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Member Joined: 02 Oct 2007 Posts: 1975

I bought a couple of used charge bars. Seem to work well, except for the fact that the settings I got in the charts are way off. I'm using Longshot, Universal clays and clays. On the setting for 22 grains of longshot it's dropping 18.3 grains consistantly. Are there different charts around? I can keep working my way up a little at a time I suppose. The chart I have says for 22 grains of Longshot 2+34. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Joined: 18 Jul 2007 Posts: 32 Location: WI

I use universal charge bars on my mec 650 and mec sizemaster and have the same problem with all the powders I use , including longshot and univ clays.I just keep weighing and adjusting till I get the charge I want,then record it and start there the next time I load. Does anyone else out there have a better solution?

Don't know of a better solution. I have always dropped, ck'd the weight and did it again till it was tuned to what i want to drop. Never paid any attention to charts. Humidity, stattic electricity, different batches of the same powder, lot of things affect the amount of powder dropped.

The charts are good for getting you in the ball park. I just bought some IMR 800X and the Mec chart gave the bushing I needed, and like I said they are close. Not so with the 800X, I had to drop down two bushings. I usually do 10 drops of powder and average them. Most times I am under their specs. by a few tenths of a grain.

David
You might give the universal charge bar a shot cause it will get you closer than a few grains and you can vary the shot drop also Very Happy

Member Joined: 02 Oct 2007 Posts: 1975

I can keep adjusing and then right it down. I allready thought of that. Just seemed it was quite a ways off. Thanks for the responses.

I use my RCBS 10-10 scale and adjust the bar till I get it where I want. I do the shot the same. I can get the shot with-in 8 to 12 pellets depending upon the size of shot I am using. I find the shot is harder to adjust than the powder. If you only have say, a couple of loads you use the most. Buy another UCB and leave it adjusted for the other load.

I like the UCB much better than the bars & bushings.

Hey Guys,
Take nothing for granted and check and than double check everytime you set up to load Exclamation

If this seems like an inconvenience, talk to someone thats had a gun blew apart in their hands Shocked

Though the above has not happened to me, I was 2 posts down at the trap range when an 1100 came apart at the seams.
That will get your attention.
Safety first and foremost so you can enjoy retirement Wink

Charlie

Guest

IMHO, the Universal Charge Bars are one of the most ingenious inventions. I was discussing with a MEC tech on a different topic when I asked him why MEC never thought of the bar. He said that they wished they did because it's a real good concept. I've been using the UCB for several years and this whole mess with bushings is a big waste of time especially when you have to tip the bottle over to slide the bushing charge bars out to replace them with a different bushing. All it takes is one of those caps to come out and you have huge shot or powder mess. What I do when I convert over to a new powder and shot load is to use a clean prescription containers and put a some powder in one and some shot in the other. When I'm using my progressive reloader to "fine tune" my drops, I constantly adjust both the powder and shot after each drop and subsequent weighing. If each round is either long or short, I take the proper amount out of the prescrip. containers until I get the correct amount. It usually takes a few adjustments before I'm dead on but I reloading shells while I'm "fine tuning" my drops. BTW, I always reload in progressive mode since the amount of vibrations will be diiferent than in single stage which could affect the accuracy of your drops.

Just my thoughts...

Use a chart to get into the ballpark, but don't take it as gospel. Only your scale should be trusted to get the appropriate powder or shot weight.

And don't forget about 'thread lag.'

OnefunZR2 makes a very good point about "thread lag". Ignore it and you can change charge weight 5 to 30 shells down the road.