Loaded cartridge weight variation

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RyPal

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Hey guys,

Short version:

How much weight variation should I expect in processed brass, and the subsequently loaded rounds?

Long version:

I am fairly new to reloading so I take it very slowly and double (and sometimes triple) check my charge weights before finishing off my rounds.

I had my brother over to do some reloading for his 30-06. He hasn’t reloaded before , so we went through the steps together to make sure everything was right. Started with minimum load and worked up in half grain increments.

Towards the end I had to pop out to deal with some kid stuff & didn’t see him load the final rounds approaching the max load, where we stopped.

He forgot his loaded rounds at my place, so I’ll be giving them to him at Christmas.

For some reason, I thought I’d weigh the loaded rounds to double check his work, but have been getting variable results. All the rounds seem to be within 10 grains of each other, but weights don’t really follow the pattern of loading. All brass is 1x fired federal, and all the primers are CCI large rifle. 150gr Barnes ttsx over IMR 4064.

How much variability should I expect in brass weights? Weighed a few unloaded cases and they were within 5-8 grains.

Am I over thinking this? Being newish to this, not really sure if this is common, or if I should pull them and check the charges myself.

Thanks

Ryan
 
RyPal said:
Weighed a few unloaded cases and they were within 5-8 grains.
Click to expand...

Few questions:

Are you working your way up each time? (EX: 30 rounds, 3 shots of 10 different powder charges)
5-8gr is what your case weighs, or some would way 45gr and some weighed 53gr?

Short answer if you know which ones he loaded, pull them and double check. You will sleep better knowing he wont hurt himself. If they're fine, then life is good.

Ive loaded for almost 10 years, and I still, every now and again get a load mixed up or set it in the wrong row in the ammo box when working up a load. Ive tried weighing them like you did and saw same results. I just swallowed my pride, and pulled them, dumped the powder back into my Chargemaster (if you know 110% its all the same powder!!!) and I will resize again to make sure I have enough neck tension again. I do it though so I don't lose my primer, I will pull the de-capping pin from the stem (**screw the expander ball back on**) then it doesn't knock primer out and just size em again quick. It takes a few extra minutes, but then you know 100% its done properly.
 
Hi H4L,

Thanks for getting back to me.

Yeah, we were working up in .5 gr increments from 49.5 to 52 per the Barnes manual.

3 cartridges per increment so 18 loaded rounds.

I’m going to pull them tomorrow and double check.

Thanks man

Ryan
 
Thanks for getting back to me guys, I pulled the rounds and checked for my piece of mind, most were bang on, but 1 was about a grain above the max load.
Surprised at the variation in brass weights, even though were all the same headstamp.

Merry Christmas guys

Ryan
 
Even with same head stamp is going to vary more than that - I recently was trying to figure out if some "nny" 9.3x62 brass was interchangeable with "PPU" 9.3x62 brass. I weighed 5 x "nny" - more or less random selection from 150 previously fired cases - extreme spread, lightest to heaviest, was 5.0 grains. I weighed 5 x "PPU" brass - from about 50 once fired ones - extreme spread, lightest to heaviest, was 4.0 grains. Each case was weighed to the nearest 0.1 grain. Each set of 5 had fired primers in them, so is possible some of the variance was within the primers?? About only way that I could imagine to check powder load - to 0.5 grains - after loading, was if each of the cases, primers and bullets had been weighed before loading, recorded and kept track of? The "accuracy" limit of my two scales are both "0.1 grain" - so weighing three items separately and adding the weights together would be a weight, within plus or minus 0.3 grains.
 
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Are you over-thinking it? Probably you are, but that's better than under-thinking it. You are using a good method of analysis, you asked a question and you answered it using your own experimentation. That's proper, and nice to see there is at least one new reloader who doesn't blindly follow anything he reads without seeing for himself if it is true.

Weighing loaded cases will have meaning only if you weighed them empty before hand and marked the weight on each case. If you are doing LRP shooting then it will pay some dividends to weigh and sort brass.

I don't care for using mixed headstamp brass if it can be avoided but it depends on what kind of shooting you do.
 
When I first got my 5-0-5 scale I went on a weighing tare . The used 30-06 brass weighted any where from 178 to 200gr. The Winchester had two rather different weight ranges. Two different ages and lots. The most consistent were Federal, also the heaviest.
 
I'm a new reloader myself....as a matter of fact I started not even a week ago.
I reload only mild 38spl for cowboy shooting , a 140 gr lead bullet over 3 gr of Trail Boss.
My brand new Lee 4000 went out of index very fast.
Good for me....I load 10 rounds and pull the next before bullet seating and check the charge.
Being out of index does not add very much time to the process and gives me peace of mind.
I went through the weighing of loaded rounds like RyPal but got too many variations, the lead being not uniform in weight.
I have lots of time and I'm an happy camper now.
Load testing this morning at the range.
 
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