Powder Measures

[Odyssey]

I conclude after web research on various powder measures that none of the brands/models shine above the others specific to repeatability of all powder types, ball, flake, & stick. I am excluding the high end automatic electronic models.
My reloading is limited to pistol at this time, primarily .38 spl & .45 LC. I would like to charge on my turret press. My experience to date has been with the Lee Auto Disc Pro using both the Lee discs and Lee charge bar. I have run 231, Unique and Trail Boss. I find +/- 0.2 variation so, I usually weigh every charge or, no less than 1 out of 10.
Is monitoring the weight of every charge dumped in the case the world I need to learn to live in?

 

[SSL]

Personally, I think weighing every charge for typical handgun use is a waste of time UNLESS you are flirting with maximum loads and powders where extremely slight variances can cause high swings in pressure. With normally reasonable loads, regular spot checks should be fine unless you start seeing inconsistent weights.

 

[BoydAllen]

If I were you, I would look into a Harrell's pistol powder measure, for the small charges that you are using. If you know someone with a Lyman 55 measure, I would play with that as well. They are harder to set but once set they can do a good job.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Not much need in a progressive if youre going to weigh that many charges. If you cant handle .2gr variation you should look into a better powder dispensing system such as a uniflow mounted in the spot that lee is. You can also find a better metering powder

 

[Odyssey]

I have a Uniflow. I didn't observe any increase in consistency over the Lee Auto Disc Pro so I didn't go the next step to see if the Uniflow would function on my turret press. I can revisit the Uniflow to determine if my initial results were in error but, still suspect problem with actuating it on the turret press with the lee powder through expending die.
From responses, It seems I was overly concerned. I'll use the turret press as intended, find a powder with balance between consistency in the powder measure on press & performance in the case/gun and live with the charge variation inherent in the aforementioned setup. Safety first! Since the experienced reloaders here don't believe .2gr variation is an issue, I won't get hung up on trying to get my setup to do much better.

 

[powderbrake]

I load 38spl and 45 Colt on my Dillon 550's. I use the Lee Auto Disk pro on many all my pistol loads (38, 45, 9mm, 40 S&W). I do not load any of these near a maximum load, so after a check of the first load with a scale, I just load them all. (2.7 gr Bullseye in 38spl, 14.6 gr 2400 for 45LC in SAA). I have complete Dillon heads for each caliber, so I never have to adjust the powder thrower. Running a progressive press, and "knowing" the "feel" greatly lessens the chance of a double charge.
Spot checks are OK, if you discover a miss charge, do you throw out the last 10, or do you go back further?

I have found that most all my powder measures drop + or - .2 grains, so if you need better, you need a better scale and need to weigh every charge. I have tested my Dillon, Harrels, Niel Jones, Uniflow, Lyman 55, and they all eventually throw a load that is .2 or more off the setpoint. Now, that could be me, the operator, not the measure, but the combo of me and the measure is what I have, and if I NEED better than +- .2, I use my Fx120i thrower-trickler combo. I use this on my rifle loads for precision.

I agree with SSL above, and I think you have a very good combo for pistol loading.

 

[mikld]

I weigh every charge when doing a load work up, and sometimes, when bored, I'll weigh every charge. I have two powder measures I use the most, a Lee PPM (don't laugh or flame, I can hold less than .1 gr of W231 and Bullseye) and a C-H 502.l Both are vey consistent, depending on powder. I read a comparison of powder measures on the LASC site several years ago and the C-H was up near the top of the list with much more expensive measures. When starting a session I'll weigh at least the first 10-12 charges and if the weights are consistent, drop to one out of five. Some powders with a narrow charge "window" will get weighed more often and some I can go to fewer checks.

But I like reloading and don't mind if it takes me a bit longer to reload a box or five of handloads. No quota no rounds per minute minimum, just fun...

 

[Odyssey]

Thanks Powderbrake. I'm new to reloading. My primary concern is safety. To date I have loaded approx. 300 rnds .38 spl with Trial Boss, 600 rnds. 38 spl with 231, and 500 rnds .32 S&W @ 1.2gn unique for some old Lemon Squeezers. I weighed every .32 S&W charge on my Scott Parker tuned balance using a trickler as I wanted to be certain about these light loads in these old guns.
Fortunately, I have not discovered a miss charge as yet weighing every 10th rnd of .38 spl. If I did, I had planned to pull just the previous 10 rnds. Please let me know if that's poor practice.
The deliberate light Ken Waters, Pet Loads referenced .32 S&W load aside, I have been loading at starting loads for safety reasons. I'm good with +/- .2gn variation if those experienced in the hobby don't see it as a safety concern. If I broke concentration during press operation, and am not 100% sure of a charge, I pull the bullet. Thankfully, I have yet to find a double charge.
All my shooting is on paper at the range. I may go back to Trial Boss just as insurance against double charges in my 38 spl. & .45 LC. I am currently using the 231 as an attempt to reduce powder measure variation and use up a bulk of 231 I inherited.

 

[skeeljc]

Buy a Dillon 550 and sell the Hornady or just keep it for rifle reloading. The Dillon automatic powder measure is very accurate and reliable. Above all buy the Dillon dies for your pistol loading. They are super! Once you see how well the Dillon dies work you will sell your other dies.

 

[Odyssey]

Personally, I think weighing every charge for typical handgun use is a waste of time UNLESS you are flirting with maximum loads and powders where extremely slight variances can cause high swings in pressure. With normally reasonable loads, regular spot checks should be fine unless you start seeing inconsistent weights.

SSL Thanks for sharing your opinion and experience. Much appreciated. I loaded another 25 rnds this afternoon. 3.8gn was the target recommended starting load. I never got a charge above 3.80 or below 3.68. There is the whole other subject of scale accuracy/repeatability. I have two electrics and my balance. None of the three match exactly. As Long as I am staying below my target load by less than .2gns, I'm going to use the Lee powder thrower on the turret press as designed and intended. When I get to rifle, I'll use the balance and trickle as I shoot far less rifle and the turret press is not really suited for longer rifle brass anyway. I have a single station for the rifle rounds.

 

[Longtrain]

Progressive presses are a big plus when loading volume. In XTC days we loaded 223 ammo for 200 and 300 yard lines with a Dillon 550C. We actually used RE-15 and got very acceptable loads. XTC isn’t FClass or Benchrest, so, our loads were moderate and if they varied 2 tenths or so, we never saw it on paper. The 600 SF loads however were individually weighed.

Now, F Class is all I shoot and EVERYTHING is weighted ad nauseam. I do use a measure to get a gross weight of powder on the pan.

 

[searcher]

Unless you are bullseye match shooting or such, I'd not fret over .2 grain difference. I have loaded thousands of rounds in my stock Dillon machine that were used in .45ACP matches and I they shot as well or better than any factory match ammo - and I know my hopper had some variation - though usually around .1 grains. Using a super-fine powder is key to uniformity with powder measures, as is not allowing the hopper to run way down. Keep adding powder when down about 20% and you will see less variation from beginning of batch to end of batch. If your hopper is way off from one throw to another - change to a finer powder. I have RCBS, Dillon, Hornady (W/micrometer pistol accessory), a Harrell's and this holds true for all of them. So - I'd be inclined to change powders before buying another measure. If you feel that you must, I like the Harrell's.