[quote=MILES58]Complaining about Blue Dot not metering decently just illustrates someone having his head so far up his backside he's looking out his belly button hole. After millions upon millions of Green Dot/Red Dot/Blue Dot loads have been put together in what can most generously be described as marginally accurate powder measures you just gotta be plain stupid to make a remark like that.
Blue Dot meters very well out of a decent rifle measure."
Well, I reckon a Redding BR 30 is not much of a powder measure then, because the Blue Dot bridges in it, creating light and them way over max loads! This does not happen on every throw, just now and then. I found this out when I blew a primer. Then went home and threw 100 charges and weighed every charge on my Denver Instruent electronic scale. I am no newbie at this stuff, large flake powders of all kinds bridge in this BR powder measure.
A Lyman 55 would be much better for throwing powder charges of large flake powder.
So, I weigh every charge of blue dot.
In order to allow for the light and heavy charges that my powder measure would throw, I worked up a load in the following way for my custom 223 and Redding BR30.
12.0g of BD with the 40g V max = 3000 fps
14.3g is what I call a max load = 3200 fps
14.6g opens primer pockets, hard to open bolt
I would set my powder measure for 13.5g to allow for the heavy charges around 14.3g.
I did not feel good about this light/heavy load issue, SO I just weigh them on this electronic scale which will weigh the charges faster than I can work the powder measure.
I expect that if your type of powder measure does not "Bridge" you would think that the rest of use are looney. Miles58, what brand of powder measure are you using?
Well, first off, I think I have seen bridging with every measure when throwing charges of extruded powders I have ever used except for the scoops. I just learned early on to double knock then handle when I throw a charge and do it habitually with everything, including ball powders. If that won't clear a bridge in a measure with flake powder which in my experience is vastly less prone to bridging, I'd damn sure not be using that measure with logs (extruded powders). I'd hate to have to carry off all the tens of thousands of shotshells I've loaded with what are relatively primitive powder measures and Hercules flake powders. I used to buy that stuff in 8 and fifteen pound drums.
Second, I have used flake powders in old MECs, Several Herters 72s, a couple Herters 49s, a couple Herters 60s, I don't know how many RCBS Uniflows, a couple Lyman 55s, one Hornady (Pacific) and never had anywhere near the problems that come with logs. in fact, the problems are almost non-existent.
Third, the measures I have seen that were bad with logs were all greatly improved by simply cleaning up the rough casting in the output throat with sandpaper and a drill.
And... lastly, Why in gods name do people take a reduced load powder and then push it to max when there are so many powders much better suited (and in fact designed) to getting what they want out of the round??? Go buy some Hornet bullets to load with Blue Dot. Speer makes a 33, Nosler makes an excellent BT Lead Free 35 that comes undone in chipmunks and of course the 35 grain VMax which is extremely fragile and if it hits anything comes undone. I get decent accuracy out of all of them and the splatter factor is quite satisfactory. They work very well on large raccoons, large porcupines, and even fox and coyotes, although range does become an issue out past 100 or so with the Hornet bullets in a .223, regardless of powder.
Yeah, there is enough space left over in a case to double or maybe even triple charge brass. But, I was trained to charge-a-case-seat-a-bullet and not allow for stupid mistakes. It's not all that hard to do.