Comments on: The Great Debate — Weight vs. Volume in Powder Dispensing

By: Larry Schermerhorn

Larry Schermerhorn — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 17:58:49 +0000

My thoughts are moisture content in the air I use a Harrel’s and Dillion both measure the powder well,Humidity affects the weigh changing from early morning to mid day/evening. Powder is so dry it sucks moisture and can very,measured it does not matter they will be closer over all humidity ranges .Yes ,maybe a small amount but , if your off two tenths from what you want, because setting the powder measurer is by weight to start with, they still are all the same through measured powder.

By: Steve G

Steve G — Tue, 18 Apr 2017 11:36:53 +0000

One thing that’s
often overlooked is how the powder is dispensed into the cartridge. McPherson and Zediker agree that the benefit BR guys see with throwing charges is consistent way they dispense/swirl the load into the brass. Another factor is that a powder measured by volume is less affected by humidity changes than one that is weighed, owing to the fact that powder can weigh more if it absorbs moisture. The other issue is that us LD guys use long extrude grains which don’t meter as well in a powder thrower. What i do for my 1,000 plus accuracy loads is carefully weigh each charge using well calibrated scale that i know is accurate and then swirl each charge into the powder funnel which duplicates the effect of throwing the charge and allows for more uniformity between charges over just dumping the powder down the tube.

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 22:15:14 +0000

Most of this info is dead-on. One thing that’s
often overlooked is how the powder is dispensed into the cartridge. McPherson and Zediker agree that the benefit BR guys see with throwing charges is consistent way they dispense/swirl the load into the brass. Another factor is that a powder measured by volume is less affected by humidity changes than one that is weighed, owing to the fact that powder can weigh more if it absorbs moisture. The other issue is that us LD guys use long extrude grains which don’t meter as well in a powder thrower. What i do for my 1,000 plus accuracy loads is carefully weigh each charge using well calibrated scale that i know is accurate and then swirl each charge into the powder funnel which duplicates the effect of throwing the charge and allows for more uniformity beteeen charges over just dumping the powder down the tube.

By: mark

mark — Mon, 06 Mar 2017 08:38:33 +0000

check with 3000$+ scale what are REAL charges at harrell’s and rcbs chargemaster.

everything else is BULLSHIT!

By: mark

mark — Mon, 06 Mar 2017 08:34:39 +0000

all over again this nonsence limited test…

harrell’s = top, charge master = low,

shooting groups = probability,
shooting 60 shots at match = consistence.

By: guy4064

guy4064 — Sat, 04 Mar 2017 13:25:09 +0000

Case capacity is likely closer with the thrown rather than the weighted charges. Could be a more important factor.

By: Skip

Skip — Sat, 04 Mar 2017 12:54:32 +0000

I have no doubt the ChargeMaster is drifting. I use mine only to dispense a close charge. I then weigh using an AND Scientific scale.

By: CA Highpower Shooter

CA Highpower Shooter — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 17:01:55 +0000

In my opinion the RCBS charge master is not a good scale for accuracy. If we look at the basics:

.1 readability
+/- .1 of accuracy.

In terms of a charge of 24.0 of varget
We can read down to .1 so the charge can be 24.01 to 24.09
The scale is accurate to +/- .1 so the actual charge can be 23.9 to 24.1

Now if you look at the potential extreme spread: you can be ~23.9 to 24.19 or an ES of ~.29 in weight or 1.25% of the total charge or in terms of a 77SMK think the bullet variance being ~1 grain.

For the record I recently bought an MFR scale with an after market trickler. So far as far as reloading equipment goes it’s the best $1450 I’ve spent; I get dropped charges almost as fast as I can pour them into cases and prep my second pan of powder. I haven’t chrono’d the rounds yet, but between myself and another shooter we had no elevation problems at 1000 yards when we switched to this ammo. Other shooters using the scale trickler combo report mid to high single digit ES on bullets going 2900 to 3050.

By: HarryBill

HarryBill — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 15:21:45 +0000

I forgot to add on more important consideration for the RCBS Chargemaster … after powder dispensing is complete, reweigh the powder charge by removing the pan from the scale, allowing the scale to re-zero, and then reweighing the charge. Re-weighing gives the correct powder weight.

By: HarryBill

HarryBill — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 15:15:30 +0000

I vote with Gary Eliseo.

The RCBS Chargemaster uses a low-end scale based on strain gauge technology. It does not respond accurately to small amounts of powder added to the pan. This is not to say the scale is unusable, but certain precautions are required to wring optimal accuracy out the scale.

Plug the scale into a line conditioner to reduce noise in the power supplied to the scale. This will reduce drift.

Calibrate the scale to begin each re-loading session and use a check weight to confirm that the scale is holding its calibration during the course of the reloading session. Ideally the check weight should be close to the powder weights being measured. Confirm calibration every 10 to 20 charges dispensed. Re-calibrate as needed.

Or, buy a quality analytical balance using a magnetic force restoration load cell ($800 to $1,000).