Powder Measure That Works With Stick Powders?

[Kevin Rohrer]

I tried loading some IMR4198 into cases last nite using my Lyman-55, but it was a "no-go". It took 2-men and a boy to forcibly turn the handle and drop a charge. And while doing it I could hear and feel lots of powder granules dieing a horrible death by being cut in half. I finally gave up and moved to my Vega Tools B&M to finish the job.

Are there any powder measures available that cycles stick powders well?

[Kevin Rohrer]

I stumbled upon a possible solution. Does anyone have any experience w/ a Quick Measure?

http://www.quick-measure.com/qm.htm

[Doc_Stihl]

The lee works good. With big stick powder it will sometimes throw some light charges.

I have found that the RCBS dropper does "good" with short stick powder(H322, RE7), but long (3031 - 4895) doesn't work so good.

[GP100man]

On the Lyman try a deep narrowest settin possible to minimize cuttin area .

Also work the handle as slow as possible to keep the grains being cut from "throwin out" other grains that would otherwise be in the dumped powder .

With the largest powders I dump then trickle the last couple of grains , this is ok for small batches of huntin ammo , but for larger batches it gets old qwik but is nessacary if ya want it "on the money" so to speak.

I`ve seen some powder drops with longer handles added also , just a thought.

[justingrosche]

Theres always the Lee scoops, guaranteed to never split a kernel.
I have found, if you want to use big stick powders, your going to have to trickle the last bit in. This is why powder companies have been pushing there Short Cut and Super Short Cut powders over the last couple of years. They know its difficult to dispense too.

[EOD3]

I don't use a lot of IMR4198 but IIRC, it's a pretty fine stick powder. I don't recall having any problems with it in my RCBS powder measure but I do have a powder baffle to take the weight off the powder chamber.

[Rocky Raab]

I own several measures. I bought and reviewed the Johnson Quick Measure, which is by far the best manual measure for stick powders. It CANNOT cut a kernel because it does not use a rotating drum and has no shearing edges.

Digital dispenses are also excellent with stick powders. I have owned the original RCBS (made by PACT) and the new Hornady. (My review of the Hornady will be in the January issue of The Varmint Hunter Magazine.) I highly recommend it, also.

[GLShooter]

I have used the Uniflo for years with stick powers and done OK with it. I'm not sure anything on the market of that design type will really shine.

The electronic dispensers sure made life easier for us in that department.

Greg

[onondaga]

I had the same problem with the #55 and H4895, It chomped on that. My Lee Auto Disk with the Double Disk Kit will throw larger rifle charges of H4895 without chomping but the error is increased doubly with double throws sometimes for huge charges in my .458 WM. I dealt with that by using the next lower charge and trickling up with a powder trickle. Trickling up works well with the Lee scoops also. I did get the very inexpensive Lee Perfect that many dislike and give poor reviews. As usual poor reviews are generally from people that don't read or ignore instructions. The Lee Perfect works great for me. DO adjust the tension to the 2 pound feeling recommended for the handle. The Perfect is sensitive to variation from operator like all drum dumpers so develop a very consistent motion when operating the Perfect. It does leak minimally with the very fine WC820 powder I use for my .500S&W so I use the #55 for that powder and that works beautifully with WC820.

The Quick looks like a great measure but you can purchase 8 Lee Perfect Measure dumpers for less than one Quick. But if you need to spend that much money to be happy consider spending the same amount and getting one Lee and 7 pounds of powder. The Lee has hung up maybe 5 times on me with H4895 in about 2000 cycles including other big stick powders, I can tolerate that.

[Frozone]

I'm sold on the LEE Perfect, it works fine on stick powders. It's the small flake stuff that gives it fits in it's stock form. I have fixed that BTW, My PPMs work easily with the finest powders and don't leak doing it.

[Dan Cash]

I think there is a bunch of fuss about nothing important here. I have a B&M measure, 4 Lyman 55s and recently got a Pacific/Redding rotary drum measure and 10 or so Dillon measures. I load Alliant powders almost exclusively but also use some 4350. They all throw reasonably uniform charges and the cut kernels have never seemed to affect any accuracy or pressure. I am not a bench rest shooter but for practical accuracy, any of the measures on the market will probably do you well.

