Advice needed on powder measuring

Catchup

Member
Hi just got into reloading .223 just wondered if anyone could give any advice on either a powder measurer or powder measuring scales.
cheers dave.
 
The questions to your question is how much, quantity that is, will you be reloading?

How much do you want to spend?

How involved in hand loading do you wish to get?

The answers to these question vary hugely in involvement and cost.

IMHO avoid the cheap digital scales.
 
I will be reloading approx 200 a month. It's more a question of do I get a powder measurer or something like a lyman gen 5 as I only have 1 Centrefire at the moment.
 
What are you reloading for, stalking/pest control or target use? A powder measurer won't be accurate enough for decent target ammo in my view. I have a precision powder measure, but I still weigh every charge and you'd be surprised how different every throw is. Even with a micrometer adjuster I get between .1 and .5 grains fluctuation.

I throw a charge from the powder measure, weigh it and use a powder trickler to get it exact.
 
harrel precision powder thrower, denver instruments lab balance..... you won't get any more accurate imho.

really depends what you want to load for and how accurate you want to go.....

if you're not shooting beyond 300 yards, i wouldn't stress over .3 variance in a .223 case
 
If you only want to load a few at a time, say a maximum of twenty to fifty, then you can do it for very little outlay. A set of good powder scales (that is essential) and a set of Lee's yellow plastic measuring scoops plus a lid off a large aerosol tin as the dish in which the powder is scooped from.

Find a loading that is acceptable with the Lee pipes OR find a pipe just short of an acceptable loading and then put that into the powder scale pan and "tap" the few extra grains to get the correct weight from a few extra that you have scooped up with the now empty scoop. This is the route taken by AJ but without the outlay on the powder measure or the trickler.

For some types of powder a powder measure will be consistent enough for hunting from throw to throw BUT always do weigh every tenth load just as a safety check.

AND A LOADING BLOCK IS ESSENTIAL TO AVOID SPILLS OR ACCIDENTS AS IT BRINGS ORDER TO THE PROCESS.
 
I'm loading about a 100 at a time. Using n140 and 55gr vmax. Using a set of lyman 1500 scales, just finding the process abit slow. Don't know whether to get a powder measurer or a lyman gen 6 or something like that to speed the process up.
 
Buy a Targetmaster and a set of tuned beam scales from Allan aka 1066.

It works, it's VERY accurate, it's quick if you use something like a Lee Dipper to give a 'nearly' charge - the next charge will be waiting when you've seated the bullet in the previous case, it's made in England, it works out cheaper than the electronic combinations.

Do a search on here for info. or Google it...

Cheers

Fizz
:cool:
 
Start with a good beam scale such as an RCBS 505 or 1010, get a Targetmaster trickler and a set of lee dippers. Have a look on YouTube for 1967 spuds video on the Targetmaster. Great bit of kit.
 
I used to weigh all my .223 loads but have found that a standard lee thrower is excellent for Varget, I weigh every 10 and its never out. I do however try and keep the hopper half full.

If you can find the appropriate lee dipper measure then that's more than sufficient.

d
 
There you go plenty of ideas. You don't need to spend a fortune .................................... unless you wish too of course. I have a RCBS Uniflow which is good but has not been used in years, well more like 10 or 12 years as have had nowhere to mount it since relocating here. So I used dippers and beam scales. Lyman and a set of CH scales as back up and check scale.
 
Thanks guys for your replies. Some great advice definitely going to buy a set of lee dippers for a start. Thanks again. Dave
 
Beam scales and Lee powder measure works fine for me, provided your aren't looking for target shooting over 300yds. I now have RCBS powder measure which is more consistent as it is easier to use as it has a more ridged mounting. I still check every 10th load but find very very little variation.
 
Buy a Targetmaster and a set of tuned beam scales from Allan aka 1066.

It works, it's VERY accurate, it's quick if you use something like a Lee Dipper to give a 'nearly' charge - the next charge will be waiting when you've seated the bullet in the previous case, it's made in England, it works out cheaper than the electronic combinations.

Do a search on here for info. or Google it...

Cheers

Fizz
:cool:

Plus 1 . I started off with a lee thrower and a set of Lyman digital scales. The scale did nothing but mess about on me. I had no confidence in them whatsoever. I went and bought a beam scale then bought a targetmaster off Allen and have never looked back.
 
I have a Seely Masker BR measure built by SAECO decades back which is extremely accurate. I have four Belding and Mull measures which rival the SM measure for accuracy but a a bit more cumbersome to use. I have a Lee Measure which is also very accurate and has the added benefit of being able to directly dial in the volume (CC's) of powder you are targeting as taken from their manual. I have a few sets of Lee Dippers which I use quite often with no enhancement: just dip and pour into the case. I also have a Redding BR-3 "Precision Match" which has proved itself to be a $255 paperweight when it comes to metering powder accurately: A tea spoon and a guess would be more consistent. Lastly, I have a Jones Precision which is without question, the most accurate metering device I have ever used. I have owned many more. I think I have bought and given away a few dozen measures in my time -not because they were inaccurate, but because they were mostly same-same; one was as good as the other.~Muir
 
Last edited:
The Lee perfect powder measure is a relatively cheap bit of kit that punches well above its weight. From there you can spend a little or a fortune on scales/balances and tricklers to fine tune loads but you may never 'need' to change that Lee thrower...
 
Back
Top