2 Attachment(s)
LEE Dippers: Old (Black or Red) powder dippers vs New (Yellow) powder dippers
"I use both the old red dippers and the new yellow dippers. Using the red ones often allows you to get powder weights in between the yellow dippers. If you use the yellow dippers, try to get a old red set to use with the yellow set"
That is a quote from an archived thread. I was looking for a chart for the old dippers, to compare the volume to the new Yellow CC dippers.
The history is well documented, LEE went out of business, and he started over. His old cubic inch dippers, made of black or red plastic were replaced with cubic centimeter ones.
I couldn't find a chart, and to make the conversions easier I used an Excel speadsheet to come up with a comparison chart. After all it's just maths, convert cu to cc (and it helps if you keep the decimals right).
Here is a chart that shows the old dippers cu marking and their equivalent cc.
Attachment 120974
The formula is ((old dipper #)/0.061024/1000)
And if you compare the cc, indeed you discover that the volume of the old dippers falls between the volumes of the new ones.
I used the VMD chart in the back to make a list for the powders I use.
And the formula is ((cc of dipper)/(VMD of the powder)). The VMD is from the LEE "Modern Reloading" manual, pages 704 and 705.
IF you use a consistent method for your dipping and striking off or shaking off the excess, they can be surprisingly consistent, and It only takes a couple of seconds to check the weight with a digital scale. Digital scales are pretty cheap, as are a set of dippers. There are tons of old dipper sets out there, I picked up 2 at a gunshow the other day, 5 $ for one that was incomplete and 7$ for a complete set that was almost unused.
I use them to update old LEE and MRC loaders, and those are cheap at gunshows also. Most of the parts are available from LEE, Sizer body is not, and reasonably priced. Some of the kits I just use for parts. After I get them cleaned up, I sell them, so I can buy more. It's a hobby.
Attachment 120983