Learning the Lyman 55

I have a Lyman brass smith drop. Not sure how much different than it is over the 55. Im not sure what knocking is. But i use mine for rifle charges. It's right on with rifle powders. It does vary some .2 with shotgun powders like the dot ones and unique. I too used to use the Lee perfect powder measure. I upgraded to their newer auto drum. Both are consistent with finer powders too. With the bulky ones their the same as the Lyman. I load middle of the road charges. So if it goes up .2 no harm.

I haven't used the knocker since about 1955. No observable difference in uniformity of drops if you are consistent in your technique. Kind of tough on long grain powders, though.

Up: (firm rap)
Down: (firm rap)
tap-tap the handle at bottom.

....Repeat.....

I tried the knocker when I first got my Ideal 55. After a short time I figured if I hit the stop on the up stroke and did a short double stop on the down stroke it worked as well. Ball works super, extruded pretty good and it cuts kernels well. Flake it will work as well as other brands, better than some but you do need to invest the time to set up the slides. Better results with using all three slides with flake propellants if volume permits. I like mine and it will be on with 700X after adjustments and using the handle at both ends of the stroke enough to load 32 long with no problems here.

Used a Lyman 55 xclusively fot 39 yrs. With my Pacific C single stage press. Knocker or not, do each powder drop EXACTLY the same for consistancy.

Don't mount the measure directly to the press bench. Press / bench vibration will cause the powder to settle differently from your knock/no-knock setting.

Disregard the slide markings; they are for black powder. For smokless they are reference only to get close to set up. Use large slide for rough setting (usually larger rifle drops), small slide for vernier setting or for smaller pistol drops. Make sure there are no hidden grains/flakes in large slide cavity if it is supppsed to be closed.

I use a baffle made of thin roof flashing made from the template patterns found on the net.

Once you think you have it set for your desired powder drop, weigh 10 powder drops, EXACTLY the same, then divide by 10 ( math is easier using 10) to find the average weight of the powder drop for THAT powder at THAT setting. Adjust as necessary.

Set-up is much easier to do than describe in words.

Wish rcmodel was still here. If I remember right he said use the middle slider for smaller loads and fine tune with small slider. No need to use the large one for pistol charges.

A search here for Lyman 55 and posted by rcmodel will get you some good reading.

I have a Lyman 55, the knocker was a waste of effort. I think it is there to make you feel good, like the "close" door button in an elevator. The close door button does nothing.

I am of the opinion the Lyman 55 is overly complicated and the complexity does not lead to more precise drops, or easier adjust-ability. It is all too confusing and complex.

Still using this for over three decades now.

Slamfire said:

I have a Lyman 55, the knocker was a waste of effort. I think it is there to make you feel good, like the "close" door button in an elevator. The close door button does nothing.

I am of the opinion the Lyman 55 is overly complicated and the complexity does not lead to more precise drops, or easier adjust-ability. It is all too confusing and complex.

Still using this for over three decades now.

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I too have that same Pacific measure I use for pistol powder. It is super accurate and repeatable. It was givien to me by a friend in pieces. I reassembled it and got it working again. It is perfect for handgun work. It is always within a 10th or perfectly on the line for me. My tube melted however (left powder in it like a moron) and Hornady sent me one for free. I even carefully peeled the old sticker off and stuck it on the new tube.

I had a Lyman 55 as well. It was given to me also. I found it to be fiddly and difficult to operate and not very repeatable. I gave it to a friend who was just starting out reloading and he loves it. Says it works perfect......Go figure.

I have the same one as the hornaday but the sticker says Pacific. It works OK too. I like the 55 better though. The one folks usually find fiddley is the Lee for some reason. Better than their scale in the fiddley department even though that is accurate. Currently own and use all three measures and have no complaints with any of them.

I have the 2 slide Ideal 55. I find it works best if you use both slides together. In other words, create 1 cavity rather than use the smaller slide for fine tuning and create a stepped cavity.