Hi all! Me again, the newbie!

So, I have been trying to get a reload station up and running, and things are working out well. I have all the equipment and space I need, and even a bit of the time, but I would like to shorten the time it takes (without rushing) to do these reloads.

here is where my question comes in:

A) Should I trust the accuracy of the #55 when I am doing light loads of only 4gr's?

B) If so, does anyone know a good site that has a tutorial on its calibration and use?

I have no clue how to calibrate/adjust the Lyman #55. I am afraid I may have stripped the calibration screws on the side of the machine, or done some other damage (it's 30+ years old, and I don't know what shape it was in before I got my hands on it).

It took me an hour to powder 20 rounds the other night, because I had to weigh out each load of powder two to three times before the Lyman got it right. Again I don't know how to adjust it, so there is a good possibility that I am at fault.


Thanks,
-EthanG



Also using the Lyman 500 scale:

I use a Lyman Ideal #55 also. You should be able to feel if your screws are stripped out as they will be loose and not want to hold. I assume you have noticed that the small knurled screw adjusts a small section on the top of the charge bar to allow for fine tuning adjustments. Some powders simply will not flow freely in some powder measures. I also have a RCBS Uniflow that while some say it is the cat’s meow with certain powders mine is the opposite with them. And I’m in the club that can’t get Unique to meter out properly from any powder meter I have tried. I have to use Lee dippers if I want the slightest amount of consistency with Unique or Trail Boss. Read up on the different types of powders. I believe that HP-38 is a spherical powder and it has proven to be VERY smooth flowing and easy to meter with both my Lyman and RCBS meters. I have also had good experiences with Tightgroup, Bullseye, Win 231, and Power Pistol. When I first got my Lyman #55 I did a full disassembly and wiped everything down with isopropyl alcohol and then put it back together. I then used a puff tube of graphite and worked the cylinder over and over until it was very smooth moving. Then I wiped as much down as I could with Q-tips and cloth. Then I ran a full reservoir of HP-38 through it before I started loading some powder puff 200 gr SWC .45’s. Then I used canned air to blow out the slight remains and went right to Bullseye for some powder puff 105 gr SWC .38’s. I measured every tenth throw of powder and only once did I change early on for the .45 loads. I find the only issue to be it is very sensitive to the powder level remaining in the reservoir. I try not to let mine go below ¾ before I add top it off. The RCBS doesn’t get that issue until about half but I don’t have a baffle in it and I’m not sure if the Lyman even has an optional baffle. That might fix that issue some. Reloading seems to have a certain amount of black magic voodoo to it. What works for some may or may not work for you. That has been the biggest mental leap for me to make in the learning process. And if you haven’t read it yet I always try to plug the “ABC’s of Reloading” since it is about as in depth as you should read before you even mess with equipment.

Very informative, thank you. Yes, the powder I am using isn't ball, it's more of a flake. I don't really think the adjustment levers are fouled. My father cleaned it out before we started reloading (what a nice guy, helping me out while I'm at work).

Still, I don't know which leaver does what (I know the top one is for minute measurements, and the bottom for larger), but how should I got about starting from a 0, to measuring out 4grs.

Also, should I set it to my desired load before putting powder in the hopper so that there is no resistance due to the powder filling the powder measure slit, and then adjust from there?

I agree with monitoring the amount of powder in the hopper and keeping a consistent weight/pressure pushing the powder into the measuring slit, but what happens when I am running low on powder? Do you suggest putting a weight into the hopper and onto the powder, to give it a little more pressure?

#55 Lyman adjustment, just like with any other measure, is achieved by trial. For light pistol loads use top slide only. Loosen the large locking screw and then turn the screw for the top slide. Verify charge with your scale every time you move the top slide. When correct powder weight is set, don't forget to secure this setting of a top slide with the large locking screw. BTW, make sure that the other two slides are up against left side of the housing and that there is no gap/void there. Another BTW...when working with ball or flake powders I do not use the knocker.

