what does "grain" refer to?
- Thread starter horatioo
- Start date
- Status
Grain is a unit of measurement for Mass. Bullets are typically weighed in grains, and so is powder.
If you're looking at a box of loaded ammo, the grains listed are the mass of the bullet itself.
If you're looking at a chart for loading ammo, it will tell you the grains of the bullet, as well as the grains of a specific powder needed to load to a given velocity and pressure.
As for your second question: 7.62 x 39 means 7.62mm diameter bullet in a cartridge loaded to 39mm length case.
Edit: Sorry, I was typing as you guys were obviously discussing. I need to learn to type faster, I guess.
If you're looking at a box of loaded ammo, the grains listed are the mass of the bullet itself.
If you're looking at a chart for loading ammo, it will tell you the grains of the bullet, as well as the grains of a specific powder needed to load to a given velocity and pressure.
As for your second question: 7.62 x 39 means 7.62mm diameter bullet in a cartridge loaded to 39mm length case.
Edit: Sorry, I was typing as you guys were obviously discussing. I need to learn to type faster, I guess.
Doublestack
New member
A typical label on one of my reloaded ammo boxes will look like this:
.45ACP
230gr. RN-FMJ
Win. 231 @ X.Xgrs.
Velocity: XXX FPS
This means that the bullet (projectile) weight is 230 grains, it is a Round Nose Full Metal Jacket design, and it is sitting over XX grains of Winchester 231 powder for a velocity of XXX feet per second.
What you see on a box of factory ammo in a gun store will usually be the weight of the bullet only. Example: Remington 185gr. JHP. This refers to a jacketed hollow point that weighs 185 grains.
DS
.45ACP
230gr. RN-FMJ
Win. 231 @ X.Xgrs.
Velocity: XXX FPS
This means that the bullet (projectile) weight is 230 grains, it is a Round Nose Full Metal Jacket design, and it is sitting over XX grains of Winchester 231 powder for a velocity of XXX feet per second.
What you see on a box of factory ammo in a gun store will usually be the weight of the bullet only. Example: Remington 185gr. JHP. This refers to a jacketed hollow point that weighs 185 grains.
DS
?
As stated it is both the weight of the powder and the weight of the bullet.
Today, we use grains by volume or weight which isn't exactly the same thing at all.
If you are using the dippers that come with the Lee dies, then you are measuring by volume. Weight and volume are apples and oranges. A pound of powder is a pound of powder and how much powder in weight that would fit in a 1 cubic box is what is known as volume.
Example: 1 gallon of water weighs 8.33 pounds. 1 cubic foot of water ( Volume ) weighs 62.4 pounds and is in ( Volume ) 7.49 gallons
Hopefully this clarified things for all.
Last edited:
Grains are mass.
You can use volume to measure powder, but you are measuring out a volume, not a mass. You will either adjust a powder measure using a scale to deliver the mass you want based on the scales measuring volume, or you are stuck with whatever mass a dipper throws unless you change the volume of the dipper.
The volume of the pound of powder is not the same between powders.
"how much powder in weight that would fit in a 1 cubic box is what is known as volume" the weight of powder per volume is density, not volume.
A grain is a unit of weight, not mass. Weight = mass x G
Grains are an archaic English unit of measure based on the weight of a grain of barley, and used for accurately weighing out small units of weight, as in jewels, medicines, spices, etc, or where you want to be very precise. Or gunpowder.
There are 7000 grains to the pound, 16 drams to the ounce, 16 ounces to the pound.
"Grains of powder (by volume)" is often used for black powder, where the charges are thrown by volume and not weighed, but the measure is known to hold a given weight of FFg black powder. It is common for people shooting black powder and black powder substitutes to use this terminology.
For a quick description of grains as a unit of weight, see
http://home.clara.net/brianp/weights.html
Grains are an archaic English unit of measure based on the weight of a grain of barley, and used for accurately weighing out small units of weight, as in jewels, medicines, spices, etc, or where you want to be very precise. Or gunpowder.
There are 7000 grains to the pound, 16 drams to the ounce, 16 ounces to the pound.
"Grains of powder (by volume)" is often used for black powder, where the charges are thrown by volume and not weighed, but the measure is known to hold a given weight of FFg black powder. It is common for people shooting black powder and black powder substitutes to use this terminology.
For a quick description of grains as a unit of weight, see
http://home.clara.net/brianp/weights.html
Don P said:
Ack! No! Actually, I'm not sure what "As stated ..." is intended to mean. As stated, for a given loaded cartridge, I cannot imagine a situation when it will ever be both. The term grains is used to convey the weight (mass, really) of bullets and powder charge weights (plural), universally. Not the bullet and the powder charge weight. It is simply a common unit of measure to weigh both bullets and powder charge weights.
This is what happens when 40 different people (okay, only 13 so far) feel the need to repeat each other and find ways to say it differently. These threads can go on for pages and pages. Enough. If someone has already posted what you want to say, give it a rest, for crying out loud.
Right on the money and the reason is because, for the most part, we have to load in the field and our possibles bag will not hold a beam scale. So, they made it easy for us by giving us a course conversion. There are some M/L folks who will weigh a charge but for the most part, it's a waste of time. Propellants for M/L's are very forgiving and if you are a few Grains off either way, will not effect performance to any degree. Not so for smokeless as a few grains off can be a dangerous. This terminology is accepted and common in all M/L use and documentation. Might add that I use to weigh my charges for my C&B revolvers but no longer do that.
Be Safe !!!
Yes they are.
A grain is a unit of mass equal to 0.06479891 gram, in the avoirdupois, Apothecaries' and troy weight systems. (http://www.convertworld.com/en/mass/Grain.html)
That's true, and it's why everyone is referencing MASS, not WEIGHT - although, for our purposes, at sea level they are one in the same.
Hijack:
You hi-altitude reloaders out there...do you compensate for reduced gravity when reloading, let's say, in Denver? Or is it too small of a difference to matter?
- Status