Powder measure reccomendations?

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With powder measures/throwers you basically get what you pay for. Regardless of the measure, they all measure by volume. If your desire is to have the exactsame charge weight for every load, odds are, you still will have to trickle. But for the vast majority of handgun loads and most rifle loads, measuring by volume is still going to produce accurate ammo. Seems the cheaper Lees are prone to the most leakage going by rants on these types of forums. Biggest trick to any powder measure is learning the quirks of the one you own.

I figured that was the case. I'm looking for something at least on the mid-end. I may end up with more than one eventually, but I'd rather not end up with junk to begin with. I'd prefer not to buy something twice right off the bat.
 
I will say that the Lyman has not leaked at all. I've ran H110, 2400, Varget, Tight Group in it...no messes were made.

My only beef with Varget is that it seems to catch some of the powder when you're throwing it. The lever will stop in place, then you must apply more force to get it to articulate fully. Almost like it is chopping one of the powder "sticks" in two parts.

Is this the lyman #55 or the lyman brass smith?

I haven't got my hands on any varget yet. With the shortage it's up to 33 bucks a pound where I live and it's sold out immediately. It's a longer grain extruded powder I take it?
 
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You may want to check out C-H 502 micrometer powder measure with separate pistol and rifle micrometers. It is a very accurate powder measure with standard die threads so I could use it on my Dillon 550/650 presses - https://www.ch4d.com/products/equipment/powder-tools/502

If you are not familiar with C-H (Now CH4D), it's one of the last true American company that does all the manufacturing in the USA, like Lee Precision. Their products come with lifetime warranty.


Several years back, Los Angeles Silhouette Club member conducted comparison tests with various powder measures (Using more difficult to meter powders) and C-H 502 produced lower standard deviation than most other powder measures including Harrell and this was primary reason for me buying the C-H powder measure - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/c-h-502-micrometer-powder-measure.761239/

SD - CH4D / Redding / Harrell / B&M / RCBS / Lee / Hornady / Lyman 55

AA #9 - 0.000 - 0.000 - 0.000 - 0.000 - 0.032 - 0.000 - 0.043 - 0.037
I 4227 - 0.025 - 0.032 - 0.038 - 0.102 - 0.000 - 0.051 - 0.031 - 0.061
Unique - 0.145 - 0.127 - 0.150 - 0.100 - 0.129 - 0.142 - 0.139 - 0.185 us
I 4198 - 0.138 - 0.177 - 0.103 - 0.125 - 0.169 - 0.141 - 0.170 - 0.114
SR4759 - 0.128 - 0.099 - 0.151 - 0.127 - 0.146 - 0.157 - 0.135 - 0.205

Average - 0.087 - 0.087 - 0.088 - 0.091 - 0.095 - 0.098 - 0.104 - 0.120​


I conducted 10 drop test in this thread using some more difficult to meter powders like Unique and got following powder charge variances - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/c-h-502-micrometer-powder-measure-10-drops.834894/


I was not familiar with this brand. With the accuracy of a Redding and price lower than RCBS with a life time warranty, this is definitely something I'll look into.

I appreciate all the info!
 
I have a Redding Match Grade 3BR with their two Metering Chambers, the Universal and Handgun. USA made. No complaints.

Redding makes some real nice equipment. My press is a redding. I was looking at their powder measure. Looked like one of the better ones for sure. Price tag was around $190.

American made and a lifetime waranty what more could you ask for?
 
If you’re in that price range, you may want to consider something like the RCBS chargemaster or chargemaster lite. I really like the convenience of typing in a throw weight and hitting the dispense key. Think of it as an alternative to the powder measure dump/trickle stage. There are other automatic throwers by other brands as well.
I used to use the RCBS measure, it worked fine for both ball, flake and stick powders. As others have mentioned, they’re all volume based so there’ll be some variability and you’ll have to determine if you’re going to do a post-trickle adjustment. I do have a Lock n Load press and it came with the Hornady powder measure and I will say it’s better than the older RCBS measure. Good luck!
 
I always thought ball powders were supposed to meter the best. I know I get resistance with my trickler using Powder pro 300mp which is identical in appearance to H110.

My beef with H110 isn't the consistency of the throws but the fact that it is so fine that it binds up my measure. Granted, the measure in question is an Ideal #5 that is probably 60 years old. But I've seen other posts complaining about the same thing or leaking with H110. Like I said, maybe it would work fine with one of my Uniflows, but those are dedicated to pet loads.
 
