At one point I had a Lee, 3br, and Harrell's. Hands down the 3br was the most consistent with extruded powder. I really wanted the Harrell's to be the best because of cost and quality, but no matter how I tried I couldnt make it beat the 3br.
Yeah, as a long range shooter I very much prefer the stick powders over the ball and flake powders, and I've never liked the way any powder throwing measure (including a Harrells) felt throwing charges and I still had to weigh each charge just to be sure.
So for H4350, RL-22, IMR4064 and H4831 (not the short cut) I use an RCBS Chargemaster. There were a few tricks to be learned, not a simple power strip but a higher quality power conditioner/filter, warm it up for at least half an hour prior to calibrating, program it to throw a charge a little slower, and ALWAYS close the pan cover when dropping a charge. Good enough for single digit ES and SD numbers with a 6.5 X 284, and low teens with a .308. Damn .308 just simply will not do single digit even with small primer brass.
fwiw & imho,
I concur that there is not a powder measure(dump) of ANY sort, culver or drum, that is going to throw an extruded stick to anything like the accuracy that a precision shooter is typically looking for out of his rifle. I have had two dozen custom rifles built by GA Precision, Tac Ops, to say nothing of MANY Accuracy International AWs as well as couple AX Rifles, and a number of smaller one man shop pieces that run from average to extraordinary(some exceptionally exclusive who build highly functional art) through the past 15 years. Only a few turned out to be ideal for a powder measure. THAT SAID IF you are going to buy a powder measure there is no way I would pay what Redding is charging for their measures when you compare them to a Harrells or the first measure I used from Neil Jones. I think the latter is far over priced at $500(respectfully) and I think the Reddings are also approaching the asinine for what they are and what they are charging... I'm not throwing my RCBS Uni-flow with the Micrometer Adjustment Screw out, because frankly, the majority of them throw CLOSE with extruded powder. They beat a spoon I'll put it that way... I've found the unloved RCBS Uni-flow to actually be super accurate when operated by the RCBS 2000 press. I think, smell smoke?, that operating the measure THROUGH the press you have may inconsistencies dampened out that might me more evident when running the measure by hand. Could be the extra vibrations of the other operations of the press helping the powder to settle more uniformly. In short I don't know, however, I can tell you it can work very well... Again not claiming stick powder accuracy...
Does it work well enough to load Long Range .308 Win/175 SMK on? Not using the powder I tend to prefer. That said the MOST accurate .308 Winchester I have ever shot was withM118LR Sublot A(box ammo), which I was told was loaded with a non-canister grade Winchester BALL powder known as WCC-750, and that was spooky accurate with my first GA Precision M40A1C. My first group at medium range, shot prone with a sand sock and a harris bipod, with a stock Remington 700 E Series LTR(20" barrel) put 7 rounds into 2.49" at 525 yards. The group was three inches right of POA due to wind, however, it seemed to group well for a factory rifle(whom everyone had given me grief over a short barrel), a 3.5-10x40 LR M1 Leopold Scope, and Brown Box Surplus Ammunition. I have never been able to get the subsequent lots with loaded with Reloader 15 to match Sublot-A...fwiw and sorry for being off topic...
I am a big fan of the Chargemaster 1500s. I own two... They feed a more precise scale that I use to trickle up to weight. Recently made a big jump with my "more precise scale" to a new German Sartorius Entris1S 64. It's an analytical balance offering .0000 grams and .002 grains(versus .005 grains for the old Sartorius GD-503) which MAY be more information that many want to deal with, however, it does put my old Denver Instruments Balance into perspective. I've been running the Chargemaster since it originally came out and thought they were IT until I found a lab balance that actually told me the weights they were throwing to. They were not BAD, however, a certain lack of resolution can be a beautiful thing. You can concentrate on wind and not something that it takes an $1100 balance, to say nothing of granite base, silicone vibration isolators, etc. to differentiate. I had a friend put the Chargemaster into perspective by having me bring mine into his lab(small private company) where he had several Sartorius Microgram Balances that started at $10K and went up, up, away. Too much information can ruin your simple view on the world.
In short you pays your money and takes your chances... I find that the vast majority of people are looking for an accomplice and NOT advice. Very few of us could honestly claim a complete lack of partiality. I've run the older Redding Measures and ONCE considered buying them when they were FAR cheaper and part of a kit. I think they, along with a lot of other things, have gotten too big for their britches... Only you can decide where you want to spend your money.
I think the Chargemaster, piece of Chinese junk with a 1 year Warranty that it truly is, is likely the best path for the average new guy. Most people shoot less than they think they do and hence most of the Chargemasters last longer than the warranty period. When they go tits up after a year the garbage can is the path. The only reason I like the Harrell's and an analytical scale is that you spend more, however, you wind up with more in the long run. That said Midway has the Chargemaster on Sale for $297, buy something RCBS to get you over $300, send in the UPN code as well as your receipt and you get a $75 check back. A Chargemaster for $225 is a lot of capability for the money...imho and fwiw...
Regards, Matt.
