Lee scoops- older sets

[metricmonkeywrench]

OK now i'm intrigued, I own a set of yellow Lee scoops. I have seen pix of black scoops around and now today i saw a red set. I do get that there may be an age difference to the sets and the slide chart may show different powders as they came and went, but....

Is there a difference in the scoops or are the colors arbitrary and they are all the same scoop sizes?

I see pix but none are clear enough to read the measurements.

[schutzen-jager]

black was first issue, with red being second - they are different calibrations - i have both red + yellow + they fill most all of my measuring requirements - they can be very accurate if used properly -

[15meter]

There was cubic centimeter and cubic inch I believe. Which was what I'd have to dig out a red, black and yellow to verify which was what.

[TNsailorman]

Actually aluminum scoops were the first issue. I have several sets of them. Lee scoops register by volumn, maybe. The plastics I never fooled with. james

[wasa]

I have a set of the red ones and the yellow ones. I found this chart on here years ago (sorry - don't know who to give credit to) with the "old" being the red ones and the "new" being the yellow ones.

I love them - use them for reloading handgun, rifle, and shotgun.

https://i.imgur.com/6HmIybP.jpg

[schutzen-jager]

Actually aluminum scoops were the first issue. I have several sets of them. Lee scoops register by volumn, maybe. The plastics I never fooled with. james

never seen or heard of them - picture please -

[Green Frog]

I have all three colored plastic sets… they are slightly different, and can used to get “pretty close” to any charge you want. I have seen individual metal dippers in various very early sets, but I was unaware that they were ever available as a complete sets. To be honest though, I seldom use any of them, preferring to use Bair/Pacific, TCBS, or Lyman measures that utilize fixed cavity rotors, especially for loading batches of over 50 or 100 rounds.

Froggie

[racepres]

I have more than a couple set.. I generally ignore the "Chart" for various powders...and simply weigh a Few to get where I want to be...Then Go... I use them every time I go into the loading room!!

[TNsailorman]

Here you go, 45acp and 30-30. I don,t believe Lee made them except 1963. I have a set for every rifle or pistol or revolver I have. James. 318329

[jdgabbard]

I have a full set of the Red Scoops. Not sure when they are from, but they are definitely older. And in my experience are not accurate on charge weights according to the built in lookup card. With most scoops being a bit light for a given powder charge. I can take a picture when I get home. It comes in a long square cardboard box with a bunch of scoops and slide card lookup table.

[jdgabbard]

Actually, I just found a picture of the old scoops online.

318330

[metricmonkeywrench]

I have a set of the red ones and the yellow ones. I found this chart on here years ago (sorry - don't know who to give credit to) with the "old" being the red ones and the "new" being the yellow ones.

I love them - use them for reloading handgun, rifle, and shotgun.

https://i.imgur.com/6HmIybP.jpg

Think i see it, a yellow and red set will get you most everything- Need some industrious feller with all the sets to fill in the blanks on where the black set falls in

Think the two other sets (black and red) are now in my hit list right behind the cardboard dots for RCBS die sets

[schutzen-jager]

Here you go, 45acp and 30-30. I don,t believe Lee made them except 1963. I have a set for every rifle or pistol or revolver I have. James. 318329

i have some also, i do not think that lee ever made them available in measuring sets, like the black, red, + yellow -

[TNsailorman]

You are right about them not being made with a volume/cc measurement. They were marked as M, X, or some other marking such as the 410 and were only intended for the powder and weight listed on the data card. I have never seen a listing that tells you the internal capacity of the older metal scoops. The later plastic scoops are more usable for the reason they are marked in volume or cc weights and therefore cover many powders and not just specific powder as listed on the metal scoops. I do have a black plastic set that I use also. my take anyway, james

[deces]

Think i see it, a yellow and red set will get you most everything- Need some industrious feller with all the sets to fill in the blanks on where the black set falls in

Think the two other sets (black and red) are now in my hit list right behind the cardboard dots for RCBS die sets

That is a nice graphic to print out for quick use in the box, do you have one with all 3 versions, Red, Black & Yellow?

[metricmonkeywrench]

My post with the table was a reply to wasa and it looks like he got at least the initial chart here:

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?258428-LEE-Dippers-Old-(Black-or-Red)-powder-dippers-vs-New-(Yellow)-powder-dippers

More info Here
https://support.leeprecision.net/en/knowledgebase/article/black-and-red-powder-dippers

I don't have any info in the sizes that were in the black kit, that darn work thing keeps getting in the way of the good stuff. Perhaps someone has a full black kit and can post the contents.

Definitely in the way back machine zone for old posts....

[jreidthompson1]

This also seems to indicate that the red/black dippers were the same

https://www.lee-loader.com/viewtopic.php?t=2063

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[magnumuser]

has any of you guys with fancy digital powder measures TRIED to verify the accuracy of ANY version of these lee dippers?

