Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Looking for powder measure advice

Can you recommend the best equipment to quickly and accurately measure and dispense powder.

What's faster than using a typical powder dispenser to crank out slightly light charges, then weigh them and individually top them off with a trickler?

I have a Lyman 55 that I bought used back in 1967. It may be older than I am. I get consistent results. My late FIL could only get consistency with an RCBS measure. I think a lot depends on how you operate the measure. I'm kind of vigorous, my FIL was gentle.

Hunting ammo? Serious long range (600+ yards) competition ammo?

I use a redding br3 and with ball powders I don't trickle, they come out to within 1/10th of a grain. that's good enough for me.

LR varmint ammo in 204 Ruger, 222RM, 223, 22-250, .243 WIN and LR hunting ammo in 308 WIN, 7mm-08, .280 AI, 30-06, 7MM RM, 300 WM and LR comp ammo in .243 WIN, .260, .308 Win. with a priority favoring LR varmint ammo and LR comp. reloading (the Magnums being lowest priority).

Am I trying to do too much with one setup? Is there one setup that will do all/most/the majority of this well?

In the varmint cartridges I'd avoid weighing charges altogether. They typically use fine grained powder, be it kernels or balls.

You just need a quality measure and CONSISTENT technique. A good powder measure with most powders will knock down acceptable charge weights if it is solidly mounted, has baffles in the hopper, and is cranked the same every cycle. The only thing I bother to weigh/trickle any more is the larger stick powders that seem to not want to be poured.

Even then I'm shooting .5 to .6 moa five shot groups to 300 yards with thrown charges of stick powders like 3031 and 4064 in my heavier barreled 308's. Six power scopes doing that too.

Can you guys make some specific equipment recommendations. Dude is using a Redding BR3. Will that work for with stick powders? I'm looking for the best most broadly useable setup.

Thanks.

I'm sure a BR3 would work well. I use a BR30 which is the model sized for the somewhat smaller charges typically encountered in varmint, BR, and 308 type cartridges.

Late this afternoon I was shooting a Remington 40X in 308 Win. fitted with a garden variety Leupold M8 6x42. I had mounted the scope and was zeroing it to use for a demonstration in a later range trip. After I achieved a good 100 yard zero I shot up a couple of odds and ends. One load used thrown charges of IMR3031, another used IMR4895. For anybody who doesn't know, 3031 is a real Lincoln Log type powder, 4895 has medium sized extruded kernels. The 3031 load put ten shots into .55", the 4895 load put seven into .5".

I don't know how many tenths the typical thrown charge in that batch of loads deviated from the desired amount. During the loading when I wanted 39 grains I adjusted the measure until ten charges thrown together weighed within a tenth or two of 390 and called it good.

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For nearly 20 years I have used a BR3 which has proved to be excellent and gets the nod on moderate to heavier charges. For the money the Redding is hard to beat for an all around powder measure.

I also have a lighter Harrell which is even more accurate and which I prefer when small charges and greater precision us called for - a real piece of engineering art.

When I need large charges I've been throwing two half charges with my BR30. Most of my shooting is well served by less than fifty grain single throws these days though.

The BR3 will work just fine for the cartridges mentioned.

Dave Skinner gave the best advice, since even the most precise "weight" measures are still throwing by volume and consistency of that volume...

When cases held more than 100 grs., splitting the weight with the BR3 and throwing twice was more consistent than trying to throw the full metered charge, both weight and volume wise (visible in the case).

I have a few powder measures, hands down a Harrells is the best for all around use.

I know that I will catch flack for this, but I have had good luck using a Lee Perfect. Cheap, but I like it better than an RCBS. Link below. miles

powdermeasure

Not from me you won't. I bought one when they first came out. It continues to amaze me with its accuracy with stick powder. I don't like the way it binds up with ball powder, but the charges are still true. I have a Lyman 55 that I use for ball powder.

I use a rcbs charge master loads my 204 fast and accurately

You've sure been asking a lot of questions lately

Like a number of folks have already suggested, the Redding 3-BR is a very good unit and can throw consistent charges. Results are based on equipment, technique and type of powder. All models are going to cut stick powders...just the nature of the beast. There are many good models on the market. You just have to decide your budget and your accuracy requirements. I'm sure you would be plenty happy with something from Hornady or RCBS, but I'm a fan of Redding and stick to their products when possible. I would say the best I have used are the Harrell products, but they are in a category almost to themselves and many cheaper brands sell something almost as good.

The best most broadly usable setup is a range of measures.

For larger amounts of stick powders I like a Quick Measure from Johnson Design - do a search on this site for previous mentions. With all the praise it's had on this site it deserves to be more common.

For varmint cartridges I like a small - 50 grain capacity - Harrell's. For ease of use with mid-range handgun plinking loads I like an RCBS Little Dandy - with a roll of quarters, a socket or in my case a custom weight on the powder column.

No question the various Redding measures with appropriate inserts all do a fine job. Some say, and I agree, that the RCBS and Hornady with the right micrometer inserts do a fine job.

Mostly a consistent throw seems to me to be the result of choosing a measure that works for the powder type be it stick or flake and the charge size - pistol charge of Unique and an UltraMag charge of stick may do better in different setups. For some - but not all - purposes a Lee will do as well as a Harrell's.

Then practice and continuous improvement combined with a measure that is rigidly mounted. The Quick Measure doesn't cut stick powders but I do have an impression that cutting stick powders with a loose mount is a bad idea. I'm also inclined to think two throws from a smaller measure isn't as good as a single throw from a larger measure in general but again obviously with a well behaved powder and an appropriate throw weight throwing two charges works as well as anything.