Metering performance, powders and measures

I use the Lee pro auto in 9mm and 45ACp, which covers your entire range. Bullseye, Titegroup, W231/HP38, and WST all meter well. I should add that I use the micrometer charge bar exclusively for all these powders.

There was an article published awhile back that did exactly that. As I recall, it was conducted by a big shooting club out in California. They took several popular powder measures and ran several different powders through them and rated the consistency. I'll see if I can find that article again.

Add WSF to that list of powders that flow very well through an autodisk.

Obsessing over weight is unhealthy. Keep your eye on the target, not the scale.

Finding the right load is far more important than perfectly replicating an inaccurate load.

Most any ball powder will meter flawlessly out of any dispenser. It's when you get to flake powders is when problems arise. On a single stage press the flake is not a problem if you use proper technique. But double/triple tapping on a progressive is not going to happen.

Sin City Shooter said:

Add WSF to that list of powders that flow very well through an autodisk.

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And all the Accurate "No.X" pistol powders too.

Powders that are known to meter well are not an issue. Powders that have a reputation for poor metering will have issues. Some folks do not have have problems with them, other folks can't get them to meter to save their sole.

For instance, I regularly use Unique, 700-X, and Blue Dot, all flake powders. They meter just fine for me with the technique that I use. I frequently read of folks having problems getting these powders to meter well.

So, a list of how a powder meters will be very subjective and i maintain the information would have little value.

When you are 'metering' powders, you are dispensing a certain VOLUME to get a certain weight, which means that you must have consistent DENSITY, and folks is where the fly stick, a 'packed' flake powder will be more dense than a loose. ETC. Ball is just more consistent in how it packs.

Get a B&M or a Quick-Measure and not have to worry about whether a certain powder will meter well or not.

Shadow 7D said:

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When you are 'metering' powders, you are dispensing a certain VOLUME to get a certain weight, which means that you must have consistent DENSITY, and folks is where the fly stick, a 'packed' flake powder will be more dense than a loose. ETC. Ball is just more consistent in how it packs.

Click to expand...

True. If you try to pack spherical balls, you will get a certain density and there is not much you can do to change pack them denser or "fluff" them up. Irregularly shaped granules, you can affect the packing ratio a great deal, depending on how you vibrate the container into which your granules are sitting.

So, it becomes VERY important how you scoop, dip, drop, swivel, shake or vibrate your chosen device for meting powder. The shape of the granules will determine just how important.

I have found that it is within the ability of your average human hand to operate a dipper/scoop with the requisite consistency to get consistent packing ratios and thereby get consistent weights dropped.

The trick is that you have to be consistent, and you have to measure how consistent you are, over time and keep yourself in practice (not unlike target shooting-you have to keep in practice).

So, whether you use a dipper or a Harrell, consistency is key. If you pack with three taps ALWAYS pack with three taps of the same energy. If you drop from a height of 3 inches, always drop from 3 inches.

Good luck

Lost Sheep

Too Pure - to answer your earlier question, if you can get the charge bar along with something else to keep shipping reasonable, I say do it. The disks will have a difference of anywhere from 0.2 to 0.4 grains between hole sizes depending on powders, etc. While that is fine for some folks, I like being able to dial in the amount I want and don't have to settle for 'close'. For me, it was $10 well spent. Others buy a second set of disk to drill out holes to fill in the size gaps. For the pistol calibers you mention, the charge bar will work well.

I have the standard powder measures as provided on Dillon progressive loaders. All three Dillon units are set up to load pistol cartridges. The only pistol powder I use is W231.

I also have two bench mounted measures a Redding and the other a Belding & Mull. The Redding I use with R-15 and the Belding & Mull is employed with IMR series powders 4064 and 4350.

The Dillon powder measure is consistent when dispensing powder if the operator is consistent in the procedures for the progressive unit’s mode of operation. Not detail orientated / focused then you’ll open yourself to problematic / nettlesome powder charging issues.

The Redding measure is accurate. I employ it with R-15 when reloading the 223-Rem and 308-Win. When set with the correct volume I only check the first five rounds and the last five when charging cases typically fifty at a time. Watching the head of powder in the measure and thus replenishing to maintain consistency.

The Belding & Mull with its design of a main powder hopper, horizontal sliding charging reservoir and calibrated drop tube sounds complicated. Yes when compared to other measures its slow but compared to other measures with IMR series powder its accurate.

On a Dillon 550B one may use a powder measure adapter to mount as an example a Redding Measure which requires manual activation. This helps with long grain powders when loading rifle cartridges.

I did an article a few years ago in Varmint Hunter where I pretty thoroughly tested the precision of the Lyman digital scale, the Lee Perfect Powder Measure, the Hornady powder measure, and a Hornady balance.

The result was pretty surprising.

With ball powder, the Lee measure was the most consistent of the four. With short stick powder (Varget), the Lee measure and the balance tied for first place.

Along those lines, what I would like to have is a spreadsheet of Lee's table that comes with their Auto Disk powder measures.
Then you could add a line to insert your experience with each powder and disk hole.
Second thought, since I only usually use two powders it wouldn't be hard to replicate it on a spreadsheet for those two powders. Then pretty simple to add another powder.