So lately I'm weighing charges with a GemPro250. I've found the scale very accurate and very consistent (within 0.02 grain, one kernel of Varget) and weighing powder charges to the kernel has helped my ES and SD on all my rifles. The only downside is that weighing to the kernel can be a tedious and slow chore. Having gone through a couple different scales I've been able to try out a few different techniques and I think I've found one that is both accurate and fast. I thought I would share it in case it might be of any assistance to anyone else.
I can currently meter out powder charges for a block of 50 cases, accurate to +/- 1 kernel of powder in ~18 minutes. Bullet seating goes pretty quickly, about 8 minutes for the block of cases, so all-in I'm at about 26 minutes to charge and load 50 rounds.
I do it by only weighing the powder charge once and then counting kernels to hit the desired target weight. I've found through repeated double checking that Varget is 0.02 per kernel and can be reliably counted out at 5 kernels per 0.1g, up to about ~10 kernels at which point it pushes the charge weight an extra 0.02 over. You can do this with other powders too by figuring out their average per kernel weight. Having a powder with a consistent kernel size is a plus, but even if there is some variation in kernel size the fact that you use an average weight across kernels then add multiple kernels at a time averages things out.
The workflow goes like this....
1) Drop powder into pan from thrower while glancing at empty scale to confirm the negative pan weight number has not changed. (This helps you catch scale drift immediately)
2) Put full powder pan on scale
3) While scale is in process of registering the weight, move the funnel to the next empty case in the block
4) View powder weight, thrown between 0.04 and 0.2g low usually. Do the mental math as to how many kernels are missing.
5) From the pile of loose kernels on top of the raised workbench, use a straight edge to cut/count out the desired number of kernels.
6) Push the kernels off the edge of the platform straight into the powder pan, held flush underneath the counter edge by my other hand.
7) Dump completed powder charge into waiting funnel.
<repeat process>
If I get an overthrow of up to 3 or 4 kernels I'll pull them out with tweezers, I can do that pretty fast. Any more of an overthrow than that I'll just dump it back in the powder thrower and throw a new charge. If I've had to add more than a dozen kernels or so I'll recheck the weight to make sure it hasn't gone off by 0.02gr.
I've got an Omega trickler right there but this new method is much faster. The GemPro isn't very responsive to trickling in one or two kernels so you'd have to jostle the pan and wait for it to register the new weight. Plus, through repeated double checking I've found that counting kernels is very accurate and there's no need to re-weigh the charge a second time. I would always struggle with staring closely at the trickler spout trying to count how many kernels came out and if I'd gotten a double kernel dumped in or not. Simply counting them all at once is much easier.
Here's a picture of what the reloading setup looks like which should help clarify everything above. [IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v483\/sheldonnalos\/_MG_5500_zpseeveh7qc.jpg"}[/IMG2]
And here's a link to a video of the workflow in action.
5 cased loaded, 15 seconds per case average.
The process is faster and more accurate than a Chargemaster, all these charge weights are within one kernel of powder of target weight. I've double checked MANY times. Not the only way to skin a cat and there are certainly nicer tools available. I just wish I'd had someone show me this method earlier. Could have skipped buying a couple different tricklers. Could have saved a LOT of time compared to how I was loading before.
I can currently meter out powder charges for a block of 50 cases, accurate to +/- 1 kernel of powder in ~18 minutes. Bullet seating goes pretty quickly, about 8 minutes for the block of cases, so all-in I'm at about 26 minutes to charge and load 50 rounds.
I do it by only weighing the powder charge once and then counting kernels to hit the desired target weight. I've found through repeated double checking that Varget is 0.02 per kernel and can be reliably counted out at 5 kernels per 0.1g, up to about ~10 kernels at which point it pushes the charge weight an extra 0.02 over. You can do this with other powders too by figuring out their average per kernel weight. Having a powder with a consistent kernel size is a plus, but even if there is some variation in kernel size the fact that you use an average weight across kernels then add multiple kernels at a time averages things out.
The workflow goes like this....
1) Drop powder into pan from thrower while glancing at empty scale to confirm the negative pan weight number has not changed. (This helps you catch scale drift immediately)
2) Put full powder pan on scale
3) While scale is in process of registering the weight, move the funnel to the next empty case in the block
4) View powder weight, thrown between 0.04 and 0.2g low usually. Do the mental math as to how many kernels are missing.
5) From the pile of loose kernels on top of the raised workbench, use a straight edge to cut/count out the desired number of kernels.
6) Push the kernels off the edge of the platform straight into the powder pan, held flush underneath the counter edge by my other hand.
7) Dump completed powder charge into waiting funnel.
<repeat process>
If I get an overthrow of up to 3 or 4 kernels I'll pull them out with tweezers, I can do that pretty fast. Any more of an overthrow than that I'll just dump it back in the powder thrower and throw a new charge. If I've had to add more than a dozen kernels or so I'll recheck the weight to make sure it hasn't gone off by 0.02gr.
I've got an Omega trickler right there but this new method is much faster. The GemPro isn't very responsive to trickling in one or two kernels so you'd have to jostle the pan and wait for it to register the new weight. Plus, through repeated double checking I've found that counting kernels is very accurate and there's no need to re-weigh the charge a second time. I would always struggle with staring closely at the trickler spout trying to count how many kernels came out and if I'd gotten a double kernel dumped in or not. Simply counting them all at once is much easier.
Here's a picture of what the reloading setup looks like which should help clarify everything above. [IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v483\/sheldonnalos\/_MG_5500_zpseeveh7qc.jpg"}[/IMG2]
And here's a link to a video of the workflow in action.
5 cased loaded, 15 seconds per case average.
The process is faster and more accurate than a Chargemaster, all these charge weights are within one kernel of powder of target weight. I've double checked MANY times. Not the only way to skin a cat and there are certainly nicer tools available. I just wish I'd had someone show me this method earlier. Could have skipped buying a couple different tricklers. Could have saved a LOT of time compared to how I was loading before.
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