I’m wanting to go back to a manual powder throw instead of the digital Hornady powder measure and scale. I’ve read about several different brands but I don’t know what is going to be the best one with all types of powder. I’ll be loading from 40 grains up to 85 grains of powder. Unless I get a 300 Norma and I’m sure it takes more than 85 grains of powder. The Harrel, Dillon, Redding and RCBS are just a few of the throws I’ve read about. Any suggestions and help is much appreciated
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Best Powder Measure/Throw consistently
- Thread starter Willie Miller V
- Start date
Believe it or not, the Lee Perfect Powder Measures, with their rubber wiper, have the reputation for throwing as accurately as anything out there. I have the deluxe version and with stick powders, it will usually throw +/- .1 gr with the occasional +/- .2 gr. Mine doesn’t work well with ball powders though... Seems to leak with those. For ball powders, my Montana Vintage Arms, an upgraded Belding and Mull design, throws perfectly every time. I mean EVERY SINGLE CHARGE the same as the one before it. It does not do as well as the Lee with stick powders though.
Throwing stick powders is tough with any measure and in my opinion does not provide the precision needed once you get out past 600 yards.
John
Throwing stick powders is tough with any measure and in my opinion does not provide the precision needed once you get out past 600 yards.
John
How are the Harrell powder throwers? I use a good bit of h4831sc , mostly small extruded powders. I load from 6 Creedmoor, 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5 x 280 Ackley Improved, 280 AI and 300 WSM. I use a wide range of powder for these calibers when I’m not getting ammo from Copper Creek. I want to go back to loading my own with all the new bullets that are out there now. I’m a little anal about weighing the charge because I have a Hornady Lock n Load electronic dispenser and scale and it’s always throwing too much powder even after I change the settings. So I don’t trust it and then I’m putting the charge on another set of digital scales then to the RCBS beam scale. Going back to a manual throw is going to be faster and more accurate for me.
I've had Redding, Hornady, RCBS, and Lyman powder measures. Never a Harrell, so I can't comment on those. I will say all of the others worked well enough. Long grain extruded powders would jam, bridge, and get cut from time to time but not enough to worry about. The more a powder measure is used, the smoother it gets.
Generally the problem is not the thrower, it's that stick powders don't meter very well. Even guys with the Harrells say that it isn't the greatest with big stick powders. You're probably looking at +/- 0.2gr with anything like Varget or longer sticks.
My own leaning is to use what ever thrower you have, throw the charge a bit short, then count kernels out of a pile using a straight edge to hit your target weight. You can do this with any scale that has a resolution of 0.02gr, whether one of the cheaper ones off amazon or something nice like the FX120i. Just be aware of and control for scale drift through using check weights.
I have a bunch of different high end tools for measuring powder, but still use this technique often. It's accurate and fast.
My own leaning is to use what ever thrower you have, throw the charge a bit short, then count kernels out of a pile using a straight edge to hit your target weight. You can do this with any scale that has a resolution of 0.02gr, whether one of the cheaper ones off amazon or something nice like the FX120i. Just be aware of and control for scale drift through using check weights.
I have a bunch of different high end tools for measuring powder, but still use this technique often. It's accurate and fast.
I would look at what the bench rest guys are using. They throw their powder charges. They might be using a small stick powder - N133
They suck for stick powder save your money...like someone said above the lee perfect powder measure works just fine
The Harrell’s cut the stick powder...I wanted one for years finally bought one...made a dry run and threw 25 charges...I boxed it up and sent it back....it bound and cut varget every throw 25 outta 25.
I was using a Harrel’s to throw a charge of H4350 then trickle up on my Sartorius. The Harrel’s had a variation of about 2 grains with a charge of 42.0. I wouldn’t trust it at all with stick powders.
I get wide variations with my Harrel's and stick powder. My solution is to set it low and then trickle up with an Omega 2 which can be slowed to drop one kernel at a time.
Almost any measure will be adequate for ball or flake powder except for the Lee deluxe measure. The Lee is very good for stick powder. Run a bunch of graphite through it when new, or just expect it to be a bit rough. It smooths up a bunch after having a couple pounds of powder run through it. I get very consistent loads using a Lee measure and stick powders like 4064 and 4895. SD in low single digits.
I use 4064, 4350 and 4451...all are fairly large sticks powders and the Lee laughs at them. I have a Redding benchrest and it does a pretty decent job as long as my throw is the same every time. It handles bridged kernels better then the Lee since it is made of metal . The Lee is one of those cheap wonders that work.
If you want nuts-on weights without selling the truck to buy a Prometheus, do what others are saying. Throw a little low and trickle in. I use tweezers to drop in and remove single kernels since trickling can dump one or 2 more than you want rather easily. Beam scales (older RCBS 5-0-5 and 10-10 by Ohaus) are typically better for weighing than digital's under $900, but even the cheap beams being made today can get it done. Once you get the hang of it you can get really close to a kernel or better difference in less time than it takes an auto-charger like the RCBS CM 1500.
Old thread I posted a while back with more detail on the throw low/count kernels method, includes a video and description.
http://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/speed-up-your-powder-weighing-with-a-gempro250.6255772/
Like I said, I still use this technique regularly even though I have a Prometheus on my loading bench now. You can do it with any scale that reads to the 0.02gr resolution.
http://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/speed-up-your-powder-weighing-with-a-gempro250.6255772/
Like I said, I still use this technique regularly even though I have a Prometheus on my loading bench now. You can do it with any scale that reads to the 0.02gr resolution.
If your loading something similar to H4350 burn rate Ramshot Hunter meters well out of the lee perfect powder measure. It is possible to charge 100 cases in 10 minutes with this method vs 100 cases in 100 minutes with a chargemaster.
the only difference between how your doing it and how i do it is i drop the charge throw it on the FX look at the weight then drop X amount of kernels from a little dandy.
i stopped worrying about a kernel more or less...theres to many other variables to worry about 1 kernel of powder.
I also have the Lee Deluxe Powder Measure and I use it with Ramshot ball powders (TAC & Wildboar) all the time. When I got the measure it did leak a bit. On my measure this was caused by a not so perfect fit between the rotor and the measure body. I remedied it by putting some JB paste on the rotor (sloped part) and then working the handle for a few minutes. This resulted in a better mating surface between the rotor and the measure body and practically no leaking of ball powder.
Yesterday I loaded 45 rounds of 308 with 45.5gn of Ramshot TAC and Lapua 155gn Scenars. I weighed every throw with my Ohaus 1010 and all of them were within 0.1gn and most of them dead on.
bsbxl
I may give that a try. Thanks. Did you leave the rubber wiper in the drum or take it out?
John
For handgun, I set the powder charge on the 650, check 5 throws and call it good. For all my rifle loads, I use a RCBS Uniflow, throw short, and trickle up to the full charge using a balance scale. The Redding trickler will drop a kernel at a time.
I've never loaded rifle on a progressive, so I can'r speak to that. I do think all of the powder measures are going to choke on the extruded powders, so for accuracy and consistency, manual is the way to go.
I've never loaded rifle on a progressive, so I can'r speak to that. I do think all of the powder measures are going to choke on the extruded powders, so for accuracy and consistency, manual is the way to go.
