Powder through die to powder measure adapter

[Bashby]

I dipped my toes in reloading 25 years or so ago, now Im getting back into it and trying to use some of my old equipment. I have a Lyman powder measure and a Lyman inline single stage press. I have been weighing each load of Unique or using a dipper with my Lee powder through die in 9mm. Im getting close to settling on a load so I want to use my powder measure now. I found I can buy an adapter to attach my powder measure directly to the die. (At least it appears it will work, i have an adapter to screw my measure into the top of the press)
Is there any reason not to mount the powder measure to the expanding die so I can charge and expand in one step?

[onelight]

You sure can do that on the press. But with a single stage press and a Lyman powder measure it might be simpler in the process to have the measure on its own mount and and charge the case on the way back to the loading block after flaring the case .

[Ickisrulz]

Lyman makes a nice power through expander set. It works well, unless your press tilts backward. In which case, not all the powder flows though the way it should.

[Bashby]

Edit: In response to onelights post....I thought about that but I would need to come up with a way to mount it. It has a little thumb screw clamp that doesnt open up enough to clamp to my bench or i can use the adapter to screw it into the press. If I had it on a separate station i could charge 50 at a time in a tray which wouldnt take much longer.

[OS OK]

I had that idea some years back and a friend made this adapter so I could mount the powder throw of my choice on the Lee powder through expander die and run that rig on my turret press.



This adapter screws into the die just like the Lee top does.

There is another adapter out on the market that will slip fit the Lee top...

https://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Adapt...J8ZDXFCSEHPCPY

[onelight]

I use my Lyman clamped to a 1X2 about 8" long and clamp that to the bench I can use it like this regardless of the die I have in the press.
but there are a lot of ways to do things the best one is the one that works for you.

[44magLeo]

I have a shelf above my bench. This shelf is just below my line of sight. I set my powder scale on this shelf so I can see straight on at the beam pointer. This lets me read the scale better. I mount my Lyman powder measure to the shelf in front of the scale. That way it's handy to use the scale to set the measure.
When charging cases I set in front of the measure/ scale. One block of empty cases mouth down, to my left. an empty block on my right.
Once the measure is set. I pick a case up out of the block to my left, Charge the case and set it in the block on my right. As I move along the block I check a charge on the scale after every 10th case.
After I get all the cases charged I can look down into the cases in the block to check powder levels. If any look low or high I can dump them and recharge. Once all are ready I slide over to the press and seat the bullets.
If you can't put up a shelf you can build a box to do the same thing. The box needs to be a bit wider than your scale and deep enough to mount the measure in front of it. Then tall enough to be in your site line. If you want you can clamp it to the bench to make it more stable.
When not in use the scale and measure can be stored in the box.
A bit of a tip, I take a few prescription pills. I found one had a cap that was a slip fit down inside my measure hopper. I took a 1/4" drill and drilled a hole near the edge of the cap, one on each side. I then dropped this down into the hopper open end down. This makes a great powder baffle.
A baffle supports the weight of the powder so only a small amount is over the slides in the measure. No matter how full the hopper is there is always the same amount of powder above the slides. This helps keep the charges consistent.
Leo

[metricmonkeywrench]

Me too... The left to right with the powder measure (RCBS on stands) in the middle minimizes the chances of a double charge and I also visibly inspect the tray looking of "odd" powder levels

[OS OK]

One of these old offset tall powder throw mounts is handy to put the throw wherever you need it for convenient operation...This one stays put mounted on the RockChucker press plate.



When it comes to the scales, especially the digital types that hate vibrations a separate mount for them is essential...either off the wall on a shelf as mentioned already or on a stand unto itself where the bench vibrations will not make it cranky & slow to weigh charges.
This stand pipe passes through the bench to a floor stand of it's own, it doesn't touch the bench at all.

I enjoy having the scale where I can look at it at eye level and this stand will adjust to face whichever press I'm working at the time. Here the old yellow plywood shelf is replaced with a roomy old cutting board I trimmed to fit. The base of the stand is leveled so that the stand pipe is plumb so that wherever the shelf faces it is plumb and level also.

I think in reality, the loading bench is always in a constant state of flux...either trying a new piece of equipment or trying some new method someone suggested, it's convenient to have things flexible and not so permanently nailed down.

[Blindshooter]

OS OK, that's a well thought out set up. Much better than my tangled up mess.....

[OS OK]

OS OK, that's a well thought out set up. Much better than my tangled up mess.....

Thanks but I didn't just think it up . . . my shop has been continually morphing for 45 years. I started out as humble as anyone here.

[Froogal]

I use a LEE single stage press with LEE dies. I built a bracket that allowed me to mount the powder measure on top of the press, lined up with a funnel setting in the powder through die.