Side note: I just found the directions online and will read through it before posting more questions/trying to reload.

http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/s...SM_PM_55Cl.pdf

Your equipment looks good. There is really no calibration, There are two plates that increase or decrease the volumn of the cylinder, I seldom throw more than 7 gns and the smaller of my 55's two plates is the only one that I have to move. Since you got close with 20 rounds it seems to be "calibrated". The type of power may vary the charge thrown. You can "feel" the 55 as it shears flakes and this may effect how completely filled the volumn is. If you set the plates to throw 3.7 gns and you are getting 3.68 or 3.73, it's about as close as you'll get. However, if you're getting a wide variation, there is a problem elswhere

I have a #55 around the shop some where's. PITB. to calibrate Used a Belding & Mull for many years but now have an RCBS.

I took the powder feeder apart and made sure there was nothing in the measuring slit (there was, but I cleaned it out), and made sure to have everything adjusted correctly, and it still seems to be off here and there, but nothing dramatic, which would cause me to not reload.

I fired the 100 rounds I reloaded last week, and I had no issues, so things are good.

When reloading small amounts, you want the big bottom slide completedly closed. May have to make sure the corners are clean to allow it to close completely. I think the book will tell you to close the middle slide and only use the top slide for small amounts, but I find it more accurate to get the middle and top slide lined up, this gives you a deeper cavity with a smaller cutoff area. Start with the cavity undersized and slowly open just a touch at a time til it is want you want. PS I made a baffle by cuting a cereal box side the right size to fit and then cut a nickel size hole in the middle to allow powde to flow thru. Seems to help.

The three slides on the Lyman 55 make it pretty versatile. Like almost any powder measure, some powders are easier to meter than others. ball powders, as a rule are the most consistent while sticks are more difficult.

For stick powders like IMR 4895 a narrow deep cavity does a better job then a wide shallow one. Less of the individual grains get cut, but if you make it too narrow, the grains bridge and the weights are all over the place.

Conversely, you load flake powders like Unique close the large drum and use only the top 2 adjustments it will work every time. It will meter as nicely as 231.

I have two Lyman 55's, both older than dirt, one set up for "Holy Black" and one for smokeless. There may be fancier and more expensive measures out there and maybe even more accurate ones, but as my great-uncle used to say, "It's good enough for who it's for"

Interesting trivium: The calibration marks on the metering slides of the #55 are for grains of black powder, a carryover from the earliest versions of the N0. 55.

Larry

We were just wondering the meaning of that odd metering system at Italian guns forum ... for sure they were not supposed to be CC like it is generally in LEE micrometer powder measure.
Thanks a million for the tip, lebomm.

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Salu2 a to2
Bizio

EthanG-M&P,

I think with what you added, everything to know about the Lyman 55 has been said. I love them and have more than a dozen. They are by far the most popular and prolific measure ever sold and are on the used market by the thousands. They are almost indestructable unless abused, I've never gotten a bad one. They're so easy to pick up used as cheap as $10 at gunshows and on Ebay, that I set each one for a specific cartridge load and powder type and never waste time adjusting them again.

When I initially adjust them I experiment with a deep, medium or shallow cavity for the specific powder I'm loading for the most consistent "throw" for that powder like someone above suggested.

They've never failed me.

I would never use any powder measure, I don't care how quality it is, w/o checking every 10 or 20 rounds with my scale. It's the human error factor I'm checking for, not the powder measure's accuracy!


Have fun,

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Jim
S&WCA #819

This measure is driving me crazy!!!

I think I have the measure set to dispense 9.7 gr of ball powder and check every tenth drop. Weight slowly drifts upward and the cause is the large slide is NOT staying locked. The locking screws are hand tightened and while I can't budge it, when I loosen the screws, I can push the large slide back to fully closed.
This is a fairly new measure (sat in box for 5 years) and I don't understand how this "creep" can happen.
Any ideas/solutions appreciated!

Set screws often hold better with a lead BB under them. It bugs me that my beat up #55 works so well and yours isn't.

Thanks.. That's well worth trying.

Well clearly if there was ever a case to strap a diaphragm, vibrating fish pump to a powder measure, this is it!

Measuring Flaky Powders


Not really, sorry you are having problems. I have the RCBS so can not help.

