50 drops - Lee Deluxe Perfect Powder Measure

LiveLife said:
I do have some theories as to what happened with the weight fluctuation using two "known accurate" digital scales with higher resolutions and the fact that weight fluctuation occurred with both scales in similar manner was a confirmation of my theories.
Click to expand...
Good morning everyone.

With much needed rest and a cup of coffee, I did some pondering as to what I saw yesterday. Here are my theories:
  1. New one pound container of H335 was settling during the 50/140 drop run
  2. Powder granules could be bridging at the drum/drop tube transition
  3. Target selected was near the bottom of metering spread
As I drank my coffee, I ruled out theory #1 as by the time I did the final 50 drops of 140 drops, powder inside the factory container should have settled but the metering fluctuation continued. Theory #2 was plausible and bridging granules could be sufficient to sporadically increase drop weights then return back down. Theory #3 was also plausible and for the next run, I would drop 30 charges then watch the weight range before identifying the target weight for the run.

To address theory #2, I cut a piece of tape and applied over the "shelf" that was created between drum and drop tube transition. I put a dog hair near top of tape to better see the application of tape.

DLXPPMtest5tape1.jpg

To keep things "real world", I decided to not wipe off the black powder smear on the cone surface or clean the drum.

DLXPPMtest5.jpg

Powder measure was not cleaned and reassembled with light pressure on the wing nut so there was little resistance to lever movement. Factory 1 lb container of H335 (Same container used yesterday) was screwed to the red bottle adapter directly and 30 charges were dropped before watching the drop charge weight and target was set at 25.08 gr. Lever down-up-down was used with slight pause around 1 second in up position to fill powder. Shortened medicine bottle was used to catch the powder charge drops and measure was not "tapped" after the drop. (Powder container nor the measure was tapped during the run and smooth up/down movement of lever was used)

Creedmoor Sports TRX-925 digital scale was used after power on auto calibration without any warm up.
  1. 25.08 gr
  2. 25.08 gr
  3. 25.09 gr
  4. 25.04 gr
  5. 25.01 gr
  6. 25.08 gr
  7. 25.01 gr
  8. 25.06 gr
  9. 25.09 gr
  10. 25.02 gr
  11. 25.08 gr
  12. 25.05 gr
  13. 25.15 gr
  14. 25.07 gr
  15. 25.04 gr
  16. 25.15 gr
  17. 25.05 gr
  18. 25.04 gr
  19. 25.07 gr
  20. 25.09 gr
  21. 25.01 gr
  22. 25.09 gr
  23. 25.09 gr
  24. 25.05 gr
  25. 25.10 gr
  26. 25.13 gr
  27. 25.11 gr
  28. 25.08 gr
  29. 25.09 gr
  30. 25.10 gr
  31. 25.12 gr
  32. 25.06 gr
  33. 25.17 gr
  34. 25.06 gr
  35. 25.05 gr
  36. 25.13 gr
  37. 25.11 gr
  38. 25.14 gr
  39. 25.11 gr
  40. 25.11 gr
  41. 25.04 gr
  42. 25.07 gr
  43. 25.12 gr
  44. 25.14 gr
  45. 25.16 gr
  46. 25.06 gr
  47. 25.13 gr
  48. 25.14 gr
  49. 25.09 gr
  50. 25.11 gr
Breakdown of charges:
  • 5 charges of 25.08 gr (On target)
  • 10 charges of 25.07/25.09 gr (0.01 gr from target)
  • 6 charges of 25.06/25.10 gr (0.02 gr from target)
  • 9 charges of 25.05/25.11 gr (0.03 gr from target)
  • 6 charges of 25.04/25.12 gr (0.04 gr from target)
  • 3 charges of 25.13 gr (0.05 gr from target)
  • 4 charges of 25.02/25.14 gr (0.06 gr from target)
  • 5 charges of 25.01/25.15 gr (0.07 gr from target)
  • 1 charge of 25.16 gr (0.08 gr from target)
  • 1 charge of 25.17 gr (0.09 gr from target)
So with the tape mod, 50 drop spread was 0.16 gr with 39/50 drops being within 0.05 gr of target.

