What scales (balance) are y’all using?

[ReservoirDawg10]

42.5 is a little much for my rifle. View attachment 5776589

Maybe back her down I bit. Lol. Surprised to see blown primers at 42.5 though.


Where did pressure signs start showing?

 

[Plumminfool]

It was fine at 40.5 but only 2620 fps so I skipped 41 and 42 and went for 42.5. gonna back her on down some, lol

 

[Reloadhby]

a 505 or 10 10 just make sure your ceiling fan is off

 

[stainlineho]

FX120i and Autotrickler v4

 

[cupp260]

I’ve had a couple different cheaper balances like one from Hornady, Frankford Arsenal, etc. Im looking for suggestions for a more precision balance. Any recommendations? I’m looking at the A&D EJ 123.

I used to use the old balance scale until I found out how inaccurate they were..Here is a shot read about going to better scales. https://theolddeerhunters.com/reloading-scale-safety/

 

[Allsmiles]

I'm using a Franklin Arsenal Intella Dropper to powder charge weights. Getting a lot of use right now as I'm a noob and learning to trust my Hornady powder thrower for pistols. Not working on speed, just making safe loads at the present time. It will get used exclusively once I start 6.5CM and 308.

 

[Plumminfool]

I'm now running a Creedmoor Sports TRX-925

 

[BHPSteel]

Just listened to a good podcast from Hornady (which is also on YouTube). It convinced me to rethink how I evaluate loads. It’s called ”Your Groups Are Too Small.” In summary, anything measured (group size, SD, ES) needs to have a big enough sample size to avoid inconsistent results. A 10-shot group is the bare minimum. 20 shots are better. Anything over 30 begins to yield diminishing returns. Anything less than 10 runs carries the risk of giving bad data. It’s worth an hour of your time.

For any of those statistical analyses, picking the appropriate sample size really is important. Typically, people who 'run numbers' in a specific situation have come to an agreement on sample size. Usually, for general SD calculation of financial instruments, engineering tolerences, and seemingly also ballistics, that sample size seems to be agreed at somewhere in the 25-35 samples.

But the actual number of samples that should be used can be calculated, based on how much error you will tolerate, and this of course is a bit subjective. If you're prepared to accept ammo that every round should have a muzzle velocity of 2750fps +/- 1%, you need to sample a lot more than if you consider 2750fps +/- 3% to be acceptable.

For those with a bit of tolerence for the math:

How to Determine Sample Size With Mean & Standard Deviation

 

[BHPSteel]

I have a Lyman electronic scale, with 0.1 gr precision. I'm very new to reloading, but as I was checking my powder measure, I got to thinking - if I'm trying to measure a 5.0 gr load with a precision of 0.1gr, I have an inbuilt minimum 2% error in my powder measuring to begin with that I can't avoid due purely to rounding (without even taking the accuracy of the scale into account)

That converts to an inbuilt error in the rounds that I can't avoid, no matter how precise I try to be. If I find that with experience, the results are acceptable if every load on my scale registered at 5.0gr, then the number of samples I'd need for an SD analysis will be far fewer than - perhaps for ReservoirDawg10 - who can't accept a 2% error in his powder charges.

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[ReservoirDawg10]

I have a Lyman electronic scale, with 0.1 gr precision. I'm very new to reloading, but as I was checking my powder measure, I got to thinking - if I'm trying to measure a 5.0 gr load with a precision of 0.1gr, I have an inbuilt minimum 2% error in my powder measuring to begin with that I can't avoid due purely to rounding (without even taking the accuracy of the scale into account)

That converts to an inbuilt error in the rounds that I can't avoid, no matter how precise I try to be. If I find that with experience, the results are acceptable if every load on my scale registered at 5.0gr, then the number of samples I'd need for an SD analysis will be far fewer than - perhaps for ReservoirDawg10 - who can't accept a 2% error in his powder charges.

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It all depends on expectations and needs. I don't load bulk ammo. Don't have the time. I'm also not a good enough handgun shot, nor shoot the style, where a 2% difference in powder charge will likely show in end results. I load for precision and consistency. The more variables that I can remove from the system, ammo included, the more consistent I can be. And if I'm missing, more than likely the reason is me. I can fix me on the fly. I can't fix the ammo or the rifle on the fly.