Individually weighed or thrown charges for long range?

[2dogs]

I know alot of guys like me just go to the range with thier powder measure and work up a load and when they see a good grouping coupled with the velocity they expect they just quit right there and go home and load.

Im currently working on a long range load for my 6x. My chrono shows about 50 fps spread between high and low velocity. My powder in this case is IMR 4350. Accuracy is quite good, but I should mention Im in S. Texas and its 10 degrees hotter than Hell by 9am and the heat waves coming off my suppressor dont help my groups.

I came home and weighed some of my thrown charges. I am getting .6 grain variation despite have a consistent "throw" technique. My question is, should I weigh each charge for best results? Will my velocity ES tighten up? Thoughts??

 

[UltraBR30]

Without any doubt your ES should tighten up on weighed charges. Weighed charges do go with long range precision. Even in short range BR your seeing more and more people weighing their charges now days.

 

[RDavies]

4350 is a courser grained powed which wont measure well. A lot of top 100/200yd BR shooters dont weigh charges, but they are using a fine grained powder measure which will throw within .2-3gn or so which is fine for their short range game . What range are you shooting and what sort of accuracy are you (realy) getting or expecting? What is a 6x?

 

[in2deep]

When I did coarse 6br ladder tests at 300 yards each .3 grain increment would continually step up vertically on the target and eventually go clear over the top and I soon realized you need to place the aim point lower on the paper as you increase the load.

 

[TheSnake]

You absolutely need a better measuring system than you are using for the long range game. Individually with a good scale or at least a much more precise powder throw than the one in your picture. As cr500 also stated, the powder being thrown makes a difference. Your long range statement to me means anything 300 yards or over.

Not knocking your thrower because I have the same one stored in my closet. It hasn't seen the top of my bench for quite some time. I individually measure every round, even for my hunting rifles.

 

[Shynloco]

2dogs,
Personally, I've been down that road with the Powder Thrower variations and it PISSED me off so much with the inconsistency, that I packed up that RCBS Powder throw w/mic and haven't used it in over two years. I ended up going completely anal and stopped at a cooking store and picked up a set of five stainless steel cooking/measuring spoons and use the smallest to measure each load separately. Cheaper trickler in effect. Takes a little longer than the thrower, but a .6 gr variaion is intolerable when it comes to accuracy, especially at 200 - 300 yds. BTW, IMO thats some good powder you are using.

 

[necchi]

My question is, should I weigh each charge for best results?

Yup.

Will my velocity ES tighten up?

Yup.

Thoughts??

Nope. Go ahead and toss loads at the range to get it close. Then do the fine tunning at home with the scale.
Just mark it down as part of the learning curve,

 

[Scott Harris]

I sold my Harrell's powder measure because it gives about the same spread in weights that you mention: a little larger actually. Electronic scales are getting cheaper and cheaper. Times keep changing: why not take advantage of the improvements that make sense. My current technique is to use a RCBS Chargemaster to pre-weigh and then drop that into a an Acculab VIC123 for final weigh. My elevation is very consistent as a result. Now I just need to find someone who knows how to read the wind to shoot my rifle for me.

 

[shooterschafer]

I throw low then trickle up on a scale to get themost consistency... perfect . But it does take time.

 

[brian427cobra]

There is no way to get single digit ES/SD on a repeatable basis without using a scale, I reload at the range during load development, I'm lucky to have a room to do it in there.

 

[2dogs]

TheSnake, dont worry about hurting my feelings! Im here to learn as well as share information. I got thick skin like a Armadillo!!

I adjusted my measure down and threw low and trickled up to 40.5 gr with my Pact Electronic scale. With IMR 4350 my ES in my 6X dropped to 25 fps. My last group of the day was .38" in getting hot and sticky conditions.

Thanks fellas for all your comments.

 

[TheSnake]

I got thick skin like a Armadillo!!

My last group of the day was .38" in getting hot and sticky

Like an Armadillo, I like it.

I got you on the hotter than hell, I am down here with you and at my place, it's too hot past 8 am. After noon, the wind will fool you into thinking you are not having heat exhaustion. We have had two instances of the dogs getting overheated just lying in the yard sunning themselves. It's only 10 am now and its already 94. Yesterday hit 104 and the wind is like standing if front of the hair dryer.

I see now that this rifle is the same one in your video on the other post.

 

[2dogs]

Snake, I live on the Gulf Coast, so we do get a bit of a sea breeze. Kinda like standing in front of a giant hair dryer. Our dogs must be smarter than yours. I saw one sitting in the shade sharing a quart of gatorade with a Alley Cat on the way home from the range....

While they are simular rifles, the one in the video is one of my 22 BR rifles, this one is a original 6X. I shot that group at 830 this morning while checking my ES on my chrono. Its about the best I can do in this heat.....

 

[TheSnake]

Did you take a look at the daily bulletin on the GemPro 250 scale? Looks real nice and I am thinking about getting one. Because 3 scales is better then 2! ;D
I could give one to a buddy if I get the 250.

 

[2dogs]

Thanks for the heads up. I did look at it. Verrrrrry Interesting. Im going to have consider getting one for myself.....

 

[artbosco]

Should I weigh each charge for best results?

YES! Weigh with this: http://www.natchezss.com/product.cfm?contentID=productDetail&prodID=rc98923 It makes life much easier, and reloading a lot more fun.

 

[TheSnake]

YES! Weigh with this: http://www.natchezss.com/product.cfm?contentID=productDetail&prodID=rc98923 It makes life much easier, and reloading a lot more fun.

Can you confirm for sure that this RCBS Chargemaster scale will throw to +/- .01 grains accuracy with the automatic feed? I can see .1 but not .01 accuracy as the add states. I have a Lyman DPS III and it will do .1 on good days if the solar flairs are weak and I hold my left big toe off of the floor while it's running.

 

[nhm16]

I have an Acculab VIC-123 and weigh every charge. I must use a cheap Lee Perfect Powder Measure, which gets me close enough and then I trickle up. The Lee in and of itself is usually good for +/- 0.1-0.5gr. They're so cheap I have one pre-set for each load. Will also be getting a Gem Pro 250 to set up for loading at the range. Only thing holding me back is that I'll need a wind box of some sort, like the one Boyd Allen made (though his was for a RCBS 505) that was featured on the Daily Bulletin a while back.

 

[CoverDog]

YES! Weigh with this: http://www.natchezss.com/product.cfm?contentID=productDetail&prodID=rc98923 It makes life much easier, and reloading a lot more fun.

Can you confirm for sure that this RCBS Chargemaster scale will throw to +/- .01 grains accuracy with the automatic feed? I can see .1 but not .01 accuracy as the add states. I have a Lyman DPS III and it will do .1 on good days if the solar flairs are weak and I hold my left big toe off of the floor while it's running.

That is a misprint in the Natchez catalog. According to RCBS website the Chargemaster is only accurate to 1/10th of a grain (.1) , not 1/100th of a grain (.01)

 

[ridgeway]

The CM is +/- .1g. I have a gem pro on the way and will compare it to my CM.