Lee powder dispenser inconsistency

[Mungo]

I’d be very grateful for advice on this:

I have just started loading, and am using the standard Lee powder thrower.

It is wildly inconsistent - differences of up to 1.5gr between charges.

Can anyone suggest either what I might be doing wrong, or possible solutions.

I understand it is a cheap unit, but this seems excessive!

Thanks.

 

[enfieldspares]

I'm told that the Lee design uses a rubber, or similar, sealing ring? Rather than a metal to metal or hard plastic to metal union between hopper and drum. That is said to make it excellent with stick powders like the old but still current original H4831 and not very good with ball powders such as the now REACH banned H414. I use or have used powder measures that have all metal parts that give a sharp flush fit. These are or were an RCBS, a Lyman 55, an Ohaus Duo-Measure or an old school Belding & Mull so these all chop long grain powders but work fine with other powders.

 

[Cottis]

That does sound wildly inconsistent. Try the following (apologies if this is teaching you to suck eggs)

Is the top hopper turned fully so the port is fully open to allow as much powder as poss to flow through?

Always ensure the hopper is at least half full of powder even if you are only throwing less charges than this amount justifies. It works better with a weight of powder on top.

Are you losing any kernels when dropping a charge? As usual with Lee stuff, they work but are not exactly designed perfectly. For example, you can charge directly to a case easily enough (which is probably how it was designed) but if you drop a charge in to a pan for example, it is hard to not have powder jump out. A couple of small kernels will be 1/10 of a grain, so you do not need to lose many to give variances. Try dropping directly in to a case (with a primer in ) and weighing those to see how consistent they are.

Consistency on technique. Sounds daft but flip the lever with the same force and allow the same time between up and down. I personally drop the charge with a clunk to ensure lever is deffo at botto of its travel, wait a couple of seconds and then move the lever back up and do whatever I am doing with the charged case before doing the next one. This gives time for the weight above to fully drop the entire volume back in to the tube. Althought the unit is made from materials that would fracture in a slight zepher, it can take a bit of knocking. Be positive with it.

I am not a massive fan of Lee stuff to be honest but I do actually rate the Lee powder thrower even with extruded powders. I get around +/-0.3grains variance but more often than not much much better. It is the odd drop that is off. I load with N130, N140 and N160 and all meter ok in my view. I use beam scales to set the thrower for ammo for deer and chuck loads direct to cases every second. It is fast and more than adequate for MOA accuracy out to 300yds for large targets like deer, as long as you have worked up an optimum charge weight (this should be done using beam scales only for absolute accuracy)

For almost all reloading, beam scales set up properly and a well sorted thrower are all you need.

Good luck.

 

[CarlW]

Hi @Mungo ,

I don't use a Lee (and, in fact, no longer use a thrower); however, some of the things that affected repeatability for me have been:

*whether or not there is a baffle;
*amount of powder in the column (mitigated by the above);
*the type of powder (some meter better than others in some throwers, as @enfieldspares says);
*the quality of the charge adjustment (I changed my RCBS one to a micrometer type which improved things);
*my technique (this caused the largest variance for me: I was rubbish!);

Kind regards,

Carl

 

[Mungo]

Thanks!

@Cottis - There is no teaching of egg sucking here - consider me an egg sucking virgin...

.

 

[Mungo]

@CarlW - I suspect my technique may have a lot to do with it. What do you think you were doing that caused the variation?

 

[CarlW]

@CarlW - I suspect my technique may have a lot to do with it. What do you think you were doing that caused the variation?

If I knew that I'd still be using a thrower...

More seriously, I think I became too conscious of the action; too tentative; too deliberate; to determined to behave repeatably, if that makes sense?

For me, it was a bit like hiring an excavator every year in order to do my ditches: by the time I've finished, I know what all the levers do.

My best results with a thrower always came when I forgot about the thing and 'used the force'. Do it unconsciously (but do ensure a full range of movement) and the action will become automatic and repeatable.

Or get a Chargemaster...

 

[25 Sharps]

I'm told that the Lee design uses a rubber, or similar, sealing ring? Rather than a metal to metal or hard plastic to metal union between hopper and drum. That is said to make it excellent with stick powders like the old but still current original H4831 and not very good with ball powders such as the now REACH banned H414. I use or have used powder measures that have all metal parts that give a sharp flush fit. These are or were an RCBS, a Lyman 55, an Ohaus Duo-Measure or an old school Belding & Mull so these all chop long grain powders but work fine with other powders.

Very consistent (<.2 gr) with ball powders such as ramshot, less so with stick powders

 

[Muir]

I’d be very grateful for advice on this:

I have just started loading, and am using the standard Lee powder thrower.

