Quick Measure vs Lee Perfect Measure vs GD503

[Scott Harris]

My family shoots 300 rounds/week in F-class and we always weigh powder to the nearest kernel with our GD503. Great system, but looking to speed things up for the 500 yard mid-range matches....hopefully without any accuracy degradation. So, I purchased a Quick Measure to try out since it is purported to be the most accurate powder measure available. I compared it to my existing Lee Perfect Powder Measure which is the most accurate I have found so far. Here is the test:

1. Used Varget and BLC-2
2. Threw 50 charges in a row with the Lee measure and Quick Measure with both powders and then got the actual weight using a Sartorius GD503 which is accurate to a fraction of one kernel.
3. Test setup shown below

Here are the Results (full results are attached below):

QUICK MEASURE LEE PERFECT MEASURE
BLC-2 Varget BLC-2 Varget
STD DEV(SD) .057 .111 .082 .121
3 x SD .17 .33 .25 .36

CONCLUSIONS:
1. The Quick Measure is better than the Lee across the board. Is it enough of a difference to warrant paying several hundred dollars more for the Quick Measure? You'll have to decide for yourself.

2. I use 3 x SD as a proxy for what you can expect as an extreme spread in your throws over the course of a 70 cartridge loading session. For example, I would expect a .17 grain (+-.085) extreme spread when using BLC-2 with the Quick Measure

3. Contrary to the claims, I do not consider the Quick Measure even remotely accurate enough to use with extruded powders. It is the best measure I have seen yet....still not good enough.

4. For my part, I plan to keep the Quick Measure and use it with BLC-2 for my 500 yard matches: keeping my fingers crossed that BLC-2 will work as well as H4895 and Varget. Combined with my Dillon 550B, this will cut my reloading time by 75%.

Tell me what you think!

 

[jameydan]

Scot,

Thanks for the great info. An interesting addition to the test would be a comparison with a Harrell thrower and a couple more powders. Perhaps a worst case powder like IMR 4064?

JW

 

[Scott Harris]

Jamey, I used to own a Harrells and found it to be less accurate than the $20 Lee I know own....hence the reason why I sold it. I don't feel the need to test a tougher powder to throw because Varget is supposed to be easier for a measure to throw and it did not produce satisfactory results. That said, the Quick Measure is the best one of the bunch....a little bit better than a Lee. As a side note, the BLC-2 acts like sand in the Lee measure.....gumming it up and making it difficult to operate the measure. The Quick Measure did not have this problem.

Scott

 

[bricktop]

As a side note, the BLC-2 acts like sand in the Lee measure.....gumming it up and making it difficult to operate the measure. The Quick Measure did not have this problem.

Scott

Mine did the same thing. The powder kept getting into the beveled drum area and leaking out everywhere. I tried tightening it down more to no avail - so tight that it almost wouldn't turn and it'd still leak. I thin the plastic just got the best of it. I got a hornady one for this reason, and I have been pretty happy with it. I don't use the thrower for precision reloading though, just for plinking ammo and pistol. For the precision stuff I use a lee scoop and an omega trickler.

 

[Rustystud]

I Have a quick Measure and use a RCBS ChargeMaster 1500. Get two pans and adjust the programing. It will neasure faster than you can and more accuratel.
Nat Lambeth

 

[jameydan]

Scott,

I use a Lee perfect for the short line 200-300yd loads and then weigh the 600-1000 yd loads. I shoot XTC and sling in LR. So, my requirements differ than your's. I use the Lee for extruded powders only and as you experienced it does not work well with ball powder. TAC was a mess and I needed to disassemble the thrower to clean it out.

I use a Redding thrower for ball powder, but hardly ever use it. I did a comparison with the Redding, a very old Lyman 55 and the Lee, and the Lee came out on top. While I did not have the benefit of using a 503 scale, the results were enough for me to get rid of the Lyman and use the Lee for extruded.

Thanks again for taking the time to do and report your test.

JW

 

[memilanuk]

Hello Scott,

I've been using a Lee PPM w/ my GD503 and an Omega trickler, as it seems to be about the fastest and most accurate setup short of a Prometheus that I can find. I kept my Harrell's around mainly for the occasional ball powders that won't work through the Lee. For me since I'm trickling up the extra $$$ for the Quick Measure seems like a waste... but I'm sure it has its place.

2. I use 3 x SD as a proxy for what you can expect as an extreme spread in your throws over the course of a 70 cartridge loading session. For example, I would expect a .17 grain (+-.085) extreme spread when using BLC-2 with the Quick Measure

Wouldn't it be +/-2SD (4*SD) for 95% confidence level or +/-3SD (6*SD) for 99.7% (assuming a normal distribution) - so more like +/- 0.17gn, or .34gn ES

Monte

 

[Scott Harris]

Hello Scott,

I've been using a Lee PPM w/ my GD503 and an Omega trickler, as it seems to be about the fastest and most accurate setup short of a Prometheus that I can find. I kept my Harrell's around mainly for the occasional ball powders that won't work through the Lee. For me since I'm trickling up the extra $$$ for the Quick Measure seems like a waste... but I'm sure it has its place.

2. I use 3 x SD as a proxy for what you can expect as an extreme spread in your throws over the course of a 70 cartridge loading session. For example, I would expect a .17 grain (+-.085) extreme spread when using BLC-2 with the Quick Measure

Wouldn't it be +/-2SD (4*SD) for 95% confidence level or +/-3SD (6*SD) for 99.7% (assuming a normal distribution) - so more like +/- 0.17gn, or .34gn ES

Monte

I use 3 SDs as a proxy for "just about all throws should be within this spread...99.7 out of 100 throws. Certainly agree with your numbers and listed .33 as the extreme spread with QM-Varget.

 

[Scott Harris]

Well, my test with BLC-2 at 500 yards was a failure. We weighed it with the GD503 very precisely. In spite of this, we had unacceptable elevation. So, I decided to send the quick measure back....another failed experiment.