[felix]

If cut kernels affect accuracy in a BR gun, the load is either incorrect or the powder speed needs to be changed. ... felix

[Kevin Rohrer]

I am not complaining about accuracy, just the difficulty in cycling the drum. It seems like all drum measures have an inherent weakness when it comes to stick powders.

I will be trying what GP100man suggested as it makes sense.

Also, based on Rocky Raab's review of the Quick Measure, I intend on ordering one of those. But first, I will be asking others for their comments on it in another new topic so I can see if it has any weaknesses.

Thanx to all who replied. :lovebooli

[Char-Gar]

I have been using the same Hollywood measure since 1959 and just about any powder you can think of have been through it. I use a smooth fairly fast and uniform throw of the handle. If a charge sticks, hesitatates or other wise seem to be less than normal, I put it back in the hopper and throw again. Sometimes I have to put three in a row back, others times I can go 30 rounds without a problem. We are talking long stick powders here..right? I have just figured it is all part of the reloading process. I don't have any where to go and am not watching the clock.

[220swiftfn]

+1 on both the deepest, narrowest cavity and the powder baffle to get a Lyman 55 to be more "user friendly". Usually I have mine set pretty much dead on w/ IMR 4064. Drop a charge into the scale pan, check it on the scale, dribble if needed..... If the charge is over, it goes back into the hopper. Works well for me, usually out of ten drops, 6 are DNT, 3 are a few tenths under, and 1 is a little over.

Dan

[noylj]

If you are using "long stick" powders, then a ±0.3 grain or even larger variation will never be seen on the target. Too many people work too hard to get perfection and miss out on "good enough" so they can simply enjoy shooting. I was always more than happy with my RCBS and Hornady and Lyman powder measure back in the '60s and never worried about weight variations of 1% or less.
If, however, you want to worry, then trickle or get a powder dispenser or look for a ball powder. "Long Stick" powder has been used for several DECADES with folks using the volumetric measures available at the time, all chopping sticks in their measures, and winning benchrest competitions.
Personally, I consider my RCBS ChargeMaster to be an almost essential tool. It dispenses while I am seating a bullet on the prior case. However, some of you won't like it 'cause it isn't always dead-nuts on since if one or two extra sticks get dispensed, you might have a "too heavy" weight for your perfectionism. Me, I love it—fast and accurate (but not cheap). Also, I would never get rid of my Lee Scoops.
All you young whippersnappers act like you are the first to ever be aware of these things. Dagnab it. Some of us been reloading and having sex since before you was even born—nothing new under the sun.

[Bret4207]

Ya got a B+M. that's the answer! BTW- my Redding BR does fine with sticks. I don't see an issue with powder cutting, it's weight we're after.

[Ben]

Ditto on the B + M

[mike in co]

If you are using "long stick" powders, then a ±0.3 grain or even larger variation will never be seen on the target. Too many people work too hard to get perfection and miss out on "good enough" so they can simply enjoy shooting. I was always more than happy with my RCBS and Hornady and Lyman powder measure back in the '60s and never worried about weight variations of 1% or less.
If, however, you want to worry, then trickle or get a powder dispenser or look for a ball powder. "Long Stick" powder has been used for several DECADES with folks using the volumetric measures available at the time, all chopping sticks in their measures, and winning benchrest competitions.
Personally, I consider my RCBS ChargeMaster to be an almost essential tool. It dispenses while I am seating a bullet on the prior case. However, some of you won't like it 'cause it isn't always dead-nuts on since if one or two extra sticks get dispensed, you might have a "too heavy" weight for your perfectionism. Me, I love it—fast and accurate (but not cheap). Also, I would never get rid of my Lee Scoops.
All you young whippersnappers act like you are the first to ever be aware of these things. Dagnab it. Some of us been reloading and having sex since before you was even born—nothing new under the sun.

this is where my definition of accurate, your definition and the posters, may just vary a little.

no a 0.6 grain variation is not acceptable.....to me

[geargnasher]

+1 Noylj.

