Throwing Accurate Powder Charges

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Ralph124c41

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A consistent powder charge is essential to tight groups. Conventional volumetric powder dispensers are fast but will frequently throw significantly above and below the desired weight of powder. While this is less important for large rifle loads it becomes more critical for pistol loads, particularly for loads below 2 gr. The alternative is weighing each and every load manually on a balance beam or other scale; a highly time consuming and tedious task. The highly rated RCBS Chargemaster combination regrettably is not rated below 2 gr.

Has anyone suggestions for achieving +- .1 gr tolerances for loads below 2 gr. usinga less tedious method than a manual weigh scale?
 
Most times, tedious and accuracy go hand in hand.

Ball powders tend to meter more accurately than stick or flake. Consistency of charges thrown is usually dependant on the consistency of the operator as well.

Another method is to use a small case as a scope and trim it until it holds the charge you want. for two grains I'd start with a 22mag case. Solder a piece of copper wire to it as a handle.

Not to start a debate on what color is better, my Dillon meters to +/- .1 grain, if you are considering a progressive. If you are after speed and consistency, a progressive is what you are looking for.
 
As joe-nwt has said ball powders are much better than stick powders in a metered unit. My old Ohaus is very good except when using say 4831 type powder. My RCBS chargemaster is showing great promise at consistent charges and i tested it last winter with a lot of different types, will stay at .2grs. or less. I used a Ohaus scale and did 1 at a time for many years.
 
Seem to remember some old tests of various volumetric powder measures.

I believe that among the common measures (not the extremely expensive, specialized benchrest measures), the Lyman 55 was the most accurate. It has a little weight that gives a consistent "tap" each time.

EDIT:

Found this article about testing of various powder measures. It seems that the Lyman is not the most consistent. HOWEVER the author in his tests does give each powder measure a consistent "knock". His results would be much different with a no-knock technique.

http://www.lasc.us/Brennan_6-4_PowdersAnd Measures.htm
 
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God I wonder how anyone even survived survived before electronic scales. Almost 40 yrs ago all we had were the balance beams, and all we did for handgun was set the measure using the scales and throw the charge from then on. I just finished loading 1k of 45acp and there's no way in hell I would be weighing every charge
 
Freyr_255 said:
I think it has to do with percentage of the charge. 0.1gr in a 2gr pistol charge makes a larger difference than 0.1gr in a 40gr rifle charge.
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Yes...that was obvious to me...I still don't think pistol is more important.

If my pistol loads are off by 0.3gr...I don't care. If my rifle loads are off by that much, I do
 
I have a powder charge and I trust it only to get me close.
The rest I tap out of a chrome spent case.
I find this easier than a trickler.
Tweezers for being over on the scale or dump back into the tube and
try again.
Slow, painful and concise.
Best to blame me for accuracy than my reloads.
 
Ralph124c41 said:
A consistent powder charge is essential to tight groups. Conventional volumetric powder dispensers are fast but will frequently throw significantly above and below the desired weight of powder. While this is less important for large rifle loads it becomes more critical for pistol loads, particularly for loads below 2 gr. The alternative is weighing each and every load manually on a balance beam or other scale; a highly time consuming and tedious task. The highly rated RCBS Chargemaster combination regrettably is not rated below 2 gr.

Has anyone suggestions for achieving +- .1 gr tolerances for loads below 2 gr. usinga less tedious method than a manual weigh scale?
Click to expand...

Get an Arredondo powder drop slide and put it in your Dillon powder measure.
 
Ralph124c41 said:
The highly rated RCBS Chargemaster combination regrettably is not rated below 2 gr.

Has anyone suggestions for achieving +- .1 gr tolerances for loads below 2 gr. usinga less tedious method than a manual weigh scale?
Click to expand...

I don't know about that Chargemaster rating, but I'm here to tell you it is a heck of a lot better than 2 grains.
In absolutely stock form, my Chargemaster's maximum variance was .3 grains.
However, I made a small adapter to fit in the delivery nozzle of my Chargemaster.
It now will consistently drop dead on charges. [I get one charge in about 25 that is .1 grain over.]
Now I shoot long range competition [1000 yards], and I use the Chargemaster without qualms.
Not tedious, and works just great with any powder.
Regards, Eagleye.
 
try using "fluffy" powders with low density like clays etc. then a small variation in volume is much less a variation in weight. iknow a guy who used to load .32 wadcutters with 452AA for this reason
 
Eagleye said:
I don't know about that Chargemaster rating, but I'm here to tell you it is a heck of a lot better than 2 grains.
In absolutely stock form, my Chargemaster's maximum variance was .3 grains.
However, I made a small adapter to fit in the delivery nozzle of my Chargemaster.
It now will consistently drop dead on charges. [I get one charge in about 25 that is .1 grain over.]
Now I shoot long range competition [1000 yards], and I use the Chargemaster without qualms.
Not tedious, and works just great with any powder.
Regards, Eagleye.
Click to expand...

I believe he means that the Chargemaster isn't rated to throw charges of under 2gr of powder.
 
The only thing I trust for accurate measurements is weighing each charge one at a time.

I am very fortunate to have such an amazing wife that will sit at the table and weight hundreds of charges non stop for me and get the charge weight bang on every time.
 
RCBS Chargemaster Combo http://ww w.huntinggearguy.com/reloading/rcbs-chargemaster-combo-review/
Even though I have one, I still don't use it for pistol. Auto disc is faster with my turret and consistent enough for my crappy handguns. On rifle loadings, I prefer the precision of weighed charges.
 
Just imagine what those old fools shooting benchrest in the fifties and sixties coulda done with an electronic powder measure/scale! A total season aggregate of three hundred thou, over a few thousand rounds fired in a few dozen matches, all loaded with either a powder measure or a scoop. What did they know?

I'm guessing variations in charge weight amounting to parts of one percent make zero difference in the proximity of bullet holes in targets.
 
I have no difficulty keeping charges within 0.1 grain with the measure on my Dillon 550 with the Uniquetek micrometer adjustment. The extra small charge bar would be able to drop sub-2 grain charges. If you're not using a Dillon progressive, I'm sure any of the drum-type measures from Redding, RCBS, or Lyman can do the same.
 
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