I hate reloading
- Thread starter maynard
- Start date
only about 650 more to go
Sometimes it is the small things that make a difference. For years I have been using a regular old RCBS funnel to fill cases. Before that I use a LEE funnel. I always use Varget or some other type of stick powder. Throw the powder charge and tap the top of the funnel 4-5 time to get all the powder into the case. I usually throw 50 at a time and put them into a loading block. I then take those and weigh each charge and use the funnel again to put the powder back into the case, tap the top 4-5 time to get the powder into the case. So by tapping the top of the funnel 400-500 times for every 50 rounds it becomes a PITA.
So yesterday I am wandering around Camp Perry and go into the store Sinclair International has set up there. Saturn Funnels, made out of aluminium with a brass fitting attached to it? These are caliber specific and cost about $12. What a world of difference, I can now throw powder charges without having to tap the top of the funnel, no static and no powder bridging. Weigh each charge and throw it back into the case without having to tap the funnel, this probably save me 5 minutes for each 50 rounds I load. It isn't making loading fun by any means but it is just one little thing that is making this reloading chore a little less painful.
450 down and only about 350 more to go.
So yesterday I am wandering around Camp Perry and go into the store Sinclair International has set up there. Saturn Funnels, made out of aluminium with a brass fitting attached to it? These are caliber specific and cost about $12. What a world of difference, I can now throw powder charges without having to tap the top of the funnel, no static and no powder bridging. Weigh each charge and throw it back into the case without having to tap the funnel, this probably save me 5 minutes for each 50 rounds I load. It isn't making loading fun by any means but it is just one little thing that is making this reloading chore a little less painful.
450 down and only about 350 more to go.
beavis_m305
Regular
- Location
- New Zealand
I love the results of reloading, but I HATE the actual process, especially when trying to load quantity. I too have been very surprised with good results when I just let QC fly out the window and use mixed brass, and throw every charge.
Chargemaster would not speed things up. I would re-weigh it on my Acculab VIC 123 anyway and would still need to pinch it in to within .02gr. Just taking a quick CGN brake and will then finish off 25 more tonight to bring my total to 700. 850 is the goal I have set before this coming Thursday. If I can get all those done I should have enough to get me throught to the end of the shooting season.
I may be a little anal about weighing every charge, but I will know that any MTM box that I grab will work at any range from 300-1000 yards. I don't make ammo for short range (thrown charges) and long range ammo (fully weighed) Every round is weighed to .02 gr so the only way these bullets won't find the bull is by pilot error or missing a wind call.
I may be a little anal about weighing every charge, but I will know that any MTM box that I grab will work at any range from 300-1000 yards. I don't make ammo for short range (thrown charges) and long range ammo (fully weighed) Every round is weighed to .02 gr so the only way these bullets won't find the bull is by pilot error or missing a wind call.
RCBS Charge Master 1500 which weighs each charge precisely at the push of a button.
This is not a volumetric charge thrower, each and every charge is weighed precisely.
Electric powered RCBS multi-station case preparation unit.
With the proper equipment precision reloading is a breeze.
Factory ammo is a lot better with much more selection than it was back in the 70s when I started reloading but factory ammo automation means the charges are thrown using volumetric methods.
Each and every one of my charges are precisely weighed and thus better.
My reloading is primarily for hunting and I like my ammo to be as accurate as possible for the longer shots.
This is not a volumetric charge thrower, each and every charge is weighed precisely.
Electric powered RCBS multi-station case preparation unit.
With the proper equipment precision reloading is a breeze.
Factory ammo is a lot better with much more selection than it was back in the 70s when I started reloading but factory ammo automation means the charges are thrown using volumetric methods.
Each and every one of my charges are precisely weighed and thus better.
My reloading is primarily for hunting and I like my ammo to be as accurate as possible for the longer shots.
RCBS scales weigh to .1 gr or 1/10th of a grain, my Acculab weighs to .02 gr or 2/100th of a grain. Yes this means pinching powder and counting kernals of powder to top the charge up the the exact weight. At what point does the RCBS scale round up or round down to display that .1 gr reading? Hmmm, I still have my RCBS digital scale, might be time to do a little experiment.
Last time I weighted charges to .02 grains I got quite tired of it after 20 rounds.
I would maybe do it for some competition ammo.
The issue with extruded powder and a powder measure is that I have seem charges vary by more than a grain or two (on 300 win mag loads)....
I would maybe do it for some competition ammo.
