Currently I use a RCBS Uniflow powder measure for reloading for my rifles. Can it also be used effectively for a handgun, or should I buy a powder measure designed specifically for handguns. I ask this, because I see that there is considerably less powder used in handgun cartridges and perhaps I would be asking my RCBS uniflow too much to be measuring such small amounts at a time.

I am asking, because I have zero experience with loading for handguns. If it matters, it will be for 9mm and .38 special.

It will work, as mine has for many years. Just use a baffle insert from RCBS for consistent charges with flake powder.

Patrick:

Handgun loading is far more delicate, and " I don't like to say dangerous". than rifles.

Handguns have either straight or slightly tapered cases. They head space either on the back rim or front case mouth.

You will need to be very certain that loading data is for your guns. The nomenclature is NOT complete using only the caliber. There are many wildcats and proprietary cases numbering, some say, 10,000 all told.

Things to look out for:

1. Barrel length, short medium, long.

2. Powder type and burn rate.

3. Bullet type, construction, weight.

4. Age, pressure rating of your guns.

Pistol powder is in the upper fast range. Some loads for your pistols may take only as little as 3 grains and produce really big pressures. You will need a powder scale and a trickler. 3 grains is surely at the bottom of your powder measures capacity.

The cases can hold as little as 1/3 capacity. It's easy to throw a double charge.

In short barrels lots of powder will blow out unburned, confounding velocity and pressure expectations.

Since cases can be so empty some loaders stuff various items in the case as spacers and use a dial caliper to measure depth as a cross check.

There is lots more to consider. I don't want to sound like an alarmist. There is a very BIG safety margin inherently built in. Just saying proceed smartly with all due precautions and all will be just fine.

Nothing you said had anything to do with the OP's question. Funny.

The the OP, try your current powder measure with pistol powder before dropping the money on a new one. If it throws consistent charges in the 5 grain range, call it good!

Yes, your Uniflow will work just fine.

My RCBS Uniflow has been used to load handgun cartridges for decades now, going down to 2.8 grs. of Bullseye. I have a large and small hopper but have used the large hopper for everything all these years, to be honest I'm too lazy to keep switching hoppers back and forth.

Even with the large hopper and tiny amounts of flake powder it throws consistent charges. In my experience with this, a Lyman 55 and even the Lee powder dippers a consistent technique is the biggest factor to getting consistent charges.

I want to thank everyone for taking the time to reply to my post.

I will give measuring handgun charges with the appropriate powder in my Uniflow a try to see if it is practical. If some people are doing it, I don't see why I can't. Just so that you know, I am anal about weighing every single charge I load.

I will order a baffle from RCBS .

The handgun will be a new Ruger .357 Magnum revolver with an extra cylinder for 9 mm, so it should be up to the task.

If anyone has a favourite powder(s) for a 9mm shooting 115 grain bullets or .38 special shooting 125 grain bullets, I would really appreciate your advice.

I load .45 ACP with 5.4 grains 238/HP38. I have found the Uniflow to be very consistent.

I've always like the Uniflow for pistol powders (with the bigger rotor, the only one I have for it). It works better than the Hornady measures IMO. Never had a problem loading 38 Special, 41, 44, 45, 480, Hornet, or whatever with it.

The single most important thing you can do regardless what you use to measure is to inspect all the cases in the block or try before you start seating bullets. A quick visual inspection readily shows anything that's off.

Do you have a brother named Bob?

Don is more like it.

Don't overlook Lee's Dipper Set. It's a very quick way to measure powder, it's quite accurate once you practice a bit, and it's the least expensive new measure you can get.

Think about it: a drum measure fills a cylindrical cavity with powder, scrapes it level and then dumps it out. A Lee dipper fills a cylindrical cavity with powder, scrapes it level and then dumps it out. No real difference.

I used to put powder in a whiskey tumbler. I'd back the dipper in (open end up) until the powder flowed into it, and then lift it straight up. If the charge is a bit heavy (determined beforehand with a scale) I'd scrape off the slightly rounded mound. If the charge was a bit light in that dipper, I'd leave the mound. Spherical powders always mounded exactly the same, and were incredibly consistent in charge weight using a dipper. Flakes almost as good and kernels not so much.

