RCBS Powder Thrower

[WyldeShot]

I have a RCBS powder thrower. I have some issues with consistent measurements using Titegroup but it's not a huge deal. On Sunday I started reloading my first batch of .223 using Varget. I am getting very inconsistent measurements and having to re-adjust every throw or two. It also seems like the handle is sticking. Someone recommended that I get a power trickler, which I'm going to pick one up today. Is there anything else I need for the powder trickler?

Is anyone else having these issues with the RCBS powder thrower using Varget?

 

[Leo]

Any coarse powder will have a little bit of variance in a volumetric powder throw. If you want to make every charge on the button, you will need to throw a little light and trickle into a scale pan.

Round ball powder like AA 2460 will meter perfectly due to being small, uniform balls. The finer grains of IMR 8208xlr flow through an RCBS uniflow really well.

TightGroup has a lot of variance in kernel size, so you will see difference. For light powder charges, even the small diameter powder drum in the RCBS is too large diameter. (.500") Too much surface area. A Redding PISTOL powder measure or a Hornady LNL with the optional pistol meter does a lot better.

Even though the little lee drum type powder measure is as close to thow away junk as you can possibly make, the small diameter metering chamber actually does a decent job with small powder charges.

 

[WyldeShot]

Any coarse powder will have a little bit of variance in a volumetric powder throw. If you want to make every charge on the button, you will need to throw a little light and trickle into a scale pan.

Round ball powder like AA 2460 will meter perfectly due to being small, uniform balls. The finer grains of IMR 8208xlr flow through an RCBS uniflow really well.

TightGroup has a lot of variance in kernel size, so you will see difference. For light powder charges, even the small diameter powder drum in the RCBS is too large diameter. (.500") Too much surface area. A Redding PISTOL powder measure or a Hornady LNL with the optional pistol meter does a lot better.

Even though the little lee drum type powder measure is as close to thow away junk as you can possibly make, the small diameter metering chamber actually does a decent job with small powder charges.

Thanks for all of the information. Sounds like I need to start playing with something other than Varget and Titegroup. I like Titegroup because I works well in (, 40 and 45, but I am sure there are other out there.

 

[Leo]

Before we get too obsessive about powder charges, I have measured and broken down a number of Federal Gold Medal Match factory rounds.

Spinning them in a "V" block and measuring run out showed a total run out at the ogive of about .010" (+/- .005" off axis) Not too impressive, I can pretty easily make reloads twice as concentic as those specs.

The bullets were very consistant for weight and measurement from the base to the ogive. About the same accuracy as Hornady or Sierra match bullets.

The powder charge was the big surprise. They were +/- 3/ths of a grain. Not really too impressive. I try to stay at +/- one tenth.

Except for extremely high level precision rifle shooting, no one feels anything but confidence when shooting Federal Gold Medal Match.

Temper loading frustrations with benefit on investment ratios in mind.

 

[WyldeShot]

I was looking for the RCBS but Cabelas didn't have it so I bought the Lyman E-Zee trickler.

 

[gunselman]

Are you using the large drum or the small drum for your RCBS powder throw? I had some issues using the large drum that comes with it and ordered the small drum. The large drum does 10 grains to 110 grains. The small drum does up to 50 grains. I had a lot better luck with the small drum on almost everything.
RCBS Uniflow Powder Measure Cylinder Assembly Small

 

[WyldeShot]

Are you using the large drum or the small drum for your RCBS powder throw? I had some issues using the large drum that comes with it and ordered the small drum. The large drum does 10 grains to 110 grains. The small drum does up to 50 grains. I had a lot better luck with the small drum on almost everything.
RCBS Uniflow Powder Measure Cylinder Assembly Small

I am using the one that came with it, so assuming it is that large one. I will look at the small one. I didn't know there was one. Thanks for the info!

 

[Leo]

I am using the one that came with it, so assuming it is that large one. I will look at the small one. I didn't know there was one. Thanks for the info!

The small drum is .500" and the large is about .062. I have an extra small drum and metering screw for the RCBS powder measure. I'll even include the metering threaded body and the knurled locking nut. Let me know if you care to work out a deal.

 

[Broom_jm]

Keep in mind that most cartridges are, in fact, loaded by powder volume, not weight. In a very real sense, the amount of volume a given charge of powder consumes is more critical to internal ballistics than the actual weight of that volume. Weight is just the convenient unit of measure reloaders adhere to, but you can create ammunition that is just as accurate by using volumetric measurements.

Some powders definitely meter better than others. I have not used Varget, but apparently it doesn't meter very well. However, keep in mind that variance should be viewed as a percentage of the whole, as well as what that represents in the change in the volume of powder going into the case. If you're trying to load 5gr of Titegroup into a given case and load 5.5 grains, that's a 10% increase in weight and an even higher percentage of consumption of remaining case volume. If you are trying to load 50 grains of Varget into a case and load 50.5 grains, that is only a 1% increase in weight and a much smaller consumption of remaining case volume. (The measured internal case volume may very well exceed that level of variance!)

From an accuracy perspective, the best loads are not all that sensitive to such small changes in volumetric charges. Sometimes weighing charges introduces a level of precision that is simply not indicated, particularly as the cases have greater volume. This is highlighted by the standard reloading advice to "drop back 10% and work up". For a 5gr MAX charge, that's only half a grain, but for a 50gr MAX charge, that's 5 full grains. When you contemplate that, volumetric powder measures are usually plenty accurate enough, for larger cartridges, when loading at something less than right at the maximum charge.

 

[gunselman]

I am using the one that came with it, so assuming it is that large one. I will look at the small one. I didn't know there was one. Thanks for the info!

I didn't know it existed either! I had some issue's loading pistol powder with the one that came with it. A coworker told me about the smaller one. It should come with the small one not the large one.

 

[Fullmag]

I have a RCBS powder thrower. I have some issues with consistent measurements using Titegroup but it's not a huge deal. On Sunday I started reloading my first batch of .223 using Varget. I am getting very inconsistent measurements and having to re-adjust every throw or two. It also seems like the handle is sticking. Someone recommended that I get a power trickler, which I'm going to pick one up today. Is there anything else I need for the powder trickler?

Is anyone else having these issues with the RCBS powder thrower using Varget?

I have had problems before with 3.0 grains of Bullseye. So I bought another measure. What found out was my bench was moving, just little every time I would load case on my turret press. Moved my measure off the table with the press and now it measures consistently.