Lyman 55 Powder Discontinued

[lightload]

Today while ordering 55 powder measure parts the Lyman rep told me that these measures have been discontinued. He said that there are some still in stock, and that they still have 55 parts. Calling to order is the best way. Their website seems not to be current.

[sundog]

Too bad, as that is a good measure. I have an older Ideal 55 that is the bee's knees for small charges of flake powder (BE, RD, GD, Unique, etc.).

[BigAlofPa.]

I bought one of the brass smith powder measures. Very happy with it. It impressed me so much. That i bought a lyman press too.

[lightload]

The told me that the traditional products are made in the plant where he answered the phone. Very nice man to deal with.

[sigep1764]

Am I wrong when I think that the newer BrassSmith powder measure is the same as the 55 measure?

[Shawlerbrook]

Luckily I have 2 and there seems to be many used ones for sale.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I have five of these measures. Two orange and three gray. I like them.

[lightload]

Am I wrong when I think that the newer BrassSmith powder measure is the same as the 55 measure?

They are different.

[Valley-Shooter]

I wonder how many 55's have been made?

I have 2 that I bought used. $30 a piece is a good price.

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[Pressman]

I wonder how many 55's have been made?

I have 2 that I bought used. $30 a piece is a good price.

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Thousands. Consider that the #5 started out in 1903 and that rotor will work in a 55 which dates to 1947.

[jimkim]

Good to know they have parts. I want to update the handle to the new model.

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[Green Frog]

I wonder how many 55's have been made?

I have 2 that I bought used. $30 a piece is a good price.

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My guess is about a bajillion! Yes, they are pretty easily found for $25-40, and probably will stay that way until the "collectors" start trying to buy them up as "investments." Good luck with that though, since it will be like trying to buy up all the sand grains on Daytona Beach! Come to think of it if prices spike I might have to sell a few of mine! ;)

Froggie

[Pressman]

Mr Frog Person Sir, if you need something to do I think a farewell article to the 55 would be really nice. [smilie=w:

[bedbugbilly]

Hate to hear that. I have three of the older / vintage ones and love 'em. I had four but gave one to a younger fellow I'm trying to get into reloading. Great measures for a lot of the powders I use.

[jmorris]

Should make the ones in existence more valuable.

I think a lot of the problems with them, like a lot of equipment, are people that just don’t read the manual to learn how to use the product.

I don’t know how many people that have owned them for years before they gave up and they never knew they had three leaves of movement to adjust the measure.

They would open one or two of the slides to get the charge they wanted, maximizing the surface area of the powder vs pulling all three open and fine tuning the other two.

Can’t say it’s shocking though, I’ll admit to having looked for glasses sitting on top of my head before, even a pencil I put behind my ear.

Doesn’t make me a complete idiot or stupid, just lacking in awareness. :)

[Green Frog]

Mr Frog Person Sir, if you need something to do I think a farewell article to the 55 would be really nice. [smilie=w:

I wouldn’t know where to begin, Ken. If we still had electronic access to the old project 55, someone could cut and paste, but to start writing now from scratch is beyond my abilities at this time. I could offer some random thoughts if one of the real writers wants to take on the project though. :coffeecom

Froggie

[Green Frog]

Should make the ones in existence more valuable.

I think a lot of the problems with them, like a lot of equipment, are people that just don’t read the manual to learn how to use the product.

I don’t know how many people that have owned them for years before they gave up and they never knew they had three leaves of movement to adjust the measure.

They would open one or two of the slides to get the charge they wanted, maximizing the surface area of the powder vs pulling all three open and fine tuning the other two.

Can’t say it’s shocking though, I’ll admit to having looked for glasses sitting on top of my head before, even a pencil I put behind my ear.

Doesn’t make me a complete idiot or stupid, just lacking in awareness. :)

As I said in Post #12, there were a huge number made, so with the high survival rate they experience, I seriously doubt the demand will overrun the supply any time soon. The only ones that will command a premium will likely be NIB examples, especially those from earlier runs. I feel safe to continue using mine without fear of losing any potential collector value.

Froggie

[Pressman]

I would like to find a last production model, NIB. If anyone knows of a distributor or dealer that has one please PM me.

[OS OK]

Too bad, it's a terrific measure if you know how to run one...

[Maven]

Broke my orange bodied #55 last year and called Lyman for replacement parts: None available, but they sold me a brand new one for $60 delivered. Maybe because they knew the Brass Smith was about to be released? Not complaining, but the first thing I did was replace the new one's innards (brass slides & carrier) with the old ones: It works perfectly with the same settings (I keep a notebook of these) and smooth as silk.

[jimkim]

I wouldn’t know where to begin, Ken. If we still had electronic access to the old project 55, someone could cut and paste, but to start writing now from scratch is beyond my abilities at this time. I could offer some random thoughts if one of the real writers wants to take on the project though. :coffeecom

FroggieI loved that site. I wish someone would put it back up. It had a wealth of knowledge on powder measures other than the 55 as well.

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[Mk42gunner]

Too bad, but honestly I've never bought a brand new powder measure. My first was an RCBS Uniflow with only the large drum. It worked great all the way down to 4.4 grains of W231 and up to whatever I was using in my .270 Weatherby.

I thought I was set for life. HA HA.

Then came the I Frame addiction. 2.5 grains of Red Dot didn't work with the Uniflow. But an auction buy for under $20 got me a decent 55, a little bit of cleaning and it works fine.

Robert

[lightload]

I would like to find a last production model, NIB. If anyone knows of a distributor or dealer that has one please PM me.

When I talked with the Lyman rep, he told me they still had some new 55 measures in stock. Don't bother with their website. Call direct. They have some parts but not all. When they are gone, that will be it.

[smithnframe]

I've heard the current Lyman stuff is made in China!

[car16]

My 55 is the only measure that will throw the small charges for 25 auto

[gpidaho]

I bought a couple of 55s on ebay and used them mostly for my shotgun slug reloading where 10ths are not important. When I started loading 32ACP I found they threw very accurate small charges of HP38. They are a much better measure than I first thought them to be. Gp

[dverna]

With the move to progressive presses for loading in quantity, and the inability to use the 55 on a progressive there will not be much of a demand for them.

I have two stand alone powder measures and never use them. For accuracy loads, I use the RCBS ChargeMaster and weigh every charge. If I had to load a few boxes of rifle ammunition during a power outage, the measures would be handy. One is my first PM so I will likely never sell it even if I never use it again. An old Bonanza (Benchrest?) measure.

Still sad to see a design that stood the test of time dropped. But the lack of a market has consequences.

[robg]

got an orange one i bought in 82 so far never had a problem with it .

[farmbif]

ive got a new one still in box somewhere, bought a whole bunch of Lyman stuff when they were clearing out the warehouse years ago. they work great for most powders, but for the hard to measure powders that task goes to the old belding and mull