And here's how the "taped" drum looked after the run

DLXPPMtest5tape2.jpg
 
Blue68f100 said:
Did you shake and roll the powder bottle before pouring it into the dispenser?
Click to expand...
No. I wanted to duplicate the "real world" conditions of previous test where the container that's been sitting on shelf was turned upside down to screw to the bottle adapter. 20/30 drops were metered before starting 50 drops for previous tests until drops "seemed" to level out in charge weights. For the repeat H335 50 drops with the "tape" mod (Post #51); after 30 drops, I continued dropping until I got a good sense of spread to deem 25.08 gr the target as I saw several charge above and below 25.08 gr.

Blue68f100 said:
Are you using a baffle?
Click to expand...
No. Lee documentation/instructions that came with any of the measures that included the factory container bottle adapter did not mention use of baffle.
 
Last edited:
Retest of W231/HP-38 using shortened medicine bottle to address powder splash out of Ohaus 10-10 pan along with tape mod to prevent bridging of powder at drum/drop tube transition.

Since I was switching powders from H335 to W231/HP-38, I cleaned the inside of drum, particularly above the drop tube but did not worry about H335 granules stuck behind the tape. I also did not clean the black powder smear on the cone.

DLXPPMreW231-HP38.jpg

Powder measure was reassembled with light pressure on the wing nut so there was light resistance to lever movement. Hopper was filled above halfway and 20 charges were dropped and additional 10 drops were made with spread of 4.94 - 5.06 gr and target was set at 5.00 gr. Lever down-up-down was used with slight pause around 1 second in up position to fill powder. Shortened medicine bottle was used to catch the powder charge drops and measure was not "tapped" after the drop. (Powder container nor the measure was tapped during the run and smooth up/down movement of lever was used)

Creedmoor Sports TRX-925 digital scale was used after power on auto calibration without any warm up.
  1. 5.03 gr
  2. 5.03 gr
  3. 5.01 gr
  4. 5.00 gr
  5. 4.96 gr
  6. 4.94 gr
  7. 4.94 gr
  8. 4.99 gr
  9. 5.00 gr
  10. 4.94 gr
  11. 5.06 gr
  12. 5.02 gr
  13. 5.05 gr
  14. 5.04 gr
  15. 4.98 gr
  16. 5.06 gr
  17. 5.04 gr
  18. 5.06 gr
  19. 5.04 gr
  20. 5.01 gr
  21. 5.07 gr
  22. 4.98 gr
  23. 5.05 gr
  24. 4.97 gr
  25. 4.99 gr
  26. 5.01 gr
  27. 5.02 gr
  28. 5.05 gr
  29. 4.92 gr
  30. 5.03 gr
  31. 5.03 gr
  32. 5.03 gr
  33. 5.01 gr
  34. 5.07 gr
  35. 5.01 gr
  36. 4.94 gr
  37. 5.04 gr
  38. 4.99 gr
  39. 5.07 gr
  40. 5.04 gr
  41. 4.99 gr
  42. 5.02 gr
  43. 5.05 gr
  44. 5.01 gr
  45. 5.07 gr
  46. 5.07 gr
  47. 4.98 gr
  48. 4.98 gr
  49. 5.07 gr
  50. 5.00 gr
Breakdown of charges:
  • 3 charges of 5.00 gr (On target)
  • 10 charges of 4.99/5.01 gr (0.01 gr from target)
  • 7 charges of 4.98/5.02 gr (0.02 gr from target)
  • 6 charges of 4.97/5.03 gr (0.03 gr from target)
  • 5 charges of 4.96/5.04 gr (0.04 gr from target)
  • 4 charges of 5.05 gr (0.05 gr from target)
  • 8 charges of 4.94/5.06 gr (0.06 gr from target)
  • 6 charges of 5.07 gr (0.07 gr from target)
  • 1 charge of 4.92 gr (0.08 gr from target)
50 drop spread was 0.15 gr with 35/50 drops within 0.05 gr from target.
 
