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How close is close enough?

3K views 19 replies 17 participants last post by  olfarhors 
#1 ·
How close do you hold your charge weight, coal and over all round weight tolerances? +/- 1% or less? More? Just looking for a reality check.
 
#2 ·
If I was a top ranked competitive shooter I would probably would (have) to do that. I really don't sweat it much after I have the auto disk powder measure set and checked for the charge that I wish to load. I rarely do any other checks, although I know that I should, other than watch into the case to see if the charge is there and if it looks like all the rest.

I have never weighed completed rounds for consistency although I know that some people think it's a good idea to check for overcharge or squib rounds. The counter argument is that the inconsistency of case wall thickness, if you are loading mixed headstamp, precludes making much assumption about variance in weight.

Regarding COAL, I will place all finished rounds into the tray for the box I'm recycling and examine the whole tray from a couple of different angles to see if there are any ones longer than their neighbors and at the same time run my finger over the primers to see if any are standing proud of the base.

Pretty unscientific I know, but they all go bang....as long as I follow that big rule of looking into the case to see the powder. I don't load anywhere near max pressure. If I did I would be a tad more careful in auditing charges.
 
#3 ·
I use a powder disk for my pistol reloads. It's fairly accurate. After getting the powder drops and the bullet seating die set to where I want them, I check the powder charge on a scale and check about every 20th completed cartridge for OAL. If my powder is supposed to be 5.3gr and it comes out 5.4 or 5.2 then I don't worry too much, if I start seeing drops of anything other than 5.2, 5.3, 5.4 then I stop what I'm doing and start dismantling the last 15 rounds.

If a round doesn't conform to my OAL then I generally run it through the setting die one more time, I've never had the die seat the bullet too deep after setting it, but, I have had it work its way out a bit before.


Now, rifle rounds on the other hand...well those I'm very anal about. I hand weigh every charge (usually verifying on another scale), inspect all the bullets before they're seated and check the OAL on every round.

On all rounds, pistol or rifle, when I put them in the storage boxes I'll check primer depth
 
#4 · (Edited)
I trust my bullet-seating die. I generally measure OALs once or twice at the beginning to check that the die is set right, and then sample 10 % at the end just to verify.

You might get long apparent OALs if you have high primers. If your seating die is dirty, you might get short OALs. When I run progressively, I get slightly longer cartridges (usually by 1/100 of an inch). Your bullet probably does not touch the very top of your seating die, so that is a factor too. As long as it's long (< 0.02 in.), rather than short, I don't worry about it. My cartridges are already longer than min. OALs anyway.

For charges, I throw 5 charges and dump them back into the hopper, then check the weights of 5 consecutive throws using a tared primed case. Once I'm happy, I check every other throw (progressive), and if that's stable, I check every 5-10 throws. I tolerate +/- 0.1 gr. variation from the set-point. The thing is, the Lee cylindrical Autodisk seems to vary throw weight with the height of the column of powder above, so I must always be vigilant. Checking the powder levels by eye is not reliable at all.
 
#5 ·
I load primarily lead bullets in all pistol calibers I reload. I load on the mild side so I am also okay with a +/- .1g difference in powder weight. The auto disk seems to be right on the money to where I set it. As for OAL I have to watch that as the bullet lube will have a tendency to start to build up in the seating die and will cause my OAL to be short. The Lee equipment seems to hold it’s settings for me just fine.

Visual inspection of the powder drop, seated primer, and finished cartridge is just part of my normal routine.
 
#12 ·
I tumble lube almost all of my home cast bullets . I use to really load the bullets up with lube and lube them a second time , after I sized them . I slowly learned , that was what was causing the lube build up in the seating die . :)

Then I started thinning the LLA with paint thinner or rubbing alcohol This helped . Eventually , I started thinning it even more and adding Johnson Paste Wax .

I now try for a thin coat , like a thin varnish . Pretty much fixed the build up in the seating die .

God bless
Wyr
 
#6 ·
I drop ten charges all in one pan and weigh it on my digital scale. When it is right on there, I check one individual charge on the beam scale. I check maybe 5 out of 100 charges once it is set.

I am with Wolf1477 on rifle charges. I weigh every one on the beam scale. My variation is probably less than 1/4 of 1/10 of a grain.
 
#7 ·
I'm reloading on a Dillon 550B and I will check 8-10 charges before I start to load. Once I have my powder charge set I rarely check the charge during that reloading cycle. All my reloads are on the mild side.Plus or minus .1g is no problem Looking for just enough powder to achieve accuracy and cycling for the automatics. I go through the same process at the start of each reloading cycle.