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Still Running Against the Wind

HEY!!!

I knew I forgot to go buy something to try it out!!!

Well, I put a #6 shot in each of the set screw holes and tried that, Before doing that, I pretty much stripped it down and put graphite powder over all the "bearing surfaces" I could reach.

I am using a ball powder, AA#7, and now things are going the other way.. The charges are decreasing. Started out with 10.0 which with in 2-3, went down to 9.7 and then after 6 or so, was down to 8.4..

I have a RCBS Uniflow with the big drop tube and of course it will not fit on the Lyman stand.

I may just dig out my old Lee dispenser. Looks as cheap as it was but I sure didn't have this much trouble and it was very consistent.

Also downloaded a diagram to make a baffle as this Lyman doesn't have one but the numbers dropped don't support the weight of the column changing.

Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed.

I have been using a Lyman 55 for several years.

Since it does not have positive clicks setting it is trial and error...

I do write down the numbers but still you ned to tweek it to get it exactly correct.

However once it is set, I have not had any problems with it changing on its own.

As with any measure you must operate the handle, and flip the flapper with the same amount of force on each throw...

Got that part down I think .. Two clacks of the "flapper" on the upstroke and two after the down.

I am able to consistantly throw 2.7 grs of Red Dot (a flake powder) for reloading 380s with the Lyman #55 and I love it for that. Every time I weigh the charge, it's precisely 2.7 gr in my experience.

How do you know where to start with powders that are not listed on the instruction sheet? Do you just close the cylinder and dump in a measured charge and slowly open the cylinder? Then measure with a scale?

Yes. Eventually you'll get "an eye" for it. I can tell within a half grain of 4.0grs of my favorite powder. Just takes getting used to.

The OP seems to have figured it out, and someone later on mentioned a trivia point, but when it comes to measuring powder, I think it's important to clearly point out: the graduation marks on the 55's bar have nothing to do with smokeless powder, and should only be used for reference if you're either moving the top slide alone, or the top and bottom slide together in perfect alignment (not so easy). Obviously(?), different shaped powders will meter differently and therefore weigh differently at the same settings on the slide bar.

Examples:
1) We move the top bar only to the fifth grad mark. With AA#9 (a very fine-grained ball powder), that may be 6grs. Leaving the bar alone and switching to 800x (a very large-dia. flake powder), it might weigh 4grs. Understand, these are extremes, which I have used in this measure and noted these characteristics for, but these weights are just an example, I have no idea what they would weigh at the fifth mark.

2) Remember, too, that powders densities are all different. Trail Boss powder is quite low-density, which is why a 1-lb bottle actually holds a few ounces less than a full pound. So, in the above example with the bar set at "5", the measure might only throw 3grs of Trail Boss. So, the bottom line is, the calibrations can't be used (recorded) as references to a certain weight being thrown by the measure.

And this brings up an incredibly important factoid about those calibration marks: Never write them down and assume when you go back later they will throw the same charge!. (I've seen guys do it all the while thinking they are being "scientific" in their loading practices...) When a new batch of the same powder is made, we must remember that the number one priority is hitting the burning rate. Number two priority is to try to get close to the "ideal" or "set standard" of the bulk density of that powder. If they must violate number 2 to get to the goal of number 1 though, they will. And, with variations in raw materials and different operators running the processes (& chemists checking progress at various stages of production), the lot-to-lot variation is bound to happen. Personally, I'm impressed and thankful they've gotten the process dialed in so well as they do today! Just remember, the end result is that one bottle of (insert name of your favorite powder here) is not going to be identical to the next. It should be close, so you can use the calibrations as a starting point, but don't be surprised if you have to move up or down to zero in on the exact weight you're looking for. Guess what else? The powder sitting on the shelf downstairs in your loading room might also change density. Due to releasing volatile solvents and changes in temperature and humidity, powder from the same bottle can change over time... (Why it helps/is important to store powders properly.)

The Lyman 55, like most measures, is a trial-and-error testing process while dialing it in. I re-check settings every time I load with any and all of my measures, including the bushing-style on my shotshell loader. It is the only safe way to load.