Weighing rounds?

[clayking]

Does anyone weight brass & bullet before loading to insure equal weights and then weight the finished round when done looking for double charges? I just weighed 300 rounds on a digital scale and it only took a few minutes......at least it gives me additional piece of mind. Anybody else this "anal"? .........................ck

 

[hpg]

Been reloading for 25 years and never did that. hpg

 

[918v]

weight variance abong brass/bullets may be greater than the amount needed to detect a double charge of a fast pistol powder.

 

[Ammo Junky]

The only thing I would weight would be cases and only If I bought bulk x1 fired brass that was from mixed lots. Lots of brass usualy are with in 1.5%. Bullets are sold by their weight and I am sure that tolorance is watched. Premimum bulltes ie. sierra do seem to be much more consistant than bulk ie remington. That said, bulk rem do a great job for their intended use.

 

[Chuck Dye]

Long long ago and far away...

I once earned my ammo for woodchuck hunts on my uncle’s farm by doing case prep for his bench rest habit. First trim to length, turn necks, and true primer pockets and flash holes, then sort to ±0.1gr case weight. Sort again for ±0.1gr water volume weight. (Do like sorting for bullets.) Sort again for bullet runout (concentricity) before and after loading. 1000 new cases might yield 25-50 match rounds (painted with machinists’ dye for ID.) I do NOT have the enthusiasm of a twelve year old anymore!

My most important consideration nowadays is ethical hunting rounds and, since my rifle is sub-MOA with Federal High Energy and Hornady Light Magnum ammo, I by factory ammo for hunting.

For reloading, I opt for loads that overflow if double charged, where I can. As plinkers and practice ammo, that works for me.

 

[Kayser]

weight variance abong brass/bullets may be greater than the amount needed to detect a double charge of a fast pistol powder.

Bingo. Too much variance to be useful, even using high end bullets.

 

[clayking]

Bingo. Too much variance to be useful, even using high end bullets.

I did say that I weighed each component prior to loading. Therefore if all my brass weights the same, my bullets weight the same, then my finished round is only thrown off by the powder weight. And that is my experience.

I do feel weighing each bullet and to only use those weighing the same to be quite useful in accuracy. Granted, shooting paper at 7 yards it will not make any difference, but at 50+ it will. Besides, one of the reasons to reload is better ammo. I've weighed factory loads and I'm amazed at the variance in weights.........that's my goal, cheaper & better....................ck

 

[918v]

Weight sorting bullets and cases may or may not make a difference at 50 yards. It depends on your gun. While some have Ruger P90's that shoot 3/4" handheld groups, most pistols won't see that kind of accuracy.

 

[DWARREN123]

It sounds good to me, but what do I know. If it makes you happy then do it.

 

[temmi]

I do that!
I weigh and sort bullets by “exact” weight and Brass by .5 grain lots.
I also weigh 2 primers and take the avg. …. And I weigh each charge.

Then I Weigh each completed round to check they are in the calculated range. I just can’t help myself.

 

[Scorch]

I had a friend that shot benchrest match, and he did that. He also measures case capacity with water and neck turns each case. In a game where wins and losses are only separated by a few thousandths of an inch in group size, it makes sense. Otherwise, it's just for your entertainment and edification. If you feel better doing it, go for it.

If you are trying to simplify and are concerned about double charging a case, use bulkier powder. It will be easier to see if it gets a second charge.

 

[castnblast]

I don't on my rifle because I trickle them precisely for each round. When I used to load pistol rounds, I didn't, but I used a progressive. I did make a point anytime I stopped or had a foul up to remove all cases and start that round over again. If in doubt, throw it out. But if you are like me, sometimes I'm looking for something to tinker with, and well, that is it. But if I were concerned about time, I wouldn't bother for the reason stated above.

 

[npv]

I weigh and measure the lengths of a random sample of the rounds I load. I am looking for uniformity and therefore low standard deviations in the measurements but then again I am strange.