I've had two IM's asking/wondering if there is a benefit of weighing out powder charges on a scale instead of depending on a standard powder measure.

This is just my opinion but I have had better accuracy with weighed charged over volume measured charge. Now we are not talking a couple inch difference in the groups, simply a little tighter group and a more consistent tighter group with out the flier so often.

If you want to shoot weighed charges here is how I do it. I sit down with my collection of small plastic specimen cups. Then I take a powder measure and set it at say 100 grains. I pour out fourcharges into cups and weight each of those charges.

So I will now do Goex 3f to maybe explain, and I have set my electronic scale for grains. The scale tests true before any weight is done. I try and pour the same amount each time into the powder measure by volume.

100 grains by volume = 94.4, 96.4, 94.8, & 92.8 grains by weight

this has an average of 94.6 grains by weight. So if I wanted to shoot all charges by weight, I take my plastic cups and weigh out 94.6 grains of Goex 3f from that can,by weight, of as many charges as I want to shoot.

Remember each powder can be different in weight, and each grade of powder can be different. Also each time you open a new can/pound of powder re-do the entire process.

this i found interesting on the cva site.



Pyrodex relates closely to blackpowder on a volume to volume basis, but not the weight of the charge. In other words, a scoop type measure set to dispense 100 grains of blackpowder will dispense roughtly 72 grains of pyrodex "pyrodex is bulkier" This lighter charge weight of pyrodex will fill the measure and provide a charge which is ballistically similar to 100 grains of blackpowder of the appropiate granulation.
Hope this helps those who were asking. I really dont get technical with this type of stuff but ran across it.

One summer day when it was beautiful out, I weighted out twenty charges and shot two different groups shot for shot against my powder measure. When it was all over the weighed charges did have a slight edge, but not as much as one would think. I do feel that if I were shooting long distances, then the weighed charges could be a real benefit.

yeah i agree. If you're in a shooting compitition or long range hunting with a ml'er then the weighed charges would be best. The military loads all of their rounds, atleast the bullets for snipers/sharp shooters.
I also read that when using triple 7 or other powder that does not use sulpher, its best to swab between each shot to eliminate the crud build up.
I learned quite a bit off that cva site lol. none of this stuff was listed in my manual.

CVA recall, Any Inline muzzleloaders with the cerial number ending with 95-96 need to be sent in to BPI. Also learned that BPI bought the cva name is 1999.

Excellent how to post Cayugad.

I too have found that weighing helps. When load developingI still start with volume at the range,if it shows promise will go through the process of coming up with an average weight for the volume charges.

Cayugad.... Your method of 4 charge grains by volume then weigh average by a scaleseems helpful .I am concerned about my brass reading grains volume . I pour triple 7 3f in a brass till even flat top with 110 grains lock reading screw thendump out at Reddingweight scale .Weight scale says 85.7 grains . Your example 100 grains /volume is close to94.6 grains /weigh that is pretty close. I think my brass reading is no good or 3f itself diffrent kind of grade or both that affect far diffrence between volume/ weigh compasrsion .. it doesnt make any sense to me

I believeweighing isthe best way when measuring Triple Seven. Since it's got a little higher yield small variations make a bigger difference. When I switched from loose to weighed I noticed a big difference. Groups that averaged 1 1/2" - 1 3/4" shrunk to just over an inch. It also made bullets that I had considered unshootable now shoot inside my minimum accuracy preferences. I never tried it with Pyrodex so I have no idea if it would make a difference there. I never had accuracy problems with Pyrodex, although I never hunted with loose Pyro even though I experimented with it.

Dave - I agree that the difference is small; but some limited accuracy testing I did a number of years ago suggest that volume isslightly better - at least when using Pyrodex RS. I did my volume dispensing with a benchrest modified Lyman 55 powder measure though - which I'm sure throws more consistent charges than the usual trombone-tube MZ powder measure. Also, FYI - I did a little playing around with the chronograph and determined, at least from a single limited sample, that two Pyrodex pellets have a slightly narrower SD of velocity than 100 grains of loose powder (measured by volume). The difference gets greater as the charge goes up. With 150 grain loads, the pellets had more than just a slight advantage.

I'm kinda new to this, but based on WoodWise's comment above, I think some are confused on the volume measurement. The volume measurement represents a weight equivalent of black powder. The various black powder substitutes are designed to give similar performance to black powder if the same volume is used and since these substitutes are less dense than black powder, equivalent volumes will weight less. If you measure the volume equivalent of 100 gr. using T7 in your brass and then weightit, it will weight less than 100 gr. If you weigh out 150 gr. of T7, for example, and use this charge rather than the volume equivalent of 150 gr, you will likely be exceeding the maximum recommended charge.

So there wouldn't be anything wrong with weighing the charges, but you would have to compensate for the lower density (weight/volume)of the powder your using.

I just wanted to write this out for my own understanding, so feel free to correct me or state it more clearly.

Regards. Joe

joeyc, your thinking is correct. Thats is why cayugad mentions taking a sampling of volume measurements then weighing each charge and coming up with an average weight to be used. He used Goex as an example to better illustrate the process to come up with an actual weight for volume. This needs to be done with each powder and any increment load change. One reason why I still use the volume measurement tools for load developing, KISS mentality.

I don't see anybody claiming weighing to be the be all and all to firing good groups.It does help in load to load consistency which will reduce flyers and in turn should promote a better average.