Powder measure techniques

[xC5e3fe]

Hey all,

Another newbie to the forum here. I got a hold of some BH209 and I plan to use it this fall in Ohio. Previously, I have hunted with T7 pellets, so this is the first time I will use loose powder. I have a flask and a TC U-View powder measure.

In preparation for a range session to try out the new powder in my Omega, I practiced using the flask and powder measure to see how consistent I could be. The answer is - not very, maybe, I'm not sure. After setting the measure to 100grV, I threw dozens of loads and measured them on my powder measure . The loads ranged in weight from 71.0 to 72.0 gr. (the majority of them fell between 71.4 and 71.8 gr). I know from handloading that 1gr can make a big difference. Is it also the case here, or not that big of a deal? In either case, I would sure like to throw more consistent charges than I have been. So...

Can someone please tell me your technique for throwing/measuring consistent powder charges?

Thank you.

 

[exMember]

thats very consistent i think!

I dont weigh my loads, i simply just top off my powder measure, cut it and pour it down the bore. Lately i've found that my primers make a huge difference in my rifles accuracy.

Welcome to the forum!

I saw your name and thought *Oh great, a pornbot spammer* LOL! Its one of those odd names.

 

[xC5e3fe]

Lol, nope, no "pornbot spammer". Retired USAF C-5 Galaxy and E-3 AWACS Flight Engineer.

I was wondering if I was getting carried away with the powder measuring, but not having used loose powder before I didn't know how else to know if I was throwing consistent charges.

I did fill up the measure and cut it, but apparently I was doing something just a little bit different each time. So, you don't think the 1gr difference will make any difference in load consistency?

 

[exMember]

You wont notice it one bit.

5 grains can make a difference but not 1 grain.

If you wanted to take the time, you could pre-measure everything at home and have all of the charges ready to go.

If you dont have any Powder Tubes, shoot LaneNebraska a PM and he'll sell you some at a great price.

I have 40 of his tubes and i love them. They are a great investment for such a low cost.

 

[cayugad]

Welcome to the forum. Something you have to remember is you're using a volume powder measure. So 100 grains by the measure should weigh around 70 grains. So it sounds like you're very consistant. If you were running volume loads of Triple Se7en they normally run 77.7 (hence their name) for a 100 grain measure. This is not like Pyrodex Rs or Black Powder that do run a true 100 grains or very close.

If you're throwing loads that close, you will never notice it on the range. If you weigh some of the pellets, you would have noticed a slight variation in some of their weight. At least I did. So set your volume measure at 100 grains and pour a measure, and just dump that down the barrel.

Good luck. Let us know how your results are with the BH209 and again, welcome to the forum...

 

[xC5e3fe]

Thanks guys. I feel allot better now. I will be sure to let you know how the range session works out with the BH209 (may not be until next weekend). I really appreciate the help/advice.