The issue with extruded powder and a powder measure is that I have seem charges vary by more than a grain or two (on 300 win mag loads)....
While I am not sure about the accuracy of the RCBS Chargemaster when it comes to dumping exact charges, this is a little experiment I did with the RCBS digital scale.
I threw 10 charges and trickled them up to exactly 46.0 gr according to the RCBS scale. I then reweighed them on my Acculab VIC123 scale
1st batch 46.0, 46.06, 46.08, 46.02, 46.04, 46.06, 46.10, 46.08, 46.04, 46.06
So I waited a couple hours and ran the same test, thrown charges trickled up to 46.0 on the RCBS digital scale and reweighed on my Acculab
2nd batch 46.18, 46.08, 46.20, 46.10, 46.12, 46.14, 46.12, 46.08, 46.08, 46.12.
The target weight I am looking for is 46.0 but I will accept 46.02 gr because I am not cutting kernals of Varget. While the RCBS scale said all the charges were right on the money at 46.0 only 2 charges from the 20 where in my acceptable range.
If this was hunting ammo, I wouldn't have a problem seating a bullet and shooting it, it would be accurate enough. However I am loading this for long range competition and trying to make it as exact as possible.
I threw 10 charges and trickled them up to exactly 46.0 gr according to the RCBS scale. I then reweighed them on my Acculab VIC123 scale
1st batch 46.0, 46.06, 46.08, 46.02, 46.04, 46.06, 46.10, 46.08, 46.04, 46.06
So I waited a couple hours and ran the same test, thrown charges trickled up to 46.0 on the RCBS digital scale and reweighed on my Acculab
2nd batch 46.18, 46.08, 46.20, 46.10, 46.12, 46.14, 46.12, 46.08, 46.08, 46.12.
The target weight I am looking for is 46.0 but I will accept 46.02 gr because I am not cutting kernals of Varget. While the RCBS scale said all the charges were right on the money at 46.0 only 2 charges from the 20 where in my acceptable range.
If this was hunting ammo, I wouldn't have a problem seating a bullet and shooting it, it would be accurate enough. However I am loading this for long range competition and trying to make it as exact as possible.
WestIslandRifle
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- QUEBEKISTAN, Canada
I don't mind reloading at home I get to spend time with my boy ( who ask thousands of question every time ) and he likes to pull the handle on my single stage lee for rifle ammo
Now at work I hate reloading its kind of boring
Press the valve
Rotate the shell holder
Place projectile
Press the valve
Doing this 5 days a week 6 hours a day kinda sucks
Now at work I hate reloading its kind of boring
Press the valve
Rotate the shell holder
Place projectile
Press the valve
Doing this 5 days a week 6 hours a day kinda sucks
I hate reloading "precision" ammo for my bolt gun, I love reloading bulk plinking AR15 ammo (though at $0.27 a round I've put a halt to reloading AR15 ammo, norinco is cheaper ($0.25))
bolt gun brass gets hand polished with steel wool, primer pockets hand cleaned/uniformed, powder charges are all weighed/trickled up on a balance beam scale.
AR15 brass gets tossed in the sink with warm water and soap, stirred around a little bit then blow dried, primer crimps cut out if needed, powder charges thrown from lyman 55 (I use a 9mm pistol tray to hold the brass and charge them all in one shot, double charge will overflow if it happens, I still double check the whole tray with a light once charged)
all done on a single stage press, about to start loading 9mm on it aswell, havn't done any pistol ammo yet.
bolt gun brass gets hand polished with steel wool, primer pockets hand cleaned/uniformed, powder charges are all weighed/trickled up on a balance beam scale.
AR15 brass gets tossed in the sink with warm water and soap, stirred around a little bit then blow dried, primer crimps cut out if needed, powder charges thrown from lyman 55 (I use a 9mm pistol tray to hold the brass and charge them all in one shot, double charge will overflow if it happens, I still double check the whole tray with a light once charged)
all done on a single stage press, about to start loading 9mm on it aswell, havn't done any pistol ammo yet.
They are not making the VIC 123 model any more, but I think I paid around $300 for it a few years ago. Here is a link for some very nice scales, pick your price ht tp://sartorius.balances.com
On a happy note I have finished up enough ammo to get me almost to the end of the season. 750 rounds loaded. I might have to load another 50 or so by the end of Sep if we shoot an end of the season match.I guess you and I are using the exact same scale. It's a great unit other than some times I get an interference from something that makes it go nutty. I do know the cordless phone anywhere near it is a bad idea. But I haven't figured out what the random interference I am seeing lately is. I did move the bench into a different room while my house was for sale. It might be the power unit for the fibre optic. I am moving in 3 weeks so this shouldn't be an issue then.