12Bravo20 said:
Thanks for testing H335 and posting the results. A drop spread of 0.16 grains is fine for practice/blaster ammo as long as one is not loading to the max charge.
Click to expand...
I agree. Unless you are weight sorting bullets and brass, and shooting these rounds in a gun that can actually shoot inside of .1 grains, it doesn't even matter.

My older Lee Auto Drum, with the plastic drum, is worn out. It was on my 550B for a while and measured 8208XBR fairly well. Out of 10 drops, it would measure +/- 0.1 grains but once in a while it would throw + 0.2. For a tuned 223 load, shooting inside of 600, it didn't make a lot of difference. The mechanism started to get really sloppy so I need to send it back to Lee and see what they think.
 
LiveLife said:
Blue68f100 said:
You may want to make a run tapping on the up stork to settle the powder? Most users do some type of tapping.
Click to expand...
I planned on doing comparison between not tapping and tapping.

So far, drops were done without tapping. Stay tuned for drops with tapping.
Click to expand...
"Tapping" of lever actually turned out to be more significant.

When I disassembled the measure, I found the drum area where the top of the drop tube transitions to be fairly clean without powder granule build up with the tape mod (Probably finally got the assembly lube/oil cleared too) with the wiper fairly clean as well (Being "conditioned")

DLXPPMreW231-3.jpg

But I found accumulation of powder granules on top of the plunge inside the cone hole. :oops: (DANG, now I have to repeat all other powder drop tests!!! :cuss::neener:) When I did my initial wipe down of inside of measure, I had the plunger flush with the cone surface. So when the plunger dropped down to meter powder, anything inside the plunger tube may have caused the powder granules to stick (As shown in the picture below) and could have contributed to fluctuation of powder charges.

DLXPPMplungeD.jpg

So I lowered the plunger to number 4 on the micrometer and wiped the inside of hole with paper towel and Q-tip.

DLXPPMplungeC.jpg

Retest of W231/HP-38 #3 - I was planning to test "tapping" vs "no tapping" separately but due to discovery of powder build up inside the plunger hole, I decided to do "down tap" for this run to make sure all the powder granules fell into the drop tube.

Powder measure was reassembled with light pressure on the wing nut so there was light resistance to lever movement. Hopper was filled above halfway and 20 charges were dropped and additional 20 drops were made with spread of 4.98 - 5.10 gr and target was set at halfway point of 5.06 gr. Lever down-up-down was used with positive down tap (Lever lowered once) was used to drop all powder granules. Shortened medicine bottle was used to catch the powder charge drops.

Creedmoor Sports TRX-925 digital scale was used after power on auto calibration without any warm up.
  1. 5.03 gr
  2. 5.05 gr
  3. 5.03 gr
  4. 5.06 gr
  5. 5.03 gr
  6. 5.07 gr
  7. 5.04 gr
  8. 5.05 gr
  9. 5.05 gr
  10. 5.04 gr
  11. 5.06 gr
  12. 5.05 gr
  13. 5.04 gr
  14. 5.04 gr
  15. 5.03 gr
  16. 5.09 gr
  17. 5.07 gr
  18. 5.02 gr
  19. 5.01 gr
  20. 4.99 gr
  21. 5.07 gr
  22. 5.03 gr
  23. 5.09 gr
  24. 5.06 gr
  25. 5.10 gr
  26. 5.02 gr
  27. 5.01 gr
  28. 5.05 gr
  29. 5.12 gr
  30. 5.09 gr
  31. 5.11 gr
  32. 5.02 gr
  33. 5.07 gr
  34. 5.02 gr
  35. 5.04 gr
  36. 5.02 gr
  37. 5.04 gr
  38. 5.04 gr
  39. 5.05 gr
  40. 5.06 gr
  41. 5.01 gr
  42. 5.01 gr
  43. 5.01 gr
  44. 5.00 gr
  45. 5.03 gr
  46. 5.02 gr
  47. 5.03 gr
  48. 5.05 gr
  49. 5.02 gr
  50. 5.06 gr
Breakdown of charges:
  • 5 charges of 5.06 gr (On target)
  • 11 charges of 5.05/5.07 gr (0.01 gr from target)
  • 7 charges of 5.04 gr (0.02 gr from target)
  • 10 charges of 5.03/5.09 gr (0.03 gr from target)
  • 8 charges of 5.02/5.10 gr (0.04 gr from target)
  • 6 charges of 5.01/5.11 gr (0.05 gr from target)
  • 2 charges of 5.00/5.12 gr (0.06 gr from target)
  • 1 charge of 4.99 gr (0.07 gr from target)
50 drop spread was 0.13 gr with 47/50 drops within 0.05 gr from target.

