How critical is measuring powder to .01 grains

[justinp61]

I only load for hunting rifles and I weigh every charge, .1 gr. My buddy shot benchrest for years and still shoots it from time to time, he's quizzed me several times why I weigh my charges as he throws all of his. If I shot powders that metered well I'd try throwing my charges.

Doom2 touched on something that should be considered IMO. With all the talk about velocity, can your chrono consistently measure the difference in velocity between .02, .1 or .3 grain difference?

 

[Chas1]

+1 on Gempro 250. I measure to 1/10th

 

[BillLarson]

Go to a long range match.Walk up and down the line..... ask the guys who compete what they`re weighing powder on.....
Does it make a difference..... why would they be doing it if it does`nt.....????
some use a Prometheus scale.... google it.... learn from it.....
most use a lab scale that will and does weigh powder to at least .02gr.

 

[cb4128]

I think it all depends on the end goal. If you're hunting at 400-600 yards .1gr accuracy sure seems adequate.

If you're trying for the best possible groups at distance 1,000+ and addressing every single thing you can do in order to maximize accuracy - go to as close as possible to making each round identical.

Also, I'd say deciding on a stable load is probably more important than throwing a .01 accurate charge weight.

 

[OldHunter59]

First, let's not forget that a grain isn't just a grain, nor is a tenth of a grain just a tenth of a grain; it's a percentage of the total charge weight. A tenth of a grain can be a fairly substantial amount of powder if you're loading a 25 ACP or even a 22 Hornet. It is absolutely insignificant if you're loading a 30/378 Weatherby. There, even a full grain of powder probably won't show nearly as much influence on pressures as that tenth would in the Hornet.

Match the percentage to the case being loaded, and you'll save yourself a lot of frustration down the road.

Virtually all of the commercial powder scales are not accurate, thus your question regarding accuracy to the .01 grain is actually inaccurate. Over the decades of reloading, I've used balance beans, chargemaster, etc and once I got into long range shooting (1000 and 1500 yards) I purchased an A&D 120 and verified the other scales were not accurate at all. If you're shooting at paper at 100 yards or critters out to 2-300 yards it won't matter much. However, if you shoot long range or hunt long range your .01 grain (which is actually much more than that) will result in misses. Imho

 

[Paulstarr]

It,s a very debatable subject due to the variables involved but it's good to get charge weight as accurate as you can, same goes for neck tension.As other guy's have said it's not the B all and end all with regards to accuracy, temp and primers play a great part in the results.If you use 308 as an example and shoot Palma brass small rifle primers, you will be surprised at the greatly reduced ES they produce the reason being you need to use maybe half a grain of powder more to get the same velocity as you do with large rifle primers because of pressure LRP's produce which points to the fact that pressure LRP's produce is more erratic than the powder added using SRP,s to achieve similar velocities.There are lots of other reasons, just try to be as consistent as you can with everything you do when reloading.
The big thing is if you shoot 600yds or less don't bother worrying too much about the above.

 

[Doom2]

Go to a long range match.Walk up and down the line..... ask the guys who compete what they`re weighing powder on.....
Does it make a difference..... why would they be doing it if it does`nt.....????
some use a Prometheus scale.... google it.... learn from it.....
most use a lab scale that will and does weigh powder to at least .02gr.

I won't argue this point as to what is used. You might find the following from the Prometheuss iste of interest:

"The Prometheus is typically within 0.1 grains of the desired charge weight the scale is set to. This means if you adjust the scale to 40.0 grains, it will typically produce a charge within 0.1 grains of the setting."

 

[BillLarson]

I won't argue this point as to what is used. You might find the following from the Prometheuss iste of interest:

"The Prometheus is typically within 0.1 grains of the desired charge weight the scale is set to. This means if you adjust the scale to 40.0 grains, it will typically produce a charge within 0.1 grains of the setting."

That is very true..... HOWEVER..... the Prometheus is an AUTOMATIC dispenser...

 

[Leaf Litter]

"Nodes" are just statistical noise in the data set

 

[RockyRandy]

So...what kind of scale did you use to obtain even a .03 gr resolution? Best any reloading scales I know of only claim .1 gr. accuracy!

AutoTrickler will take to 10th. my favourite load for my creed it 43.50 and it will throw a charge 43.48 to 43.50 every time. if it lands on the 43.48 I reach over and turn the trickle knob just a tiny bit and I hit the 43.50 perfectly.

 

[Methow Packer]

Virtually all of the commercial powder scales are not accurate, thus your question regarding accuracy to the .01 grain is actually inaccurate. Over the decades of reloading, I've used balance beans, chargemaster, etc and once I got into long range shooting (1000 and 1500 yards) I purchased an A&D 120 and verified the other scales were not accurate at all. If you're shooting at paper at 100 yards or critters out to 2-300 yards it won't matter much. However, if you shoot long range or hunt long range your .01 grain (which is actually much more than that) will result in misses. Imho

One hundredth of a grain? Really?

 

[David Urasky]

From a 1k F class shooter perspective, consistency is the name of the game. What the charge is is not as critical as it being the same every shot. I used an RCBS electronic scale when I started and saw my scores increase when I went to the GemPro. I got tired of having to weight the charge, then lift the pan just a little, let it settle then read the weight. Repeat that after adding or subtracting powder. I had to do that because of the friction in the scale. Then I went to the A&D 120i and now I just add powder and my scores went up again. I can take the pan with powder and move it on and off the scale a dozen times if I want and get the same value everytime. But it does only measure to .02 grains. One piece of Varget weighs about .02 grains. So to get down to .01 grains I'd have to be gutting pieces of powder in half. I use a tolerance of -0.00/+0.02 grains

When shooting a Dasher at 1000 yards a variation of 10 fps changes the drop by just about 3". That may not seem like a lot but the X ring is only 5". So holding center X and dropping 3" puts the hole in the 10 ring and out of the X. Change 20 fps and you just dropped a point in the 9 ring.

The big boys sort their primers and bullets by weight so they don't change velocity in a 20 shot string. It's not uncommon to have the top shooters with scores of 200-20x and breaking ties by continuing shots until someone misses an X. I had a shooter at my range in a 600 yard match shoot clean for all 5 matches. That means 100 shots in the 10 or X for a score of 1000-62X over 2 days. By the way, at 600 yards the 10 ring is just over 6" with the X 1/2 of that. He could not afford any vartiation in shot velocity. His focus had to be on the wind.

 

[RockyRandy]

So...what kind of scale did you use to obtain even a .03 gr resolution? Best any reloading scales I know of only claim .1 gr. accuracy!

Auto trickler

 

[asd9055]

Some people like to chase their tail, so I will help them. He needs to make sure is projectile is within 0.01 grain and each case capacity is within 0.01 grain capacity. Also CBTO and COAL should be within 0.0001 inches.
I am joking of course. But is like measuring with a micrometer and cutting with a chainsaw