How close to exact.

[semtav]

I see all the time people referring to compression loads like .037 or.125 etc Using trimmed and weighed cases, I'm just lucky to keep them within .010 of each other. ( measured down from top of case to top of wad before compression).

just how exact are most peoples loads?

[Hickory]

Thats a hard question,with no eazy answer.
My quick answer would be; It depends on how exact or
how accurate you want your loads to be.

For plinking, as long as I'm having fun and can hit something every now and again.

For hunting, I expect a lot out of my loads. And I want to do it with one shot. :coffee:

[powderburnerr]

If youu weigh your charges and pour very consistantly and slowly through a drop tube you should get about 15 tho difference in powder stack height, give or take . This is where patience comes in , the more consistant and slow you pour , to a point on slow , the more even the powder stacks,.after compression you should be dead nuts on, every case.

dean

ps I also perfer to check case volume rather than case weight, some of the BP ctgs are remade cases from a parent case and can vary a lot in internal volume,
you have spoken of a couple ,

[cajun shooter]

It's no different that anything else in this world of ours , you get what you put in. If you just throw a bunch of different components together then they will perform that way down range. They will be all over the place. Any top shooter whether it be on paper or game will tell you that it is consisty in what they do before pulling the trigger. If you watch a top shooter on the line and every time he goes to let off a round he reaches around and scrathes his right buttock then I would try the same thing.

[RMulhern]

Consistent enough to do this from 800 yds.

(http://img402.imageshack.us/i/800ydpp.jpg/)

The one out at the top was before I had a zero; one out at 6 o/clock I called!

[montana_charlie]

just how exact are most peoples loads?
Compression is what it is...after you find the charge weight you like for a given bullet.
It's (perhaps) useful to measure it for future reference, but not totally necessary. (I like to know what it is...)

If you drop tube an exact weight of powder into the case, the powder column height will be consistent if you pour consistently. Once you run through the compression die...they are all exactly alike.

You may find a powder charge that groups well at 100, but doesn't hold together at long range. A chronograph can tell you if your velocity is varying enough to cause that, and more or less compression may be the answer.
You could make that change with 'wads'.

CM

[Kenny Wasserburger]

When I shoot for Blood I weigh my charges, and I always shoot for Blood.

Steven P Garbe 2004

Nuff said

[Doc Highwall]

In your post you said you measure from the top of the case down and you will have a variable just from the different case lengths. If you could get a cylindrical piece of metal the same diameter or slightly smaller then your bullet 1.000" long you could insert this on top of the powder and measure from the base for a over all length minus the 1.000" you would get a more accurate measurement.

[semtav]

Just to clarify a few things
1. my cases are all Remington 45-70 resized to either 40-65 or 40-82

2. I trim my cases with an FE Wilson trimmer and remeasure them. ( so I know they are all the same length.)

3. I weigh my powder (Goex FFG) to the nano grain or as close as my eyes can discern

4. I drop tube thru a 32" tube trying to do them the same.

5. I weigh my cases and reject any a couple grains from median.

6 I am only loading these for competative purposes. ( tho I may just plink with some of them, they have to have a purpose)

Still I am lucky to keep the majority of them within .010 of each other after I place the wad on lightly. I reject any too far off and shoot them at the end of a string to see how they shoot. ( sometimes they stay in the group, sometimes they are out by 2-3")
Those I can deal with, its the ones that are about .010 difference that I'm wondering about.

Can you really expect to keep your charge within a couple thousandths of ea other before compression?





I never thought about checking the volume of each case, as I'm sure that is where a lot of the discrepancy would come from.

Thanks
Brian

[Doc Highwall]

It looks like you are doing everything right with the case weight as being the variable for the compression with the case length being the same.

[StanDahl]

If I did this right, there should be a link to a thread I kept from the old Shooters.com BPCR board about sloppy loading. One of the respondents is Lee Shaver (aka Missouri).

[semtav]

My problem with just throwing loads together is, I spent 6 months screwing with my 40-65 with varying degrees of poor results, till I got plumb anal and went to weighting, measuring and indexing everything, including how I put the primers in, and in conjuction with a lot of shooting, went and won the local gong shoot with a 29 out of 30, missing only my first shot cause I chased my fouling shot. (something I hadn't spent any time figuring out)

Now I'm a week away from the next shoot, (and probably my last for a few months), and I am nowhere near ready with this 40-82, and not being anal at this point isn't an option.

[semtav]

Consistent enough to do this from 800 yds.




Rick
thats good. Hope I can get half that good.

But I'm not sure by your comment if you did that being anal about your loads, or just close.

( I'm guessing anal)

[Doc Highwall]

semtav, I think that ultimately in the pursuit of extreme accuracy anal is what works. I am hoping to get back shooting black powder in my 45-90 and I am gathering all pertinent information that I feel is important. One thing I plan on doing with my drop tube is making a starting funnel to control the speed as consistent as possible when the powder is dumped into the drop tube. What I want to eliminate is dropping the powder in the funnel one time, and then the next taking 10 seconds to pour the powder in into the funnel making the powder column height different along with the powder compression. Anal yes but if that is what it takes to get the best out of my gun then that is what I will do.

[montana_charlie]

When searching for the magic, anal is the key (I think). Once the magic ha been found, some of the anal might be discarded without serious detriment. If tragedy results, the path back to anal has already been explored.
CM

[cajun shooter]

Semtav, From what you have posted my next question would be "What about your practice of annealing your cases?" I know that KW anneals after every firing and before if it has not been done.KW is one of the people that I was referring to when I said the little teaser about scratching your behind. You will notice that he quoted Steve Garbe. Watch and do what the top shooters do each and every time and very soon you will be the one who is also watched. You can anneal your cases and shoot a great string. Take those same cases and don't anneal and your down range will look like a shotgun pattern.

[semtav]

They were all supposedly annealed when I got them with the gun. I've shot them all once, tumbled, trimmed, sized and weighted them. will probably finish shooting them all again, then try my hand at annealing. Only thing I'm doing now is feeling when I seat the bullet, and if it is a lot different than the rest, I reject it.

I haven't done any annealing yet, but all my 45-90 Starline brass need it, so I may try my hand at it soon.

thanks