Homemade dippers

[William Yanda]

I have vague memories of a discussion somewhere about the best ratio of width to height for dippers. I want to use cartridge brass, and some calibers are way to long for their width to work easily. Anyone else recall where I might have seen that? Perhaps Richard Lee?
Bill

[bangerjim]

I use 22LR and 9mm cases for custom powder dippers. Just solder the flash hole shut on the 9 while you are soldering on the brass welding rod handle.

45ACP would give you a big wide one that is not too deep.

banger

[jmorris]

I have only made two.

http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv5/qvideo/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20160117_174359_490-1_zpsa8qnxk0f.jpg

The 45-70 will drop 77 gn of goex 3f or 56.1gn of Pyrodex P.

the 38 spl will drop 23.7 goex 3f or 17.4 gn Pyrodex P.

[turtlezx]

non soldering . i use a zip tie to the case
can heat it with a lighter to bend at a angle you want

[country gent]

I make mine out of the appropriate rifle or pistol case to get close to what I want then file to size for just what I want. Mine are done quick and simple with copper wire. Strip insulation from a length of wire 6-8" long. Fold around case in extractor groove and bring ends together. In a drill motor or power screw driver twist to the desired hieght wrap one wire around each side of case and bring back together in drill chick and twist length together. Form loop handle and nip wire ends tight. I perfer rimless or rebated rims for dippers.

[blaster]

I have drilled and tapped some through the flash hole. Then used a machine screw and lock nut to make them adjustable.

[ThaDave]

Very cool stuff guys

[bstone5]

I make dippers out of 22 RF brass for the small cases such as the 32 ACP.

I sand down the case until the volume is correct for the weight desired. Soldier on copper wire for a handle.

Small volume dippers can be made from 22 RF brass very easily.

Dippers work well after a little practice.

[GhostHawk]

I have at least 7-8 floating around in my drawer. One is a 9mm that I put a couple of foam disks into the bottom to decrease capacity. Cut them out of a takeout container with the shell they went into. Set them with a tap from a dowel, checked size of charge thrown, added a target paper spacer between the 2 foam disks and rechecked again. Close, very close. Glued into place with half a drop of gorilla glue, let set for 24 hours.

It was throwing just short of 3 grains of Red Dot.
Grabbed a punch, gave it a tap, checked, whacked harder, rechecked.

Success! Grabbed a 6" piece of soft wire, wrapped around the base twice and twisted to make my handle.

I use masking tape on the far end of the handle to say what charge it throws of what powder.

Have used 9mm, 38 specials, .357 mags, .300BO, and 7.62x39.
About half of mine have soldered handles.

Powder measure is at this point pretty much left with Red Dot in it for the last year. Charge normally set to 4.6 grains as that seems to be my goto load for a wide variety of calibers.

So I tend to use dippers and weigh charges for everything else. Ohh and I keep a supply of used bounce dryer sheets handy so every dipper and handle gets rubbed with one before use just to help remove static cling.

I also like to use my chamfering tool to lightly bevel both inside and outside edges. No square edges for a few grains to balance on.

[44magLeo]

I have a set of Lee dippers. I like them for loading small lots of cartridges. Sometimes the load I want is between the sizes in the set.
I have picked up many different cases at the range. 45 ACP, 9mm, 32 ACP. These make good dippers. The aluminum Blazer cases work well and are not much good for other things.
I trim them to get the exact load I want.
I have several hand loading tools. A Lyman 310 tool for 44 Special/Mag. A Lee loader in 38/357. I use dippers with these tools. With my home made dippers I can load with the powder charge I want, not just the ones in the kit.
I plan on getting more loading tools like these for some of my other cartridges. When I do I plan on making dippers for the loads I like in them. These dippers will go with the sets.
With a bit of practice dipped loads are very accurate, maybe not as accurate as weighed or measured loads but accurate enough to shoot well.
Some of my most accurate 44 loads were made with the 310 tool and dipped charges. I think one reason for this is that the 310 dies neck size the cases. I set them to only size as deep a the boolit enters the case.
I set my standard sizes dies straight wall cases the same way, only size the case as far as the boolit enters the case.
Leo

[Artful]

Just wire wrap handle for me..
But a little better job than this one :lol:
http://up.picr.de/15413078lf.jpg

[Von Gruff]

Epoxy the cases to the cut off handle of old teaspoons. The one on the left was soldered but the epoxy was easier. I needed just a little more capacity on it so I flared the mouth just a little to make it exactly right.

http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv39/VonGruff/Cast%20bullets/001_zpsb2fe559b.jpg (http://s667.photobucket.com/user/VonGruff/media/Cast%20bullets/001_zpsb2fe559b.jpg.html)

[bedbugbilly]

I make most of mine pretty much like Artful does. I keep a small can of various size spent casings on hand - 22LR, 22Mag, 25 ACP, 32 ACP, 38 ACP, 9mm, 40 S & W & 45 ACP.

I load my 45 Colt with 6 gr of Red Dot. I made that dipper out of a 9mm with a spent primer in place. I can consistently drop 6 gr charges of RD with it which really speeds up the loading. The trick is "consistent" when dipping and striking off with any dipper.

I have a set of the Lee dippers but it just seems like there is never one that throws the charge I'm looking for. I do use them when weighing up individual loads to get the approximate charge and then use a trickle to get it exact.

I have also decreased capacity of a dipper casing but using leather discs I've punched out and glued in, the foam as already mentioned, etc.

