bedbugbilly
05-22-2014, 02:42 PM
Please bear with me for a minute as I lay out what I'm trying to do . . .
I load 38 Spl and 9mm on a Lee 4 hole turret using the Lee Perfect Powder Measure slid into the powder through die by means of an adapter. My main experience has been with Bulls Eye - a powder I love for my 38s especially.
I am going to be playing with some 38 Colt Short and some 38 Colt Long brass (as I hope to get a 1872 open top Colt clone sometime in the future as well as "just for the fun of it".). In working up loads for these cartridges (and for my 38s) - I want to use some other powders "to expand my horizons". Right now, I have some Unique - want to get some Red Dot, HP38, etc.
First off - I don't load "hot" - I'm old and am pretty much a plinker and like target loads for killing cans, etc. As an example - when I work up a load for the 38 Colt Short - I will be weighing out my charges - starting "low" and do ten cartridges to see how they function as far as accuracy, etc. - the normal stuff for working up loads.
Once I get my loads down - BE, Red Dot, Unique, etc. - I would like to make a "dipper" for each powder/load. I'll be using spent casings of various sizes - 22 LR, .32, etc. to make the dippers - solder on a brass rod handle and fit a wood handle that can be marked as to what it is for (cartridge - powder type - charge weight). (I'll be doing this for my 38 spl. as well).
My question is in regards to "dipping". I know that "consistency" is the most important thing. I've read that some pour powder into a container, push the measure under the powder, lift up and strike off. I'm sure there are other methods. Since BE is the only powder I'm really familiar with . . .
Do different "powder types" (i.e. ball, flake, etc) "dip differently"? Are their different techniques that work better with one powder type than another?
With my Lee Perfect Powder Measure my loads are pretty consistent when I check them every tenth round as I load. I try to open and close the valve consistently each time I drop a charge but I still can get a plus or minus 1/10 grain weight variable at times. Not a big deal as I'm not loading near max. If I'm dropping 2.7 gr of BE for WC, usually it's right on 2.7 when I weigh a throw of it but sometimes it could be 2.6 gr. or 2.8 gr.
I know it will be a job of "trial and error" in getting the dipper volume correct for the grain weight - weighing, filling and trying in dipper case, dumping and filing down.
I know nothing is "perfect" - but can I expect a "dipped charge" of one powder type to have a greater variable in grain weight than another powder type? Or, will most powder types have pretty much the same variable of say plus or minus 1/10 grain the same as a mechanical powder measure might have - if all are dipped in a consistent manner?
In making a dipper (from a cartridge case or other "tube") is there one method that's better than another for establishing how much of the case has to be filed down to give the desired grain weight charge?
For 50 years, my shooting was all BP but that's dealing in "volume", not grain weight - at some point, I'll be loading the same cartridges with BP but I can easily make dippers for that by using my adjustable BP powder measure. I'd just like to be able to "dip smokeless powder charges" and be as accurate as I can. I enjoy doing things the "old way" at times and I'd like to have the experience of dipping loads and adding that skill to my reloading. I recently picked up an old Ideal 38 spl hand loader (plier loader) and I cast a 160 gr RN out of an original Winchester mold - I'd like to "dip" when using that loading tool for demonstrating to others at times.
Suggestions? Thoughts? Information? Comments? All greatly appreciated! I know there are a lot of folks out there who "dip" and I'm sure for them, it's "second nature". I'm sure that they also have "tricks" they've learned and I'd sure appreciate being educated on those. Many thanks!
I load 38 Spl and 9mm on a Lee 4 hole turret using the Lee Perfect Powder Measure slid into the powder through die by means of an adapter. My main experience has been with Bulls Eye - a powder I love for my 38s especially.
I am going to be playing with some 38 Colt Short and some 38 Colt Long brass (as I hope to get a 1872 open top Colt clone sometime in the future as well as "just for the fun of it".). In working up loads for these cartridges (and for my 38s) - I want to use some other powders "to expand my horizons". Right now, I have some Unique - want to get some Red Dot, HP38, etc.
First off - I don't load "hot" - I'm old and am pretty much a plinker and like target loads for killing cans, etc. As an example - when I work up a load for the 38 Colt Short - I will be weighing out my charges - starting "low" and do ten cartridges to see how they function as far as accuracy, etc. - the normal stuff for working up loads.
Once I get my loads down - BE, Red Dot, Unique, etc. - I would like to make a "dipper" for each powder/load. I'll be using spent casings of various sizes - 22 LR, .32, etc. to make the dippers - solder on a brass rod handle and fit a wood handle that can be marked as to what it is for (cartridge - powder type - charge weight). (I'll be doing this for my 38 spl. as well).
My question is in regards to "dipping". I know that "consistency" is the most important thing. I've read that some pour powder into a container, push the measure under the powder, lift up and strike off. I'm sure there are other methods. Since BE is the only powder I'm really familiar with . . .
Do different "powder types" (i.e. ball, flake, etc) "dip differently"? Are their different techniques that work better with one powder type than another?
With my Lee Perfect Powder Measure my loads are pretty consistent when I check them every tenth round as I load. I try to open and close the valve consistently each time I drop a charge but I still can get a plus or minus 1/10 grain weight variable at times. Not a big deal as I'm not loading near max. If I'm dropping 2.7 gr of BE for WC, usually it's right on 2.7 when I weigh a throw of it but sometimes it could be 2.6 gr. or 2.8 gr.
I know it will be a job of "trial and error" in getting the dipper volume correct for the grain weight - weighing, filling and trying in dipper case, dumping and filing down.
I know nothing is "perfect" - but can I expect a "dipped charge" of one powder type to have a greater variable in grain weight than another powder type? Or, will most powder types have pretty much the same variable of say plus or minus 1/10 grain the same as a mechanical powder measure might have - if all are dipped in a consistent manner?
In making a dipper (from a cartridge case or other "tube") is there one method that's better than another for establishing how much of the case has to be filed down to give the desired grain weight charge?
For 50 years, my shooting was all BP but that's dealing in "volume", not grain weight - at some point, I'll be loading the same cartridges with BP but I can easily make dippers for that by using my adjustable BP powder measure. I'd just like to be able to "dip smokeless powder charges" and be as accurate as I can. I enjoy doing things the "old way" at times and I'd like to have the experience of dipping loads and adding that skill to my reloading. I recently picked up an old Ideal 38 spl hand loader (plier loader) and I cast a 160 gr RN out of an original Winchester mold - I'd like to "dip" when using that loading tool for demonstrating to others at times.
Suggestions? Thoughts? Information? Comments? All greatly appreciated! I know there are a lot of folks out there who "dip" and I'm sure for them, it's "second nature". I'm sure that they also have "tricks" they've learned and I'd sure appreciate being educated on those. Many thanks!