TIP: So as indicated in the documentation/instructions, do wipe down the inside of measure with paper towel before use but be sure to lower the plunger and wipe the inside of plunger hole. And be more positive on the down stroke of lever with light tap for more consistent drops. ;):)
 
Last edited:
I have two of the older models like them better, throwing the arm the same way each time makes a big difference with accuracy. I only tap the drum with imr powders and I also use a baffle. I never recorded 50 drops but I'm positive the older one performs better than the data given here, maybe its the baffle and consistent throwing of the arm. Would like to see data with a baffle.

Snowman357
 
snowman357 said:
I never recorded 50 drops but I'm positive the older one performs better than the data given here
Click to expand...
Due to inside of plunger hole not being wiped prior to use, I would disregard all previously posted data (Maybe except for post #59 data but I still need to check the plunger to see if powder granules stuck inside) as I now need to repeat powder drops all over again.

Sorry ... * Sigh * < I think I will make some potato salad and resume powder drops all over again after a nap :rofl: >

index.php
 
Last edited:
Meanwhile been doing some test of my own. Got to test drive one of the plastic small drums offered for the Deluxe. Different in at least two more ways than the brass drum. The measure tube is smaller in diameter, so potentially more accurate. They also do not have the graduated cc scale. No scale at all. To do the rough set, you are to measure out how much you want, dump it into the cavity, then start cranking it out until powder starts to dribble out. Then install and fine tune from there. Each plastic drum comes with a key to screw plunger in or out. The key stem is 8 sided, each of the 8 flats on side of stem is supposed to be 0.1 grain. That would depend on the density of the powder, As opposed to the larger big deluxe stem, there have no set stops, so are infinitely adjustable. In practice, was pretty easy to get set to target drop weight, and was pretty consistent when it got there.

To break in the drum before use, gave it a light coating of mica and worked it up and down about 50 times, then another 50 drops of some very old and ancient powder I now keep for this purpose. Also, when I checked the larger base drum, I also had some residual powder clinging at junction of stem and brass drum edge in the plunger tube. That was with the larger brass drum. No such thing with the smaller plastic drums. They remained clean.

Then tested with Acc #7. Very consistent drops and no leaks at all that I could tell. That thing would work.

Once I got rolling, almost every drop looked like this. I can live with that.

IMG_0828.jpg
 
= Final testing of W231/HP-38 with tapping of upstroke and down stroke of lever =

Good news. Disassembled the measure to find the plunger end of cone to be clean (Noticed cone surface around the plunger hole without black powder granule smear indicating to me that wiper is now "conditioned") and also drum/drop tube transition was relatively clear of powder granules.

DLXPPMbottomtap.jpg

Tape mod over the ledge of top of drop tube transition was maintained for this run as well.

DLXPPMbottomtap2.jpg
LiveLife said:
Blue68f100 said:
You may want to make a run tapping on the up [stroke] to settle the powder? Most users do some type of tapping.
Click to expand...
I planned on doing comparison between not tapping and tapping.
Click to expand...
So moving onto tapping on the upstroke in addition to tapping done on down stroke for post #59.