R/Bud
 
#8 · (Edited)
I have no problem with +- gain but I don't load for max regardless. Now I do shoot 45 Colt in both my pistol and rifle using black powder. The OAL must be between 1.600 Max to 1.55 Min or it won't cycle in my Rossi as it will double feed. It doesn't matter to my revolver at all.

Now when I'm loading black powder I don't use weight at all just volume measure. 2FG will load in a 45 Colt case (sized) at 2.2 cc (level) and give me about 1/16" to 1/8" compression when the bullet I'm using is seated (250 grain RNFP lead bullet). I do load my my black powder though using a Lee Pro powder measure with a double disk system to equal 2.2 cc. I've found it pretty accurate after the first 5 to 6 loads. I usually dump the first 5 or 6 then check it but have found it to be really perfect.
 
#13 ·
I cast the Lee 6 cavity 250 grain RNFP bullet for .45-lc . And the 200 grain RNFP . I guess I am lucky , I have not noticed either being sensitive to feeding in my Rossi .45 LC . I have also loaded a Lee 230 grain RNTL bullet that I also cast for .45 ACP .

I load all with Unique , through my Lee disk measure .

God bless
Wyr
 
#9 ·
pretty much the same here!
on target loads they are not at max so i set the powder measure, check a few of the first rounds on a scale, then maybe 1 every 20-25 rounds there after, like others mention i do visually check every case before a projectile is seated, on self defense ammo every charge is weighed as they are near max in almost every case.
as to length i check length on the first round , readjust the die if needed, then after the entire load I amy go back throguh and randomly check 8-10 cases out of a couple hundred, i have yet to find an imporoper length.
 
#10 ·
Powder charge? +/- .1 Gr
.2 gr is kinda OK...But not OK, Does that make sense? It should since you reload :D

COAL? Uhh, About....0.005 is fine with me. Sometimes I get anal about it, Depending on what I am loading for such as the 9mm or the .40
.45 isn't so much as an issue with that.

As for brass weight, That I never really check. I did it one or twice but never cared for it.
Bullets sometimes get weighed just to make sure they are the right weight. If I have a 155 Gr load, And the bullet is 156-157 is fine.
 
#11 ·
My Lee auto disk measure typicaly will hold + - .1 grain . As far as OAL , I try to seat the bullets as close to max OAL , as practical . If the bullet has a groove , then it usually turns out to be the groove that gives as close to , but under max OAL .

Be aware , the shape of the bullet nose can effect this . A round of loaded ammo may be at or slightly less than max OAL & the bullet nose may jam against the rend of the chamber / start of the riflings . In that case , seat the bullet a tad deeper and test again .

In general , seating the bullet as long as practical , will tend to reduce pressure , a bit . This is generally OK . If you need a little more thump , increase the powder just a little , as long as you are less than book max .

God bless
wyr
 
#14 ·
I check charge weight and verify OAL at the start and then once or twice in the reloading session and that's about all. My Lee gear is quite consistent and meets my needs. I load low-mid range plinking ammo with Win 231/HP-38 which has a rather 'generous' safe load tolerance. Were I loading some of the other powders with a tiny window of safety or max loadings I would likely increase my safety precautions and accuracy checks.
 
#15 ·
good points covered by all here... My auto disk meters the same all the time. which is great. My oal's very allot tho. sometimes as high as 0.010 which is catastrophic depending on the load. acceptable tolerances for me are .005
 
#16 ·
Funny, I asked a question like this is a thread on Sniper's Hide - the very first response was from some little douchebag who tried to hang me out to dry. When I defended myself, the members came out in force to point out what a retard I was for asking questions about reloading... in a reloading forum.

Sniper's Hide has become the ARFCOM of bolt-action rifles. I'm done with that stupid place.
 
#17 ·
Yeah, this is the friendliest forum on the net, rifleshooter. Anyway, I use an Ideal Powder Measure and it throws very consistent charges (the differences are do small, they run +/- 0.05 grains). The key to consistency in any powder measurement device is maintaining the powder level in the powder reservoir. The newest powder measures have a baffle system that maintains uniform powder weight in the reservoir at nearly all powder levels.
 
#20 ·
Well I would assume that you are using a projectile that has a crimp groove in it??
and if so then i would think that you would need to crimp the projectile to keep it from jumping out of the case under recoil??
so I again would guess that yes there is a COAL that you likely need to stay in?
again I am assuming as I don't shoot "boolets" out of shotguns, or shotshellls out of pistols???
Perhaps some of the guys that do this can give us a better take on this.
 
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