I honestly believe that the person coming up with the charge table doesnt know how to count.

[M-Tecs]

https://support.leeprecision.net/en/knowledgebase/article/black-and-red-powder-dippers
The red or black powder dippers were made by Lee Custom Engineering. Lee Custom Engineering went out of business in 1988. For the whole story, read Richard Lee's article in Handloaders Digest, 17 th. ed. Lee Precision does not have service parts for those tools. The old red or black powder dippers were measured in Cubic Inches. To convert the old dippers to the new yellow dippers measured in Cubic Centimeters, you would have to use this conversion equation is as follows, or purchase new. http://leeprecision.com/powder-measure-kit.html

To convert Cubic Inches to Centimeters use this formula:

Cubic Inches x 16.387 = Cubic Centimeters

[BP Dave]

Some of the black ones are also pretty big. I have a few ranging from .290 cu in to .579 cu in, which hold from 69.8g to 139.5g of black powder, or 1oz to 2oz of shot.

In comparison, the largest yellow one I have is 4.3cc, which equals .262 cu in and holds 63.2g of black powder.

[Mk42gunner]

I have a complete set of yellow Lee powder dippers, and have given up on finding a complete set of red ones. The only black ones I can remember seeing where meant to measure shot in the Lee Loaders from the mid seventies.

I did have a 12 ga Lee Loader that had an adjustable aluminum shot measure for a short time, but I never used it.

Anymore, I make my own dippers from a fired cartridge case with a soldered on handle. I use a case trimmer to adjust the volume until it throws what I want with my technique.

Robert

[jdgabbard]

I have a complete set of yellow Lee powder dippers, and have given up on finding a complete set of red ones. The only black ones I can remember seeing where meant to measure shot in the Lee Loaders from the mid seventies.

I did have a 12 ga Lee Loader that had an adjustable aluminum shot measure for a short time, but I never used it.

Anymore, I make my own dippers from a fired cartridge case with a soldered on handle. I use a case trimmer to adjust the volume until it throws what I want with my technique.

Robert

The reds aren't too hard to find - I just used my set yesterday... I see them pop up on eBay fairly often. The blacks are the ones I never see....

[Mk42gunner]

The reds aren't too hard to find - I just used my set yesterday... I see them pop up on eBay fairly often. The blacks are the ones I never see....
If I happen to see a set some where at what I think is a decent price, they will more than likely come home with me. I just hate to pay more in shipping than what the merchandise costs.

Two specific loads that Lee dippers didn't work for me were 16 grains of 2400, and 2.5 grains of Red Dot.

Robert

[swamp]

I have all three of the sets. Pretty much cover any charge I need. Always weigh the charge. The dippers seen to be light on the rated weight of dipped charge.
swamp

[Texas by God]

I have a set of red ones and a set of yellow ones. Unless I’m loading more than 50 rounds, that’s what I use if the load is listed.
And I have a few home made scoops too.


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[curiousgeorge]

I have a set of yellow dippers with the box and chart and a complete set of the black dippers in the box with the chart. I've used both sets a little over the years, but due to the weights never being quite right, I have always relied on a pair of RCBS powder measures to get things correctly charged. It only takes a minute to adjust them and in my experience are extremely accurate with most flake and ball powders.

[Mk42gunner]

I just realized something that I have known for years. I don't rely on the listed powder charge in the Lee slide rule like chart, and haven't since I bought my first powder scale. I think the last time I did that was when I was using Herco in both .410 and 20 gauge in high school.

I am more likely to use a dipper into a scale pan than to blindly accept that my dipping technique is anywhere close to whoever figures it out for Mr. Lee. After I know what my dipper throws with my powder, then I will start charging cases.

Robert

[gnappi]

Boy, I have my yellow scoops for ages and the red and black must have been made before Methuselah's time :-)

[Mk42gunner]

I think the yellow sets came about in the 1990's. First there were 12 or 13 dippers in the set, not much later it went to fifteen IIRC.

Robert

[ulav8r]

The set I bought in 1968 was black.

[schutzen-jager]

found this in my reference archives -

[Bmi48219]

The set I bought in 1968 was black.

I bought mine around the same time, still have them and my in the black & red box 12 gauge classic loader kit. It came with a black scoop and adjustable aluminum shot scoop marked for shot (ozs) and black powder (drams).

[Milky Duck]

has any of you guys with fancy digital powder measures TRIED to verify the accuracy of ANY version of these lee dippers?

I honestly believe that the person coming up with the charge table doesnt know how to count.

the yellow ones throw pretty darn close to spot on with all powders Ive tried...... all in how you scoop n level it off.... I usually go one scoop smaller and trickle up last half a grain... too easy.