How accurate is Dillon Measure?

[Oldbrowngun]

Hi guys, i've been doing a lot of research on presses. Looking at the dillon 650, the Lock N Load, and the dillon 550. I think i've settled on the 550 for various reasons. The only hangup I have is pretty much everyone says the dillion powder measure isnt very accurate. This is an issue for me, as what has prompted me to move on from my lee turret press is the auto drum measure I had on it was just a nightmare. The thing leaked eventually, but before that, it would still throw wild throws of up to a grain off. I definatly do not want to deal with this f rustration anymore. I have read the hornaday measure is excellent, but to be honest a lot of things put me off from the lock n load press, mainly the abundance of "Tweaks, fixes, adjustments, bug fixes" ect videos on the press. Im wondering from non-biased sources, honestly, just how accurate is the dillon measure? Variances of 1-2 tenths do not bother me. I just do not want half a grain variances.

[Hossfly]

My Dillon 650 has been spot on with throwing 4.8 gr HP38 for 9mm. From full to 1/4 full. I check about every 50 rounds or so and it stays on that 4.8, have the powder alarm on it and some times it gives a chirp and ill check weight and its right on. Did install a wheel to adjust amount but hardly ever touch it. This is with the small powder bar installed for throwing small amounts.

[Rick459]

shot at 100 yards loaded on a 550 from my ar open sights

[sigep1764]

Only .1 grain variances with Red Dot for me, if at all. Got two of them, one with the standard charge bar and one with the xtra small charge bar.

[Rick459]

i find that the Dillon powder measure meters ball and some flake powders very well. as for stick they are hard to meter even in my Harrell's powder measure. for stick powders i ues my RCBS Chargemaster 1500. forgot to mention the powder i shot that group with is 844 pull down powder from Hi-Tech Ammo using the Hornady 55 fmj Tula primers.

[EddieZoom]

Not sure where you got the idea that the Dillon's are inaccurate. My experience is the exact opposite while using typical pistol powders (Win231, Bullseye, Titegroup, VV N320). Dead nuts on...and stays that way.

[Reddirt62]

I agree with the above. Perfect on all but large extruded powders in my experience.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[JimB..]

Find both Dillon and Hornady to very consistent.

[toallmy]

I am pleased with my 550's powder measure .

[ioon44]

I started loading on a 550 around 1989 and get less than .1 grain or less variance depending on the powder, the skill of the operator is the biggest factor in powder throwing, you need to be smooth and consistence with the press.

[Petrol & Powder]

Hi guys, i've been doing a lot of research on presses. Looking at the dillon 650, the Lock N Load, and the dillon 550. I think i've settled on the 550 for various reasons. The only hangup I have is pretty much everyone says the dillion powder measure isnt very accurate. .............

I don't know who "everyone" is but I'm not included in that set.

I've had a Dillon 550 for well over 20 years and have loaded tens of thousands of rounds on it. There's nothing generally wrong with the Dillon powder measure.
With some powders it is extremely consistent. When running Bullseye or WW231 the weight is usually spot on or occasionally within 1/10 grain. I don't load rifle cartridges on a progressive press and I would be uncomfortable with a stick type powder in an automated powder measure. I also don't trust Unique in a powder measure but that's not a dig at Dillon, that's just me. The Dillon Powder measure works just fine and is durable.

Buy the 550 and never look back ! You will not find a better progressive press for the money. It functions as it should. They are extremely reliable and durable presses. Dillon is a great company to deal with.

I've used 650's and 1050's and actually prefer the 550 over the 650.

[starnbar]

I got the 550 and like people said it throws consistent but I don't run stick powders through it either ball and flake meters out fine stick powder not so good.

[mozeppa]

okay i'll tell you my truth.

i've never used the drawer type of measure. (and they may work fine .)

i have 2 dillon 650's and as a person who had to be a engineer on site and had to be correct every time, i liked
the look and function of the hornady powder measure (i have 12 of them)

i used mine and it was close (with SOME powders...not all) but not close enough.

i discovered that a few flakes of any given powder (...we'll say "red dot" ) would hang to the inside of the
measure body and i'd get a short powder throw ...then dump later with another throw making that throw
a couple 10th's heavy.

one thing about me is i'm anal retentive ...compounded by O.C.D.
what that means is ...while it technically is in the ballpark for most shooters...it will never do for me.

so i took the measure completely apart and to my surprise the inside was not machined smooth ...it
was a raw iron casting with all the bumps and bits of metal that comes with a raw gray iron casting.

so i bought a couple cylinder hones for automotive wheel cylinder brakes and spend some time at the drill press honing inside to a mirror finish.

polished it with diamond paste ...cleaned and re-assembled it.
even the drop tubes had tool marks and burrs...not anymore!

but to my dismay , perfection is not in the cards.

