[winger]

i have problems getting my powder dispenser to throw a constant charge. i have talked to several others i know who use different brands and they all have the same problem. it might throw three or four constant and then throw one heavy or light. i weigh every charge anyway because i am a little compulsive about reloading but is this normal for everyone. i have thought about getting an electric dispensor and scale combo and then checking with the mechanical scales every four or five charges but that is further down the road. anyone figured out how to get a constant charge out of them?

 

[Hoytshooter]

I'm assuming you'r talking about reloading shotgun shells?
I don't reload shotgun loads, but as far as rifle loads I measure each and every load individually, no dispenser.

 

[Passthru]

wingmaninmo, use the tapper to settle the powder into the charge block...set your charge slightly lower than what you need...then use a trickler to top off the charge...powder throwers are not accurate enough to throw an exact charge every time...At least none that I have seen or used. There are simply to may configurations of powder, ball, Flake and Extruded will all be different, Extruded will be the least accurate of the 3.

 

[Passthru]

Also, if your loading shotshells powder measuring dont have to be an exact science, accuracy is not what your looking for, Simply find a weight below the max, and start throwing charges...if it never exceeds the max charge i would not ever weigh a charge. but when doing rifle and/or running to close to a max charge i would weigh.

 

[rat]

Well, my shotshell reloader just has a bushing in the chargebar that meters the powder charge. If this is what you are talking about, I dont know how you could be getting uneven charges unless you have clumping issues with your powder.

Mine is a single-stage though, dont know about progressive loaders.

 

[Mailman]

As Passthru says, always use a powder trickler for your measuring of rifle loads. I set the charge a little lite and trickle in a few grains onto the scale tray to get the exact load each and every time. When I dump in the powder from the dispenser I always tap the handle 2 or 3 times to get the powder to drop into the scale tray then I move it onto the scale and finish off the measurement with the trickler. Keep the hopper on your dispenser at least 1/3 full. The pressure lessens when it gets lower than that and it will give you light measurements.

 

[kcraider21]

Originally posted by Passthru
wingmaninmo, use the tapper to settle the powder into the charge block...set your charge slightly lower than what you need...then use a trickler to top off the charge...powder throwers are not accurate enough to throw an exact charge every time...At least none that I have seen or used. There are simply to may configurations of powder, ball, Flake and Extruded will all be different, Extruded will be the least accurate of the 3.

Good advise Passthru.

 

[winger]

thanks guys, i have always measured every load after it came out of the dispenser, but a couple months ago i was watching a show on the outdoor channel, i think it was gun tec that has a reloading section and the guy said once the powder measure is set then you can do repetative loads and he even showed it by doing numerous charges while the brass was in the block. i had never seen this done so i started asking about my measure/dispenser not being able to do that. the others i talked to could get constant charges either, so i didn't know if we were missing something or not. thanks for the help.

 

[Passthru]

He was not throwing close to a max charge, so if it was a little heavy or light it would still work fine....so weighing each charge was probably not needed. But i would NEVER throw a whole block of laods without weighing at least every third throw.

Folks get relaoding all wrong, when it comes to accuracy, the powder charge is the least important thing to effect accuracy, you can be a half to a full grain off and still match factory load accuracy. Rather, OAL, striaghtness, weight of the bullet, barrel twist, case prep and primer have more to do with accuracy.

 

[glennasher1]

An awful lot of it is technique, some of it is equipment, but mostly technique. Benchrest shooters don't use scales, etc. They use Harrel's powder measures, that are very uniform. You can ask any BR shooter, they'll tell you the clicks on the Harrel, that they use, but they can't tell you what the charge they are throwing is. Getting a uniform volumne is more important to a BR shooter than scale weight, sounds wacky, but there it is.
I use a Uniflow (RCBS) measure, set to drop the powder when the handle is down (it works either way, but is more uniform the way I use it). At the top, when it's picking up the powder, I rap the handle three or four times at the stop, then drop the powder, and rap it there, a couple of times. That seems to get pretty good results for me. .1 or .2 won't make much difference with any reasonable charge, anyway.

 

[Big John]

Wingmaninmo I weigh every charge, it is slower but I have never had a gun blow up in my face! A friend who has been reloading since the dawn of time told me once " be sure, and if you are not sure empty every load out and start again" Using a trickler is a must to get exact powder measure, I would also suggest a set of scale weights if you dont already have some.

 

[Poor Valley]

I use the same procedure as Mailman. I have noticed my measure will throw several charges the same then occasionally throw one that is irregular(maybe because of my technique) but with the trickler they come out pretty much the same.

 

[winger]

that makes since then. thanks forhte replies.