
 
I use different methods for different powders.

First of all I try every powder in a standard powder dropper. if it meters I note that and thats what I use.

If it doesn't meter then I have two Lyman Gen 6 automatic powder tricklers that work within the +/- .1 grain claimed accuracy. I say this under two conditions. First, turn off all cell phones in the room and calibrate each scale prior to use.

Also, on stormy days with a lot of turbulent air that could produce lightning you could have problems.
 
I just use the rcbs charge, never had an issue with it to be honest. I think there not a bad bit of kit.....well overpriced in australia but you fellas get them at a good rate
 
I've been reloading for over 40 years. Never used the Lee scoops. Used a Lyman, later RCBS beam scale and powder trickler.

For rifles, I mostly use IMR stick type powders. NO, they don't meter precisely, so what? Its the nature of the beast. For most applications, in rifle size rounds, 0.1gr+/- is simply irrelevant. HALF a grain (0.5gr) might be a much different matter.

And a much different matter depending on what you are loading. A variation that causes no change whatsoever in a .375H&H can be a HUGE (and even dangerous) change in a .32ACP.

A few years ago, I moved into the 20th century with a digital scale. Its very nice, but is very sensitive to air movement. AND, it needs batteries. To date, and for the forseeable future it is the only electronic device in my reloading tools. (yes, the beam scale is kept in reserve).

You can have speed, assembling rounds as rapidly as practical, or you can have precision, carefully checking everything. The more you go to one, the less you get of the other.

A lot of the time, an increase in speed (overall decrease in time spent loading, per round) is more important than taking the time to get the nth degree of accuracy (uniformity) possible. However not taking the time to get the desired degree of accuracy in favor of saving a little time can be false economy. More than anything else, what matters most is what you think is good enough from your ammo.

I don't have any experience with the modern powder measure, trickler, scale combinations, sorry. A personal thing, not wanting to spend a few hundred dollars on something I don't see a need for, and being a believer in not needing a reloading tool that has to be plugged in.

Remember its only a convenience when it works flawlessly. Using a manual scale & trickler is (probably) a little slower, but it is equally fast with ALL powders, and doesn't need to be "tweaked" to run right with powder A, and again when switching to powder X.
 
Many/most times "precision" and "fast" don't go together. While my C-H powder measure holds +/- .15 grains, when I'm working up a load it's the old "throw short and trickle up" method...
 
If you are throwing charges over about 7 grains, for which 1.5% is 0.1 grain, the other thing you have to consider is consistent powder moisture content. Most of it will adsorb about 1% moisture by weight in a humid environment, throwing your weight dispensing off, and then another roughly half percent of the energy is lost turning that 1% moisture into steam. So, if you have a rifle charge of 50 grains, the performance it delivers can change the equivalent of 0.75 grains going from dry climate storage to humid climate storage and not keeping it sealed.

What doesn't change much in adsorbing 1% moisture is the powder volume. So if you have a good volumetric dispenser, then you only have 1/3 of that variation in performance due to water content. About 0.25 grains equivalent. So if you have a volumetric dispenser that repeatable, you are probably controlling charge energy as closely as is practical to want to do. If you weigh all the charges on the same day and before the powder water content can change, that's another way to keep it close, and you will have to use weight to adjust a volumetric measure anyway until you get your load with it established. But honestly, I don't feel I want a load so sensitive to charge weight that a quarter of a grain one way or the other opened groups significantly. I'd always switch to some other powder or charge weight before I'd accept that. Anything that sensitive to small errors is likely to be an inconsistent performer under changing conditions.

Though more trouble than most measures to set up, the JDS Quick Measure keeps its promise to dispense stick powders within 0.2 grains, and that's good enough, though I find I actually get 0.1 grain precision most of the time. And despite the setup being a little unusual, extra dispensing tubes can be purchased which means you can declare one your Varget tube for a particular cartridge you load a lot, leave it set up to the right volume and pop it in whenever you are going to load that same round.
 
I seldom reload more than 100 rounds at a time. I tend towards simple and accurate so.

Ball Powder: RCBS Powder measure when using ball powders check occasionally with the scale. [most common for me is .22 Hornet/LilGun combo so visual check on powder level in case is pretty good check]

Extruded Powders: I usually scoop and trickle weighing each charge…not in any hurry and I enjoy the process. [I find a scoop(s) that are just under my targeted load and "trickle-up]

I use a Sinclair Hand Priming tool as well so you can see I'm not really all that into "Production Work".
 
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RCBS Uniflow set close to load desired, followed by a trickler and a RCBS 5-10 beam scale; scoops are not made for precision accuracy loading
 
Frankly,on centerfire rifle cartridges,I use a powder measure as thrown and checkit periodically.I mostly use powders like H4831SC,H or IMR 4350 or 4895,RE-15,Varget.I'm just not a ball powder guy.
If I get a "crunch throw" I stop,and rethrow.
It works for me.

Brother has a Lyman automatic charge weighing thingy.Warmup and calibration time.Throws short and auto-trickles till the scale tells it to stop.It seems to work.

I have used Redding,RCBS,and Hornady powder measures.I do have a medium speed,uniform stroke I do at the powder measure with a full stop "bump" at the end of the stroke.In my experience,the stroke helps.
Some use an aquarium pump attached to the hopper with rubber bands for a "hum" .
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On "scoops" Seems to me if the scoop is short,and you trickle up to weight,the scoop vs powder measure(and trickle) means nothing but maybe a little time.
End result is a trickled charge.
 
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Volume not weight seems to be more important when doing precision shooting. My charges in benchrest shooting were never weighed but measured in a drop tube thrown from a good measure like a Belding and Mall or custom measures.
 
Powder dropper to just short of the load, than trickle the rest on a beam scale, for most rifle loads. Every now and then I use the Lee Dippers and trickle. Depends on the Load.

If it is pistol, I drop them all and roll. God Bless
 
the other thing you have to consider is consistent powder moisture content
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I use the RCBS Charge Master as well and find that if I shake up the powder to dislodge and break up clumps of stick powder, I obtain consistent results on the drops (measure) without overages. Humidity is not your friend no mater what method you use, even trickle chargers (did that for a while to get exact drops).

Keep your powder dry and in a cool place and shake your bottle up before using to keep the grains from sticking together.

Good luck and stay safe.
Jim
 
What's your favorite method of precise powder measuring

When you ask that question you are not using an progressive press.
For loads, at max, I use my old RCBS beam scale with a powder trickle charger, operated by thumb and fore finger.
I always load a couple grains, below maximum, or intended charge, from the powder measure, even though the loads it throws are always precise.
The charge goes, into the pan, and pan then on scale and trickle in the last grain or two to exactly what the load calls for.
Watch that powder grains don't dance or fall out, of the pan.
Always have the cases trimmed uniformly, to the same length and sized at the same sitting. I use a RCBS hardened file trim die and dedicated file.
Die adjustments can vary a bit when changing from one caliber to another and back. Mke sure powder adjustment is locked down tight.
Some, of my .270 loads are compressed loads and I have to short charge, from the pan, and sit the case on a viberator table or bump the case head, against the bench, lightly, to settle the powder down and pour the final grains in. Bump a bit more, to make room, for the bullet. It is tightly packed.
When throwing a charge from the powder measure, I always weight four or five loads, on the scale.
I always bump the handle ,the same way, twice, to make sure powder is all out, of the drum and to help settle powder in the measure.
Always do things the same way each time.
 
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