Back in the Great Powder Shortage gone by, I had bought a 14 ounce bottle of this powder and I had only used it to load 100-200 380 Auto rounds, which I load on my old single stage press.

I decided to try loading some lower velocity lead loads for my 44 Mag yesterday and start using this powder up. I load 44 Mag on my old Dillon 450 press and I resize/deprime separately and prime the cases using my RCBS bench priming system for all my pistol rounds. So anyways, I start loading and setting the Dillon powder measure while loading and found out a couple things about this powder. First, it gives a pretty good case fill, with the 8.9 grains I was loading filling the 44 mag case at least halfway up. And second, my Dillon powder measure absolutely hates this powder and it meters it like doo doo. I ended up checking every powder throw last night while loading 100 rounds to make sure none were way under or over weight. The Dillon measure would throw 3-4 pretty close to the proper weight, then throw one 4-5 tenths light and every once in a while it would throw them heavy too.

I have another 100 I am planning to load with the same load this evening. I might put my adapter on and try my old Lyman 55 measure to see if it throws the 700X any better.

How about y'all? Do you find that 700X meters poorly?

Your Lyman 55 is probably your best option if you are going to meter this powder. Saying that I would still weigh each throw. I used 700x/800x with one for reloading 10mm for a long time. Make sure you whack the knocker good. There are easier powder options that work as well for me with 10mm nowadays. At about 9 grains, you have a lot of loading left. Many here would just use it for fertilizer.

" my Dillon powder measure absolutely hates this powder and it meters it like doo doo." the only reason I don't use these two (700s/800x) is that very inconsistency in my 650 Dillon powder system.

I think I could get more consistent powder loads using Lee hand dipper method. Some day I might try, as at current rate I'll never get this stuff used up.

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Dum vivimus Vivamas

Way back I used a lot of 700 and 800-X as well as PB for my 12 Ga.
trap loads .
Tried them but was unhappy.

Ball powder....

While I have not loaded any in years I was happy with how my RCBS and Redding powder measures threw DuPont 700X. It and the nearly interchangeable DuPont PB were my favorite powders for drastic down loads in .44 Magnum because they burned so clean. Those two measures have similar rotating drums. For small pistol charges of Red Dot and 800X's larger round flakes I use a Belding and Mull measure. It's slow but precise.

My Lyman 55 meters OK with 700-X

Always worked OK in my old Pacific shot shell press. I never could get it to work through a rotating drum measure.

Be careful with 700x. It makes a nice plinking load in 38 special, .357 mag, 44 mag, etc., but a couple of tenths of a grain can get you over pressure in a heartbeat. I've found it to be very "spikey" and sensitive to very small increases in powder charge.

For this reason, I don't load it anywhere near the max charges listed for it in handgun cartridges.

700x is on my 'does NOT meter well' list for sure!
Karl

Well, I just loaded another 50 with the Lyman 55. It worked better than the Dillon measure, but it is still not precise enough to load without weighing them individually. I still get the random low charge out of it and had a couple of powder drops that were .3 grains over. BTW, that load is .6 grain lower than the max charge that Hodgdon shows as a max load for a 240 grain LSWC bullet. And I use the knocker 3 times after dropping the charge to try to pack the rotating cylinder as well as possible. I'm just trying to load up some plinking loads and if I wanted hotter loads I could use a different powder. And I'm trying to use this stuff up and the 44 looks like it is a good way to use it up relatively quickly.


The darned powder even plugs off in my powder funnel and I have to tap it about half the time to finish getting it to flow into the case.

Ditto.... not the best... but when you have 5 lbs of it you find a way to make it work.

In the worst case you can always make a hand dipper. wrap a stiff wire around an empty case's extractor groove, twist it tight for twice the length of handle you want then fold it back on itself for a stiffer handle. Shorten the case until it throws the weight you want. With a little practice dippers are as accurate as any measure. Weighing individual charges is too slow for ordinary pistol cartridges.

I used to shoot next to the best bench rest rifle shooters in the state. To them any rifle that did not produce 1/4" 10 shot groups at 100 yards the first day out was trash because all their serious competition at the matches were were going to break 0.2" for 10 shots at 200 yards. They did not individually weigh powder charges because a little variation in thrown charges did not enlarge their groups. (Hint.) By the way, one of them collected his venison with a Winchester Model 94 and another used a .300 Savage. (That's another hint.)

