POwders that dont meter well?

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

tommysempra

Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2008
Messages
47
Location
Houston, Tx
When you are loading with a flake or granulated powder, how do you dispense it without cutting them up in the powder thrower?
 
Trickle & weigh is the only way I know to not cut them..
"Cutting" powder is not always a bad thing though.
Depends on your intended purpose.
I've "cut" a lot of it in various powder drops.. It still does it's job.
 
A powder that does not meter well: Unique, I hate it! especially in the dillon measures.
 
800X is the worst I've ever encountered. It makes Unique look good. Even so, 800X gives spectacular results with a 200gr SWC in the .45acp and Steel shot loads in a 12 gauge. Sometimes, difficult powder metering is worth it.

CDD
 
I haven't been at this very long but I've had trouble with H414 sticking to the pan and sticking to the sides of the measure when I try to empty it. It's a pain. I started using some Varget. Man that'll spoil you.
 
IMR4064 is pretty bad in a standard powder thrower. Long extruded grains. Tought o turn the handle and cut some of the grains. Seems to make good .308 loads though so I guess I can manage. :)
madd0c
 
I've found the trick is to operate the measure with athority, cutting granules needs to happen in such a wAy as to not impede the motion of the throw. If this happens I cull that charge.

Since learning this I Never weigh individual charges anymore
 
800X & Bluedot have Bridged for me.

IMR rifle powders give me the most trouble with cuttting. I stay away from maximum loads when dropping directly from the measure. If i feel a charge cutting, it goes back into the hopper. Powders that bridge or hangup in the measure drop tube are the most dangerous. This produces 1 round with 75% of the powder charge, the next case gets 125% of the powder charge. KABOOM. :uhoh: Happens mostly in handguns that can be double charged, large cases, fast powder. Stick powders are just cut by the measure, not a major problem. Alliant Unique has never been a problem for me, but will vary about 2/10 gr. between drops. Good reading on powders here > http://www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/fsc/backissu/april2002/mccord.htm
 
Last edited:
i use an rcbs powder measure that came with my rockchucker kit. W231 is amazing in it, while Unique is aweful. With Unique, it tends to get stuck on the upstroke every now and then, which throws measurements all over the place. With W231 say i set it at 3.8 grains, everything is within 3.7-3.9.
 
I've found the trick is to operate the measure with athority, cutting granules needs to happen in such a wAy as to not impede the motion of the throw. If this happens I cull that charge.
Click to expand...
Agreed.

Nice and smooth but with enough force that cutting a granule or two doesn't interfere with that smooth motion.

I don't weigh individual charges either. When using load blocks, once I get my setting worked out, I just keep throwing powder, unless one feels funny, and then I will dump that one out of the case after I finish the block and re-throw it. If your powder measure can't throw consistent charges when operated properly, get a better one.
 
IMR4064 is pretty bad in a standard powder thrower.
Click to expand...

The best method for loading 49064 (AKA Lincoln Logs) involves a chainsaw.

I think it was Zediker who said, "I'm afraid to try 4064; it might work and then I would have to use it."
 
Unique meters poorly in my opinion. In fact I pretty much dislike everything about Unique, except that it is so dang versatile. It is an ugly powder, meters poorly, and light loads shoot dirty. Its gross to work with.

I recently tried some AA#9 for reloading 10mm... man that stuff is nice.
 
I know people are going to scream at me but I never use bullseye because I can't get it to measure well, in either my RCBS, Hornady or Lee Pro measures nor will clays measure correctly in any of these. Now I must mention I am trying to use smaller charges for 38special with clays and bullseye. Now if I use bullseye for 44Mag loads like around 6 grains I get exactly 6 grains every time. Anything below 4 grains I can't get to meter well in any measurer with either of these powders, it's so bad it would throw 4grains once and then 1grain the next time.

Now what I have found to replace them and love
H322 Rifle 223
Bluedot 10MM and 357
HS-6 44spl & Mag & 10MM
2400 44mag & 357 Mag & 10MM
w231 38special
titegroup 40S&W

To keep it simple I have settled on
2400 44Mag, 44spl, 10MM, 357Mag even for light loads
W231 for 38Spl, 40S&W
H322 for Rifle 223 mainly
 
Unique may not be the best metering powder, but in my experience that doesn't seem to matter. My shooting is just as good (crappy by internet standards) with +/- 0.2gr as it is with each charge weighed. I generally set my measure so that 5 throws weigh 5 times the desired charge.
 
Hmm, I use Unique for pretty much everything. Seems to work just fine out of my Dillon. Every time I weigh a charge, it is within 0.1 of where I set it.

800X is the only powder I've every used that meters so poorly I won't buy any of it.
 
I use the Hornady powder throw and haven't had any problems with too much or too little powder. Bullseye likes to clump up a little some times but just tapping the handle twice on the down stroke gets any powder left in the tube.
I also use a beam and electronic scale and weigh out every tenth load. But I think just looking at the powder in the cases can pretty much tell you if you screwed up a load.
 
i see a lot about 800x, but in my opinion 700x isnt real great either. I am slowly phasing it out. As soon as the current lot runs out i wont be buying it again, unless it comes in an amazing deal(which does happen, though not as frequently as it used to).
 
I've found only Ball powders will meter well with all measures. I agree with the above post about Clays. With light charges it meters TERRIBLY but does get better with heavier charges. Too bad too because I like 2.5gr Clays under a 148gr DEWC in a .38 Special but there's no way to get that charge to meter well without weighing every charge. (which I will not do)
 
I'll also vote for 700x as being just-about-impossible-to-meter. OTOH, the short-cut extruded powders from Vihtavuori meter just fine....

Jim H.
 
I found two tricks for using Unique. First clean and lube the measure every so often with some graphite. Then de-static the plastic tube on the measure by rubbing a little bit of liquid detergent on the outside of it. It doesn't solve it 100%. but boy, it sure does help.
 
700X will mostly do +/- .1 for me, with an occasional charge a bit over, and shoots great. :scrutiny: :)
 
I like the dryer sheets for static. I wrap one around the powder tube to keep static buildup down. I found that bullseye is the most sensitive to static, but it meters the best.

One thing I did to help maintain an consistent throw of powder is I drill a small hole in the handle and attached a medium spring to a screw on my bench. It keeps every charge the same.
 
These didn't work well in my Lee Auto Disk or Perfect Powder dropper:

IMR Powders 4064, 3031, 4350.
Alliant Powders Reloder 15, R19, R22, R25
Hodgdon Varget

I use the RCBS Chargemaster and it works great with rifle loads, not the fastest, but faster than doing it by hand. It doesn't do well with W231 45ACP loads.

A reasonably quick way to do rifle loads is to use a Lee scoop of the closest size under your load, drop it on a digital scale, and trickle the rest. This is what I do as well for W231 loads, but I just trickle 5.3 grains manually.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

jski
Metering Hodgdon Universal Powder
Replies
19
Views
572
Charlie98
Charlie98
P
  • Locked
Best powder thrower?
Replies
5
Views
715
Chuck R.
Chuck R.
wiiawiwb
  • Locked
Powder dispenser
Replies
12
Views
1K
Hondo 60
Hondo 60
M
  • Locked
Electronic Powder Dispensers and IMR 800x
Replies
2
Views
436
GP100man
G
Atavar
  • Locked
Grounding Experiment
Replies
11
Views
470
higgite
higgite
Back
Top