Weigh loaded rounds for safety?

[Baer45]

I am new to precision reloading. I have been throwing with a Harrells when doing large batches of 223. I throw and seat BULLET in one step to avoid any heavy charge. The other day I noticed some difficult powder had slightly bridged and dropped into the correct case but then I started wondering if I could have a bridge I did not catch and it dropped on top of the next load. I though I read of some Hand-loaders that weigh each piece of loaded ammo on an electric scale and would pull any that were high (given the normal average). Anyone do this or anything else?

Now I tap on the downstroke to make sure there is no bridging...

 

[Brians356]

If you are unsure enough to weigh cartridges, you should also cull out ones that are underweight. A light charge can also be quite dangerous.
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[Baer45]

If you are unsure enough to weigh cartridges, you should also cull out ones that are underweight. A light charge can also be quite dangerous.
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Good point. So I guess this is a safety step some people do with consistency?

 

[rsmithsr50]

some of my match ammo I have weighed to make sure, and since all the parts are also weighed, I have sorted the ammo from light to heavy.
just'cause
no data

 

[rsmithsr50]

also
if your powder is bridging, I doubt it is very consistent throw to throw.
go back to a scale, or scale each throw.
pick a better powder for throwing

 

[Brians356]

Good point. So I guess this is a safety step some people do with consistency?

I've never heard of anyone doing it as a matter of course. I've never weighed loaded rounds for any reason. But, I do not use a powder thrower to charge cases, I weigh every charge on a balance beam scale. I also do not use a progressive press, I do each step manually, and methodically. "Measure three times; cut once." I also never mix alcohol and handloading.
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[Old Navy]

You never got distracted and wasn't sure you charged all the cases before seating the bullets?

 

[NorCalMikie]

a safety step some people do with consistency?

RCBS Powder Measure. 2 up clicks and 1 down. I usually only do 10 to 15 at a time. Light in front of me and one shining over my right shoulder behind me.
I tip the case and can see if there's powder in it. Ann reservations? Dump it and start over. Get a routine and stick to it. Don't be shy about to double checking.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Dont load bullets as you drop it, drop em all then look at them from above with a bright light. Youll see any that bridged and dropped light or heavy instantly. You can get out of this bind by weighing them but you gotta figure out ways to check yourself on each step. The flashlight trick would have saved you alot of trouble

 

[rsmithsr50]

I do both ends of the spectrum.
I hand load match ammo, sometimes to very precise standards
and
because I have selected powders that meter well,
I can crank out 500 45acp or 500 223 in about an hour on a Dillon 550 and have great confidence in the ammo.

 

[Brians356]

You never got distracted and wasn't sure you charged all the cases before seating the bullets?

Nope, not they way I do it. I only ever do 40 at a time. They're all in one of two loading blocks, and I migrate the cases back and forth between the loading blocks in each step of the process. Empty cases start in one block, and charged ones move to the other block. When done powder charging, I peer down into every case with a flashlight. (I don't load pistol ammo, so no problem seeing the nearly full cases.) Nothing's absolutely foolproof, but so far I've been up to the task. Folks that load 500 or 1000 at a time have a different hill to climb.
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[rwh]

I weigh the loaded rounds in groups of 4 or 5 after I seat the bullets. I also use a flashlight to look into the cases and then put the bullets on top of the necks before I pick them up to seat the bullet to make sure no powder comes out when I move the case.

 

[Mouse-Gunner]

I reload 5.56 with both a Lee 1000 progressive and a Bonanza/Forster Coax. The Coax is used for my match rounds, and each charge is weighed twice: first as it comes out of the Lyman Generation 6 (it’s really not all that accurate), then second by a RCBS 750 digital scale (that is very accurate). The weighed charge is dumped into the prepped and primed case, and the bullet is seated. Very consistent rounds, but loading is time consuming. It’s what I do in the winter months when I can’t get to the range.

I do a lot of practicing when the weather permits, and fire 200 rounds a week. This is what the Lee 1000 is used for because it is quick. But it is susceptible to malfunctions, primarily in the form of squib charges. At the beginning of a session with the Lee I weigh the charges before seating the bullet. After the charge weight settles down, I run the rounds through. After The finished rounds come out of the Lee I quickly weigh each round on the RCBS scale. Because of random case weights the loaded rounds may vary through a range of 2 grains. If I see a round that weighs less than the 2 grain minimum I will inspect the charge after pulling the bullet with a collet type puller.

The final rounds coming out of the Lee are very consistent, so much so that there are times when I wonder why I use the slow system with the Coax. I continue to use the Coax because it gives me peace of mind during a match, so I can focus on shooting.

Respectfully submitted,

Mouse-gunner

 

[Richard Coody]

Yep

I charge cases into a loading block. Then i take a flashlight and look at the powder level in all the cases. Easy to tell if there is one that is different. Simple step.that i feel is very important.

 

[JMayo]

Always look at the powder in the case ....
If you do have one out of wack you don't want it to tell you at trigger pull.

 

[Erud]

I load everything on a Dillon 550 with powder charges dumped from an autotrickler/autothrow. Every round gets weighed before it goes into the ammo box as a final QC step. I'm not really worried about missing a charge, but this eliminates a lot of potential problems that I wouldn't want to find during a match. My .308 loads will weight between 378.0 and 379.5 if everything is correct. If they fall in that range, they go in the box. If not, I'll take a closer look and see what's going on. The weighing takes about 2 seconds and is done while the autotrickler is doing it's thing, so it adds zero time to my loading process.

 

[Zero333]

Weighing loaded rounds might not be a solution because the brass itself varries in weight.

 

[T-shooter]

I do that with anything I plan to shoot quickly like 5.56mm. I want to be sure I have powder in all of them and don't get a squib followed by a BOOM. That's what I use this little MTM scale for, quick and easy. It doesn't have to be that accurate, but easy to see if you have one 20-25 grains lighter. As careful as I think I am, I once loaded a .308 with no powder (the bullet fell out but didn't get stuck in the bore) and another .308 without a primer.

 

[PopCharlie]

Dont load bullets as you drop it, drop em all then look at them from above with a bright light. Youll see any that bridged and dropped light or heavy instantly. You can get out of this bind by weighing them but you gotta figure out ways to check yourself on each step. The flashlight trick would have saved you alot of trouble

Been doing this forever

 

[JimSC]

I use 2 loading blocks, one for cases to be charged then after charging they get transferred to the second where they wait for me to seat a bullet. Before seating I use Dusty's flashlight trick just to double check. I have not had a squib since adopting this method