I too have about 10 containers of 700X because it was some of the ONLY powder to show up on shelves during the great "powder depression" LOL. I have yet to use any, but knew up front it metered poorly, but seemed to work well in some of the calibers I load for. Unless I can trade it off, I'll keep it and use it as I go along. After the powder shortage, I won't be letting go of ANY powder willingly! :-) I don't mind weighing powder charges and have 2 different, complete sets of Lee dippers. They do work very well, and can be very consistent.

700 x meters fine using my Pact electronic dispenser and, scale. It (700x) just does not give me the results as many other powders do. I'm trying to use up what I have on hand too.

Never a problem on my 550s with 700x. I use it in 45acp lead and 38 special wad cutter target loads. It is a flake powder close to the size as others. Both of my 550s are first design. The powder slide is on a spring other than a rod. I purchased the adapter kits in the 90s but the machines work so well the kits are still new in the box. Have you contacted Dillon support?

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This is precisely what I have done for my 700x loads.

I use it 2.6gr at a time in my 38Spl with wc 148gr.It meters ok in my old Dillon 300 powder measure and my groups haven't opened up compared to what I was using(Bullseye).
it better meter ok:I got a deal for a 12# during the shortage so at 2.6gr,I better get those .38guns ready to see a lot of use!
Qc

I finished up the last of my 44 Mag reloading last night and just continued weighing out every charge after dropping them from the Lyman. I only have about 1/3 the bottle left, so it's no big deal to weigh out some every once in a while until I finish it off.

Arm, you are doing what I was thinking would be the best way to dispense accurately weighed charges. I don't know what it is about 700X, but I load other powders that are flake style powders that throw much more accurately than 700X. I also load HP38, Longshot and Unique and none of those throw nearly as badly as 700X for me.

I didn't trust it in .38 Spl loads, but it meters acceptably (+/-.1gr) in 9mm volumes through my Lee Auto-Disk Pro. It's also easy enough to visually-check that it's dispensing alright.

No problem in my LEE Perfect Powder Measure . I have used dippers , worked fine there too . I love 700X for 44spl loads . Got the recipe from an article that Mike Ventorino had in Handloader mag .

700X meters very well in my Lee auto disks down to about 4.5 grs. Haven't tried it in my Dillon. Any less than than about 4gr and it starts getting erratic. I too tried the 9ish gr loads in 44 mag and didn't like the snappy recoil at all. That's not what 700X excels at. The beauty of 700X is it's ability to burn clean and very accurately at low pressures.

Try reduced loads, like 4.5gr for 44 Special, 5 gr for 44 mag, and 45 Colt, using cast bullets in the 200 gr range for the Special, and 240 to 250 for the mag and Colt, respectively.

If you can find a cheap Lee auto disk powder measure this powder makes awesome and very accurate cowboy action loads.

700x meters well from my Lee Auto Drum Powder measure. Once I get it dialed in, it stays right on the mark.

__________________
Carpriver.

The only thing I have used 700X for were some 20 gauge loads and 35 grain bullets in 25 ACP.

With both 700X and 800X, it does not meter well, so I throw the charges light and trickle them up to desired weight.

A few years ago, I was out of fast-burning powder for handguns. I had even asked here about the possibility of using Titewad, since it can be used in certain handgun loads, and I had plenty of that for shotshells, but it was recommended that I just wait instead. I had lots of Unique, Blue Dot, H110, but nothing like Bullseye to use for a .38 Special target load. Finally, a store here in town just happened to have a pound of 700X.

I gave it a try, and found that it groups as well in my handguns as Bullseye or Red Dot. I don't load more than 50 or 100 in a sitting, and I use Lee dippers.

It's one of my favorites now, and needless to say, I'll never run out of any of my favorite powders again!

Groupwise,700X doesn't take the backseat to Bullseye or Red Dot.I even find it more accurate than Titegroup and Promo in my guns.And it burns clean.And like I said in an earlier post,it meters not too bad in my RL300 powder measure.So to me,it ain't broke so I won't try to fix it(anyways,I'm so clumsy!)
Qc

700X is my most accurate load for .45acp with both 230 gr. FMJ and coated lead.

I'm also using Lee turret press with pro auto disc. I have zero problems. When you're nudging the powder drop system four times around the merry-go-round, this inexpensive system is accurate.

I have most of a 4# bottle at hand, which will do me for some time to come!

If you happen to reload shotshells, it works fine for 12 gauge trap and skeet loads. Works well for light .44 Mag loads. I have a baffle in my Lyman 55 powder measure and that helps uniformity a lot. I NEVER use the powder knocker for 700-x or any other powder..

Too bad you're not in my 'hood. Friend of mine would trade ya straight up for Bullseye. He swears by 700X.

He loads with a Lee Autodisc & no problems metering I know of.