Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Powder throws and stick powders - advice please

I have a Redding, Lyman and the Lee Perfect Powder Measure, and ALL I use now is the Lee. It is by far the most accurate powder throw of the 3. I don’t even know where my Redding throw is any more.
Like some have said, the flake and ball powders are a bit of a problem from time to time ‘but they were also a problem in my Redding and the Lyman as well, especially flake powders like Unique.
I recently loaded several hundred rounds of stick powder and the Lee was never off more than 1/10th of a grain. Hell, I’ve found my 2 balance beam scales AND my digital electronic scale to vary more than that from day to day. Especially the electronic scale. I’ve had it vary as much as 4/10ths in 30 minutes with barometric pressure change.
But I guess some people just don’t feel right unless they spend a fortune on something.
I mean, if you don’t pay a lot of money for something, it couldn’t possibly be good, right?

I have a new RCBS chargemaster new in the box. I haven’t tried it yet. How will it work with stick powders?

I have been contemplating buying one of these for quite some time. Once you get to use it please report your thoughts. Thanks

I love the Lee perfect powder measure for stick powder, but it sucks for ball powder. I recently bought the Lee Deluxe Perfect Powder Measure and it is much better than the original on both stick and ball.

I have one works great. Holds zero really well.

I’m using the RCBS Chargemaster Lite exclusively now for extruded powders. And yes, the Lee was better than my Harrell for extruded powder, by a long shot.

Can the lee deluxe perfect powder measure handle be switched to the left hand side?

I use My Redding 3BR for ball powders and RCBS Chargemaster lite for stick powders. I've had RCBS and have still have a Lee Powder throw somewhere, but the Redding and Chargemaster lite has proven to be the most accurate for me.

I usually use my RCBS Chargemaster for longer stick powders. My Lee Perfect powder measure works better for throwing stick powders than my Harrell's measure. The Harrell's tends to cut stick powder or jam a bit while the Lee with the rubber wiper doesn't. You have to watch either one closely for powder bridging. All in all while it's slower to weigh the powder than throw it, I have more confidence in the weighed charges.
For high volume reloading I stick with ball or short stick powders and throw the charges.
I would replace my RCBS Chargemaster immediately if it went down, there's no way I would ever go back to a balance scale or hand trickling.

I'll say it again: People tend to obsess over small variations in powder charges in many situations where they don't matter.

I’m in the “dump & trickle” camp. And NO, I’m not referring to my “morning constitutional” here.💩
I’ve had a RCBS Uniflow for years and it has served me well. It does occasionally hang up and sheer with large stick powders however I don’t lose any sleep over it. I don’t rush with anything related to handloading.

After some research I’m leaning towards the chargemaster lite. Seems like the same function and time for significantly less cost.

If you are at the optimum charge weight for a load, +/- 0.2 gr won't mean doodlysquat.

Admittedly, I still throw short and trickle up . . .

I throw charges of 3031 and 4064 for several 308s good for 1/2 to 5/8 moa at 300 yards. I'm talking five shot groups. Most peoples' hunting rifles can't honestly resolve that.

Agreed. Wholeheartedly.

Im glad you said most..

There are some out there. Yesterday I was shooting a parts gun 243 that impresses me with 87 grain Vmaxes. It's a 700 action with a takeoff barrel from a gunsmith shop, all sitting in an HS Precision stock and topped off with an old M8 6x36.

The only problem is balancing the fun of shooting it against the barrel life of a 243.

I use my Hornady Lock N Load Auto Charge dispenser. While it does like to throw heavy on stick powders, I set it lower and trickle up if needed. Now that I've gotten use to it, it actually throws pretty accurately 70% of the time. I have tried the straw tip, but I can't find a straw to fit the dispensing tube correctly.

What I have found is,if you shim the dispenser with a sheet or two of paper it keeps it from throwing overcharges.To work properly,it needs to be level,if not it will drop too much powder if the tube is running down hill.By keeping the tube just a tad on the uphill side,the tube will stay full when it slows down to the final trickle mode when it dispenses the charge.Play with it a little and I think you will see it really makes a big difference.

If you think H-4350 is bad, try Vv 570.

That is such a coarse stick, it stacks up in my RCBS Uniflow. I have to remove the drop tube, drop charge in a scale pan and fine tune the load.

DF