Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Which Powder Measure?

Hopefully they fire that dumb bastard.



Travis

Didn't John B write an article comparing powder measures a couple years ago, for Handloader? I don't think I have an issue that far back any more, but I was thinking that there wasn't a whole lot of difference, overall, between them. Each had strong and weak points. The Lee Perfect was not included, I don't believe/recall.

Every time I see Lyman reloading stuff for sale in catalogs or stores I always wonder who it is buying their stuff. Not that it's bad or anything. It's just kinda like eating at Olive Garden when visiting Italy.

Well, without even seeing the Lyman, I know I have made worse decisions with a "C-Note".

I've used the hell out of a Lyman 55. To do over, maybe I'd have bought a Redding, but the Lyman will work without any doubt.

Is this the same Lyman 55 that can't measure Unique?



Travis

This times 100!

Scott,

How well does your Harrell's work with stick powders?

For stick powders search this site for Quick Measure. I think the Quick Measure is the best for the log style 4064 style though for the short cut many work.

My own Harrell's maxes out at a nominal 50 grains and of course works just fine but I use it for the easy to measure powders used to reload varmint in the field and such.

I have a Little Dandy with a full set of rotors and an aftermarket weight - otherwise try a roll of quarters - for best results. Works and is convenient.

To that add both Hornady with large and small micrometer setup in a LNL AP and an old Uniflow that was my first measure again with added micrometer.

They all work just fine. Seems to me like the progressive a truly rigid mount helps. That and practice.

Fred Sinclair in his little book on precision handloading suggests the Redding ship properly setup and should be first choice but adds that for folks who already paid for the RCBS/Hornady adding the proper rotor and micrometer adjustment screw will work just fine.

I like the golf bag approach with no single perfect for all jobs measure. Of the lot I'd say the Quick Measure stands out for big bottleneck cases with big sticks of powder. The others are a little better a little worse with different strengths but they all work.

OK, fire up the flame throwers.....

I did a formal Measurement System Analysis comparing the Lee Perfect Powder Measure, the Hornady measure, a Lyman digital scale, and a Hornady balance scale.

The shock was that with ball powders, the Lee Perfect Powder Measure was more consistent than any of the other alternatives. With Varget, the Lee measure and the Hornady scale tied for best.

Do I still want a nifty brass Belding and Mull measure? Sure. It's beautiful. But it's hard to believe that it throws more precise charges than the $20 Lee.

The good news is that any of the alternatives tested will throw sufficiently precise charges for any normal application.

Yeah, the one that helped me get over my anal retentiveness in regards to thrown charges.

Good call on the Lee.



Travis

I just use the Lee Dippers

I'd forgotten that you did that, Denton. I did a less formal comparison with some internet associates several years ago. Lee was best or second-best with all powders tested.

Fugk yeah.

Lee or bust.



Travis

Clarke,

Thank you for your contribution.

The Quick Measure might be what I'm looking for. The Uniflow does great with fine powder. Generally the coarsest powder I use is H4831sc, but I do have one load that uses IMR 5010.

How repeatable was the Lee's adjustment system?

Short stick works great, long stick not real well but plenty good enough unless you are pushing the upper limits. I could set it with a short stick like AA 2015 then throw ten charges and my digital scale would just move decimal point one place.

As an old long time shot gunner who uses a lot of Unique for favored 16ga loads, I might be able to help the "Oracle". You need to keep the hopper close to full & tapped down at all times. Also, take an instant to tap hopper when bushing cavity is open to receive powder. I can drop charges thru std. MEC powder bushings or thru adjustable bar that will usually be on the nose or W/I .2 gr as measured on RCBS e scale.

I have to eat a bit of humble pie on this statement.....this weekend I reloaded several hundred cases of 38 Special ammo....my highly prized Harrell's powder measure for some reason will NOT throw a charge of HS-6 in any charge weight

Switched to my uniflow with micrometer ajustment and it threw 600 charges exactly the same (checked on my 10-10 every 10th charge).

Have no reason for the anomaly.......other than they might be like women, no absolutes !!!!!!!