It is wildly inconsistent - differences of up to 1.5gr between charges.

Can anyone suggest either what I might be doing wrong, or possible solutions.

I understand it is a cheap unit, but this seems excessive!

Thanks.

How much powder have you run through it? Have you followed Lee's break in instructions?~Muir
PS: What powder?

 

[scrumbag]

I have a Lee thrower and I find it is better with ball powders than extruded. The other thing I have found that helps is if you tap the lid of the hopper a couple of times - particularly with extruded powders. Seems to settle everything to the same point.

Powders I have used

~25 gr RamShot TAC (Ball powder)
~36gr N150
502-55gr N160
53gr RS70

The Viht and ReLoad Swiss are extruded powders and all seem to benefit from being "tapped"

Probably setting myself up for a fall here but I find it helps and I spend less time tricking...

Scrummy

 

[stubear]

I have a Lee thrower and I find it is better with ball powders than extruded. The other thing I have found that helps is if you tap the lid of the hopper a couple of times - particularly with extruded powders. Seems to settle everything to the same point.

Powders I have used

~25 gr RamShot TAC (Ball powder)
~36gr N150
502-55gr N160
53gr RS70

The Viht and ReLoad Swiss are extruded powders and all seem to benefit from being "tapped"

Probably setting myself up for a fall here but I find it helps and I spend less time tricking...

Scrummy

Thats great advice - thanks for that!

I have a Lee thrower but havent set it up yet (mainly due to space) - we're hoping to be moving in a few weeks so when we do I'll be setting this up in the garage, and I use a lot of RS70!

 

[Mungo]

How much powder have you run through it? Have you followed Lee's break in instructions?~Muir
PS: What powder?

I ran a tub of powder through it.
RS 52.

I think I may have missed some of the break in instructions - do you have a link?

 

[Grannysmith]

Use scales

 

[Mungo]

Use scales

My plan was to throw a bit under and trickle up to the mark.

But the thrower was so all over the place this didn’t really work

 

[reiver]

My plan was to throw a bit under and trickle up to the mark.

But the thrower was so all over the place this didn’t really work

Wash the hopper in warm soapy water to remove static as per the instructions. Mine works perfectly with 140 vhit and Rl7 and 2400 . It was also good with trail boss .
But as said before tap the hopper with a pen or. Stick to help settle the powder and repeat every 10 or so cycles. Much prefer it to my Lyman thrower !

 

[Scapegoat]

Also make sure the tube is absolutely clean and dry inside. I once had an issue with mine and discovered a clump of powder in the tube. It was either damp or static that was causing it, but a good wash and dry and it was much better.

They take a bit of skill to make them consistent. Make sure you always operate the lever smoothly and consistently.

 

[HandB]

I have experimented with my RCBS powder dropper and I found the major source of inconsistency was the stem lockring loosening gradually so you might want to check that on your Lee if it has a similar gadget. As long as I keep the lockring tight it throws consistent powder quantities regardless of how I operate the lever or the amount of powder in the hopper.

 

[Sonicdmb73]

I found that my Lee thrower needs a careful technique to avoid throwing variable loads.
I keep the hopper above half full.
I am careful to operate the lever smoothly. I find that if you get a kernel stuck it can throw over as you bang the handle when it gives.
Ball powders are definitely more accurately dispensed than extruded ones.
I use a Target Master type (made my own) trickler and balance beam scales now. So it is not that critical how I handle the measure.
But in all honesty I have not noticed that the RCBS one I have is much better than the Lee. They both have their foibles and I checked thrown charges every ten rounds or so.
I will add that the best way I found to dispense powder without spillage is to use a large ish fired case. I used a 308 one when I loaded for my 243, it went into the powder measure and poured without spilling into the scale pan.
I loaded hundreds of rounds for my old CF2 and my 222 with the Lee measure. I have never struggled to hold less than half MOA once I found a good load.

 

[Muir]

Wash the hopper in warm soapy water to remove static as per the instructions. Mine works perfectly with 140 vhit and Rl7 and 2400 . It was also good with trail boss .
But as said before tap the hopper with a pen or. Stick to help settle the powder and repeat every 10 or so cycles. Much prefer it to my Lyman thrower !

This.~Muir

 

[hendrix's rifle]

As the majority above, I won't dump into a case and seat a bullet with extruded powders, I will weigh them. Ball powders like cfe223 go straight into the case and checked every 10 rounds. Charge it consistently then flick the black bit and the drop tube or you get some powder jammed up in it giving massively different charges