Moby - I use a powder that mostly fills the case so that there is NO chance of getting a double charge of powder.

My S W 9mm like 6.7 grs of Herco with a standard small pistol primer. The velocity is +/- 1200 fps with 115 HPs.

I've shot 6.5, 6.7, & 7 grs. and 6.7 works best in MY pistol.
You can experiment with yours.

Even at 7 grs/charge and 7000 grs/lb of powder it is an economical load.

Good loading & shooting

I just got done loading about 400 rounds of .38 special using my uniflow. I haven't tried to throw powder for a rifle yet. It is my own experience that using the baffle is well worth the expense. I usually check about 1 powder throw in 10 or 15 to make sure I am getting the correct amount. It sure beats weighing out each and every load of powder on my scale. Just take your time and you will be fine.

For 9mm and 38 special I find Unique powder to be the most flexible. Works well with everything from light cast bullet loads to maximum jacketed bullet loads. Measures decently with a Lee dipper or rotary measure. Probably not the "best" for any application but I have a lifetime supply because it works well enough for all the pistol loading I do: 9mm,38 spec, 44 mag cast bullet, and 45/70 cast bullet plinking loads.

Guys N Gals:

Just a quickie to chastise.

A .38 special IS NOT a .357 Magnum, is NOT a 9 mm.

Moby scrambled nomenclature first stating a .38 special then stating a .357 magnum.

Load data came in from posters. Achtung !!!

Here's a vide of the Ruger .357 Magnum - 9mm convertible two in one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_4DzyUxS_w

I have owned a Ruger Blackhawk .357 for 50 years. I also own the New York City police special old, obsolete .38 special, 5 shot.

Here too is the Hodgdon load data.

http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/

Typically it is conservative. Liability issue !!!

The new Ruger convertible named is one of the new super strong probably up in the 60,000 psi category. So there is plenty of wiggle room. But I will interject. Why push the envelope? It's just lead on paper. Probably best to not be so adventuresome. That means stay away from Max. Your hand will thank you for it.

I'm a very big fan of Rugers, rifles and hand guns. Got lots of both. They are second only to Mausers, but that's me.

____________________________________

I'm sayin' again - look out for nomenclature. Use ALL numbers and letters. Positive ID your gun, caliber, bullet, powder and everything else. Be meticulous.

If you have a cat and heavy duty scissors, you can cut out a powder reservoir baffle from an aluminum pop-top cat food can lid.

In the quiet words of the Virgin Mary, come again?

Moby1;
Good morning to you sir, I trust this finds you well.

I'm sorry I'm a wee bit late to the table here sir, but in the event that you've not ordered the baffle yet perhaps don't bother and we'll make one up for you in 10 minutes over a cup of coffee.

I was going to order one too, but after PMing back and forth with JB he suggested I build one and yes it is that easy and I've got more material in the garage.

Oh, before you order a new measure too I've got one of these with a few different insert bushings with your name on it right beside the your .38Spl dies.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/545386/rcbs-little-dandy-handgun-powder-measure

Give me a shout sometime and we'll get you hooked up sir.

I was unhappy to hear about the bear incident in your area as I know the folks a wee bit, but glad to hear they found the bear responsible. Long story on that bear I'll share when we next meet.

All the best and we'll be in touch.

Dwayne

same one i use for loading rifle ammo, Redding

Your Uniflow should work fine. I have learned to like the Little Dandy for charging pistol cases. Once you find a rotor that drops the correct charge it is pretty fast to use a loading block and allows an easy visual inspection as a double check.

W E T >>>wet.






W E T - reading and comprehension ? ?

You CAN load/shoot 38 special ammo in a 357 Mag! !


H I N T !!!

Tsk, tsk, tsk:

Someone needs to pay closer attention.

