How do you measure powder?

nza

nza

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
92   0   0
Location
V9C
For Pistol I use volumetric measurements, mainly because I have a lee disk loader which makes it fast.

However for Rifle cartridges, I'm limited to using the powder scale, and measuring each grain out. Now, I am considering buying the Lee Double Disk set which will allow me to load 308 cartridges volumetrically.

Is there really a drastic difference between grain measurements with volume vis a vis weight?

Some of the reloader manuals advocate for either/or...
 
if i was to try the lee disk setup with rifle powder i would be weighing the thrown charges untill your possitive its accurate. with the disk i think you will have trouble getting it to measure what you want as its non adjustable. they work fine for handgun loads but i would spend the money to buy a proper rifle powder measure that can be adjusted to throw the charge you want not the charge the disk hole might give you.
 
Are you loading for long-range accuracy? Throw then trickle each charge. Short range, velocity variations are not important.

Are you loading a long-stick powder? The lee disk system may or may not do it. Long-Stick powders don't measure well.

Are you loading a short-stick or ball powder? The lee double-disk system will be reasonably precise, and you can get almost any weight with the right disk combination.

I use a double disk with AA 4100, weighs within a tenth on every throw.

For those who think you can't get a specific weight, have a look at the double-disk setup. You get cc adjustments of either .01 or .02, which means a weight adjustment, for a typical 308 powder, of .16 or .31 of a grain.

You will need to look hard at the charge weight you want to use for the powder - 47/48 grains is near the limit of the double disk setup for most powders.

Good enough for most things, albeit not for benchrest.
 
Last edited:
Pistol and semi auto ( 5.56MM ) - large volume -Dillon Scale to adjust the dillon powder mesure. Hunting ammo - 30-06, 35 Rem Mag, 45-70 ect, I weight each charge on the same Dillon digital scale.
 
I use a Pact Digital Precision Powder Dispenser and scale combination, in conjunction with a Lee precision powder dispenser when throwing charges for anything over .223

In those cases, I'll use the Lee dispenser to throw a charge about 2gr below the desired weight, and finish the throw with the digital dispenser.
 
I weigh every charge of extruded powder. I begin by weighing every charge of ball powder, then once I am confident that there is sufficient consistency in the thrown charges, I will weigh every 5th rifle charge and every 10th pistol charge.
 
One time, in band camp, kidding but really I wanted to prove how weighing charges on my '06 to within a tenth of a grain would be more consistent than just dumping out it out of my cheapy Lee perfect powder measure. This was h4831 sc, inconclusive as I only shot 10 rounds of each, but the sloppy loads out shot the anally weighed charges by a fair margin. Will try it again this year good call Nathanenge.
 
i found the lee double disk to throw insufficent capacity-you're fine till you get about 50 grains depending on the powder, but after that forget about it- i put a dillion powder measure on the lee 1000 and that works fine- i was also running out of charges far too quickly- again, due to capacity- the resevoirs just too small- i measure till it gets plus/minus 1/10 and then go every 10th - the dillion is really sensitive on the powder adjustment- almost like putting the screwdiver in to turn it adjusts
 
I use an RCBS powder scale to set my powder measure to the desired charge, and then throw charges from the measure into the cases.

Then, I visually inspect every case to be sure every case is charged and the powder level is the same in each case.

Years ago, I compared the accuracy of weighed charges to thrown charges in several hundred cartridges, and found that there was essentially no difference in accuarcy in any hunting rifle I owned, regardless of whether it was my SAKO 222 or my 375 H&H .

When I discovered that bench rest shooters don't weigh charges, but throw them from a measure, that was it. The last time I weighed every charge was about 35 years ago. :D

Ted
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom