Acceptable Powder Charge variance

[catorres1]

I have an RCBS chargemaster system as well as a gempro 250. Had the gempro first, but it was so slow, and so finicky, I decided to get the chargemaster, even though it is +/- 1/10th instead of the 2/100th like the gempro.

Now I find myself weighing charges from the chargemaster and then checking them on the gempro...not sure I have helped myself here, as the gempro is kinda flighty and very slow, but there it is.

So my question is, how much of a charge weight difference is important/critical? Am I obsessing over something that I'll never see in terms of actual performance by getting every charge down to the .02 range by double weighing?

I should note, I am not a competitor of any kind. I do take classes to be able to shoot long, but that is for hunting purposes, not competing.

Thanks!

 

[Mikecr]

Your developed load tells you what matters.
Don't defeat yourself with generalizations of hunting -vs- competitive accuracy. No matter the shooting, accuracy is the most powerful of attributes.

 

[DartonJager]

Am interested in this as well and have subscribed. I weigh every rifle charge as a safety precaution if nothing else.

I have a PACT powder dispenser & scale but use a RCBS 10-10 and 5-0-5 to double check accuracy of every other charge. I set my accuracy standard at +/- 1/10 a grain or less. Although I don't know if this statement has any truth to it, but I have read often the smaller the case capacity the more critical powder charge weight consistentcy becomes.

 

[Mikecr]

There are many things that affect it. And many are not predictable up front.

 

[Citius7]

Your developed load tells you what matters.
Don't defeat yourself with generalizations of hunting -vs- competitive accuracy. No matter the shooting, accuracy is the most powerful of attributes.

Mike was spot on here. If you've done your homework and are in your nose of where the barrel wants to be there will be a more forgiving side to things. Your node will determine how much more powder will be acceptable to the speed of ur bullet. The node I shoot in all my barrels have a Lull where for each tenth up I go speed does not increase as quickly until you slide out of the node. This allows a higher margin of error with a smaller impact per powder throw.

It depends on where you are in the node. High side middle or low side to determine how forgiving it is. Also. What does a tenth do? 20 fps? 50fps? Are u shooting 100 yards or 3200 yards? These are the things to consider. We wouldn't be doing this if we didn't care about accuracy! Shoot straight! Life's short.

 

[tbrice23]

I have an RCBS chargemaster system as well as a gempro 250.

Now I find myself weighing charges from the chargemaster and then checking them on the gempro...

Thanks!

You're not the only one who does this. I drop charges with a Hornady Auto charge then verify each load with the Gempro while the next load is dropping. It doesn't take that much longer at all.

With RL33 I'll get my charges to the .04 of a grain on large capacity cartridges . With Varget, AR Comp, H4350 I get to .02 of a grain on smaller cartridges.


When you've done all you are capable of doing to insure that your quality control is good, you can be confident that if a problem occurs with accuracy it is NOT because of the ammo.

 

[Barrelnut]

I have an RCBS chargemaster system as well as a gempro 250. Had the gempro first, but it was so slow, and so finicky, I decided to get the chargemaster, even though it is +/- 1/10th instead of the 2/100th like the gempro.

Now I find myself weighing charges from the chargemaster and then checking them on the gempro...not sure I have helped myself here, as the gempro is kinda flighty and very slow, but there it is.

So my question is, how much of a charge weight difference is important/critical? Am I obsessing over something that I'll never see in terms of actual performance by getting every charge down to the .02 range by double weighing?

I should note, I am not a competitor of any kind. I do take classes to be able to shoot long, but that is for hunting purposes, not competing.

Thanks!

I do the same with the same tools as tbrice23 above.

I think you can really only answer your question yourself. Weight powder +/- whatever changes you suspect will affect your load and test it.

You will always get advice on here that is contradicting on this subject. Take the opinions given AND TEST THEM. You will be all the wiser and more confident in your process.

 

[catorres1]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I guess the way to go is test and see. I did once load a few with just the chargemaster and then the chargemaster and gempro. Did not see much of a difference, but then again, it was only a small sample.

I think what I will do is load up a pretty large batch of each and run them over the Oehler and see what kind of ES and SD difference I get. That should give me the answer, I suppose.

Thanks!

 

[rcoody]

Check this out


[ame]https://youtu.be/XKthD2b6da8[/ame]

 

[catorres1]

Man, that is cool, way faster than I am getting. Takes me about 1 minute per round with screw ups etc. Gonna check that out, hope it is ridiculously expensive so I don't feel stupid for the gear I have.

 

[rcoody]

Man, that is cool, way faster than I am getting. Takes me about 1 minute per round with screw ups etc. Gonna check that out, hope it is ridiculously expensive so I don't feel stupid for the gear I have.

Yep

The scale is kind of pricey but it is not a strain gauge scale like my gempros. Reacts much faster than a strain gauge scale.

Chargemasters are so slow. I am about to sell mine

Much faster for me now to use a lee dipper to charge a pan on my gempro and trickle up with my little dandy.

This new rig is tempting. Might sell the chargemaster i hardly ever use and get one.

 

[Deleted member 46119]

Wow. Depending on how the world goes, I'd love to have an AutoTrickler V2 and a Sartorius or A&D scale.

I like my ChargeMaster but this seems to be the real next step.

Oh, I will keep my ChargeMaster it's just too useful.

 

[Pdvdh]

I think what I will do is load up a pretty large batch of each and run them over the Oehler and see what kind of ES and SD difference I get. That should give me the answer, I suppose.

Don't be disappointed when it doesn't. Because it won't.

I view this subject in the same way I view one-a-day vitamins. You can take one a day for your entire life, and on your death bed still never know if they were of any value.

There are too many competing variables to ever be able to determine the value to precision of 0.01gr powder weight tolerance versus 0.1gr powder tolerance. Spend your entire life trying to document the value contributed to precision, and still never know one way of the other. Might as well join the pets chasing their tails. Or maybe worse, chase fairy tales.

I think I should stop. Already used the sledge hammer. No need for a pile driver.

 

[Pdvdh]

The only methods and equipment with even the slightest possibility of reaching a valid conclusion might, and I say MIGHT, be Sierra bullet company or the likes of that. Barrels clamped in a 2-ton fixture, mounted on a 24" thick reinforced concrete slab, with 1000s of rounds fired down range.

Life is too short for the average person, no matter the extreme degree of the OCD.