Powder measure was reassembled with light pressure on the wing nut so there was light resistance to lever movement. Hopper was filled above halfway and hopper was lightly tapped 20 times to settle powder. 20 charges were dropped without weighing and additional 10 drops were made with light upstroke tap/pause and down stroke tap. Since powder drops were around 5.20 gr, micrometer drum was adjusted from 0.52 cc to 0.50 cc. 10 more drops were made with spread of 4.94 to 5.06 gr and target was set at 5.00 gr. Shortened medicine bottle was used to catch the powder charge drops.

Creedmoor Sports TRX-925 digital scale was used after power on auto calibration without any warm up.
  1. 5.00 gr
  2. 4.97 gr
  3. 4.98 gr
  4. 4.96 gr
  5. 5.01 gr
  6. 4.99 gr
  7. 5.00 gr
  8. 5.01 gr
  9. 4.98 gr
  10. 5.04 gr
  11. 4.97 gr
  12. 4.96 gr
  13. 4.97 gr
  14. 4.95 gr
  15. 5.01 gr
  16. 4.94 gr
  17. 5.02 gr
  18. 5.03 gr
  19. 4.99 gr
  20. 4.96 gr
  21. 4.95 gr
  22. 4.95 gr
  23. 5.02 gr
  24. 4.98 gr
  25. 4.96 gr
  26. 4.95 gr
  27. 5.06 gr
  28. 4.98 gr
  29. 5.04 gr
  30. 4.99 gr
  31. 4.94 gr
  32. 5.00 gr
  33. 5.00 gr
  34. 5.00 gr
  35. 4.98 gr
  36. 4.98 gr
  37. 4.99 gr
  38. 4.99 gr
  39. 4.94 gr
  40. 4.96 gr
  41. 4.98 gr
  42. 5.04 gr
  43. 5.03 gr
  44. 5.03 gr
  45. 4.98 gr
  46. 4.99 gr
  47. 5.01 gr
  48. 4.98 gr
  49. 5.00 gr
  50. 4.94 gr
Breakdown of charges:
  • 6 charges of 5.00 gr (On target)
  • 10 charges of 4.99/5.01 gr (0.01 gr from target)
  • 11 charges of 4.98/5.02 gr (0.02 gr from target)
  • 6 charges of 4.97/5.03 gr (0.03 gr from target)
  • 8 charges of 4.96/5.04 gr (0.04 gr from target)
  • 4 charges of 4.95/5.05 gr (0.05 gr from target)
  • 5 charges of 4.94/5.06 gr (0.06 gr from target)
50 drop spread was 0.12 gr with 45/50 drops within 0.05 gr from target.


Note on sample size increase from 10 drops:

As insisted by many THR members, in similar manner of 5 shot groups being subset of 10 shot groups and 10 shot groups being subset of 50 shot groups, same applied to powder measure drops. Had I stopped at sample size 10 or 20, my spread would have been 0.08 gr but with sample #27, spread increased to 0.11 gr and with sample #31, spread increased to 0.12 gr.
 
Last edited:
sparkyv said:
On my polymer auto drum measures, I snug up the wing nut way past light resistance to lever movement. Is this a test factor worth consideration, LiveLife?
Click to expand...
Yes.

Since the measure was new, as Calvin expressed, I didn't want to over-tighten the wing nut until the drum/wiper was sufficiently "conditioned".

Now that cone is not showing black powder granule smear, I would deem the wiper sufficiently "conditioned" as lever movement is smooth and I will do another test with "past light resistance to lever movement". :)
 
Blue68f100 said:
Did you shake and roll the powder bottle before pouring it into the dispenser?
Click to expand...
sparkyv said:
On my polymer auto drum measures, I snug up the wing nut way past light resistance to lever movement. Is this a test factor worth consideration, LiveLife?
Click to expand...
I decided to shake/roll the factory container and snug up the wing nut for retest of Titegroup.

