I think I hate my powder measuring tool (But Im a n00b)

[TheJoe90 27]

So far all I have loaded is .357 and .38 special, using unique brand powder and 125 grain bullets, soon I will be reloading .308 as well.

 

Without checking the book I don't know for sure what the measurements are, but I want to say between 8.6-9.6 grains for my .357. My mentor told me to try 8.6, 8.8, and 9.0 at the range and see what shot best from my revolver. Everything went awesome till I started throwing powders and found that consistency with my measuring tool leaves a lot to be desired.... It would throw three good ones, then the next would be .15 grains hotter! I felt like I had to weigh every load! This made the powder step incredibly long and really un-enjoyable.

 

I made sure to do consistent motions...

 

Am I asking too much from my powder measuring tool, is that within tolerances? Is there a way to improve it? Should I spend the money to get a better powder measuring tool?

 

This is the kit I have: RCBS Rock Chucker

 

As you can see it has the RCBS brand "Uniflow Powder Measure"

 

Thanks all.

[TheJoe90 27]

Might have just answered my own question... It sounds like this one is just too big for loads below 10 grains, and I need a different cylinder for pistols. I just hope it is more consistent for the .308 Rounds

[dolomite_supafly 56]

Add a baffle to the hopper. After I did I had no variations beyond .1 grains.

 

You can use anything for a baffle. I normally use the bottom of a medicine bottle. I drop it in and make sure that it seals to the bottom of the hopper. It should have a little bit of space between it and the actual metering portion. Then I drill a 1/4" hole at the outside edge. Once you put powder in the hopper the amount of powder weight on the measuring part stays minimal and very, very consistent regardless of the amount of powder in the hopper.

 

Dolomite

I have the exact same powder measure. And what I explained above works perfect.

[dolomite_supafly 56]

How new is the hopper? You need to run a few hopper fulls of powder through it to coat the inside otherwise static electricity can cause a lot of variation. On a new one I will run the hopper out into the powder container then fill it up again until I have done it a few times.

 

Also, is it throwing .15 or 1.5 grains? .15 grains is not bad variations at all. 1.5 grains is a bit extreme.

 

Reason I ask is if you are measuring down to .05 grains you must have an amazing scale. All the scales I have seen for reloading have been .1 graduations. Matter of fact I think I have the same scale but I went to an electronic because they are a lot better if measuring each charge. It literally takes 1 second to measure vs a lot longer with a balance beam.

[netpackrat 566]

All powder measures suck. I have found that the biggest factor in how much they suck, is what kind of powder you are using.

[Spacehog 2,218]

I am using the RCBS Uniflow that came with the kit as well. I have not loaded pistol yet, but have Unique for 9mm and 45. When using Varget for .223 and .308 reloads, I am seeing around 0.1 gr variation. One thing that I have done is make sure the handle hits the bottom firmly after throwing a charge. This helped settle the powder in the hopper after each throw and seemed to give me more consistency.

[dolomite_supafly 56]

Mine is throwing charges that are conssitent enough that I am getting Standard Deviation numbers of 1.73 fps for one load. I used to measure every charge but after seeing the same number came up the 100th time I just drop the powder now. The powder baffle is what made the measure so consistent. Before that it had a lot of variation.

[TonyRumore 1,332]

Unique has big ass flat flakes that don't meter well. For your .357, you should be using something like H110 or 296 anyway. They will meter much more consistently and give you better velocity than Unique.

[FORKLIFT352 63]

You might be right.... Need the pistol size...rub dryer sheets all over it.....and make sure you douche all parts with gun scrubber.... It works for me... NO lube on the rotor.

[gunfun 3,931]

I'm no expert, but I sure like how well the autodisk pro works. Way more efficient. I don't take the chart's word for it since they always drop a bit lighter than what the manual claims, but after I have tested a significant number of samples, it is good go go. With Bullseye, I think the variance at the extreme was around .5 grains from my samples. I am not running extreme max loads, so even if I were to be .2 grain hot or so, I would still be under book max.

[montec 164]

I have the lee reloading items, and I believe it says in the manual for their powder measure to run 2lbs of powder thru it to coat the inside.

[breid1970 327]

Do you use the Lee? If so what kind and how do you like it?

[montec 164]

Do you use the Lee? If so what kind and how do you like it?

 

I use lee and its the pro auto disk. I haven't used it yet just got it set up tonight. hope to have more time to start trying it out.

[gunfun 3,931]

I have a lot of lee stuff and like most of it. It kind of depends on the product. From what I have heard the pro 1000 is crap. The tiny $26 press works, but has more friction and slop with less leverage than its ~$150 competitors. I love my Loadmaster and think it is very good period. It is incredible if you compare what it does to what it would cost to get similar function from another brand. Just get a universal decapper, and do your sizing with the priming pin pulled up over station #2 to improve priming alignment.

 

I really like the autodisk pro for flake and flattened ball powders, but it was messy with double disk and varget (stick type). You can still get fine increments, but the nice thing is a disk can't get out of adjustment. That makes setup quick and confident. I look up the disk I used last time from my notes for a particular load, run a few cycles of the powder measure to make sure the powder is settled, and then scale check a few. I have always gotten whatever I got last time from the same can of powder. Even on a single stage it saves a whole step and a lot of potential mess. Note, though you have to have lee dies or at least the powder through expander (or small rifle charging die for .223) to use this measure.

