An ATv4 and FX-120i Christmas Story

Santa (my wife) bought me a new AutoTrickler V4 and an FX-120i for Christmas!!! It pays to be naughty sometimes

I've only had time to do a general setup, great YT videos, and took about 30 minutes to tinker with the ATv4 tuning and throw some charges. This package is looking fantastic. It's going to replace my GemPro250 and Lyman Gen?? setup.

A few months ago (with the GemPro and Lyman setup) the loads I put together at sea level were shooting .5" groups, when I went up to 4000' and dialed everything in and commenced putting together the same load, my accuracy tanked - 3" groups! After a comparitive analysis of the two powder charges that were thrown at 0' (home) and 4000' (huntng cabin) they were off by .6 grains - at 4000' they were throwing .6 grains more than at sea level. I did not expect this with a digital scale (setup on a wood table with no electronic interference) That extra .6gr did me in. Hope this new equipment treats me better! For the money it should come with a free rifle! It's already rock'n my world by throwing charges in 1/10th the time it used to take. Do the new guys understand that we used to "throw" powder charges??

Now Santa needs to bring me 500 pounds of RL-26 and a semi-truck load of primers!! I'm updating my list now.

When you go to the 4000' location are you bringing all the same reloading equipment and components along? Same powder, primers, bullets?

ShtrRdy said:

When you go to the 4000' location are you bringing all the same reloading equipment and components along? Same powder, primers, bullets?

Click to expand...

Yes, everything was the same. I'm going to repeat this activity with the new gear and report back.

So, you took the same scale with you, let it warm up, and recalibrated it when you got there?

Rflshootr said:

So, you took the same scale with you, let it warm up, and recalibrated it when you got there?

Click to expand...

Recalibration - that may be the step I missed...

Going from .5" groups to 3" groups seems like more than a little powder variance? Were you able to compare the bullet velocities?

Mickp7 said:

Going from .5" groups to 3" groups seems like more than a little powder variance? Were you able to compare the bullet velocities?

Click to expand...

I didn't bring the Xero with me unfortunately. I'm going to re-do the whole load workup process with this new gear and doucment what needs to be done when I move between locations and reload at each. I think following the basics will help me understand and correct where I may have gone wrong. Recalibrating this new scale is quite simple, I ordered a set of weights for this purpose. I believe this will tell the tale once I have thrown charges in each location and conduct an analysis, or just check the difference between scale calibration checks at each location - which would be simpler with the different weights the come in the set I suppose.

I would be very surprised elevation has anything to do with the variance. I ran a bunch of other scales before getting my FX120 and will never go back. Over the years I have found powder moisture percentage being problematic or lot to lot changes but overall the FX generally allows me to rule out any variance in scale fluctuation even is power supply is meh. One thing I do consistently these days is allow the scale to warm up and settle in, ensure all drafts and static are gone, and calibrate the scale.........every time.

C'mon, you don't really need a semi-truck trailer full of primers for just 500 pounds of powder. Conservatively, you only need about 55,000 primers - which is just 11 cases. Fit nicely in the back of your SUV. LOL

HuntingBronco said:

C'mon, you don't really need a semi-truck trailer full of primers for just 500 pounds of powder. Conservatively, you only need about 55,000 primers - which is just 11 cases. Fit nicely in the back of your SUV. LOL

Click to expand...

Well, ya gotta have spares.

HuntingBronco said:

C'mon, you don't really need a semi-truck trailer full of primers for just 500 pounds of powder. Conservatively, you only need about 55,000 primers - which is just 11 cases. Fit nicely in the back of your SUV. LOL

Click to expand...

How am I supposed to get rich and retire without them??

I'm a little jealous, as I keep drooling over the ATv4 as well. Merry Christmas to you!
Showing my ignorance, but is that a new container of H4831SC or an old? I have not seen one shaped like that in the southeast.

buckleyboy said:

I'm a little jealous, as I keep drooling over the ATv4 as well. Merry Christmas to you!
Showing my ignorance, but is that a new container of H4831SC or an old? I have not seen one shaped like that in the southeast.

Click to expand...

It was an empty RL-22 container that I filled with 4831sc and transferred the sticker. More convenient storage as I had to purchase it in 1lb containers and those tall ones hold 2+ lbs of powder.