.38 Ballard extra long
.38 Casull
.38 Long Colt
.38 S&W ( Colt +NP ) ( C.I.P. )
.38 S&W ( Colt+NP ) ( SAAMI )
.38 Short Colt
.38 Special ( C.I.P.)
.38 Special ( SAAMI )
.38 Special +P ( SAAMI )
.38 Super Auto ( C.I.P )
.38 Super Auto +P ( SAAMI )
.38 Super Comp
.38 Super TJ+P

9mm Bergman Bayard ( Long )
9 mm Browning Kurz
9mm Browning Long
9mm FAR
9mm FX & CQT
9mm Federal
9mm Largo
9mm Luger ( C.I.P )
9mm Luger ( SAAMI )
9mm Makarov
9mm Mauser
9mm NATO
9mm Steyr
9mm Super Comp.
9mm Swedish rimmed
9mm Win Mag.

W E T -

The O P 'specified' 357 Mag, 38 SPECIAL and.....
9mm for extra cyl.

I pay attention.

ANY 38 Special ammo will work in 357 don't ya think? Oh nevermind, wasted ?

I remember kicking you in the NUTS non-stop back in the day. Of course your user name was WETIBBE.

You were a [bleep] tool then, you are a [bleep] tool now.



https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/550219/Searchpage/1/Main/57669/Words/WETIBBE/Search/true/Degradation_of_America_!#Post550219


https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...ue/VAMINROD_-_goes_to_school.#Post548109


https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth..._special_message_for_the_Loon#Post536533

No - when I think I makes my head hurt !

.357 Auto Magnum
.357 Herrett
.357 Magnum ( .357 S&W magnum )
.357 Remington Maximum

That particular Ruger Blackhawk convertible does shoot a certain .38 case but not all .38 cases.

However, a .38 Special police revolver won't shoot .357 magnums. The two case lengths are different. The .357 Magnum case won't let the cylinder close.

What I said to the OP was - look out for load data posted on the internet. It may not be your cartridge at all. In fact some powders and loads can blow to gun easily.

Herco is hot stuff. UP there around 35 or so on the burn rate charts.

If I recall correctly, the Uniflow came with two drums, one for rifle powder & one for pistol powder. If you do not have the pistol powder drum I am sure RCBS will send you one for a nominal charge.

...that your blather is unwelcome here.

Anyone trying to say that loading pistol ammo is much more technical than rifle ammo hasn't done a whole lot of reloading.

This guy seems like the sort of person who, when asked for the location of the nearest gas station, would go off on a lengthy dissertation about how it's not good for the fuel pump to run under 1/4 tank of gas.

Seems like much of his "experience" comes from reading the introduction section of reloading manuals, and overwhelming himself with extraneous data from Quickload.

I gave up using my adjustable powder measure (RCBS Uniflow) to load pistol ammo a long time ago. I use the RCBS Little Dandy measure, I acquired a complete set of rotors but found that I only used a few so sold the majority of them. I have made several shuttle style measures of my own design which I leave set-up with the bushings for my most often used loads. I have converted my expander dies to powder thru expander design and mount the powderr measure to them using a Hornady Loc-N-Load adapter. That way mounting the measure and changing powder is quick and easy. Finally I have added Sinclair adapters to the measures, this allows changing powder without pouring it from powder measure to conatainer. Anyone that would like to see pics of my set-up can e-mail me at: [email protected] and I will send pics of my set-up. It takes a lot of the tediousness out of the powder measure routine.

RCBS Little Dandy is the best.

I'm willing to learn something new…..please fill us (me) in on which 38 Specials you cited won't fit into the 357 Mag Ruger cylinder. Also, how is Herco 'hot' when is sits after Bullseye, Red Dot, Green Dot, Unique, and in front of Blue Dot in terms of relative speed (among the older Hercules flake offerings)? The chamber on the Blackhawk 357/9mm convertible, BTW, is cut for the common (NATO) 9mm (x19 Parabellum)/Luger.

I'm w/Reloader28, nice and quick and absolutly reliable.- Muddy

Once again I would like to thank everyone (well almost everyone) who shared their knowledge and experience with me in regards to reloading for handguns.

JWall , thank you for pointing out to that one individual who keeps infesting the campfire, that his reading and comprehension sucks swampwater. I think I will make use of the ignore button. It's so much easier to read "You are ignoring this user."

With that one exception, this site has been a godsend for me. I have gleaned a lot of knowledge over the last few years. Thank you Rick Bin for providing this forum.

RCBS little dandy pistol powder measure. Been using mine for many years. Love it, very accurate.

