Has anyone ever proved that weighing powder to this level makes a difference on paper or in the numbers? I've weighed to this level but never saw a difference. Perhaps I missed something
Boy is that a loaded question.
I think this kind of scale accuracy falls into the "if it's a variable that I can control using better methods and equipment, I'm going to control it and I don't need to prove the difference on paper". This kind of mindset is perfectly reasonable for top long range competitors. Justified or not does not matter, because overkill does not exist and the very best results come from controlling every single variable in the system as much as possible. Apply that perfectionism to all of the variables and the results will start to show on target. Some have proven powder charge weight accuracy to be a measurable performance difference - sometimes - in some conditions. For true competitors, any data indicating an improvement, ever, is ample justification.
But if this is a significant investment for you, and you're not going to continue down the line of your loading process to maximize perfection at every step of the way, going from a .1gr scale a .01gr scale is likely not going to help. Likewise if you're shooting 30BR or 6PPC in short range benchrest, where winning tune windows are much larger than .01 grains.
Another factor in accurate charges is the weight of the kernels themselves, which range from .01 to .03 grains each. To get it to the .01 each time requires a perfect trickle and/or cutting kernels.
Another reality we can't control is the composition of the powder. How consistent is the powder from one charge to the next, from one loading session to another? We might want to believe that every 30.00 gr charge from a bottle of powder will burn identically - but manufacturing reality insists the answer there is 'no'.
For most everyone else, it's overkill. Like me. I dabble in long range and use a Sartorius Entris 64 with v3 autotrickler. To be honest, it probably hasn't improved my groups over my Chargemaster Lite, and if it has, it's only on the fringe use cases. I get 95% of my charges within +/- .02gr because I don't compete and it's still 5x better than my CML. I'm not selling it because I like this system better than my CML but if I needed cash it would go with very little regret.
If you're truly curious, I suggest you take your existing powder weighing system (let's say .1 gr accurate Chargemaster) and purposely test the system. Make 20 rounds varying +/- .1 gr and 20 rounds varying by +/- .2 gr. If those two groups perform differently, then your situation *may* improve with more accurate charges. If those two groups perform the same, then your situation definitely won't improve with more accurate charges. Best of all, this experiment is cheap.
David
www.creedmoorsports.com
