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08-18-2009, 09:14 PM
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Handloading Artifact What is it?
In the photograph you will see a homemade tool that I found while looking for my Lyman 310. This tool was very popular 40-50 years ago and probably much longer ago than that. I no longer remember where or how I learned how to make it.
When I found it I immediately tested it, it’s remarkable just how well it works.
The dipper is a .22lr case soldered to a coat hanger. You put Bullseye in an wide mouth pint jar (the old Bullseye Can worked well), then tilt it on it’s side about 45degrees, the dipper has to come out of the powder vertically, a slight touch on the jar side will level the powder, but when you experiment a bit, you will be able to throw very consistent 3.0 grain charges. If you are a bit light you take a center punch and widen the case mouth a tiny bit. When you get the knack you can go as fast as or faster than a powder measure.
3.0 Grains of Bulleseye was (is?) the standard target load for 148gr wadcutters in the K-38, and not a bad load for the 158 gr Keith.
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Ipsis Rebus Dictantitbus
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08-18-2009, 09:45 PM
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An artifact?...I still use them.Silver solder a cartridge case to a coat hanger wire just as in your photo.Trim the case till you get the charge desired.
When using a consistant motion,uniformity and speed is plenty good.
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08-18-2009, 10:18 PM
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In my illspent youth, my father made a similar tool. He used some heavy gauge copper wire found someplace, and a 22 short case. He filed the case down until it threw 1 gr of Bullseye. We used it in his old 32 Regulation Police revolver. With a primer pushed out with a ground down nail, then a new one hand seated with a hardwood block and a dowel, we were set. The 1 gr powder charge was pretty light, and the projectile was a single OO buck pellet. We shot at maybe 20 feet at our bullet trap. Accuracy wasn't bad, probably better than I could hold in my pre-teen years.
Brings back memories.
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Dick Burg
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08-19-2009, 01:41 AM
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Lee has a complete set of powder dippers:
Lee Precision, Inc. Reloading Tools and Equipment: Lee Powder Measures
When I started reloading nearly sixty years ago, I acquired a powder measure along with my single stage press. For years, I had a "smug attitude" about anything so "primitive" as powder dippers. Well, I started shooting muzzle loaders and discovered that dippers and fixed measures could be Very useful. Even with smokeless powder IF YOU LEARN TO USE THEM.
Prejudice can be a BAD thing...
Dale53
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08-19-2009, 10:59 AM
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I have used something very similar, except that mine has a wood handle. I have used it for pouring an exact amount of pure lead into a hollowpoint mold. This forms the soft (expandable) nose. Then a good dose of hard lead for the shank of the bullet. Very slow, but it makes some great hunting bullets.
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too TOO young!!
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08-19-2009, 02:12 PM
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I thought I was the only one that did something like that. I've still got something similar laying around my work bench and right now I can't remember what caliber I was reloading for at the time that I didn't have a dipper for the exact amount of power that I needed. Anyway I remember cutting off a casing that held the amount of powder I needed and making a handle for it. What the heck it wasn't pretty but it did the job and that's all that matters.
Smitty
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08-19-2009, 02:55 PM
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Measuring by volume is exactly the same whether you're using a bench mounted contraption with a handle or the scoop method discussed here.There is exactly zero difference in what's accomplished.Some reloaders simply like to a see a lot of gadgetry on the bench.
High volume reloading is a different matter such as with a progressive press.With a more modest volume which is mainly what I do these days,using a scoop takes a back seat to nothing.When using near max loads,I use it in conjunction with a scale and trickler but I would do the very same thing with the more common powder measure.
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08-19-2009, 04:24 PM
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The genius in this set-up which is very old is that a .22lr case will for most people hold exactly 3 grs of Bullseye.
Bullseye is very fluid and fine, the case is the right shape: IE; deep and narrow to measure this type of powder. Most powder measures, even those designed for small volumes of pistol powder, do not have the best shape for these small amounts, I have never tried to throw the 1gr charges that Dick used, but I suspect my Redding would not do it well.
When I ran across this tool I started throwing to a pan on my Acu-Lab and I started hitting 3.0+/-.03 in about 10 throws.
In that era I was not in the least interested in changing bullets or trying different powders what worked was more than good enough 3.0grs was the 38 spl load then.
