Lee powder dispenser inconsistency

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.
Put your pan directly under the drop tube, as in touching it and you won't get any spill. Quick tap to make sure its all out and jobs a good'un
 
Put your pan directly under the drop tube, as in touching it and you won't get any spill. Quick tap to make sure its all out and jobs a good'un
I have done that too, but found that the 308 case worked better for me, as it was less fiddly than trying to put the pan back on the scales. But that might be my fat fingers :lol:
 
My routine for consistency is I spin the handle up to charge and give the support bracket two taps, then rotate it down and give the bracket a couple more taps...the idea being to fully charge then to fully empty.

I find even with the pan held up close a kernel or two sometimes pop out...I have a sheet of white A4 underneath so it is easily spotted and retrieved.

Alan
 
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.
I throw under then use a trickler to finish.
 
I use a trickler to finish on to my Lab scales, it is the only bit of the process that I can control precisely...so I do. I can see the difference in large or small kernels of N135.

The Lee thrower manages to be within a dozen turns of my Redding trickler. I bracket the under throw to give maximum of around 50mg which is 0.8gr and very rarely does it throw a wobbly and throw over weight!

So about half the variation you are getting.

Alan
 
Stay with me here...

Go onto ebay and buy the cheapest electronic toothbrush you can find £2 maybe , remove the bristles bit with a saw/knife, attach the remaining bits tightly to the messure with tie wraps. you may need to experiement a bit on position. turn on, and throw.

The vibrations will stop anything getting "static stuck" and help the powder fall consistently
 
Stay with me here...

Go onto ebay and buy the cheapest electronic toothbrush you can find £2 maybe , remove the bristles bit with a saw/knife, attach the remaining bits tightly to the messure with tie wraps. you may need to experiement a bit on position. turn on, and throw.

The vibrations will stop anything getting "static stuck" and help the powder fall consistently

Interesting! Throw while it’s buzzing?
 
Stay with me here...

Go onto ebay and buy the cheapest electronic toothbrush you can find £2 maybe , remove the bristles bit with a saw/knife, attach the remaining bits tightly to the messure with tie wraps. you may need to experiement a bit on position. turn on, and throw.

The vibrations will stop anything getting "static stuck" and help the powder fall consistently
Interesting I may try that, one thing learned today!
 
What did you use for the cut of switch? Cracking idea that
It is an IR sensor off evilbay. I had a bit of messing around to get it to work. It needed a little circuit building to get it to switch the relay that controls the motor.
Basically it is a 24v motor, a transformer, a couple of relays, speed controller, switches and the sensor. I made the trickler out of scrap. The motor shaft fitted in some brass tube I had for knife handles (another project :))
I am going to alter it and make another trickler. But with two tubes one larger and run at the motor speed 50rpm iirc and the other the same as this one.
So instead of the thrower it will run out the load till the pan starts to move. Another sensor will turn off the fast motor and the slow one will trickle the last half grain or so.
I might even put it in a neater box :-|:lol:.
 
I use 3, set up for each calibre I shoot. 2 of them usually work fine, within a few tenths, give or take, that’s using the smaller Vhit powders. The third, I use N150, which has a larger kernel size and is all over the place and blocks regularly. Reading this thread, I’ll now go back and see if something isn’t adjusted properly. Thanks
I also use a Targetmaster, best reloading investment so far and made/sold by a real gentleman.
Hope you get it sorted.
 
Yes - I was trying to do this, but the variation in the charge made this very tedious.

I agree, trickling is tedious. But if you have your scales set up so you can trickle onto the nearly correct weight pan it helps a lot. if you can get to less than a grain of trickle I find that works well.

Scrummy
 
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