Have you seen any interference issues with yours Tom?
Have you seen any interference issues with yours Tom?
Maynard, i'm sure you have loaded a lot more than me but we both want the same end result (Varget loaded to 0.02gr accuracy) so I will share how I do it.
I start with the brass in the trays projectile's by the press, then calibrate the GemPro 250 and the chargemaster.
My desired charge weight is 44.00gr(or 44.02, like you I'm not goin to cut a granule of varget). I set the chargemaster to throw 0.1gr under the desired charge weight, so 43.9gr.
When it has thrown the charge I dump the powder into the pan on the Gempro 250, the pan is then returned to the chargemaster which then by itself will automaticly start throwing the next charge.
While the chargemster is preparing the next charge I will look at the GemPro, it usually will be between 43.80gr to 43.96, I then do the math quickly in my head and decide how many granules need to be added. (ex: If it's 43.92 it will need 4 granules) I then use the dandy electric trickler to trickle what I think it needs. (If it's over 44.02 I just toss it in the trickler hopper rather than trying to remove one or two granules)
The Gempro seems to be accurate scale but it's a litle slow to respond to small changes so while the scale is processing the change I will seat the bullet from the case that was weighed previously. (The press is mounted on a different bench so the movement will not mess with the scale)
Once the bullet is seated I have a look at the Gempro and see if it's gtg, if it's 44.00 or 44.02 I will funnel the charge in the next case and then dump the charge fron the chargemaster onto the gempro and the process starts over. It sounds like alot but it goes quick because I'm never waiting on anything.
A side note about the RCBS Chargemaster: I like this unit alot, I have two of them(one for just varget and one for everything else). I like it mostly because it allows me to more precisly weigh a charge while it throws the next on its own without having to press any buttons or do anything, just put the pan back on.
However the "accuracy" of the chargemaster can be all over the place. I can throw charges that read 43.9 and when put on a better scale they will sometimes be as low as 43.7 or as high as 44.2 thats 0.5gr varriance and they will still read 43.9gr on the chargemaster. It's not always this bad, they are mostly within 0.2gr but out of a batch of 100 I will see at least a couple. Just some food for thought for those that are using them and thinking the ammo is within 0.1gr.
I start with the brass in the trays projectile's by the press, then calibrate the GemPro 250 and the chargemaster.
My desired charge weight is 44.00gr(or 44.02, like you I'm not goin to cut a granule of varget). I set the chargemaster to throw 0.1gr under the desired charge weight, so 43.9gr.
When it has thrown the charge I dump the powder into the pan on the Gempro 250, the pan is then returned to the chargemaster which then by itself will automaticly start throwing the next charge.
While the chargemster is preparing the next charge I will look at the GemPro, it usually will be between 43.80gr to 43.96, I then do the math quickly in my head and decide how many granules need to be added. (ex: If it's 43.92 it will need 4 granules) I then use the dandy electric trickler to trickle what I think it needs. (If it's over 44.02 I just toss it in the trickler hopper rather than trying to remove one or two granules)
The Gempro seems to be accurate scale but it's a litle slow to respond to small changes so while the scale is processing the change I will seat the bullet from the case that was weighed previously. (The press is mounted on a different bench so the movement will not mess with the scale)
Once the bullet is seated I have a look at the Gempro and see if it's gtg, if it's 44.00 or 44.02 I will funnel the charge in the next case and then dump the charge fron the chargemaster onto the gempro and the process starts over. It sounds like alot but it goes quick because I'm never waiting on anything.
A side note about the RCBS Chargemaster: I like this unit alot, I have two of them(one for just varget and one for everything else). I like it mostly because it allows me to more precisly weigh a charge while it throws the next on its own without having to press any buttons or do anything, just put the pan back on.
However the "accuracy" of the chargemaster can be all over the place. I can throw charges that read 43.9 and when put on a better scale they will sometimes be as low as 43.7 or as high as 44.2 thats 0.5gr varriance and they will still read 43.9gr on the chargemaster. It's not always this bad, they are mostly within 0.2gr but out of a batch of 100 I will see at least a couple. Just some food for thought for those that are using them and thinking the ammo is within 0.1gr.
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