i found that the smaller the particle of powder (and uniformity in size)
meters much better. i.e. H-110...win296...aa#5 ...aa#7

conversely, i found that powders with large irregular shapes still metered poorly ...800x...700x

i v'e read on here people saying "my measure ALWAYS hits the mark EVERY time!" ( ....BULL****!)
they'll even show a picture of their scales showing it dead on to validate their lie.

lets say you are using red dot....
use a really good electronic scale put a charge of exactly 5 grains of powder in the pan and make sure it's exact.

now use a pair of tweezers and place one granule of powder in with your "exact charge of 5 grains" keep
doing the same thing until the scale reads 5.1 grains.

bet you'll find that around 10 of those tiny specks will affect your read out on the scale.

if the powder is in a climate where it is dry enough to hold a static electrical charge, then only 10 specks sticking to
the inside of the measure is enough to throw off the measure one tenth....20 or so specks and now you are 2 tenths off.

then on the next throw you get everything un-stuck and you get 5.2 grains .....it can be very frustrating to have
throws that are off 4 to 5 tenths and believe me that ain't much ! (try to to weigh out 4 tenths of a grain.)

compound that with most grain scales read to half a 10th.... mine reads to 1/5th of a 10th.

i.e. 5.10...5.12...5.14...5.16...5.18...5.20 grains.

this is why a beam scale is the most accurate scale in use... it only reads in exact weights not +or - parts of a 10th

now i realize i take my reloading to a level most pistol shooters would not.....
i actually enjoy my tedious way of doing my reloading....takes my mind off so much of other things in my life.

so in closing be safe and sally forth!

[Petrol & Powder]

I have OCD and ADD, everything has to be just right but not for very long

[Livin_cincy]

Powder shape type will dictate accuracy of throws.
Alliant makes a great number of Extruded powders while others focus on ball powders.

This is why many reloader's stick to a type of powder that works for their measure. Some powders lend themselves to being scooped and trickled to get a good charge.

I use a LEE AutoDrum and have not had leaking issues. I use multiple inserts and store the insert with the bullets to simply pull out the insert, add powder, and make ammo. I weigh on a Dillon Beam Scale and am amazed by the accuracy. I followed the LEE instructions completely and ran a pound of powder thru the measure to break it in. The insert needs tightened to the point were it does not leak and does not bind the vertical travel. I can feel the resistance and stop and reverse the knob.

[lightman]

The accuracy varies by powder type like most other measures. Mine is within 1/10th grain +or- with ball and flake powder. You might as well forget stick powder.

[garandsrus]

I load stick powder in a 550 and 650 all the time. The results on the target don’t seem to mind that a load varies by 1/10 or 2/10 gr. If you are loading 45gr of something, does .1 grn really matter? There are plenty of other variables that you are not controlling that affect the shot more than the powder charge variance.

Here’s a simple test. Load 10 rounds, 2 at your preferred charge weight and 2 .1 and .2 over and under this weight. Go shoot a group and compare the group to 10 rounds at exactly the charge weight you prefer. You won’t see a difference on the target.

Now go load up a bunch of ammo on the Dillon and practice!

[dogdoc]

I have multiple Dillons and they seem to as accurate if not more so than my rcbs uniflows and my hornady. Some powders like 800x do not work well with any. I reload mostly handgun rounds so most of my experience is with tradition pistol powders. A tenth or 2 is irrelevant in most applications. Hell, your scale is likely -/+ 1 tenth accuracy anyway.

[kungfustyle]

If any powder dispensing method threw an exact charge of powder every time there wouldn't be a need for 15 different powder measures. If any uses any type of volumetric dispensing there will be some variance, .1 grain is pretty small however. I don't think there is any, even an electric powder measure that is going to give you 100% exact every time. They will however give you very close throws. For a pistol cartage .1 is significant, but for most of us at under 25 yards it doesn't mater much. For a rifle .1 on a 27 grain load of CFE223 that's less than .3% change won't matter if you are throwing them into an AR and punching paper just as fast as you can pull the trigger. For a bench rest shooter trying to put 12 round in the same hole, well you aren't bringing your Dillon down to the range with you anyway. What do you want it to do? If you are looking at cranking them out +- .1 is good enough buy the Dillon. If you want accuracy trickle to a beam scale buy a set of die from L.E. Wilson and an harbor press. If you want both worlds buy both. More is always better anyway right?

[Blindshooter]

I've had good results with both Dillon and the Hornady on press measures. I do select easy to measure powders.
I have 3 Dillon, 1 old Lee disk, 1 Hornady and 1 Uniflow. Sold a Harrell's 15 years ago, I could tell no difference between it and the Uniflow.
Working up loads for rifles I found the ladder method worked for me, use the load in the middle of the "clump". That way if your measure misses by a 10th one way or the other it won't affect the group any or very little.
Good luck with whatever you decide to go with.