40_Rod wrote on May 15
th, 2015 at 9:28am:
Because Dr Maynard
The most accurate scientific scales weren’t made for reloading. There is usually a button on them that lets you chose scale Grains / Grams. It’s just the way the better electronic scales come.
40 Rod
Ha, you said it. With one of those scales in GRAMS, i can charge cases without any variation of powder charge. I usually allow about 1/100 of a grain tolerance. My scale has been set to GRAMS for the past 10 years. I don't even know how to switch to something else anymore, but i can do that. I occasionally test it with calibrating weights.
And because i am a Eurobilly transplanted to the Ozarks. I fit right in with the locals, but i stick to my millimeters and grams. .
There really is no danger of mixing grains and GRAMS. 1 grain is just a few granules of powder, 1 GRAM (15.62 grains) is enough to charge a smaller case and is about a teaspoon of powder. I don't think anyone can charge 15 GRAMS of powder into any sporting cartridge case. That would be enough for an AA gun.
Really, the metric system is simpler, more intuitive.
As suggested above, i dump most of the charge with a Lee scoop and i trickle the rest with a trickler, into a small aluminum dish set on the scale. . I seat bullet right after that. Fast and safe, very precise. I usually charge and seat 50 rounds at a time, one by one, in about 20- 25 minutes. In fact, the powders that don't work well in the powder measures, like large flakes and rods, work very well for trickling fast by hand, by tapping the index finger on the handle of the scoop.
This way, i avoid errors caused by powder measures, i can switch quickly from one caliber/powder to another, and i don't have to re-adjust a powder measure. Clumsy as i am, i would always miss-adjust the powder measure. I just have to keep a conversion table and a load/charge table taped to my desk. I also keep the empty, mangled, case that i double charged with Unique one stormy evening. It's right on the scale. I received a severe storm warning on my phone while loading, i double charged. I no longer take my phone to the loading room anymore.