Im reloading 7.62x54 with a hand reloader, the portable kind, very basic. It comes with a scoop for the powder. Seems to work pretty easy. Just how accurate is the scoop and how do i know how many grains the scoop holds?

If you're gonna do any amount of reloading, you'r gonna hae to break down and buy a scale. It's a dang sight safer.

Russ

I'm guessing you have a Lee scooper, only company that I know of that does that. Anyway, Lee always lists it loads in grains, then gives what they call VMD (Volume/Mass Density I think is what it stands for), so that you can figure out how much volume will equal how many grains of a certain powder. So back to Algebra:

Volume(in CC's) divided by Mass(in grains) = VMD

Multiply the grains by the VMD to figure what the volume is needed to get that weight (or mass) of powder. Or divide VMD by the volume to figure what it is in grains. The scooper will have a number on the handle that is it's volume in cubic centimeters. Only problem is that it's not that accurate, powders change from batch to batch, and different powders have different VMD's, and to get the right volume you might need several different scoopers of different sizes. Get a good scale, they aren't that expensive if you figure in the added safety and precision you get with them.

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My dad once told me a story of a friend of his that reloaded using scoops. When he wanted to load a "mag load" he would round the top of the scoop off! My dad never said if his friend ever blew himself up but did mention that he told him that he was crazy. Buying a scale is the only way to know for sure.

I use the lee dippers to put the powder on my scale. I weigh every load that I reload. I don't have room for a powder measure at this time. I do use the powder measure on the Lee turret press for pistol loads If I am going to load several hundred. I aslo have the Lee 1000 Progressive loader for hand gun loading. The little critter works great. It works best if you have someone to help watch the primer feed. I have loaded countless thousands of 38 special, 9MM, 380 and 45 auto on that loader.