Retest of Titegroup:

Powder measure was disassembled and plunger hole/drop tube transition areas were found to be clean without any powder granule build up. Cone surface around plunger hole was clean without any black powder smear to deem drum/wiper to be "conditioned".

Powder measure was reassembled with light pressure on the wing nut so there was light resistance to lever movement. Wing nut was tightened 1/8th turn to "snug up" cone to drum. Factory one pound container of Titegroup was shaken back and forth 10 times, rolled 5 times and then attached to the bottle adapter. Once mounted to measure, container was tapped 20 times to settle powder. 20 charges were dropped without weighing and additional 10 drops were made with light upstroke tap/pause and down stroke tap. Micrometer drum was adjusted for 4.00 gr charge goal and since powder drops were around 4.00 gr, target was set at 4.00 gr. Shortened medicine bottle was used to catch the powder charge drops.

Creedmoor Sports TRX-925 digital scale was used after power on auto calibration without any warm up.
  1. 4.00 gr
  2. 3.96 gr
  3. 3.95 gr
  4. 3.96 gr
  5. 4.03 gr
  6. 4.03 gr
  7. 4.05 gr
  8. 3.99 gr
  9. 3.99 gr
  10. 3.96 gr
  11. 4.03 gr
  12. 3.95 gr
  13. 3.98 gr
  14. 4.04 gr
  15. 4.01 gr
  16. 4.01 gr
  17. 3.96 gr
  18. 4.04 gr
  19. 4.01 gr
  20. 3.95 gr
  21. 3.95 gr
  22. 3.99 gr
  23. 4.06 gr
  24. 4.02 gr
  25. 3.99 gr
  26. 4.01 gr
  27. 3.93 gr
  28. 4.02 gr
  29. 3.98 gr
  30. 3.95 gr
  31. 3.92 gr
  32. 4.05 gr
  33. 4.03 gr
  34. 3.98 gr
  35. 3.94 gr
  36. 3.92 gr
  37. 3.97 gr
  38. 3.94 gr
  39. 3.97 gr
  40. 3.97 gr
  41. 4.06 gr
  42. 4.03 gr
  43. 3.95 gr
  44. 3.99 gr
  45. 4.01 gr
  46. 3.97 gr
  47. 4.04 gr
  48. 4.00 gr
  49. 4.00 gr
  50. 4.03 gr
Breakdown of charges:
  • 3 charges of 4.00 gr (On target)
  • 10 charges of 3.99/4.01 gr (0.01 gr from target)
  • 5 charges of 3.98/4.02 gr (0.02 gr from target)
  • 10 charges of 3.97/4.03 gr (0.03 gr from target)
  • 7 charges of 3.96/4.04 gr (0.04 gr from target)
  • 8 charges of 3.95/4.05 gr (0.05 gr from target)
  • 4 charge of 3.94/4.06 (0.06 gr from target)
  • 1 charge of 3.93 (0.07 gr from target)
  • 2 charges of 3.92 (0.08 gr from target)
50 drop spread was 0.14 gr with 43/50 drops within 0.05 gr from target.
 
LiveLife said:
Houston, we have a problem ... spillage of powder came mostly from powder granules splashing from pan (When I used a case to catch the H335 powder charge, I did not notice spillage).

Sooooooo ... I now have to repeat W231/HP-38, Titegroup and No 2 drops. :( So I shortened a medicine bottle to catch the powder drop without the splash spillage
Click to expand...
UPDATE: Houston, we have another problem ... I guess I am an "imperfect human" after all. 😅 Oh my, this thread is becoming a "real world" thread pretty quick :rofl:

