semperfi71
US Veteran
I still use my first reloading press bought in 1973, an RCBS Junior, single-stage reloader.
At one sitting I will reload up to six, fifty round boxes of pistol ammunition. Rarely more than that. Usually less.
My following technique will work for someone like me who does not use a progressive type press and works in low volumes.
Some time ago I bought an RCBS Uniflow powder measure and have been very happy with it except in two instances.
1. It takes a bit of "fiddlin'" to set the screw-in adjustment thingie to get it to accurately throw good accurate charges.
2. One is advised to never let the hopper get below half in volume. In which case when refilling the hopper it is advised to run about four to six [my experience] charges before everything settles down.
Some time ago I bought the Lee Precision Powder Measure Kit. Seen below.
I bought it to use in loading black powder rifle and pistol cartridges. And in learning to do that I learned a technique to use the same measures for smokeless loads as well.
I had tried such hand operated powder measures in the past but thought they were not accurate. I was dipping and then shaking the excess and then weighing the charges to check them. They were not as accurate as using a scale or the RCBS Uniflow.
But then I learned how to do it by learning from the black powder cartridge shooters online.
1. Make sure your powder "reservoir" tool, in my case an oblong brass, low-walled canister, has enough "room" to hold a good amount of powder.
2. Drag, sweep, dig, [use your own euphemism] the scoop/measure through the powder so that the dipper/measure is well filled and packed.
3. Lift it out and use a straight-edged tool such as a razor blade, knife, plastic blade, or stiff cardboard to scrape "flush" across the top of scoop/measure and remove the excess powder. Do not shake to remove excess powder...scrape.
4. Charge the case.
I loaded four boxes of .45 Schofield with 4.5 grains of Bullseye and six boxes of .45 Long Colt with 6.0 grains of Bullseye. And every time I tested my method I was dead on as to the weight. It never varied.
And of course, as I later thought of this [duh!] I realized I was doing the same thing my RCBS Uniflow was doing. It has an internal drum that fills with powder and is "scraped" flush when you rotate it to dispense the powder.
I was able to powder up cases faster than I would had I used the RCBS Uniflow, due to the set up time required. Also, when finished I do not have to empty the hopper of the remaining powder. Plus the hopper will sometimes have a lot of powder cling to it due to static electricity. THAT is a pain in the rear to rectify.
The drawback to the Lee "set" is that there may not be enough smaller scoops/measures to load the large variety of powder weights available for the many handgun cartridges that are in existence. But more experimentation on my end is in order. It might work well in many instances.
I have used it to load .38 Special and the above mentioned cartridges with Bullseye.
So, for those of us who load at low volumes, or without progressive reloaders, the Lee Precision Measure Kit appears to have some viability.
No, I don't own any Lee company stock and have no relatives working for the company. This here is free information for the taking.
Regards.
At one sitting I will reload up to six, fifty round boxes of pistol ammunition. Rarely more than that. Usually less.
My following technique will work for someone like me who does not use a progressive type press and works in low volumes.
Some time ago I bought an RCBS Uniflow powder measure and have been very happy with it except in two instances.
1. It takes a bit of "fiddlin'" to set the screw-in adjustment thingie to get it to accurately throw good accurate charges.
2. One is advised to never let the hopper get below half in volume. In which case when refilling the hopper it is advised to run about four to six [my experience] charges before everything settles down.
Some time ago I bought the Lee Precision Powder Measure Kit. Seen below.
I bought it to use in loading black powder rifle and pistol cartridges. And in learning to do that I learned a technique to use the same measures for smokeless loads as well.
I had tried such hand operated powder measures in the past but thought they were not accurate. I was dipping and then shaking the excess and then weighing the charges to check them. They were not as accurate as using a scale or the RCBS Uniflow.
But then I learned how to do it by learning from the black powder cartridge shooters online.
1. Make sure your powder "reservoir" tool, in my case an oblong brass, low-walled canister, has enough "room" to hold a good amount of powder.
2. Drag, sweep, dig, [use your own euphemism] the scoop/measure through the powder so that the dipper/measure is well filled and packed.
3. Lift it out and use a straight-edged tool such as a razor blade, knife, plastic blade, or stiff cardboard to scrape "flush" across the top of scoop/measure and remove the excess powder. Do not shake to remove excess powder...scrape.
4. Charge the case.
I loaded four boxes of .45 Schofield with 4.5 grains of Bullseye and six boxes of .45 Long Colt with 6.0 grains of Bullseye. And every time I tested my method I was dead on as to the weight. It never varied.
And of course, as I later thought of this [duh!] I realized I was doing the same thing my RCBS Uniflow was doing. It has an internal drum that fills with powder and is "scraped" flush when you rotate it to dispense the powder.
I was able to powder up cases faster than I would had I used the RCBS Uniflow, due to the set up time required. Also, when finished I do not have to empty the hopper of the remaining powder. Plus the hopper will sometimes have a lot of powder cling to it due to static electricity. THAT is a pain in the rear to rectify.
The drawback to the Lee "set" is that there may not be enough smaller scoops/measures to load the large variety of powder weights available for the many handgun cartridges that are in existence. But more experimentation on my end is in order. It might work well in many instances.
I have used it to load .38 Special and the above mentioned cartridges with Bullseye.
So, for those of us who load at low volumes, or without progressive reloaders, the Lee Precision Measure Kit appears to have some viability.
No, I don't own any Lee company stock and have no relatives working for the company. This here is free information for the taking.
Regards.
I use them if I want to load a few large rifle cartridges. I know the powder is in there and all the same. When I first started with a single stage, some of the dippers were not what I wanted so I made my own with empty brass and twisted a wire handle. I would load up 50 in a loading block and visually inspect each one. No squibs there.
