One reason why I do not buy cheap off-brand ammo

[Member 5605]

I'm surprised the charges were off by that much. Did you weigh the brass/primer combos also?

How about the bullets?

Nah. This was years ago and done on a beam scale. The powder alone was enough time spent out of my day.

Anyone who reloads knows how .2 or .3gr of powder can change their pattern....

 

[The Heretic]

I'm surprised the charges were off by that much. Did you weigh the brass/primer combos also?

How about the bullets?

Just doing the numbers in my head, they are 0.5 percent off the median - not a large deviation.

 

[ageingstudent]

Just doing the numbers in my head, they are 0.5 percent off the median - not a large deviation.

Not bad at all when you consider volume charging on a massive scale. I actually would have expected more variation.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Not bad at all when you consider volume charging on a massive scale. I actually would have expected more variation.

A of old coots say that volume is more important than weight.

 

[ma96782]

Yes .22 RF, and yes, a lot of different factors

Yes...mistakes happen. And with alot of different brands too. Including with CF ammo too.

And...I've been known to have "problems" with my re-loads. I'm not perfect and I can admit it. Who else do I have to blame? LOL.

Aloha, Mark

 

[DizzyJ]

Just doing the numbers in my head, they are 0.5 percent off the median - not a large deviation.

A guy on snipers hide did a work-up on them and just weighing the entire cartridge loaded, they were only .1-.2 GR difference from one to another. That's why I was surprised the powder alone varied that much.

 

[The Heretic]

IMO it is the powder and bullet weight that will make the most difference, the case capacity might affect pressure a little, as might variances in primer flash.

You could get combinations where less powder, higher bullet weight, larger case capacity and lower primer flash make for less velocity and vice versa.

However, I think the shooter will have more effect on the group size than that combo.

When I reload, I work up by half grain (0.5) until I approach recommended maximum, then I increase by 0.1 grain. If I can get near maximum with no signs of pressure problems then I go for the most accurate loading. I understand that there can be pressure problems without hard extraction and/or flattened primers/etc.

Once I have a load I like, I check that the powder charge is still roughly the same every 30 or 40 cartridges.

But I usually don't reload that way anymore - I only reload to get loads I can't buy, which usually means real light loads, or real light bullets.

 

[2Wheels4Ever]

I believe the technical term is turtle heading, prairie doggin or peak a poo.