Powder Charge

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1. The quantity of powder contained in a finished round of ammunition.

2. The process of installing the above powder charge in the primed case, as part of the reloading process. This can be done in several ways. The most basic means of powder charging is the use of a dipper which has been calibrated to hold a specific quantity of powder. The dipper is simply dipped into the bulk powder, leveled, and the resultant charge is poured into the case using a powder funnel. The second, and most popular method of charging is the use of a powder measure, which is an adjustable device for dispensing a calibrated amount of bulk powder from a hopper. A third, and more precision oriented method of charging is to use a powder trickler to dispense powder directly into the reloading scale pan; when the correct weight of powder has been trickled, the charge is poured into the case using a funnel.

Whichever method is used, the most important tool in powder charging is the reloading scale. The scale is is a precision instrument used to calibrate and periodically verify the accuracy of each of the above methods.