I can get consistent measurements of 2.7 gr. of IMR 700X (a large flake powder) through my uniflow powder measure. This is the lowest end for the measure with this powder.

My uniflow measure is 20 years old. If you have a newer model, you can get an interchangeable handgun instert (stock item) for pistol charges.

Sometimes, being factual is unnecessary exercise...the best answer being...silence.

Even so, all points made are valid and useful.

Klik -

After this first few (2-3) words I QUIT reading all wet's post.

FOR THE RECORD Herco is a 'little' slower burning than Unique AS you pointed out. I also 'used to' use it in 44 Mag, @ 9 gr or so under 240 SWC for a REDUCED load. It was very accurate in the 44 Mag as well and NOT HOT at all.

Thanks for chiming in.

Jerry

Moby - thank you as well. I've had to be out of town this afternoon and just got back. I was 'going' to post FOR you to not pay attention to 'wet' because he could cause major confusion.

I now can tell that you have more handloading experience than I thot. Great.

I can GARUNTEE' that 6.7 or even 7 grs of Herco is NOT dangerous. IF you damage a 9 mil with 7 grs of Herco--something ELSE is wrong.

I and most of us 'round here' are GLAD and willing to share info and most importantly EXPERIENCE with you/others. I'll be glad to TRY to help anytime.

Jerry

CONTEXT of this thread *** ! ! !

7 grs of Herco WITH 115 HP bullets in 9 mm.

Obviously bullet weight is of PRIME importance.



whewww, I feel better qualifying that.

But but but... We could list all the 9mm cartridges that might or might not work in, and some other irrelevant ramblings.



I'm still wondering whether he's actually delusional enough to think he's being helpful and impressing us with his knowledge (which is kind of sad if you think about it), or if WET is just a troll account.

This is Moby's request from P 1, this thread.


Yondering -- I don't know if I understood or MISS understood but I posted this for clarity.

_____________________________________________________

Georgia Boy:

Thanks also to you for your polite and thoughtful measured response.

It's abundantly clear that a segment of the participants are indeed having a hard time understanding many of my inputs. Probably my fault.

You'll no doubt note the very low number of my posts over the last 13 years. There is a reason. Thus it is silly season to complain about xxxxxxxx ?????

I'm presently 83. I have been building rifles and reloading for 60 years. I hunted in the USA, Canada, South America Africa and south East Asia.

My gun lockers are full of rifles and hand guns, My Sons lockers are full and my grandson is being loaded up with firearms now.

I have a very large gun cabinet, side table type such as for a dining room, chock full of just about everything imaginable.

Sorry that I talk over some posters ability to understand.

Your advice is well taken and much appreciated.

Again thanks for being a decent gentleman.

________________________________________

I have NO recollection what so ever of this fossil clown from the disgraceful past. Never heard of him - steelhead??

In whatever event how sick is it to nurse a fictitious grudge for 13 years years and try to resurrect it.

In the famous last words of Jesus, BLOW ME.

I use 2 RCBS Uniflow measures, each with a baffle to control the pressure on the powder column. One has a rifle measuring cylinder and the other a pistol (lesser capacity) cylinder.

In the famous last words of Jesus, BLOW ME. [/quote

___________________________________________________________

Steelhead:

73,386 posts. - Wow !!!!!!

You have my sympathy. Do you want to expose your life to the Fellows who may be able to help you ?

You want me to blow you - right? And those were the last words of Jesus per you ?

I note also that you portray yourself as glib and flippant !

Your response is a perfect example of what I have been talking about. The dangers of interpretation.


#1. Jesus said that ? Was that when he was hanging on the cross crucified and bleeding? Inviting the Jews in YOUR rendition.

#2. Blow you?


Which Jesus was that ?

What kind of a Blow do you solicit ?

I would be happy to "blow" you: in a heart beat. But first can you clear it with the sheriff of your County?

Do you want it with a 25-06, 30-06 0r .338 Winchester Magnum ?

I'm compassionate Steel axx and totally forgiving for your bizarre, delusional ramblings.

You desperately need help, friend, to come back in the world of reality.

I'll add that your posting of apparently old garbage burns up space here. I would have expected you to have more respect for the owners of this generous website.

well that clears the air.