Is this normal for a Harell's powder measure?

[LesD]

Hello benchrest shooters.

After attending Rick's BR 101 clinic this spring and speaking with some of the coaches about the consistency of Harrell's measures, I decided to invest in a one to speed up my reloading and make charge dispensing more consistent.  I have been using a Pact electronic dispenser which although quite accurate is quite slow and requires a 110v power source.

My new Harrell's powder measure arrived today and I've been trying to use it but it's giving me grief.  Just wondering if my results are typical or if I'm doing something wrong.

I am using Reloder 25 and trying to throw 64.0 grains.  I am weighing each charge and finding that the measure is throwing anywhere from 63.5 to 64.7 grains of powder with most falling within +/- 0.4 gr. 

I cannot believe I'm getting up to 1.2 grains in variation between charges.  As per Harrell's instructions, I am trying to be very consistent with the speed I raise and lower the arm but it does not seem to help.  The amount of variance I'm getting is nowhere near acceptable to me.

Is this normal?

If not, any suggestions for things I should try?

Thanks for reading.
Les

[rpollock]

Les, probably not unusual for that weight and type of powder. Keep in mind that with n133 I see as much as +/- .2 in a case the size of the ppc. You are throwing twice the weight so I would expect to see twice the total variance. Fine grained powders and slow movement on the arm are the keys to using any of the volumetric measures. Seldom would you see them do better than +/- .1 grain, even on a small case. Not really a huge factor in our game, but for any long range work it would probably be unacceptable. Your chargemaster is likely the way to go for large throws and minimal variance.

[LesD]

Thanks for the info Rick.

I think my expectations of the measure were too high.  Not a total loss though. 

My Pact allows me to load about 60 rds an hour.  There's lots of standing around waiting for the dispenser to run a cycle.  Using the Harrell's with the electronic scale and a pinch bowl of powder to add or subtract grains I was just able to load 110 rds in about an hour with the same level of precision as the electronic dispenser was giving me previously. That's nearly double the speed.  I am mucho happy about that.

I will try the measure with my other commonly used powders, Varget and H4350 and see what kind of results I get.

[bcshoemaker]

One trick i learned years ago when throwing large charges or large stick powder was to divide charge in half and throw 2 charges to get same weight. This will cut error down significantly.

[Blairguy]

With both powder throwers that I use for N135, H322 and Varget, it is necessary to tap the measure to get consistent packing of the powder. Tapping also works as a timer to ensure that the handle is not operated too quickly. Would the level of powder in the bottle be a factor? I try to keep mine from running too low.

[Pesky ab]

All depends on how anal you want to be Les . A Prometheus will measure to about .03 gr and will do about 6 to 10 charges a minute when set up properly , I'm lazy so cut that in half for me. I own about seven various types of scales/ throwers and it is hands down the best.it will do Varget , 4350,4831 and most stick powders that are consistant in length of cut , I  had Cole make a plate for mine to do n133 and the smaller stuff. The down side is there very pricey for a new one ( cant actually buy you lease for 25 yrs) and you wait.long range guys are always looking for them so you don't see many used ones for sale