[Furncliff]

I bought the Dillon sq. deal b. at a gun show last spring. Jumped right in and was utterly crushed at my results. speeds were all over the map, groups where just so-so. Back to the WWB. Press is developing a patina of dust over there on the new special made bench.

Fast forward to yesterday when I went to the bench asked forgiveness and started again. Still having trouble with the do all powder Unique, must be the scale... nope, change out the powder bar... nope, call Dillon... nah. I bang out some .38 special rounds anyway. Well here's another thing to try; a different powder, Win 231. Eureka ! All my problems gone. My scale shows the exact same weight for each and every charge. Whodathunkit? I am sure that when I chrono these loads the speeds are going to be much closer together.

I'm posting this embarrassing state of affairs in the hope that there's one person out there who can benefit from my foolishness. More so that I did not present my problem here than anything else.

Insert dope slap thingy here.

[X-Rap]

Dam Furn I was hoping you were looking to sell it. Those powder measures have always metered well for me. I don't know how but I have a Redding mounted on the bench and it will not come close to the Dillon. Glad to hear it works.

[RVenick]

Powders like W231, Titegroup etc. all meter well because they are ball type powders kind of like sand. I use both W231 and Titegroup and both are very accurate (at least when other people shoot my guns :) )

[something vague]

Yeah, I have had similar metering issues with Unique in my Lee Perfect Powder Measure but not to the extreme that you had. I get readings with a + or - .2 grains with Unique. I switched over to Universals and have no problems metering it. W231 works great as well but I like the performance of Universal better.

[Hikingman]

According to M.D. Smith, "Hodgdon makes the following powders:
Clays, International Clays, Universal Clays, HS7, HS6, H110, HP38, H4227, H4198, H322, BL-C2, H4831, H335, H4895, H380, H414, H4350, Varget, H450, H4831SC, H1000 and H870...Hodgdon's Universal is almost the same as Unique. I can use them with the same loads (but both companies are quick to say they are not interchangable). I like the HP38 for .38 Special, .357 Magnum. The HP38 is not as fast as Bullseye or Clays, but is faster than Unique or Universal. So, it's a good in-between powder for many kinds of pistol loads."

Visit: http://www.reloadammo.com/rel-powd.htm

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg130/Hikingman/Hobbies/Ballpowder.jpg

Hikingman

[bobotech]

Same experience as me!! I was using Unique and Red Dot in my Square Deal and had nothing but a wide variety of weights in my loads.

Bought a pound of Win231 and blammo, instant gratification! My weights are MUCH more consistent.

I use my Unique/Red Dot/flake powders in my RCBS and Hornady powder drops and use the ball powders in my pair of Square Deals.

Good job.

[snuffy]

According to M.D. Smith, "Hodgdon makes the following powders:
Clays, International Clays, Universal Clays, HS7, HS6, H110, HP38, H4227, H4198, H322, BL-C2, H4831, H335, H4895, H380, H414, H4350, Varget, H450, H4831SC, H1000 and H870...Hodgdon's Universal is almost the same as Unique. I can use them with the same loads (but both companies are quick to say they are not interchangable). I like the HP38 for .38 Special, .357 Magnum. The HP38 is not as fast as Bullseye or Clays, but is faster than Unique or Universal. So, it's a good in-between powder for many kinds of pistol loads."

Visit: http://www.reloadammo.com/rel-powd.htm

Just a minor point, but Hodgdon doesn't MAKE any powder. They DISTRIBUTE powder made by other companies. Hodgdon began when he bought train car loads of WW11 surplus powder from the U.S. government, it was left over from the war effort. It was known as H-4831.