Load Measurement Question

[delawarebaydog]

I recently bought a MLII and am looking for some opinions on this subject. I have a buddy of mine that has had a MLII for 3 years and measures his powder with an empty 500 S&W brass. He claims this comes out to between 49-50 grains of IMR4759. He has been doing this since he got the gun and it shoots very accurately. He is 7 for 7 on deer and I have seen him shot at the range. Always a couple inch group or better at 100 yards. What do you guys think of this way of measuring powder?

[mike3132]

Not the best way but it seems to work for him. If you want to measure your powder by volume then spent 10-12.00 for a Lee dipper set. mike

[Richard]

How many deer has he shot out past 250 yards with this method? Probably at 100 to 150 yards you could hit a pie plate and yes, kill a deer but when the range gets extended, shot to shot velocity means a lot of vertical stringing and inaccuracy. A simple balance beam scale or under $25 is well worth the price. Leave the dippers to the black powder guys
Richard

[chuck41]

I'm with Richard. Dippers, empty shells, or whatever are only reliable with reduced loads at moderate ranges. When there is hair on the target I'll stick with weighed loads. More accurate and safer with smokeless.

[delawarebaydog]

Thanks guys, I just ordered a scale

[edge]

While you can get good results by measuring by volume, if done properly you can easily get under 1/2 grain variation, the problem is you need a scale to figure our the procedure

Using 4759 is an advantage because it is such a bulky powder, and if you switch to something like Lil'Gun your velocity variation would likely be much greater.

edge.

[unloaded]

While trying out some weighed loads at the range I had some that were in .5 grain increments. The powder was N110. The load had to be at least a whole grain change to notice a difference at 100yds. I'm sure further would have been a different story.

Just to muddy the water a bit more I've seen benchrest shooters argue strongly on both sides about a weighed charge versus a thrown one. Both sides believing their method gave them a competetive edge.

BTW- I weigh mine.

peace.
unloaded

[joe21a]

I would weigh my loads for safety. Numbers on the scale are easy to read, all those yellow or red lee dippers could get confusing if you were not careful. The dropper can do a good job if you set it up with scales and are very consistent when using it. All my drops are Dillon and work great.

[midohhntr]

I use the Lee dippers and check each one with a scale, if it's off I trickle it on until it comes out right. I use an RCBS 502 scale.

[Buckrub]

I use a Lee Dipper, but I use it to put powder onto my scale!! As Edge said, you can get good with practice at getting pretty much the right volume......with a dipper. I can get very close. But I wouldn't SHOOT that load straight from the dipper. The dipper is good because it keeps me from scooping out some unknown quantity of powder which takes longer. It gets me close. But I measure as close as I can.

With that said, I can put every load BACK onto the scale later and it'll be .01 off most times. Settling maybe? dunno. But never had any accuracy issues with that small of a variance. However, I can't hit a deer so maybe I should just shut up now on this subject.

[delawarebaydog]

I got my scale today. I will use the 500 S&W Brass as a dipper. I did a little shooting today and got a 2 inch group at 200 yards. The experimenting will continue. Boy, I like this gun so far. Thanks for all the input. Tom