The HuntingPA.com Outdoor Community banner

weighing reloading components

2K views 14 replies 11 participants last post by  Waynzee 
#1 ·
i posted this in the archery section about broadheads and brought it here to find out about reloading techniques. basically weighing the components to make sure everything is the exact same weight ?

Chuck Adams had some very interesting stuff to say about tuning a bow. basically it equated to the same as hand loading bullets.

he said to weigh every target tip or broad head. every arrow, vane, insert and nock. all of them do not weigh the same, there are variances allowed in the manufacture of products. he claimed to have done this and only shot the arrows that weighed the same when he was done making his own.


QUESTION:

i guess when reloading a person makes sure the powder charges are the same in every shell, but do any of you that reload weigh the bullet or brass ? wouldnt different brass thickness cause different pressure and affect accuracy ? wouldnt different weights cause a change in accuracy ? would different brass, Remington vs. Winchester cause a difference in accuracy too ?
 
#2 ·
Of course you can weigh every bullet and every case, but unless you are a precision shooter, putting multiple bullets into one tiny hole at distance, weighing every component is not worth it.

I reload my own hunting ammo, and while I will use the same brand cases (Remington), and weigh each powder charge, I don’t weigh each bullet. My Win Model 70 in .30/06 will still shot under 1” groups at 100 yards.

Bench rest shooters will weight everything, but that is a whole different breed of shooter.
 
#3 ·
I only weigh each component when I am going on an out of state trip. For deer hunting here at home, I get enough accuracy without going through all of that. But on an out of state trip, where I may be faced with only one longer shot and have some money invested in the trip, I don't want any screw ups. I weigh the cases and discard any that are not very close. I weigh the bullets and very seldom find any variance worth bothering about. And of course I weigh all of the powder charges versus throwing them from a powder measure. Exact same length, etc. It does tighten up the groups to be meticulous. It just isn't necessary for shooting deer here at under 100 yards.
 
#4 ·
thats what i was thinking. i dont reload but my buddy does. i was helping him reload for my sons 7mm-08 and i asked if he ever weighed the bullets and he said he never thought about it. i just wondered if anyone does this and if it really makes a difference with long range shooting.
 
#5 ·
It all depends on how accurate or tight shooting the particular rifle is. Some do not shoot tight enough that you could see the difference a single component makes.

I have found that most modern bullets are close to advertised weight. Case weight is not an issue but case volume could be an issue. Different primers and powder lots can also make a difference. Then there is temperature. This could get complicated! :smile_big:
 
#6 ·
As a long range benchrest the shooter I do all of then above except weighing cases as I have not found an advantage doing so . Weighing powder down to 1 kernel, weighing bullets down now to . 04 of a grain, sorting bullets by measurement to .0005, and on and on. But, when making a long range shot or trying to shoot a .1 or less group at 100 yds, I believe it is all trumped by reading conditions. How much will the wind affect the shot at that particular instant. In relationship to a bullet an arrow is crawling so a tiny inconsistency is magnified. So for hunting I do not weigh bullets or sort them by measurement. I weigh powder to a.1 of a grain. The exception would be trying to shoot over 500 yds then I load just like I so for matches. Think about it, if your rifle shoots 1.5 groups at 100 yds as opposed to .75 groups do you really think it would cause you to miss a deer at 400 yds as opposed to having no idea how far your bullet drops at that range in addition to how far a 15mph wind will blow it. So now you have an animal shot in the guts or with a front leg blown off. Just some things to think about.
 
#9 ·
It is about internal volume. If a thick and thin case have the same internal volume all things would be equal but most likely a thicker walled case will have less internal volume and with an equal powder charge the pressure would most likely be higher.

Military case are a good example. It is usually suggested to decrease the powder charge in a military case because of the thicker walls and thus less volume.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Waynzee and bohunr
#11 ·
It depends on how anal a shooter is really. I want brass from the same bag, and powder and bullets from the same lot#. I weight sort the brass into two lots, and done for hunting . For serious bench I then fire twice and size only the neck, then weigh volume to further sort them. I don't weigh bullets even for matches, but use top notch bullets. The benchrest mentality tries to spill over into my hunting rifles in that I'm wanting tiny groups.
 
#13 ·
For my rifles - every powder charge gets weighed. the cases all get cleaned and trimmed, but not weighed. I usually end up using all the same brand of brass for a load, but that's really just a case of how i got the brass to begin with ... did i buy a couple bags of it? Did I shoot a bunch of xyz brand or did the guy that runs the rifle range let me dumpster dive through the shed where they keep all the discarded brass lol?

I do keep all the brass for each rifle separate from each other & only neck size after the initial firing. I don't weigh or measure each bullet. Off topic, but I think seating depth in relation to the lands is one of the other things that gets overlooked by some and can dramatically affect accuracy.
 
#14 ·
I have brass set aside for the range and separate for hunting. I just started neck sizing for some of my 22-250 as an experiment, but haven't shot them yet. I weight my bullets for test grouping, but I have never measured them. Maybe I will now. I check and set the O-Give to the same for each bullet. I trim the brass the same for the range and very close to the same for hunting and just shooting.

I use a Frankford Arsenal case trimer. I also weigh every power charge to .1 range and hunting. I don't interchange brass between any rifles of the same caliber. I polish my brass in a tumbler as needed.

Still experimenting with cleaning when and after how many shots....
 
#15 ·
bohunr, as to your 1st. post, when I used to hunt mostly with compound and X bow weighing everything and keeping your bow tuned is a gain in your favor. I used to fletch my own arrows and would weigh everything in the beginning with broad heads and target points. Even the fletching was aligned with my broad heads until I went to mechanical broad heads some say this doesn't matter but I seen to many deer wounded by other hunters with bow and arrows to leave anything to chance.
As far as reloading ammo I'm just as particular, brass weighed and annealed after every 3 shots, bullets, powder and primers weighed.
But I do agree with some of the post also distance, wind and temperature all play a big role even for the most accurate rifle and shooter.
 
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top