Weighing powder - How do I speed up the process?

I use a scoop that is slightly under, then I dip the scoop again and trickle in a couple dozen pellets.
I weigh every charge, I do no depend on the scoops for accuracy, they are just approx. and handy.

Be careful when asking for advice on CGN, the tough guys come out.
 
MartyK2500 said:
Volumetric is good for pistol, done it for 60K rounds and still doing it
Experimented volumetric in rifle at first, aint that great.

If OP was just a plinker ok, he did mention being a varmint hunter and target shoots with a varmint rifle.

For his level of precision, beam scale and it takes longer,
Or FX120 and get it done quick,

OP, chargemaster won't be as precise as your beam scale.
If your target is let's say 42gr of powder, and are ok with 41.4gr to 42.6gr of variance, chargemaster will work for you

Tested mine extensively next to an fx120 and these were my numbers
Click to expand...

Some Chargemasters are doing ok.

 
I did correct myself later, saying it was +/- 0.08gr off.
My math was fumbled on that day, and not the numbers quoted.
So for 42gr setting, I would get 41.92gr to 42.08gr, and it would always display as 42gr on chargemaster. that means between 2 extremes, you can have 1 round at 41.92 and another at 42.08, which is a 1.6 spread.
These we're the extremes, in average it would keep within +/- 0.05gr, which is still .10gr off from 2 extremities.
Which is well within it's specs (+/- 0.10gr tolerance).

I never said it was a bad machine, myself largely prefer AD FX120 and shouldn't have got RCBS, as I would have saved money as I bought it and resold it at deficit.
FX120 is quicker too, I use a spoon (which is discussed here), and the trickler only has 2gr to work up. Really quick to load 50 rounds that way.
Do you run an auto trickler on your fx120? If yes you should run side shields and roof on your scale, it helps get a more accurate reading I find.
 
MartyK2500 said:
I did correct myself later, saying it was +/- 0.08gr off.
My math was fumbled on that day, and not the numbers quoted.
So for 42gr setting, I would get 41.92gr to 42.08gr, and it would always display as 42gr on chargemaster. that means between 2 extremes, you can have 1 round at 41.92 and another at 42.08, which is a 1.6 spread.
These we're the extremes, in average it would keep within +/- 0.05gr, which is still .10gr off from 2 extremities.
Which is well within it's specs (+/- 0.10gr tolerance).

I never said it was a bad machine, myself largely prefer AD FX120 and shouldn't have got RCBS, as I would have saved money as I bought it and resold it at deficit.
FX120 is quicker too, I use a spoon (which is discussed here), and the trickler only has 2gr to work up. Really quick to load 50 rounds that way.
Do you run an auto trickler on your fx120? If yes you should run side shields and roof on your scale, it helps get a more accurate reading I find.
Click to expand...

A 0.16 Spread?

Most of my reloading for precision rifle tells me that when I have found a suitable accuracy node, I can be off by as much as .3 without really noticing.
 
Yep 0.16gr spread is what I noticed compared to FX120.
I have heard, that the FX is +/- 0.02gr accurate, so it's spread from reading inaccuracy is greatly reduced.

We all chose different routes, I am happy with mine, as you will be happy with RCBS, and I hope OP will be happy with spoons.
OP, what kind of powder will you volumetric measure with?
Myself with varget, they are like tiny rectangle sticks, and are hard to get something good volumetric.
 
I have 2 Chargemasters. I have compared them to each other, to my RCBS 304 Beam scale and my 10-10 beam scale.
For my purposes, the Chargemaster does just fine, with one exception.....when loading for 1000 yard competition.
I shoot my hunting rifles out to 500 yards in pre-hunt testing, and have been unable to discern any verticals that I
could attribute to variances in powder charges from the Chargemasters. Mind you, if you are using anywhere from 70
grains to 90 grains of powder per load, .1 grain is not likely to affect much. D.
 
Has anyone tested a beam scale like RCBS 505 for example against a high end scale like FX120 scale, AD FX 120i, 200i, 300i, a&d hr100a &700ct, Satorius Entris 64-1s, GD503, etc?
 
Mount Sweetness said:
What do you guys do and use for weighing powder relatively quickly?

I would like to speed things up a bit, the weighing is the most tedious for me.

I use a Lee balance scale and Lee Dippers.
I load for Varmint cartridges and use H4198 and Varget.

I currently weigh each charge on the Lee scale but after doing 30 or 40 rounds I am bored out of my mind.

Any tips would be appreciated.
Thanks
Click to expand...

I use Lyman's gen 6 digital auto dispenser and a manual tickler. I typically dispense lower than my desired weighed load and trickle up. I keep my balance beam close to double check every other load.
 
MartyK2500 said:
I did correct myself later, saying it was +/- 0.08gr off.
My math was fumbled on that day, and not the numbers quoted.
So for 42gr setting, I would get 41.92gr to 42.08gr, and it would always display as 42gr on chargemaster. that means between 2 extremes, you can have 1 round at 41.92 and another at 42.08, which is a 1.6 spread.
These we're the extremes, in average it would keep within +/- 0.05gr, which is still .10gr off from 2 extremities.
Which is well within it's specs (+/- 0.10gr tolerance).

I never said it was a bad machine, myself largely prefer AD FX120 and shouldn't have got RCBS, as I would have saved money as I bought it and resold it at deficit.
FX120 is quicker too, I use a spoon (which is discussed here), and the trickler only has 2gr to work up. Really quick to load 50 rounds that way.
Do you run an auto trickler on your fx120? If yes you should run side shields and roof on your scale, it helps get a more accurate reading I find.
Click to expand...

A FX-120i with autotrickler would be my dream machine. My shooting doesn't justify it.....yet! ;)

Im shooting Federal Gold Match with SMK 175gr atm.

Almost all setup for reloading though.
 
Mount Sweetness said:
I just use the Lee Dipper to scoop an approx amount of powder out of the jar onto the Balance scale. I then just use the dipper as a trickler, tapping out a few pellets at a time to balance out.

I had an actual RCBS trickler at one time but I didn't find it helped me much at all.

I like to load very accurate ammo for my Varmint rifles as I actually hunt small Varmint with them. I'm not at all interested in spending my time handloading plinking ammo.
Click to expand...

Exactly how I do it as well. My trickler hasn't been out of the drawer in years. I put powder in a small mason jar,makes it easy to scoop.This method is pretty quick once you get used to it.
 
8x68 said:
Lyman Gen6 is around $350. Only challenge with this scale is it has some trouble (or at least mine does) with large extruded powders (H4895 etc). If loading with these type of powders I dispense within a couple of grains of the charge and finish with the powder trickler.
I wouldn't to speed up powder dispenser too quick. One tends to screw up.
Click to expand...

I find my Lyman gen 6 works great with 4895 and Varget. Definitely use the provided rubber limiter to slow it down for more consistent charges.
 
I use a Lee dipper size to get me close as possible then trickle to get the charge I want. Takes under 10 seconds to get perfect powder measured. I had the Lee scale that came with my Lee kit but quickly replaced it with the rcbs scale which is 10000 times better to use. Honestly I can't see how you can go faster and keep accurate to 0.1 grain loads
 
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