I’m at a fork in the road...

[grovey]

I use a CM to throw short, and then trickle up on a 2nd scale. The 2nd scale was the RCBS 750 digital scale. Even though the 750 is a cheap scale it still allowed me to load very accurate loads in a much smaller case than you're working with. Once I got the feel of it I knew ( a lot of double checking) when to dump in another pan to see if the scale walked or not, and I learned to load toward the middle of a shown charge. I upgraded to a lil better digital, and will be loading the same way this yr ... but a lil more precise. I recommend a 2nd scale, and to drop your load development charges to 2/10th of a gr around a sweet spot you've found.

If you haven't done a seating depth test yet I'd pick one of the nicer groups you've shot at a moderate charge and load three 3 shot groups. One at 0.005 off, one at 0.015 off, and another at 0.025 off. This should be enough to show you what the gun likes. I don't even own a chrono... I'm a poor bastid, and if I had the extra money to spend on a chrono actually worth buying... I'd probably end up buying another rifle, and still "need" a chrono!

 

[dsculley]

First, I don't think the CM will be off 1.4 gr. I have a friend who uses one that is much more repeatable than that.

Second, I will always trust my target over my chronograph. Personally, I primarily use my chronograph to watch muzzle velocity as a means of watching for excess pressure. By the time you are seeing pressure signs on your brass you are already in dangerous territory.

Third, if you pay attention to your target and find a good node then minor variations in charge weight won't affect you appreciably. I recently ran a test with my 600 yd F-Class load. I loaded 2 rounds each at my charge weight and 0.1gr above and below my charge weight. I shot these at 287 yds, the longest range available locally. I shot a 0.45 moa group with these 6 rounds at 287 yds. I had one shot that I knew I pulled and was out of the group but was included in the 0.45 moa. Without that shot, it would have been 0.2 moa.

FWIW, I subscribe to Dan Newberry's OCW method. It has worked well for me for quite a few years.