There are some really nice dippers shown in the above photos. I like the idea of using the old spoon handles. I need to pick some up at a flea market to have on hand!

[Bullwolf]

Made this dipper for my portable hand loading kit.
A Lee Hand Press, that occasionally travels along with me in a laptop bag.

But instead of solder, I used a spot of JB weld epoxy to hold it all together.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=143327&d=1435735916

To make this dipper I trimmed down a 32 S&W case, and kept checking until it would scoop 3.5 grains of Bullseye. I attached the modified case, to a short piece of arc welding rod. (after peeling off the of the protective coating) The handle is a section of inexpensive round wooden dowel, that came on a disposable foam paintbrush. I sealed the wood by hand rubbing some Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil stock finish on it.

It's intended use is for 38 Special, but I still double check the dipper alongside of a small electronic powder scale to be sure. If you use the same technique every time they are remarkably consistent and repeatable.

Works well for me, and it hasn't come apart yet.




- Bullwolf

[Walter Laich]

Thanks to everyone for all the great ideas

Needed a dipper for 1.0 grain of Red Dot for some 32 S&W ammo I just got.

It's amazing how far down you have to sand a 22LR case to get down to 1.0 grain.

appreciate all the help

[kingstrider]

I made a few dippers using .223 brass for the handles which were quickly soldered using a torch. They clean up nicely in a tumbler.
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t138/kingstrider/gun%20stuff/dippers/photo%203.jpg
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t138/kingstrider/gun%20stuff/dippers/photo%205.jpg
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t138/kingstrider/gun%20stuff/dippers/photo%204a.jpg

[Any Cal.]

Those look sharp!

[caseyboy]

I have been making a few different sized dippers like the ones kingstrider made above. They work great and are straightforward to make. If my scooping technique is consistent, they are also very accurate.308808

[Winger Ed.]

I have been making

Show off.

Now I'm too embarrassed to show a picture of my cut off 12ga. hull with masking tape for the handle.

[stubshaft]

The OLD Dixie gun works catalog used to have the powder capacities of various empty brass cases.

[William Yanda]

Lee's book shows the capacity of cartridges in cc's for comparison, cartridge to cartridge.
Wow, is this a blast from the past.

[Shawlerbrook]

A lot of talented guys here. Need to make one for 1/2 oz of shot to load a few 410 shells. Any suggestions ?

[avogunner]

Here are mine. Made from 280 Rem cases and filed to about 1.7 cc capacity. I wish I could say I made them but they were in a box I bought at an estate sale.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230104/1ec399eea9e2e25c8ada354ebb273fce.jpg
Semper Fi


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[gloob]

I have vague memories of a discussion somewhere about the best ratio of width to height for dippers. I want to use cartridge brass, and some calibers are way to long for their width to work easily. Anyone else recall where I might have seen that? Perhaps Richard Lee?
Bill

In general, I feel like a dipper is more consistent as it gets taller and skinnier. For really tiny charges, I use small gauge brass tubing instead of cases. I want the aspect ratio to be at least 2 to 1, height to diameter.

The main problem with tall dippers is you need a deeper pot of powder.

I finally used up the last quarter lb of my H110 by using 2 little measuring cups to pour and catch the powder. I would pour the powder into the dipper over the catch cup. Then set down the pouring cup and fill my case. Repeat until the powder runs out, then pour the catch cup back into the pouring cup and continue on.

When I was finished, I had a quarter of a charge leftover for the trash. And 2 primed cases. I cut that pretty close.

[Sig]

A lot of talented guys here. Need to make one for 1/2 oz of shot to load a few 410 shells. Any suggestions ?

Not sure what cartridge to use but I can tell you the weight will vary depending on the shot size & composition.

[CastingFool]

I turned a bushing, to convert a 1-5/8 oz mec charge bar into a 1 oz bar. Of course, I worked in a machine shop, so it made it simple for me.

[Shawlerbrook]

Sig, I know the weight will vary slightly but if made to hold a 1/2 oz of #6 then the difference for 4,5 or 7 1/2 won’t be that much and in shotshells the volume is the most important.

[ebb]

I had not seen this post when I decided to make a dipper, I had seen some really beautiful dippers on this site and thought maybe I didn't want to spend the time or didn't have the soldering tools. So I just put a 9mm case in the drill press vice and drilled through the extractor groove from one side to exit on the other side. Used a 3/32 drill and cleaned up a piece of 3/32 brazing rod and super glued it in the hole.

[Duckdog]

I also made an adjustable dipper out of a small siringe. Works very good.

[Shawlerbrook]

Ended up lucking out and getting a like new set of the yellow Lee dippers for $12 delivered on Fleabay .

[Hondolane]

Epoxy the cases to the cut off handle of old teaspoons. The one on the left was soldered but the epoxy was easier. I needed just a little more capacity on it so I flared the mouth just a little to make it exactly right.

http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv39/VonGruff/Cast%20bullets/001_zpsb2fe559b.jpg (http://s667.photobucket.com/user/VonGruff/media/Cast%20bullets/001_zpsb2fe559b.jpg.html)

Well done! I see how I'll do mine.

[725]

I've made a few. Usually I take a case of the approximately correct volume and wrap a significant wire around the extraction groove and spin the wire twist all the way to the end. Coat the entire wired area, to include the wire "tail" with epoxy and let it dry. Then drill a hole into the end of a "right sized" wooden dowel to receive the wire tail. When the first glue dries, I re-glue the hole and shove the tail in. Voila - a dipper. Volume adjustment follow by belt sanding the mouth of the case as needed.