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Powder measure frustrations

I have a RCBS uniflow that I have used for years, but I am not happy with its consistency. While I am not loading for absolute supreme accuracy, I like to have confidence in my ammo when i need to shoot a coyote at 400 yards plus. For a long time I would throw low and trickle up, but that takes considerable time, something I do not always have.
Today I was using my dillon 550 to load some 45 acp and it seemed like the measure was throwing very consistently with unique. So, I thought I would try to load some 223 with the dillon, I had to install a large charge bar. After well over an hour getting it "dialed in", i finally gave up. It would throw between 25.2gr and 25.9gr! So after that hour plus I have about 20 rounds loaded after I weighed each charge. Tossing the bad ones back in and throwing until I got a good one. Talk about a frustrating waste of time.

I have read about the chargemasters on here and it seems like they are slow. Or the Harrels, or the Redding, are they worth the money or should I just continue to throw low and trickle up?
Money is not the issue, if there is a thrower that will throw consistent charges, I want to try it.

I run a lot of different powders in various calibers, from unique and blue dot to 748 and 760 to imr4350 and imr 3031.
 
Consistency from a manual powder measure comes from technique. They aren't exact, but trial and error will get you close.
 
I use the RCBS for a lot of volume pd loading, I find it consistent if I am consistent in my throw speed and use a double tap at the top of the swing -

for real accuracy I use my culver Lyman conversion.

Bob
 
i used to think the uniflow was good. and then one day i started checking the charges.

i used to throw each charge, tap the handle twice and do the next one. but after weighing many charges i determined that the charge would vary significantly depending on how full the measure was, if i set it down between charges, and possibly some other variables.

but, the uniflow was WAY better than the dillon i tried today!
 
Just a "What if idea / question": I wonder if a double baffle in the thrower would help any? Set the upper one @ 90° to the lower one? This occurred to me when it was mentioned that the powder level variation seemed to affect the throw.
 
I use A-2230 in my Dillon loading .223/.223AI & it drops extremely accurately as long as I keep powder level above the baffle. Its worth the extra effort of keeping the powder topped up. I've weighed every 5th charge for 100 rounds and found little, if any, variation. (varminting use)
 
SpencerHenry -

Howdy !

IMHO:
If you can stand it, a good measure w/ a " Culver " style insert should do the trick.

Harrell's powder measures also oughta work, and they make a variety of capacities.


With regards,
357Mag
 
Try to find a load with a ball powder. I wouldn't expect any powder measure to throw consistent weights with a stick powder.

Hodgdon makes many ball powders suitable for the 223 plus many others.

https://www.hodgdon.com/rifle.html
 
spencerhenry said:
I have read about the chargemasters on here and it seems like they are slow. Or the Harrels, or the Redding, are they worth the money or should I just continue to throw low and trickle up?

Spencer,
Using a thrower is a lot like using airline miles instead of dollars. There is only one way to get the accuracy that you want and that is by measuring in grains, not clicks, dings or whatever. The ChargeMaster is a very good unit for the money. I use it to throw my initial amount and then I trickle up using a Sartorius Entris scale. Clearly you don't need 1,000 yard F-TR precision. But after the first time you use a CM you'll feel like the sky has opened up a beam of light shines down on you and thunder voice says "You've now entered the promised land."

After you've used a ChargeMaster for a couple of weeks you'll wonder why would anyone not use one. If my CM broke right now, I would buy another one tonight.

Kindest regards,

Joe
 
I agree with Joe R, iv had a chargemaster combo since they became available, if you want accuracy and consistency from your loaded rounds, a chargemaster is a great place to start, like joe said if mine died tomorrow touch wood, i would buy another. Mine has been going great and hasn't missed a beat.
 
Ball powders and fine stick powders can be thrown. The latter require more attention to get good results. For coarser powders it is throw and trickle, or Chargemaster. If you a bullet in each round right after you charge the case, and reprogram your unit to speed it up some, it will not hold you back much, if at all. For your Dillon, figure out a load with a ball powder and you should be in business. No measure throws coarse to medium stick powders as close as I require. I have a variety of measures, and I have loaded with a Chargemaster. If you want to learn some things that I have discovered about throwing powder, that I have not seen in print, PM me. I say this with some trepidation because fellows vary a lot in their willingness to follow directions.
 
Spencer, all the powder measures are about the same: doesn't matter whether you try an expensive Harrells or a cheap Lee. The accuracy you are seeing is normal: +- 0.50 grains over many throws with stick powders, a bit better with ball powders. The Chargemaster will get you within +- 0.10 grains. This is much better than any powder measure and more than you need for 400 yard shots. The next step up would be a high quality lab-grade scale, throwing low and trickling up. That will get to you +- 1 kernel.

Regards,
Scott
 
I have a Redding and it throws a decent load with stick powder. However , it never really throws a, "right on" charge. I have also found out that it gets closer the more powder I have in the tube and the baffle is about in the middle of the tube. So...With all that said, I always set it low and finish off with the trickler.
 
i went ahead and bought a charge master. cabelas for once actually had a better price, on sale for $279. I also had a $20 off coupon, and with points from my credit card i have an out of pocket of $22. the last time i used an electronic powder dispenser was in the late 90's. my guess is that the technology has improved!

i am not loading for supreme accuracy. most of my loading is for hunting rounds. i will go through only about 150 rounds of 223 for coyotes in a season. if shooting ground squirrels with the 17AH i will use 400 to 500 in a season, takes some time to load that many on a single stage, but i have not checked the dillon measure for accuracy with 1680.

the dillon measure sure did not like 748! works great with flake powder for the handgun rounds that i load.
 
Here is a link to a fellow's video that shows how he was able to solve a ball powder problem that his Dillon had. He seems to have completely solved the problem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqrNFEENY3E
 

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