Dillon powder metering

[justplainbob]

I have a Dillon 550 that I have been using to reload .40cal and .9mm pistol rounds. Have only used Bullseye and Unique powders. Do you folks find that Bullseye meters better with the Dillon powder measure than Unique does or is it just me? And, is there a powder that meters better than Bullseye?
Thanks for any and all help.

 

[Terlingueno]

Power Pistol meters nicely in my 550B. Then again, so does Bullseye

 

[243winxb]

Bullseye meters better than Unique. The shape and size has a lot to do with it. See photos of different powders here > http://www.ilrc.ucf.edu/powders/sample_detail.php?powder_id=1

 

[ulflyer]

I've used a lot of BE, 231, and Clays....they all meter good in my 550d.

 

[RPegram]

231, autocomp, CFE Pistol meter great in my 550b. Blue dot does good. On Friday evening I get to try BE-86. From what I've read on here, I am expecting it to meter as well as the first three I mentioned. Unique meters awful. Have some on the shelf, but only use it when I measure every round. Also, I have had good results with first three in 9mm. The blue dot worked good, but I found best results with near max loads. Now use it for 357 magnum loads strictly.

 

[bobinoregon]

Bullseye and 231 both work better in my 550's than Unique. I still run Unique, just double check it more often.

 

[RugerOldArmy]

Bullseye meters better Unique.

Unique meters WAY better than IMR 4064.

 

[Toprudder]

Have not tried Unique in my Dillon, but I have found that using an aquarium pump attached to the hopper helps the Dillon to meter the large flake powders much better. In my case, that was 700x.

 

[MtnCreek]

Have not tried Unique in my Dillon, but I have found that using an aquarium pump attached to the hopper helps the Dillon to meter the large flake powders much better. In my case, that was 700x.

Pressurizing the hopper?

 

[Kp321]

I load lots of pistol rounds with Unique, Herco, and the "Dots". Although they do not meter as well as 231 or Bullseye in my Dillon, I still turn out safe accurate loads, normally +/- 0.1 gr. The key is settling the powder and operating consistently. I don't use the aquarium pump trick, I just settle the powder by throwing at least 15-20 charges before starting to load.

 

[Toprudder]

Pressurizing the hopper?

No, just the vibrations helping to settle the powder consistently into the measuring bar.

 

[joem1945]

I can't use surplus powder that burns like AA9. It's very fine and jams the powder bar.

 

[Red Cent]

MtnCreek, gorilla tape the aerator to the powder cylinder. Buy one of those cheap inline on/off switches and enjoy.

 

[Ex]

Have used LOTS of Unique in my 550 for all different pistol rounds.

Yes, Unique can be a tad inconsistant, but not so much to be on the dangerous side.
And, there are many powders that meter a lot worse than Unique.

I normally see a +- .1 gn variance with unique, not quite .2.
With Unique I normally run about 2/3 of the way into the load data
so a 1/10 gn variance is not a danger and I don't use it for "my best rounds".

It's simply an extremely versatile powder that works well in many handgun
cartridges.

 

[Hondo 60]

Accurate #2, #5, Universal, Titegroup & Varget all measure beautifully in my Dillon PM.

Bullseye, Unique & Lil Gun?? Not so much!

 

[Ccctennis]

I have a new dillon 550 as well and so far A#5, A#9, Hp-38 meter perfectly. I throw 10 charges and so far i only average .1 variation and that only happens about 1-2 throws out of 10. I love H-110 for my 357 and have heard it is a bitch to meter in the dillon. I will find out soon enough!!!

 

[9mmepiphany]

I've separated out the OT posts as it has really muddled up the OP