{"id":34892,"date":"2026-10-15T00:01:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T07:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/?p=34892"},"modified":"2026-10-14T13:53:25","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T20:53:25","slug":"does-weighing-each-charge-matter-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/2026\/10\/15\/does-weighing-each-charge-matter-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Weighing Each Charge Matter? (Part II)"},"content":{"rendered":"<h6>By Joe Berk<\/h6>\n<p>Two days ago I posted a blog on loading .223 Remington for the Mini 14 with IMR 3031, and I asked the question you see in the title:\u00a0 Does weighing each charge matter?<\/p>\n<p>In a word:\u00a0 Yes<\/p>\n<p>Some associated questions:<\/p>\n<p>Does weighing each charge make for a smaller group?<\/p>\n<p>Again, the answer is yes.<\/p>\n<p>Does weighing each charge make the velocity extreme spread and standard\u00a0 deviation smaller?\u00a0 Surprisingly, no.\u00a0 I saw only a small difference with the 25.5 grains of IMR 3031 loads (in fact, the spread and standard deviation were slightly smaller for the cartridges charged directly from the dispenser).<\/p>\n<p>So what works best with IMR 3031 and the 55-grain full metal jacket boattail bullet in the Mini 14 rifle:\u00a0 The minimum load, or a near max load?\u00a0\u00a0With the bullet I used in my rifle, the near max charge was the clear winner.\u00a0 Just to check out the lower end of the charge spectrum, I also loaded with 24.0 grains of IMR 3031.\u00a0 The extreme spread and standard deviation were atrocious, and the accuracy was poor.\u00a0 This is a cartridge that likes to be loaded hot when shooting the 55-grain bullet.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-34896\" src=\"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_3575-600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"529\" srcset=\"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_3575-600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_3575-600-300x265.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>First, all the usual accuracy caveats:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>I&#8217;m an old guy.<\/li>\n<li>My eyes ain&#8217;t what they used to be.<\/li>\n<li>It was windy as hell out there.<\/li>\n<li>I was shooting into the sun.<\/li>\n<li>I didn&#8217;t trim my brass.<\/li>\n<li>I didn&#8217;t clean the primer pockets.<\/li>\n<li>I used old brass.<\/li>\n<li>The way I had my targets posted was distracting (more on that below)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You get the idea.\u00a0 I have a bunch of excuses.\u00a0 It wasn&#8217;t me.\u00a0 I didn&#8217;t do it.\u00a0 It&#8217;s not my fault. I would have made a good criminal, I think.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_34897\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-34897\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-34897 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_3577-600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_3577-600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_3577-600-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-34897\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">My targets. I shot at 50-ft pistol targets at 50 yards. The top left target was with the 24.0-grain IMR 3031 load (with the propellant dispensed from the dispenser straight into the case). The top right target was with the 25.5-grain IMR 3031 load (again, with the propellant dispensed from the dispenser straight into the case). The bottom center target was with 25.5 grains of IMR 3031, but I weighed each charge using a powder trickler to give me <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">exactly<\/span> 25.5 grains in each case.\u00a0 There are 20 rounds on each target.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It may not look like much now, but you can see a bit of the black bullseye on a previous target peeking out between the two upper targets.\u00a0 It&#8217;s also just above the bottom target.\u00a0 That bit of black was enormously distracting using the aperture rear sight on the Mini 14.\u00a0 I had a hard time hanging on to the target I was aiming at.\u00a0 I didn&#8217;t realize that when I stapled the pistol targets to the target stand, and it may have skewed my results with respect to group size.\u00a0 Live and learn, I guess.<\/p>\n<p>Here are the group size and chronograph results:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-34900\" src=\"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Data-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"217\" srcset=\"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Data-1.jpg 600w, https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Data-1-300x109.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Why, you might ask, is the standard deviation and spread slightly larger for the more-precisely-metered 25.5-grain load?\u00a0 I can&#8217;t say.\u00a0 There might be other variables at play I didn&#8217;t control, or it might just be normal statistical variation.\u00a0 But the group size says all I need to know.\u00a0 Weighing each charge makes for smaller groups, and that&#8217;s usually what I&#8217;m chasing.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<style>\r\n        .wpedon-container .wpedon-select,\r\n        .wpedon-container .wpedon-input {\r\n            width: 171px;\r\n            min-width: 171px;\r\n            max-width: 171px;\r\n        }\r\n    <\/style><div class='wpedon-container wpedon-align-center'><form target='_blank' action='https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/cgi-bin\/webscr' method='post' class='wpedon-form'><input type='hidden' name='cmd' value='_donations' \/><input type='hidden' name='business' value='ExNotes@ExhaustNotes.us' \/><input type='hidden' name='currency_code' value='USD' \/><input type='hidden' name='notify_url' value='https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-post.php?action=add_wpedon_button_ipn'><input type='hidden' name='lc' value='en_US'><input type='hidden' name='bn' value='WPPlugin_SP'><input type='hidden' name='return' value='' \/><input type='hidden' name='cancel_return' value='' \/><input class='wpedon_paypalbuttonimage' type='image' src='https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/en_US\/i\/btn\/btn_donateCC_LG.gif' border='0' name='submit' alt='Make your payments with PayPal. It is free, secure, effective.' style='border: none;'><img alt='' border='0' style='border:none;display:none;' src='https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/en_US\/i\/scr\/pixel.gif' width='1' height='1'><input type='hidden' name='amount' id='amount_94d8016ba42ab656657523132a2078c9' value='' \/><input type='hidden' name='price' id='price_94d8016ba42ab656657523132a2078c9' value='' \/><input type='hidden' name='item_number' value='' \/><input type='hidden' name='item_name' value='' \/><input type='hidden' name='name' value='' \/><input type='hidden' name='custom' value='23447'><input type='hidden' name='no_shipping' value='1'><input type='hidden' name='no_note' value='0'><input type='hidden' name='currency_code' value='USD'><\/form><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Joe Berk Two days ago I posted a blog on loading .223 Remington for the Mini 14 with IMR 3031, and I asked the question you see in the title:\u00a0 Does weighing each charge matter? In a word:\u00a0 Yes Some associated questions: Does weighing each charge make for a smaller group? Again, the answer &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/2026\/10\/15\/does-weighing-each-charge-matter-part-ii\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Does Weighing Each Charge Matter? (Part II)&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[84,1],"tags":[764,958,4281,347,4702,5170],"class_list":["post-34892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guns","category-uncategorized","tag-accuracy-loads","tag-hornady","tag-imr-3031","tag-mini-14","tag-neck-sizing","tag-weighing-each-charge-versus-dispensing"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_3449-900.jpg","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34892"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34904,"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34892\/revisions\/34904"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}