Weight vs Volume

[Lead pot]

You can make a powder drop drop very consistent charges by adding a muffin fan and cut some blades off for vibration and glued a cover on both sides with 1/16" plywood to eliminate air movement.
I use a fan from a computer what went the deep 6 blue screen and made a stand off on the hopper. I just raise the lever and let it fill the drop, dump it in a case and raise the lever while I seat the wad and compress the load by this time the charge has settled and it will drop right on, seldom will see 3/10 weighing it now and then. My old Redding will drop a lot more precise than the Lyman 55. But for a match I still weigh the charge. Just for assurance I guess but I see no difference at 200 yards the longest range I have for working up loads.

[Battis]

You could weigh out an amount of powder and then determine if its volume is too much or too little, or you could determine the correct volume (amount) of the powder and then weigh it.
I use a powder measure when loading black powder, for cap and ball or cartridge loads. I never weigh the amount of powder. The grain markings on the powder measure are a point of reference; This amount of powder as measured by the grain markings gives me the correct volume.

[Markopolo]

This thread has drifted into the twilight zone for the original poster...

[indian joe]

You can make a powder drop drop very consistent charges by adding a muffin fan and cut some blades off for vibration and glued a cover on both sides with 1/16" plywood to eliminate air movement.
I use a fan from a computer what went the deep 6 blue screen and made a stand off on the hopper. I just raise the lever and let it fill the drop, dump it in a case and raise the lever while I seat the wad and compress the load by this time the charge has settled and it will drop right on, seldom will see 3/10 weighing it now and then. My old Redding will drop a lot more precise than the Lyman 55. But for a match I still weigh the charge. Just for assurance I guess but I see no difference at 200 yards the longest range I have for working up loads.

I'm working with ungraphited powder - makes the process a bit more picky - am relying on the chrono to a fair extent testing - figure if I can stay inside 10 fps ES all should be well - can do if I am careful . Dont have and good gear as far as rotary measure or whatever. Is your Redding a BP measure or just a good old redding. I have a RCBS uniflow for smokeless.
Took me a while to get it what you are doing with that computer fan.

[rfd]

rfd, your powder scale must be a lot pricier than a Harrell to detect a 0.04 gr weight variation.

harrell's schuetzen for 2 to 25 grains, set for 3.50 grains of w231 and drops between 3.46 and 3.54 grains consistently for hundreds of .38spl throws, as verified on a gempro 250 scale. amazed the heck outta me, too. i'm sold on harrell's powder measures. ymmv.

[Lead pot]

Joe it's a old one made before what they have now, It's behind the swage presses. That drop drops a charge very consistently with just a couple flicks of the clapper to settle the powder in the drum.
I also use a couple 55 Lymans I keep set for a specific caliber and they don't get changed and they are fastened to the shelf with a vibrator. The 55 Lyman can be made to drop good if the fine adjustment slide is retracted so it does not sit past the course adjustment drum. When the fine adjustment slide plate is over the main drum it does not fill it the same for each drop because of a void that does not get filled under the slide.
Attachment 239257

[BrentD]

That picture is hilarious to me, Kurt. I had the same three presses in a row like that on my bench once upon a time. Now, only the green one is left.

The Lyman 55's went away too. They were not worth the trouble. I have a pair of Reddings - one for smokeless one for black. Not really sure why I need two, but I guess it is may way of being sure I don't drop 82 grs of Unique into a .45-70 case some day. The smokeless measure hardly ever gets used though.

[Lead pot]

LOL. The two presses on the right don't get used that much anymore. The brown press on the right gets used for stretching brass with the die that's in it I made for stretching cases from .30-40 into .40-70 cases or as a loading press. The blue swage I turn call bullets that drop from a cold mould into usable PP when the coffee can gets full. No use making double work just because the wrinkled bullets have to be thrown back in the pot I don't use the swage for .308 FMJ rebated boat tailed match bullets anymore or any of the other FMJ's I used for pistol bulls eye. I really don't know why I still keep that stuff because my cast bullets don't take the back seat to the swaged.

[BrentD]

Yes, that's why I sold my swaging presses. They fetched very tidy premium prices too. The wait list for them is so long, that the used market is sort of crazy.

[Lead pot]

Brent I have fishing tackle boxes full of dies for bullets the average shooter now days don't use or maybe don't even know what they are looking at as well as making jackets, case draw dies, case base reducing dies.
In the past I could not get bullets I wanted so I had to make my own, but now days it's a different story.

[BrentD]

Kurt, I understand exactly. I went through the same thing.