Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Throwing a charge

I just finished loading up some rounds and got to wondering how accurate other folks measure their powder charges.

Using a Redding BR-30 (on small cases) I throw the powder into a 45-70 case then pour it into the scales pan. I try to come just as close to but not over the weight I want. Then I trickle kernel by kernel until the balance beam is at zero, not just under and not just over but right on zero.

Anybody else do this or am I nutz?

YOu are nutz. YOu will loze more by handl'ing than you will gain by measuring....miles

For my hunting loads or loads aproching maxium I use a RCBS uniflow to throw into the little plastic pan that comes with my scale, I try to throw just under and bring to weight with the trickler...basicly same as elkslayer.

For a lot of my practice loads.. I just throw the charge even the extruded podwers like IMR 4064 or IMR 4350. They seem to shoot accurate enough...way more than accurate enough for me to practice shooting from field positions. Mostly I don't load super hot loads..so I am not concerned about a couple of tenths in a 45g or 65g charge being an overcharge.

I throw everything....
Measure it twice and throw the rest....
I also weigh the charge after I'm done....
Never had any issues and I've thrown thousands of charges...

If you're building match ammo for a benchrest gun, or something along that lines it doesn't hurt to be that picky.
However with a decent quality powder thrower, a good rythm to operating it, I don't think you'll see the difference on paper in a normal everyday gun.

Kinda what I was thinking. Especially when it usually takes only a few kernels (4-10) to bring the balance beam to zero.

Dont have a thrower yet. So I got me this lil bowl an a lil spoon. I spoon the powder into the pan until the scale starts to move, then I go to the trickler to level it out.

Takes flippin forever. goona have to do somethin about that

I throw into the pan and then trickle the rest. It isn't needed on anything but my 1K BR rifle loads, but I have kind fallen into the habit. We'll see if that emthod holds when i have to load 500 rounds of varmint hunting ammo..............

Well I am nutz also.. 505 beam scale, powder trickler, Lee Scope dies, pour the powder into a plastic yogurt cup from the container, which makes it handy to use...

never used that Powder Thrower thing that come in that Rockchucker set...

I know it makes little if any difference, but I was taught to drop and trickle, and I just can`t quit! I`m an addictive type mentally I guess.

+1 Last time I threw 40 charges for practice rounds I went back and weighted each one

How much did the charges vary in weight?

I'm with Blaine for the most part, I weigh them all except for my rodentia rounds.

Dober

For my several hunting centerfire rounds, I use the 'cheap' Lee powder measure with consistent rhythm and drop each charge directly into the primed and ready cases on the loading block.

I verify the dropped charge with the scale several times and check about every tenth drop and never find any discrepencies.

I use a flashlite light to verify each case has about the same level of powder and then seat the bullets.

I don't load any max loads and the resultant loaded rounds are MOA accurate on game or paper to 300 yards and yield single digit SD over the chrono.
I spend considerable time with new Lapua brass to insure flash holes are clear and brass is properly sized, trimmed and checked for weight variances( usually none with Lapua)

That accuracy is as good as this old hunter needs so I don't go to any extremes..just employ good practice and double checks..Jim

Add another to that count.

i have a old belding&mull powder measure,i have heard that they are one of the most accurate ever built. i have to believe that its true. i can't hardly get any variation in weight using this measure,its very accurate. i always weigh 2-3 then go at it.

Normally I only load about 20 rounds at a time. To set up my thrower each time would take forever. In other words I could probably load the number I want in the time it would take to set up the thrower.
Since I'm not a high volume shooter this works for me. If I was into prairie dogs or something similar it would be a different story.

I've done a fair amount of testing and as a result I generally throw the ball powders and measure the extruded powders. There are a few exceptions with the extruded, depending on usage.

Hunting loads are all weighed. Plinker loads generally get ball except in th.30-06, 7mm RM and .300 WM, even with extruded.

My technique for throwing extruded is to use a RCBS Uni-Flow set to throw charges that are slightly light, usually by .1g or .2g on average. Gave up on commercial powder triclklers as my 1982 pink plastic Dairy Queen spoon is faster - I keep a small bowl handy with a little powder in it and scoop up what I need. Doesn't take lmuch practice to get good and you can often guess the exact number of extruded kernels needed depending on the scale reading.

My tests have shown that thrown charges of extruded, while generally pretty close, can vary quite a bit. IMR4831 with its relatively huge kernels (compared to the other stuff I use) is the worst I use in this regard. When I throw and hand trickle the rest I go for an exact reading on my digital scales.

My tests have also shown that ball powders are very consistent - often the readings are exactly what they are supposed to be even without trickling. Very little deviation even in the worst cases.

For my non competition loads I use a Lyman 55 measure that I�m sure is at least as old as I am, (it is brass inside to be safe with black powder), and it is very accurate usually throwing within a tenth of a grain even with 4064. After I set it up I throw 10 charges and add them up and use the total figure to check the weight. NOW here�s the rub. I may in fact throw the charges but I do weigh EVERY one. Each charge goes into the scale pan of a Denver instruments lab grade electronic scale before it sees the case. The one extra step does not bother me and is still much faster than trickling. Bear

4xbear -

This comment is not directed at you but rather newbies who read your post.

Throwing 10 charges, dumping them into a pile and weighing the pile after the 10th charge is added WILL NOT tell you much about how consistently your powder measure throws its charges. It will tell you a lot about the AVERAGE charge, but individual charges might be, and often are, higher and/or lower than the average charge weight. The variation could be minimal (less than .1g) or it could be significant depending on the measure and the powder type.

The better procedure is to throw 10 charges, weigh them individually and record the weights. This is especially true with extruded powders and even more so with powders that have larger kernels. If you see any significant variance, all future charges should be weighed individually.