Ok so with all the recent posts about progressive presses and such, I load 9mm and 357Mag on a single stage rockchucker. (don't get much extra time to shoot right now, but will need a faster system in the future) I use the RCBS powder thrower, and trickle up. How accurate are the throwers in the progressives? If I was loading near max charge weight I guess you would have to reduce your charge weight to ensure you don't go over? Does accuracy suffer doing it that way?
charge weight expectations for 9mm
- Thread starter Lead hammer
- Start date
- Location
- West Quebec
I'd say the progressives are okay but not quite as accurate as your doing manually if your tricking with a good scale IMHO
Some powders meter more accurately than others. You might need to use a powder that works well in your measure as opposed to using the powder that gives you the best accuracy or velocity.
Obviously there is a greater degree of error possible with a powder measure than weighing each charge. What you need to do is take your chosen measure and your chosen powder and play with it - run 20-30 charges through it and weigh them on a beam scale. Then set your charge weight with consideration given to average and absolute deviation. That will tell you how accurately you can measure and how close to max you can set your charge weights. Generally you can come pretty close to max loads but it is prudent to back off just enough to ensure you are staying within the powder measure accuracy capabilities and not overloading.
You can make a powder measure work well with a bit of effort, but don't expect that you can take it out of the box and start reloading with it. Takes some playing with to get a feel for using it and setting the charge.
Obviously there is a greater degree of error possible with a powder measure than weighing each charge. What you need to do is take your chosen measure and your chosen powder and play with it - run 20-30 charges through it and weigh them on a beam scale. Then set your charge weight with consideration given to average and absolute deviation. That will tell you how accurately you can measure and how close to max you can set your charge weights. Generally you can come pretty close to max loads but it is prudent to back off just enough to ensure you are staying within the powder measure accuracy capabilities and not overloading.
You can make a powder measure work well with a bit of effort, but don't expect that you can take it out of the box and start reloading with it. Takes some playing with to get a feel for using it and setting the charge.
Canadian_Zuk
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Pickering, Ontario
adding a baffle to the bottom of the powder hopper greatly increases the consistency between full to empty. It supports the weight of the powder in the hopper.
- Location
- The Orion Arm
I use a Dillon thrower on my 650 progressive and double check the charge every dozen or so rounds to make sure it's still accurate. I check it against a RCBS digital scale AND a Dillon balance beam scale and I've never found it to be more than 1/10 of a grain off at the most, and this, for going on 5 years now.
Thanks so far guys. Lots of factors to deal with. Such as what powder you have available as far as metering. I have Unique and N320, but Unique gets me higher fps. I also have added a baffle to the hopper. One thing I have not done yet is use the smaller Uniflow cylinder. Does it make a big difference? I need to test and actually write down what my throws are to see. Thanks so far guys.
Anybody "ladder test" a handgun to try and find a load like for rifle? For my handguns I have only been working on loads for group size and a safe fps.
Anybody "ladder test" a handgun to try and find a load like for rifle? For my handguns I have only been working on loads for group size and a safe fps.
I used the Auto Disk for 20 years and liked it. I converted my Auto Disk to the Pro with a kit that Lee sold a couple years ago. Works well with Unique and IMR800, which is the only powders i've tried in it. I like it, works well for me.
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