Thread: Frustrating arvo at the range. Powder charges.

As has been said above, work within the limits of your gear.
I am happy to settle on an ES of 20fps (less is better but 20ish is ok)
To achieve this I do the following:
Anneal every firing
full length size.
Sonic clean brass.
Trim
Chamfer inner/outer case mouths
Weigh evey charge through my auto dispenser to .1gn below my desired charge then hand trickle the last .1gn till the scale just registers.
Dip the base of my projectiles in graphite powder to assist in seating.
I seat each projectile (for ladders I measure each one and back the die out before seating the next).

Often I achieve ES of much less than 20fps but as before 20fps is plenty for the ranges I hunt even 30fps would be fine.
When I have settled on a load I have usually verified it by shooting 15-20 rounds over a labradar confirming velocities and repeatability of grouping.
When loading a confirmed load I do lots of 50 and still weigh to .1gn below and trickle the last .1gn by hand, I will measure the first 3 or 4 rounds for seating depth to make sure I have the die set right then I might measure the odd one if it feels harder or easier to seat (I also mark the primers with a vivid and use them for zero checking etc (I don't get many of these).

I don't batch weigh my brass but I may try that with my next project to see if that improves things but in reality for the ranges I am prepared to hunt at I don't need to.
It's a lot of time and effort but I enjoy the process.
I consistently am able to tune loads that shoot 1/2 3 shot groups at 100 yards or better and that's plenty good enough for this old hacker.