powder measure cutting kernels

You will not die due to cutting sticks. If all of your throws are within your tolerance everything is fine. If you want tighter tolerances, move to a better flowing powder. People's luck with measures and powders vary greatly from measure to measure, powder to powder and technique to technique.

I've never seen the difference on targets. My Lyman 55 definitely cuts kernels. I don't think I've ever felt my Dillon measures cut but they might be.

My Hornady powder measure does the same thing. I haven’t seen it effect charge weight.

IMR4895 is notoriously crunchy but it doesn't seem to cause any real problems. Varget is another stick powder that meters much better and for me performs much better in .308.

.40

Welcome to THR and your new addiction!

sncup said:

As I use a powder measure to speed up loading (no more dipper and scale) I am concerned about the “crunch” I feel cycling the powder measure. (RCBS powder measure.)

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There’s no need to worry about any dust created by shearing grains, you should worry more about the precision of the throws. Stick powders will give you a greater +/- than ball powders but you’ll have to decide if it’s acceptable. Other members sometimes resort to a Hornady powder measure on a Dillon press for better precision especially with stick powders but again it’s up to you to decide if that’s warranted. Good luck!

I have used a Lyman 55 and a RCBS Uniflow for decades and they always cut the extruded powders. The only thing I worry about is the consistency of the of the powder dump. I weight frequently and look at the level of powder in the case. I am very diligent about making sure I use the same technique and motion with each throw. It does make a difference. FWIW, I have had the best experiences with the Lee PPM when using these extruded powders. Best wishes.

for loading rifle I now use an RCBS Charge Master but before that it was my Lee perfect Powder measure best $20.00 I ever spent on a powder measuure.

Get a reloading manual and read it.

This subject is covered in the front of every decent reloading manual. You'll be surprised at what you learn by reading the front part of a reloading manual.

The old long cut 3031 is about as “crunchy” as it gets and I loaded lots of it with Dillon measures (friend gave me a 20lb keg of it). It also bridges often on .224 necks and spills everywhere, much more forgiving with .308 and .458 necks.

Actually bought my first LNL because I had so much of it and had heard how much better the measure was with extruded powders. In the end it wasn’t any better than the Dillon. If you have used an RCBS uniflow, you’ll get the same crunch out of them.

The Lyman 55 measure is a bit different than the others in that there are 3 different adjustment slides on them. So one could set up to maximize the area of powder in areas subject to shear or minimize it but it’s not really magical either.

A long skinny hole with very little surface area would subject the least amount of kernels to being sheared but would also be much more likely to bridge and or stack irregularly.

I just hand weighed a number of charges and threw the same number with measures and went and shot them side by side. If you can tell any difference at all, then you just need to decide if the extra work was worth it or not.

My Harrell's also cut extruded powders, so did my RCBS.

So for extruded powders I throw light and trickle. But I only use extruded powders for certain applications that aren't volume; precision and hunting loads. All else, I try to develop the best load I can using a ball powder.

Variations in charge weights are not a huge deal depending on your accuracy requirements at distance. The .2-.6 deltas probably have no effect on accuracy until you start getting past the 400yd mark. What does your chronograph say for ES and SD? That's what the variance in charges sometimes plays havoc with, and those numbers are indicators of how a load will perform a ways out there.

For example I had a friend out the other day that's working on a new precision rifle in .223. We chron'd his load with 69grn SMK's and for 10rds he had an ES of over 100 and an SD somewhere in the 50+ range. His ammo at 200 shot very well, but once we went back to past 500 his grouping sucked.

Probably my favorite image to explain:



here's another decent image to show the effect of ES:



So I weigh my effort against the accuracy requirement I have within the most likely distance.

Good visuals and why 100/200 yard benchrest folks don’t worry about throwing charges to the kernel.

jmorris said:

Good visuals and why 100/200 yard benchrest folks don’t worry about throwing charges to the kernel.

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To the OP!
There are many variables in the reloading process. The RCBS, Hornady and Lyman rotary powder measures also cut kernels but usually more precise than sliding type measures. As in this post within 200 yards not much to worry about.

Beyond 200 and out cutting kernels will be only one of many precision steps to get the consistency and precision required to get desired accuracy! These steps are covered in volumes of precision rifle publications. 's

Might I suggest you throw 10 charges and then calculate the average weight for the lot to obtain the powder weight charge? it won't be perfect for each round but you will be within a tenth or so of the desired weight.

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