Calvin sent me replacement drop tube without the flat ledge for powder granules to bridge and while installing the Deluxe Perfect Powder Measure (PPM) on the 2023 Breech Lock Pro 1000, I noticed lever handle contacting the top frame head on the down stroke that prevented full cycling of the lever handle. (Good grief) 😳😳😳 After trying stations #1 to #3, I found a position on station #3 that allowed full drop of lever handle without contact with frame (Dang, all those data samples now questionable). And yes, I already got powder measure stand on order to allow unrestricted cycling of lever handle for future tests. 😉

DPPMnocontact.jpg

And here's the replacement drop tube on the left showing more machined angle cut to prevent bridging of powder granules (There is slight flat ring on top and will see if this flat ring will tuck under the body of measure < More on this later, stay tuned 😉 >)

DropTubeCompare.jpg

And drop tube installed showing very slight flat ring showing but not much (Wiper is now very well "conditioned" blackened and cone surface was wiped before reassembly. (I made sure to wipe off any solvent/oil from measure and drop tube to prevent sticking of powder granules I experienced with previous drop tube)

NewDropTube.jpg

So with replacement "properly" machined drop tube, measure and drop tube wiped of solvent/oil, use of cut medicine bottle to prevent powder granule splash out and remounting to allow full cycling of lever handle, I repeated 50 drops of W231/HP-38.

Powder measure was reassembled with light pressure on the wing nut so there was no play of cone. Hopper was filled with W231/HP-38 and lightly tapped 20 times to settle the powder. About 10 charges were dropped before starting 50 charge drops with target of 5.0 gr. (There was no additional "tapping" with lever handle. Lever handle was simple cycled with positive "tap" up and "tap" down)

NOTE: Since the Auto Drum test used Up/Down/Up cycling of CONE with good consistency, I decided to duplicate the Up/Down/Up cycling of CONE for the Deluxe PPM testing ... So it was Up, Down/Tap in one motion, Up/Tap in one motion - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/50-drops-lee-auto-drum-powder-measure.924637/

Creedmoor Sports TRX-925 digital scale was used after power on auto calibration without any warm up. Deluxe PPM was mounted in station #2 of 2023 Breech Lock Pro 1000.
  1. 5.00 gr
  2. 5.01 gr
  3. 5.02 gr
  4. 5.00 gr
  5. 5.00 gr
  6. 5.00 gr
  7. 5.00 gr
  8. 5.01 gr
  9. 4.99 gr
  10. 5.04 gr
  11. 5.01 gr
  12. 4.99 gr
  13. 5.00 gr
  14. 4.97 gr
  15. 5.03 gr
  16. 4.96 gr
  17. 4.98 gr
  18. 4.96 gr
  19. 5.03 gr
  20. 5.00 gr
  21. 5.03 gr
  22. 5.03 gr
  23. 5.05 gr
  24. 5.03 gr
  25. 4.98 gr
  26. 5.03 gr
  27. 4.96 gr
  28. 5.01 gr
  29. 5.02 gr
  30. 4.99 gr
  31. 5.01 gr
  32. 4.97 gr
  33. 5.04 gr
  34. 5.03 gr
  35. 4.96 gr
  36. 5.03 gr
  37. 5.05 gr
  38. 4.99 gr
  39. 5.04 gr
  40. 4.95 gr (I started noticing wide swings in the charge drops and wondered if there was any bridging of powder on that exposed flat ring ... So I carefully took apart the measure but did not see any powder granules at the measure body/drop tube transition)
  41. 5.00 gr
  42. 5.01 gr
  43. 5.03 gr
  44. 4.98 gr
  45. 4.97 gr
  46. 5.01 gr
  47. 4.99 gr
  48. 5.03 gr
  49. 5.01 gr
  50. 5.03 gr
  51. 4.97 gr (Decided to do 10 more drops ... Dang, should have stopped at 50 as drops #52 and #53 made me scratch my head)
  52. 4.95 gr?
  53. 5.06 gr? (4.95 gr to 5.06 gr was the most extreme of charge drops and such wide swing made me suspicious of powder bridging)
  54. 5.03 gr
  55. 4.94 gr
  56. 5.00 gr
  57. 4.97 gr
  58. 5.04 gr
  59. 4.99 gr
  60. 5.00 gr
Breakdown of charges:
  • 10 charges of 5.0 gr (On target)
  • 14 charges of 4.99/5.01 gr (.01 gr from target)
  • 5 charges of 4.98/5.02 gr (.02 gr from target)
  • 17 charges of 4.97/5.03 gr (.03 gr from target)
  • 9 charges of 4.96/5.04 gr (.04 gr from target)
  • 4 charges of 4.95/5.05 gr (.05 gr from target)
  • 1 charge of 5.06 gr (.06 gr from target)
60 drop spread was 0.11 gr with 55/60 drops within 0.04 gr from target.

