Hidden Hunter

I at the Present, have a Brass, Knight Powder Measurer, along with a Sliding Stem, on the Powder Metering Unit, that is Calibrated in 10 Grains by Volume Marks. Ive Checked what the Knight System is Throwing, by using The Clear Thompson Center Powder Measuring Device, and the Knight is Off by 10 Grains, Consistently. What do you Consider the Most Accurate Measurer for Measuring by Volume. Name and Company Please. Thank's!

Wolfhound76

First off, a beam scale is the most accurate followed by an electronic scale with any volume scale coming in last.

I own a couple of the Knight ones. A Thompson, and a couple CVA versions. All 4 styles give me different amounts for the same grain listing. I'm thinking the Knights are the most conservative and the Thompson is the most extreme. The CVA's are middling. A moot point for me anymore as all my charges are weighed. I work up a load with volumetric charges then weigh 10 of what's most accurate on my scale. I average the results and that's my powder charge. For example, 100 gr of 777 ffg by volume equals 80 gr by weight. I then adjust sights with the weighed charge. Of course I am a little off the wall. I've been weighing my bullets and sabots too. Still my results are good.



Edited for clarification.

cayugad

I personally like the heavy duty one made by Thompson Center. The clear plastic with the charge cutting funnel seems to be the best one in my opinion.

I have thought about getting a scale like Wolfhound and measuring my charges and projectiles also. I just have not got around to that yet.

By the way Wolfhound ..... that is an impressive group you shot there...

roundball

I too have noticed there are variances between different manufacturers so I decided to standardize on TC's adjustable brass measures and use them exclusively..
While a particular charge might actually be something slightly different from the setting, as long as I set up, zero, and only use those measures, I'm consistent.

I also have good quality weight scales for my centerfire rifle and handgun reloading, but have made the concious decision not to "moderernize" my muzzleloading hobby by using those kinds of approaches for basic things. I've got a safe full of top quality rifles with high end Leupold scopes that shoot bullseyes at distance all day long...been there, done that...no challenge any more.

I'm not a purist and don't wear period correct clothes or any of that ...but I at least want to live by a few of the blackpowder basics like staying with volume measures, black english flints, real black powder, patched round balls, etc, etc, like our forefathers did...no better sense of accomplishment than to lay a flintlock back down across my lap, see the smoke curl up out of the vent, with a nice big 8 pointer laying in the leaves 50 yards away...no slam on others...just my personal choice.

Wolfhound76

Thanks. Although it's a bit more trouble, weighing does have it's advantages. I've got a nice 1 1/2" group somewhere that I shot at 183 yds. I haven't scanned it yet due to my not owning a scanner. After seing my groups tighten, I'm now a firm beliver in weighing charges.

Hidden Hunter

Thanks Wolfhound! I also Hand Weigh my Charges, but im getting a Different Reading of Volume, to Weight into Grains on the Scale. My Knight is Showing a 25% Decrease, between Volume, and Scaled Weight. My New Thompson is Showing a 15% Decrease between Volume, and Scaled Weight. This is with Pyro P.

Wolfhound76

Ok. I must have them confused. The Knight is closer to right then. Pyrodex is aproxamately 30% less dense than blackpowder which is closer to actual gr. weight. For example 100 gr by weight of black powder is approxamately 100 gr by volume.

MOTurkeyTamer

Ditto for me on the above! And it pays off at the range with small groups also. It's just one of the tricks towards extreme accuracy in a muzzleloader.

Hidden Hunter

I took my Suspect Knight Brass Powder Measurer Today, to a Fellow who Owns a Blackpowder Gun Shop. He checked it against his, which he Know's is Accurate, and the Knight is Throwing 10 Grains(Volume) Under what the Graduations Suggest. If anyone has One of these, Just a Reminder to go 10 over for the Charge that you are Looking for.The Thompson Center was Right on the Money ! Knight is being very Conservative !

eldeguello

What is important is CONSISTENCY from charge to charge, NOT how closely a given brand of measure comes to throwing a charge that weighs what a scale says! If you develop your accuracy loads by making, say "5-grain" changes in the charge as you work it up (or down), it doesn't matter if the most accurate charge for your rifle/bullet combination is a true 90 grains, or if it is actually 78.76 on a scale. What IS significant is how close yopu can come to reproducing that weight each time you measure out a charge. And, as you might suspect, this consistency or lack thereof depends on the OPERATOR of the powder measure, rather than who made it! IF you find yourself unable to do a creditable job of throwing consistent charges, then by all means use a powder scale! IF you are able to consistently throw charges that weigh withing 2-3 grains of one another, you are not going to get much, if any, actual improvement in accuracy if you weigh the charges to within 1/10 of a grain! This is just the nature of black powder! Please note that the old time bench and Schuetzen riflemen of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, guys like Harry Pope, used volume measures, not powder scales, to set accuracy records with BP rifles that have yet to be equalled! This is despite the fact that many owned extremely accurate beam balances that they could (and would!!) have used, had they found that doing so improved their scores.

BTW, Wolfhound. An enviable group!