Question About Charging

I finally got around to playing with my powder measure last night. It is a Hornady that came with my kit. I just measured a couple of loads and put them back into my powder jug. How accurate should each charge be. If I measure the first one and it is 5.0 grains what kind of fluctuation is acceptable. Should every powder drop be exactly 5.0 grains or will they vary a slight bit. Also, I just have the metering system that came with the kit. Do I need the pistol insert to really make it accurate with the pistol calibers.

It depends on what you are doing. Most commercial reloading scales are only accurate to plus/minus 1/10 of a grain which is accurate enough for general purposes. But keep in mind that a variance of 1/10 of a grain causes a greater fluctuation in velocity when the overall charge weight is lower. For example, a large magnum rifle round shooting 60+ grain loads is less effected by a 3/10 grain fluctuation than a 22 hornet shooting 10 grains.

For pistols and volume reloading I've never worried about being more accurate than plus/minus 1/10 grain. The only practical alternative would be to buy a highly expensive jewler's scale that can measure to 1/20 of a grain or better. I have not done this.