Throwing Powder-Variances Edited
I bought some IMR 4895 to shoot in a .308 AR type rifle.
I worked up some loads, but mainly was interested in the 41.0 to 41.5 range ( for 168's) said to be the best.
Set up powder thrower with about 3/4 lb.
Threw charges just under and worked up via trickling.
As charges went up I adjusted a bit more so as not to have to trickle so much.
When I make an adjustment, I throw 4 just to even things out and get a baseline.
With Ball powder this is quick, easy and consistent.
O.K. back to IMR 4895
Seen this the other day, and just repeated it here just a few minutes ago.
3/4 lb. IMR 4895 No Baffle, charges were as follows ( I did 10 ) for all of these
41.9
41.6
41.4
41.7
41.4
41.8
41.2
41.6
41.2
41.6
With Baffle
I did this twice because I had some weird numbers
1-41.4-10-41.6
2-41.6-11-41.4
3-41.6-12-41.7
3-41.7-13-41.5
4-41.5-14-41.4
5-41.6-15-41.4
6-41.1-16-41.4
7-41.4-17-41.3
8-41.3-18-41.3
9-41.6-19-41.4
Looks good or decent Eh?
Now with Hopper darn near empty, just the cone part of the funnel
41.5
41.5
41.4
41.3
41.6
41.2
41.2
41.5
41.6
41.5
Two more when getting pretty slim in there...
41.2
41.6
What does any of this mean? I dunno !
Less chopping with less powder is what I saw, Thoughts?
I never said what powder?, I thought I did, IMR 4895, BTW in case anyone don't know, it's a stick powder that throws at a frustrating level, like most of them longer stick powders do
First, you didn't say what brand and type of powder measure you are working with.
Second, I've found that keeping my powder measure more than 1/2 full made for more consistent charge weights. You're powder measure is running near empty and that makes for larger variations.
What do the hyphenated numbers (41.4-41.6) mean in the "With Baffle" section? What's the first number, what's the second? Is each line a throw in a larger sequence of throws: (throw #1, first run - throw #1, second run?
I use an RCBS Uniflow.
The baffle seems to make a huge difference––and I always try to align the holes the same way (holes front and back––not left side/right side).
Polishing the inside of the hopper pays big dividends too––at least it did on my Uniflow.
I don't do the tap-tap/tap/tap, I just lift and drop, and I get very modest variations with 4895.