The higher the hopper column, the more pressure there is at the bottom, and so powder charges dumped when the column is high, should be greater because the pressure is higher, than powder charges dumped when the powder column is low.
A baffle in the hopper negates the problem. Baffles are pretty common features among powder measures.
 
A baffle in the hopper negates the problem. Baffles are pretty common features among powder measures.

I have played with baffles, and moving them up and down. I keep the hopper filled above the middle and keep track when the charge starts to consistently change.
 
I have an old lee perfect powder measure that has never leaked and works fine with ball powders. However, it does not operate smoothly and takes a fair amout of force to make work, and stick powders like 4895 really make it choke. I also have a ancient uniflow. It is much smoother in operation, works fine, and kind of chokes of 4895, but nowhere near as bad as the lee. it is 2x as good as the lee, but not 3x or 4x. I now try to avoid stick powders, but the blasted m1 garand really wants stick powder.
 
I have an RCBS Uniflow that I run off the press and really like.

I also have a Lee Auto Drum that I run on the press, and don't much care for.
 
If you’re in that price range, you may want to consider something like the RCBS chargemaster or chargemaster lite. I really like the convenience of typing in a throw weight and hitting the dispense key. Think of it as an alternative to the powder measure dump/trickle stage. There are other automatic throwers by other brands as well.
I used to use the RCBS measure, it worked fine for both ball, flake and stick powders. As others have mentioned, they’re all volume based so there’ll be some variability and you’ll have to determine if you’re going to do a post-trickle adjustment. I do have a Lock n Load press and it came with the Hornady powder measure and I will say it’s better than the older RCBS measure. Good luck!

The price was what turned me off the redding although I'm sure it one of the better measures you can get.

Those automatic powder throwers have definitely caught my attention. It's about 200-300 bucks to get into one though. Maybe someday I'll grab one.

With all the planned power outrages as well as ones caused by nature here in California I'm leaning more towards manual tools that don't need to be plugged in for now. Chairman Newsom of the people's republic California may be moving to take control of our electric utilities. If that happens well be losing power everytime the weather channel thinks there will be santa ana winds.
 
I have an RCBS Uniflow that I run off the press and really like.

I also have a Lee Auto Drum that I run on the press, and don't much care for.


If the auto drum is leaking, try a different drum. If you just don't like the apparatus, shoot me a pm. I like them.
 
If the auto drum is leaking, try a different drum. If you just don't like the apparatus, shoot me a pm. I like them.

It leaks with ball powders like 300-MP, but works okay with extruded and flake powders. What I really dislike is that it's quite sensitive to vibrations of the press. So I found that even though it's fairly consistent, setup is a pain.

I often find it's just easier to use the RCBS and pour each charge, unless I'm doing large quantities and not so concerned about precise charge weights.
 
Yeah. I set mine to each die set and never move it again. I know that technically the drums are made to swap out from caliber to caliber. In theory 1 measure and 6 drums for 6 calibers, but forget that.
 
Just for the heck of it I measured 10 throws of 26.8 Varget (small extruded kernels) using one of my Harrell's:

26.8
26.9
26.8
26.7
26.8
26.8
26.8
26.7
26.9
26.9

AVG 26.82
SD 0.079

So actually pretty good, probably good enough for mid-range work.
 
I just did 10 powder drop comparison with W296 (Same fine ball powder as H110) using C-H, Redding and Lee Pro Auto Disk.

10 drops of powder charges were put back in the hopper to settle the powder before 10 consecutive drops were weighed:

C-H 502 micrometer:
  1. 9.70 gr
  2. 9.62 gr
  3. 9.62 gr
  4. 9.70 gr
  5. 9.68 gr
  6. 9.64 gr
  7. 9.78 gr
  8. 9.70 gr
  9. 9.64 gr
  10. 9.78 gr
Range - 0.16 gr


Redding micrometer:
  1. 9.54 gr
  2. 9.58 gr
  3. 9.64 gr
  4. 9.64 gr
  5. 9.56 gr
  6. 9.76 gr
  7. 9.66 gr
  8. 9.48 gr
  9. 9.58 gr
  10. 9.46 gr
Range - 0.30 gr


Lee Pro Auto Disk: (.61 cc disk hole)
  1. 9.16 gr
  2. 9.16 gr
  3. 9.08 gr
  4. 9.20 gr
  5. 9.12 gr
  6. 9.18 gr
  7. 9.16 gr
  8. 9.12 gr
  9. 9.08 gr
  10. 9.12 gr
Range - 0.12 gr
What about comparative leaking judgment? Unless excessive with really fine stuff like Belgian, I think the leaking issue is overstated (unless binding). Automation will likely bring some compromises.
 
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