Gear

[ReloaderEd]

My Redding micrometer adjust thrower works well. I have found that spraying powder lube (graphite) on the working parts helps loosen up the flow and solves the stocking problem. I rub in into surfaces that slide together such as the powder discs on the Lee Auto Powder thrower.

[warf73]

I use alot of Reloader 19 22 IMR 4350 4895 in my 300wby and the 460wby. I've always used the rcbs uniflow and a trickler. It might be over kill but my charges are -0 +.1gr, drop the charge low from the dropper and trickle it up. I never really load more than 50 to 100 arounds at a setting for either the 300wby or the 460wby so the measuring and trickling up to the charge needed isnt that big a deal. If a preson really needs large volume reloading better go to the ball powders for that.

[mike in co]

I use alot of Reloader 19 22 IMR 4350 4895 in my 300wby and the 460wby. I've always used the rcbs uniflow and a trickler. It might be over kill but my charges are -0 +.1gr, drop the charge low from the dropper and trickle it up. I never really load more than 50 to 100 arounds at a setting for either the 300wby or the 460wby so the measuring and trickling up to the charge needed isnt that big a deal. If a preson really needs large volume reloading better go to the ball powders for that.

if you only trickle up till at the indicated weight, you are probably over every time.
trickle/bump the beam and let it resettle....

the resistance to change(hysterious..or something like that) will prevent a true value if you only trickle up to "0".....

mike in co

[JFrench]

Belding and Mull measure.
James

[AZ-Stew]

The issues with cutting stick powders in my Lyman #55 drove me to using ball powders for as many applications as possible. To me, this is not a bad thing. The #55 will throw consistent charges of +/-0 grains all day with ball powders.

To deal with stick powders when their use is unavoidable, I bought a Lyman DPS 1200 II and the DPS 1200 III speed upgrade. Fast and accurate. I ran off 60 rounds at 25.0 grains the other day and out of that lot, one measured 25.2 and there were two or three at 25.1. The remaider were dead on. I verified the weights at the beginning, the middle and the end of the run using my beam scale. This is plenty accurate for cast loads in the .30-06.

Regards,

Stew

[warf73]

if you only trickle up till at the indicated weight, you are probably over every time.
trickle/bump the beam and let it resettle....

the resistance to change(hysterious..or something like that) will prevent a true value if you only trickle up to "0".....

mike in co


Guess you are confusing me with what you said.

I set the powder dropper to drop - 1 grain(apox) set the pan on the digital scale and trickle it up to the my desired charged, how in heavens name would I be over weight if the scale reads what I want for a charge.

I don't see how what I'm doing is any different than the RCBS all in one electic powder dispencing system. Other than it didn't cost as much.

[Trifocals]

I like the B&M. I put a lighter spring in mine and it's now much easier to use. I also have a Lyman digital that works very well. LOL

[BD]

Using the B & M to drop 24.5 grains of Varget for my .223 loads, I get better consistency than trickling up to 24.5 in the pan on my RCBS 505. To test this you need to drop ten charges and set them aside, trickle ten charges and set them aside, and then re-weigh both groups twice and compare the variation at that point. It's a real PITA, but as I'm pretty stubborn it took that to convince me that just dropping the charges was OK.
BD

[jsizemore]

When I got into pistol silhouette the top shooters in my area used Neil Jones powder measures and they traded load data by click values of their measure. I was going to buy one but you had to stand in line and they cost a bunch. So I bought a Premium and a Schutzen/pistol powder measures from Harrell's Precision for the cost of a Neil Jones. At the time the only place you could buy them was from the manufacurer or used and used they sold for the same price as new.
I was shooting a match a weekend, with 4 guns needing ammo at each match. I got plenty of practice using my measures and that's the secret to getting consistent powder drops. Practice and develop a feel for consistent drops and rythmn to your handle operation and maintain a consistent level of powder in the bottle and etc,etc.
If you don't maintain your practice level then use your measure to drop into your scale pan and trickle up. I always use this method with large extruded powder and large cases run at max pressure. My digital scale taught me to do this.
Good Luck