Need help identifying shot/powder measure

[strangwn]

I need some help identifying this powder or shot measuring and dispensing device. The working end of it is all cast/machined aluminum attached to a threaded steel rod. The aluminum disc that contains the measuring cavity flips, with the touch of a finger, back and forth very smoothly between the bottle spout and the discharge funnel. The remainder of the aluminum portion of the device is solidly attached to the rod. The steel rod is ½” dia x 9 ½” long and the threads are ½” x 13 with a threaded length of 3”. A standard MEC bottle will screw right into the coarsely threaded bottle spout. The powder/shot measuring cavity is 13/16” ID and the inlet end of the funnel is ¾” ID. I assume this measuring cavity is designed for a straight bushing with a 13/16” OD. The discharge end of the funnel has a 9/16” OD indicating it is for 12 gauge. A 20 gauge shell will not fit over it. If this is for a Texan setup, then it must be for powder because the Texan shot bushings that I had were 7/8” OD while the powder bushings were 13/16” OD. I don’t have one now to see if it would fit.
My questions are these. Who made this and when? Is it part of a shotgun press or is it a stand-alone device that would be mounted to a heavy base or to a bench? Does it use bushings? Does it have any value?

[Pressman]

That thing looks to have had a hard life. I hate to find reloading tools treated like that. It was made by Pacific. It uses a one pound, Dupont -type powder can, they were all steel back then. At least you have the drop tube, too often it is missing. It came with a chart showing adjustments for specific charges of slected powders.
Ken

[Green Frog]

This looks like a unit that was made back in the '70s by Pacific or Hornady, if memory serves. It screws onto a standard powder can (such as IMR used at the time.) I've only seen one in use and was not paying real close attention at the time, so I will leave it for others to explain further. :coffee:

Froggie

PS Remember this is free information and is probably worth almost as much as you paid for it! [smilie=1:

[strangwn]

Does anybody know how this measure was intended to be mounted? Did it have a heavy base with it? Or what?

[strangwn]

Pressman,
Actually the measure is in good shape. The middle section of the cast aluminum is the only moving part, and it flips back and forth between the receiving port and the discharge funnel. It moves very smoothly and has no slack in any direction. The only evidence of use is the powder(or shot) residue left on the surfaces of the aluminum. I see no evidence of wear.
Also, I want to report to everyone that the measuring cavity has a length of 1", so it seems to need bushings that would be 13/16" OD x 1" long, which is the dimension of the Texan powder bushings that I had. Does anyone know if any other brands of bushings have that same dimension? The flanged MEC bushings will obviously not work.

[scrapcan]

strangwn,

if you have access to hornady/pacific shotgun powder bushings you might measure one. I am not anywhere near my loading tools so maybe someone else can help out. I would think you could esily have bushings made from aluminum bar stock at any machine shop or some of the guys and gals here. You could use hornady bushings to get an idea of cavity size.

[Green Frog]

If it is the Pacific unit as my friend Pressman and I suggest, it has been modified with that brass(?) shaft to hold it on a base of some sort. Originally, the user would hold the can over the loading bench and go from shell to shell with the whole thing. The finish on the outside of your unit appears to have suffered a great deal of corrosion... it should be very smooth. The drop tube shown in Pressman's picture does appear to be missing in your picture. That is adjustable and serves instead of a fixed size powder bushing. Maybe Pressman will be willing to chime in again with some further details.

Froggie

PS It wouldn't be too hard to make a measuring drop tube for it... you might even be able to adapt one of the ones commonly made for black powder loading. GF

[strangwn]

The rough surfaces that you see are not corroded. Those surfaces are just as they would have come from the casting of the aluminum pieces. Those surfaces did not need to be machined.
The rod on which the aluminum parts are mounted is 1/2" steel, not brass, and it looks untouched and original. I believe that this unit would not have used a drop tube because a 12 gauge empty shell fits snugly over the discharge spout of the aluminum funnel. The opening in the funnel is too large for a drop tube to be able to catch all the powder without the use of a second funnel. Everything about this device makes me think that it was always a stationary unit, and not ever portable. Also, it seems too large and bulky to be portable.

[Pressman]

I have been scratching my noggin' and thinking about this thing. Somewhere in the fuzzy recess's of my memory I have seen that picture before. Which means that I am not 100% that it is a Pacific. Who's I do not know, but it would be a seldom seen tool.
Still thinkin'
Ken

[Pressman]

As luck would have it I have become the proud owner of this mystery measure. I know, I need to take pictures of it.
Looking through a 1956 issue of Guns magazine and there it is! It is called a shot measure, though the ad says it can be used for shot or powder. Both of which are stored in a pint bottle. MEC bottles work fine. Charge weight is determined by interchangable bushings.
Offered by: NT Brian of 1129 Harrop St., Ogden Utah.
Also offered is a shot shell rammer that mounts to the measure. The claim is that it fills 25 powder charged shells in 10 minutes. The loader lists for $21.95, the measure $9.95 postage paid.

Ken