Lee is a Johnny come lately to the dipper business, a dipper or cup on the end of your powder horn was it for black powder
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Ipsis Rebus Dictantitbus
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08-19-2009, 06:19 PM
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Only slightly off topic,I use transparent plastic tubes which I cut off to convenient lengths with a cap secured on one end.I will make witness marks with a magic marker showing where various black powder charges come to.Being flexible,you can squeeze the end slightly as you pour your charge into the bore to keep from spilling any.
As simple as it is,it works far better than any commercially made black powder measuring devise for the field that I've ever come across.
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08-20-2009, 12:58 AM
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Lots of loads in the Ackley books simply say something like fill the case with X powder and scrape off the excess even with the case mouth and seat the bullet.
Many cartridges work just fine when loaded by volume rather than by weight.
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08-20-2009, 11:35 AM
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I think it sort of all depends. Wonderful with Black Powder no doubt. Seek advice on the powder you select for this method.
“fill the case with X powder and scrape off the excess even with the case mouth and seat the bullet.”
I suspect that might be unsuitable if done with Bullseye and a .45acp case or perhaps a .45 lc. Perhaps a ka-boom?
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Ipsis Rebus Dictantitbus
Last edited by oldRoger; 08-20-2009 at 11:48 PM.
Reason: mispelling
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08-20-2009, 02:31 PM
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I used an old (small) screwdriver for a handle. Soldered a .45 cartridge case to the flat of the blade. It's an excellent all purpose dipper. You can shorten the cases, or do whatever you want to make them hold whatever you want.... or use other cases. The list is endless... It's what we used to call, "American Ingenuity" back in the day... almost unheard of now.
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08-20-2009, 10:41 PM
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It's a very simple and inexpensive way to measure by volume which is all a powder measure does. The key - as with a powder measure - is to maintain consistency of operation.
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08-20-2009, 10:56 PM
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I occasionally load .25 ACP (really !) and the charge table calls for 0.8 grains of bullseye. I couldn't find a powder dipper small enough to throw that much and the Mecquon loader I use didn't come with a dipper so I made one similar to yours.
I used a .25 Auto case with a spent primer in it, soldered it to a copper wire handle and then filled it up with lead. I then used a drill bit to drill a little bit of the lead out, dipped some powder and put it on a scale. Kept drilling a little bit out and measuring what it would throw until I got it at exactly 0.8 grains.
Dan R
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08-22-2009, 03:31 PM
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Howdy
I must respectfully disagree with those who think dipping by hand is the same as using a powder measure. I have used Lee dippers extensively for loading Black Powder in cartridges like 45 Colt, 44-40, and 45-70. I have also cobbled up a few homemade dippers myself using spent cases.
The difference is, with a mechanical powder measure, the powder drops by gravity into an enclosed space. However the powder measure operates, whether a rotary type like a Lyman, or a sliding bar, the powder is dumped into a completely enclosed space. So as long as the operator keeps vibration reasonably uniform, the powder will fill up the enclosed space and will be very uniform, from throw to throw.
By their nature, dippers are not enclosed spaces, they are open at the top. How much powder will pack into a dipper can vary with the operator's technique, specifically, how he dredges the dipper through the powder. When he withdraws the powder from the dipper, the powder will be heaped in the dipper. How much is heaped up will also be dependent on how the operator used the dipper. The proper technique is then to level off the heap with a straight edge, I use half an index card. Even so, the amount of powder left in the dipper can vary because we were not depending on a constant force like gravity to fill an enclosed space, we were powering the dipper through a pile of powder like an ice cream scoop through ice cream on a hot August day.
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08-22-2009, 09:23 PM
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I have made several dippers by sanding down some of the Lee plastic dippers and by making my own from 380 and 9mm cases. File them down to yield the correct volume and than made wire handles by twisting mechanics wire. Lightly scoop and then use a straight edge to level off. Works very well and consistent.
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Still Running Against the Wind
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08-22-2009, 09:44 PM
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The success of dipping depends IMO upon several factors. The powder (small grained, low angle of repose, flowability), that is why it was successful with Bullseye.
Also the amount of the charge, small to very small charges work better, The shape of the dipper is a factor as well. Narrow dia dippers such as the .22 case have very little top area to heap, Bullseye a very low angle of repose, while striking off the top is an option it is not really required here.
I think that if I had to charge 1gr of Bullseye, I would make a dipper, and weigh the results.
In any case the proof of the method is left to the loader and his scale.
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Ipsis Rebus Dictantitbus
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