1/10 of a grain?

[shoots_5]

Ok, so I got a nice Lyman DPS 1200 III digital powder measure for Christmas this year. I was loading up a bunch of 22-250 rounds this weekend at 36 grains of Varget. It would occasionally drop charges at 36.1. I got tired of dumping powder and redoing the charge so I started just loading them as long as it was only a .1 grain difference.

So my question is....realistically how much difference is .1 really going to make? I mean these are loads for coyote, squirrel and general shooting, so I'm guessing that there won't be any noticed difference. I could see maybe being more precise for competition shooting. Are my assumptions correct or will I actually notice a difference if I take the extra time to make sure each and every load is exactly 36 grains?

Thanks,

Tim

 

[rick smith]

Probably won't see any difference.Rick.

 

[HTDUCK]

I use a Dillon Precision electronic scale that is only accurate to +/- .10 grains to weigh powder charges.I can't see any difference.

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

Wouldn't worry about it.

 

[DrMike]

Maybe (<500 psi) 10 fps difference. Not enough to make much difference in the real world.

 

[JD338]

As the others mentioned, its not enough to notice.

JD338

 

[kraky]

I agree with others that it won't make much diff.....if any at all. Some benchresters throw charges for 600 yd competition and I'm sure that some are off by that or more.
Also...for what it's worth. I load alot of test batches for my rifles and usually do it with a dipper on an elec scale. If I'm .1 over alot of times when dumping with the pan I'll hold back the last 1-3 grains I see in the pan. It sounds crazy but once you've done it enough you get pretty good at the eye hand coordination.
If anyone askes I'll tell them it's a mental exercise to help stave off alsheimers disease.

 

[nodak7mm]

On a case that size, negligable effect, non factor.

I to use an elec dispenser/scale and learned mine will do that to. So I set the charge to a .10 less than desired and when just use the trickle funtion to get it to the exact grains.

Simply said; if you want 36.0 grns, set it for 35.9 and when it does it exact or less, push the trickle button to get it to 36.0.. Works fer me.

Rod

 

[Big Squeeze]

Ok, so I got a nice Lyman DPS 1200 III digital powder measure for Christmas this year. I was loading up a bunch of 22-250 rounds this weekend at 36 grains of Varget. It would occasionally drop charges at 36.1. I got tired of dumping powder and redoing the charge so I started just loading them as long as it was only a .1 grain difference.

So my question is....realistically how much difference is .1 really going to make? I mean these are loads for coyote, squirrel and general shooting, so I'm guessing that there won't be any noticed difference. I could see maybe being more precise for competition shooting. Are my assumptions correct or will I actually notice a difference if I take the extra time to make sure each and every load is exactly 36 grains?

Thanks,

Tim

............1/10th grain won`t make a difference.

However, beware of electronic scales. Not all, but some are prone to electronic interference from a nearby computer or some other electronic device.

The Lyman electronic scale I had, kept needing to be re-calibrated or re-zeroed, was not consistent in the digital readouts from one charge to the next and sometimes would take awhile to settle down to get a stable reading. All of the above prolonged my reloading.

So three years ago I went back to the balance beam scale and bought a RCBS Model 1010 (their very best).

I dispense the powder into the tray, use the powder trickler to come up and get exact charges everytime with no guessing. Incidentally, after I went back to the beam scale, my groups suddenly tightened up a bit!!.....Well! Well!..........Hmmmmmmm!

Good balance beam scales are usually used to check the accuracys of the electronic scales, not the reverse!

Not trying to burst your bubble with your new Xmas present. But just be aware of the potential problems.

 

[shoots_5]

Thanks all for the advice. About what I figured. Interesting idea of checking the digital scale with my beam scale....might have to try that and see what it says. Haven't had many problems with groups but might be worth a look anyway.

Rod, I have discovered that trick as well. I was just loading a larger volume of shells than normal and wanted it to be as automated as possible so I set it on auto repeat where it dumps a load every time I set the pan back down. Normally I do just like you said where I set it to a tenth or two below the weight I want and use the trickle button.

 

[Ol` Joe]

You might want to try a set of check wgts. http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?p ... ber=212586
They are inexpensive and allow checking your scale at the various wgt levels we normally use. 5gr, 10gr, 20gr, etc. Lyman, and RCBS both offer them and they are a quick way of seeing if your scale has drifted of calibration or not. Drop a weight on the scale, if the reading is off you know you need to recheck things, if it reads right the scale is OK. The calibration wgts that came with the are usually way heavier then the powder charge we are trying to use and in some cases measure grams not grains, although they are useful too.

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

If I'm within a 1/10 I call it good.

On a 40 gr charge that's 1/400th of a difference. 1/4 of 1 percent. Your bullets wil vary in weight more then that.