 

Lee's shotgun press works fine, but lacks many adjustments I would like to have. I also had to modify mine to get crimps to come out right. Further, it does not have the ability to do a final taper after the crimp, which would help with feeding reliability. I'd go with a used mec press for ~$55 instead. (or a progressive for more if you can) Adjustments I want is fine control of depth for wad seating, crimp, (or I'd take spring pressure control for wad pressure instead of depth). I'd also say that the lee load all 1 is not particularly ergonomic. It has flat surfaces where you need to align shells precicely to go fast. I traced outlines of the shells with a sharpie to speed this up, but an obvious design improvement would have been a little rim to hold your shell in the right spot. For no reason that I can tell, they only give us this rim in the final station.

 

So far I have some RCBS Dies, and some LEE. They both make good ammo, but the lee dies are smoother with less hassle. (RCBS tend to work loose and are more difficult to adjust) Also Lee dies come with the powder through expander I need for my powder measure, and shell holder. For some rifle calibers, I think I would prefer hornady. They have a style with a spring loaded bullet seater that has a clever way of holding the bullet straight. They also have the best lock ring system. Carbide is the way to go for anything you can get in carbide. I still lube, but the difference in resistance is noticeable, so I can lube less or none. Less resistance, means I can feel other stuff going on in my stroke better.

 

I have a hornady cam lock bullet puller, that IMO is the obvious choice for that kind of tool. They all take the same collets, but this is much more convenient design than competing designs.

[netpackrat 566]

So far I have some RCBS Dies, and some LEE. They both make good ammo, but the lee dies are smoother with less hassle. (RCBS tend to work loose and are more difficult to adjust) Also Lee dies come with the powder through expander I need for my powder measure, and shell holder. For some rifle calibers, I think I would prefer hornady. They have a style with a spring loaded bullet seater that has a clever way of holding the bullet straight. They also have the best lock ring system. Carbide is the way to go for anything you can get in carbide. I still lube, but the difference in resistance is noticeable, so I can lube less or none. Less resistance, means I can feel other stuff going on in my stroke better.

 

+1 on the Hornady dies. I use them for most of my rifle reloading these days other than .308, for which I use Dillon dies. I bought the Dillon Dies for loading for the Saiga because they are made to size brass farther than standard dies, for use in semi-autos. That way I can adjust them for a minimum spec size using a case gauge. I'm not sure if that was really necessary but they seem to work well. I also like that they came with seperate seat and crimp dies. Otherwise, for all of my 2 die sets, I always add a Lee Factory Crimp die. I buy the Hornady lock rings for all of my dies regardless of brand. Now that I am using a Forster Co-Ax press they are required (or you can use the Forster rings), but I was using them before because they are just the best. In most cases you might as well buy the Hornady dies because they are nice to begin with, and they come with the best lock rings.

 

Some of the Lee equipment is kind of hokey, but for the most part it all works. A couple of years ago I bought an RCBS Chargemaster for all of my rifle rounds, and it is awesome. Couldn't live without it now. It's slower than using a measure, but a lot faster than using a measure and a hand trickler. The combination of the Chargemaster and a chronograph really helped me to refine my rifle rounds, and figure out which powders and charges are most efficient in the shorter barrels of a couple of my rifles. I was able to get my 7mm-08 bolt gun to go from being about a 1.5" gun, to printing 5 shot groups of less than an inch at 100 yards. That's a Model 7 Remington with a relatively thin 18.5" barrel.

[gunfun 3,931]

Yeah. Most of the old guys with strong brand opinions formed those opinions 20 or 30 years ago. They were probably right at the time, but from what I can see, no one makes any bad dies any more. They all do the same job in pretty much the same way. All the kinks got worked out years ago.They pretty much just have different prices. Maybe in one caliber or another, one brand will have an advantage, such as a slightly different profile of carbide piece, or a smoother expanding pin that can be swapped out to get a wider opening..., but at least for most pistol calibers, whatever you get a deal on is the one to get.

It's a bit like guys with a camry, an accord, an altima and a BMW 5 series, saying all the other brands suck, and only buy mine. Nope, ignore the guys who talk like that. Would I love a dillon press? Sure. Does that mean what I have is bad? Not really.

 

Lee probably has more parts out of spec than the others, but on the other hand, Lee dies are kind of between the RCBS "full length" dies and the "small base" dies. That means they should run semi auto, but if you have a really picky gun, you might want RCBS small base.

 

FYI so far I have only used Lee brand dies in the sense of molds for casting. I can't comment on other brands, but for pistol calibers at least, the 6 cav molds are brilliant. I had to send one of mine back b/c of a ding in it. The replacement seems to cast a bit bigger, so sadly I have to size now. I will play with my alloy.

 

Also note. Whatever brand you get, verify and measure. Lee's volume charts are consistently a bit on the lean side. to say it differently, So far every single charge I have aimed for, needed 1-2 steps bigger volume to get the weight on the chart. My .357" sizer dropped .355" (small enough to cause leading in almost every bore and obliterate grease grooves. Fixed by me with a home made sand paper rod and drill hone. to .357" dead. )

 

My RCBS .38 SPL dies are rough and scratchy and are very finicky about alignment. I plan to run a felt and rouge through them to fix the roughness and a conical stone at the opening so that cartridges funnel in better.

 

I like the deprimer better on the lee dies. It is stronger, and pushes up visibly if it encounters an ubstruction. with RCBS, you would only find out later if you have a problem on a progressive. RCBS use a finger collet that is hard to tighten and loosen, and can easily allow pins to be pulled out by a tight flash hole.

 

The lyman case prep tool is kind of the best deal because it is well made and comes with thread in tips of all the types you will need. Simply store them in the annodized aluminum handle and use them on your drill.