Modifying old drop tube - Being suspicious of exposed flat ring possibly inducing powder bridging to cause consecutive low/high drops, I decided to modify the old drop tube. So I marked the spot where exposed flat ring showed and took out HF diamond file set and filed the drop tube to remove any flat spot at the measure body/drop tube transition.

MarkedDropTube.jpg

Red dot marked spot was filed with diamond file

FiledOldDT1.jpg
FiledOldDT2.jpg

And when installed, there was no exposed flat ring at the measure body and drop tube transition

ModDTtransition.jpg

50 drops with modified drop tube to eliminate exposed flat ring spot:
  1. 5.00 gr
  2. 5.04 gr
  3. 5.00 gr
  4. 5.05 gr
  5. 4.97 gr
  6. 5.03 gr
  7. 4.99 gr
  8. 4.98 gr
  9. 4.98 gr
  10. 4.99 gr
  11. 5.05 gr
  12. 4.97 gr
  13. 4.98 gr
  14. 5.02 gr
  15. 5.01 gr
  16. 5.04 gr
  17. 5.01 gr
  18. 5.02 gr
  19. 5.02 gr
  20. 4.94 gr
  21. 5.04 gr
  22. 5.02 gr
  23. 4.96 gr
  24. 4.98 gr
  25. 4.96 gr
  26. 5.03 gr
  27. 4.94 gr
  28. 5.04 gr
  29. 5.01 gr
  30. 5.02 gr
  31. 4.96 gr
  32. 5.04 gr
  33. 4.99 gr
  34. 5.05 gr
  35. 5.03 gr
  36. 5.03 gr
  37. 5.03 gr
  38. 4.94 gr
  39. 4.99 gr
  40. 5.01 gr
  41. 5.02 gr
  42. 5.00 gr
  43. 5.04 gr
  44. 5.00 gr
  45. 4.96 gr
  46. 5.03 gr
  47. 4.96 gr
  48. 4.99 gr
  49. 4.97 gr
  50. 4.99 gr
Breakdown of charges:
  • 4 charges of 5.0 gr (On target)
  • 10 charges of 4.99/5.01 gr (.01 gr from target)
  • 10 charges of 4.98/5.02 gr (.02 gr from target)
  • 9 charges of 4.97/5.03 gr (.03 gr from target)
  • 11 charges of 4.96/5.04 gr (.04 gr from target)
  • 3 charges of 5.05 gr (.05 gr from target)
  • 3 charges of 4.94 gr (.06 gr from target)
50 drop spread was 0.11 gr with 44/50 drops within 0.04 gr from target.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

LiveLife
50 drops - Lee Auto Drum Powder Measure
Replies
10
Views
540
Rebel Dave
R
LiveLife
  • Locked
C-H 502 Micrometer Powder Measure - 10 drops
Replies
4
Views
2K
Walkalong
Walkalong
LiveLife
  • Locked
9mm and Herco for jacketed/lead/plated bullets
Replies
4
Views
6K
Lj1941
L
carbine85
  • Locked
Lee Deluxe Perfect Powder Measure
Replies
9
Views
7K
mdi
mdi
LiveLife
  • Locked
Promo - Powder for the recession?
Replies
12
Views
2K
oneounceload
O
Back
Top