Considerations when selecting a manual powder thrower

[jlorenzo]

What throwers have you guys have good experiences with? There are always nuances when selecting a particular piece of equipment and Im just looking to hear your guys experiences. Looking to try a manual powder thrower to shave some loading time. I have a Franford Arsenal Inttellidropper which works very well, but want to have a manual thrower on hand to use with established loads. Are the "benchrest" ones worth the extra cash?

 

[skeeljc]

I sold my RCBS Uniflow and bought a Harrell's Premium BR measure. The Harrell's does a little better with small stick powders like Vihtavuori N133. I like the click adjustments.

 

[One Eye Pete]

Have to agree with skeeljc above. Harrell's is the best one of the five I have. It is by far the smoothest and the easiest to adjust. It is also as accurate as any of the others. The only downside is it isn't cheap but good ain't cheap. Buy good and buy once.

 

[pirate ammo]

A while back it wasn't what you wanted but what you could find. My RCBS Uniflow doesn't work so good with stick powders either.

 

[caihlen]

Harrell's or Neil Jones.

 

[jlorenzo]

Not sure if it matters but I will be loading .223 with heavy bullets and .308 with lighter bullets, so I use a lot of medium speed stick powders like Varget, N140, RL15, TAC, etc.

 

[DiffEQ]

When I had a Hornady LnL AP, I would use the powder throw separately if using ball powder. IMO, the thing sucked with stick powders and could be super finicky with some flake pistol powders.
For ball powders, I use a Lyman 55 Classic - it consistently drops within .2gr. If it's plinking ammo like 223, I won't bother with trimming to set weight. It really struggled with some stick powders.
Found a used Belding and Mull powder drop and fashioned a powder measure from one of my muzzle loader brass measures. With ball powder, it's consistently balls-on every time, so much so that I haven't used the Lyman since getting it. With stick, because the stick length affects settling, I can be +0 to -.3gr off on my measure, which is then great for trickling up.
The Belding and Mull drop, picture taken from a flea-bay offering. Found mine for $35 in the back of a gun shop.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

If your looking for a deal, I like this one real well for my pistol powder. I don’t see why it wouldn’t work for other types.https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1019622550?pid=443812

 

[epc308]

I have a Belding and Mull, and a Redding BR3 With both large and small micrometer reservoirs. Both seem to fill the bill for me, and have for 30 years. The Redding is easier to adjust, but both seem to be equally accurate.

 

[tominboise]

I have a Belding and Mull, and a Redding BR3 With both large and small micrometer reservoirs. Both seem to fill the bill for me, and have for 30 years. The Redding is easier to adjust, but both seem to be equally accurate.

This matches my set up and my experience.

 

[1bamashooter]

Neil Jones or just get the auto trickler V4

 

[RegionRat]

I don't shoot BR, but I do shoot HP and I varmint hunt so I load at the range with a powder measure.

I was shocked at the performance of the cheapest one I own.

I have throwers from RCBS, Hornady, Redding, and Harrell's.

The Lee Perfect Powder Measure throws as good or better than the much more expensive units. It runs about $30 and for that price it is so cheap you can't afford not to try one just for fun.

 

[acloco]

MUST have a baffle in the powder reservoir.

MUST keep at least 1/4 of the reservoir full when loading.

MUST have the same, repeatable stroke when dispensing.


I run RCBS/Hornady/Redding (several flavors), Harrel's, and a Belding & Mull.


The three listed items are the main contributors to variation.


Long stick powders add a fourth dimension as well. 3031 is a son of a guuuuun to load.

 

[Hohn]

The problem I have with most powder throws is that no matter how much you spend, you don't really gain accuracy. They all meter the same basic way using a fixed volume. They will all cut kernels of larger grained extruded powder. Nice sealed ball bearing or crude shaft clearance, it doesn't seem to matter to consistency. It comes to your technique more than the tool.

So when you pay $250 for a nice one or a $60 for a Lee, you don't gain any real performance, you just feel better as you use it. Is that worth it to you? Not to me. I'm using the newer Lee that takes their auto-drum inserts and it will generally throw in a 0.2gr window (plus/minus 0.1gr). Swapping drums is easy. It comes with a Hodgdon bottle adapter for direct flow.

I throw bulk charges with it and trickle up and am pleased with the balance of speed, accuracy, and cost.

 

[wkdickinson]

I agree with Hohn. Several years ago I did some extensive weight studies using two RCBS Uniflows and a Lee Perfect powder measure. I used to think I could "throw" pretty consistent charges and I found out I can't. I actually found the Lee to be more consistent than the Uniflows. I think it is the rubber wiper they use. As noted above there are techniques that help, powder baffle in the Uniflow, consistent amount of powder in the measure, consistent "tap" routine. But neither were good enough in my opinion, at least for what I am shooting now.

That said, I did make Master-classification in NRA High-Power, with all thrown charges, from those measures.