Demo of a Lyman Gen6 with Varget

[jimbo88mm]

I figured some folks would be interested in seeing how the Lyman Gen6 performs with a common powder like Varget. Here's a short video I posted early today on youtube:

Updated to add imr 8208 xbr:

If anyone is interested in seeing how it performs with other powders let me know. My current powder inventory also includes:

Ar Comp
imr 4064
rl-15
h1000
imr 8208 xbr
imr 4451
rl-17

I also have a pound of cfe223 but I wont run it in the Gen6 after already trying it once. The powder is very fine and the little ball kernels get caught in the bushings.

 

[Martin52]

If anyone is interested in seeing how it performs with other powders let me know. My current powder inventory also includes:

How does it go with 8208 ?

 

[jimbo88mm]

How does it go with 8208 ?

I have yet to try it with 8208 but I can give it go tomorrow. I suspect it will do well since the kernels are smaller.

 

[Twoboxer]

Interesting. It looks like it stops dispensing when it first hits the target weight, without (m)any programming tricks to compensate for fluctuations in the scale. As the powder hits the pan it will seem to weigh more than it actually does due to the speed of its fall. That probably explains why 50% of your throws are light . . . like Adam's Autotrickler it will stop dispensing when within 0.1gr of target.

Far less frequently (at least with Varget) the dispenser will overflow trying to get the last tenth or two into the pan and that could explain the small number of overweights you experience.

The reason it's "interesting" to me is my Chargemaster acted a bit differently. Its programming seemed to hold to a stable displayed weight rather than display the flutters the scale is actually reporting. So while the finished displayed weight is quite often on target, the actual weight is not . . . at least according to a much better scale.

Personally I'd prefer (what appears to me to be) Lyman's approach.

 

[John Russell]

How does it go with 8208 ?

There is a thread on Benchrest Central, about the Gen6 doing very poorly with fine grain powders. The poster contacted Lyman and the company's "Tech" Tom Griffin was remarkably unknowledgeable and unhelpful.

There was a survey on one of the shooting sites, on the major reloading tool companies, and Lyman's customer service came out to be the worst in the industry.

http://benchrest.com/showthread.php?93729-Lyman-Gen-6-powder-measure-flaw

 

[jimbo88mm]

There is a thread on Benchrest Central, about the Gen6 doing very poorly with fine grain powders. The poster contacted Lyman and the company's "Tech" Tom Griffin was remarkably unknowledgeable and unhelpful.

There was a survey on one of the shooting sites, on the major reloading tool companies, and Lyman's customer service came out to be the worst in the industry.

http://benchrest.com/showthread.php?93729-Lyman-Gen-6-powder-measure-flaw

Interesting thread, a lot of guys having problems with it over there. Lyman includes a couple of extra seals/bushings so I suspect they are aware of the issues with fine grain powders. The one time I ran cfe223 through it I could tell some of the powder was binding up in those seals. After that session I could see a bunch of little kernels wedged in. I was able to get most of them out. It's been over a year and I'm still using the original seals. That said the finest powder I run through it on a regular basis is AR Comp. It will be interesting to see how mine 8208 works.

 

[jimbo88mm]

Ran a test with the 8208 xbr today (video in OP).

It ran fine. I inspected the seals/bushings afterwards and I didn't see any powder kernels stuck in there. Granted this was just a short test of 11 total charges but at this point I wouldn't have a problem running this through my gen6.

 

[JamesnTN]

That's not a real test, you need a scale that'll resolve half the resolution of the Lyman scale. Other words the Lyman resolution is +/- .1 grain you need a test scale to check that's +/- .05 grains or better yet +/- .01 grains to get a real accurate weight charge of what the scale actually weighs.

Just because it dispenses and shows 24.3 grains that doesn't mean it is.

 

[jimbo88mm]

That's not a real test, you need a scale that'll resolve half the resolution of the Lyman scale. Other words the Lyman resolution is +/- .1 grain you need a test scale to check that's +/- .05 grains or better yet +/- .01 grains to get a real accurate weight charge of what the scale actually weighs.

Just because it dispenses and shows 24.3 grains that doesn't mean it is.

Never meant this as a scientific test. It's just a demonstration to show how it handles mechanically dropping different powders.

In regards to the scale itself, I have a gempro 250. When I first got the gen6 I had both running side by side, using the gempro as a check against the gen6. This proved to be unessary after the first couple of tries.

For me, the real test for repeatability is consistent velocity and performance at the range. All my dialed in loads have a standard deviation of ~10fps.

 

[Martin52]

Never meant this as a scientific test. It's just a demonstration to show how it handles mechanically dropping different powders.

Agreed, I too check my Gen 6 --- in my case with a FZ300. The Gen 6 is rarely (1 in 50 maybe) above the selected powder weight, it's usually under but no more than 0.1 gr, but hence the check, particularly for the longer range loads. Thanks for the comment re 8208 ! I find the combination of the Gen 6 and the MFR scale to be accurate, time efficient and at a reasonable price. The Gen 6 is auto dispensing whilst the FZ is checking.

 

[Fotheringill]

Demonstration is fine and thank you for it.

I sent mine back to Brownell's. It was either over or under and rarely on target and a comparatively PITA to clean. If I wanted to trickle, I would not have gone the way of electronic dispensers and scales.

 

[Pwhite11798]

I have been using the gen 6 for a while now and does throw loads .1 light a lot. I have found for the ball powders the straw trick, a small straw, small enough to fit in the reducer pushed back to the cut out to let powder in the tube makes it a lot more reliable but with extruded I have not really tried to find a fix. I use it to despence and then finish with lab grade scales.