Lyman 55 Powder Measure - Old vs. New

[Recruit]

Are there any significant mechanical changes made to the Lyman 55 over the years? I'm interested in changes as they relate to materials used, repeatabilty, longevity/ruggedness, easy of use, etc.

Or is it pretty much whether you prefer orange, gray or hammered gray?

 

[max]

I have had an orange one for years and it still works fine.

 

[AABEN]

They changed the color that is all that I can see.

 

[LittleCooner]

Its a great powder measure. I have an old gray one that 40 years old +.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I started with a 50 year old one, then the owner wanted it back. I've played with several brands but decided I wanted a Lyman! when I bought one it is the black powder model. I've had it about 4 years now, and still love it. I have 6 other drops also and they are fine for their jobs, but if you can only afford one- make it a Lyman 55, as their CS is now lacking try and find a used grey one. Ivan

 

[Bat Guano]

Somehow I've accumulated 4 of them, one of which I started with 50 years ago. One is even older than that, with the thumbnail cut on the D slide. The basic design is at least 100 years old, to include the duplex smokeless/black powder dual chambered model. Good versatile units.

Have also used the old B&M unit--slow but accurate; and the modern Little Dandy with fixed rotors.

 

[Recruit]

Thanks for the confirmations guys. Have heard very little negative about 55.

Ivan mentions getting the gray version which I understand was primarily the 1970's version. Why this era?

I like the look of the hammered gray best but if a particular era is better than another, then it will be that version that I'm after.

 

[Recruit]

Well I went with the early-era dark orange variety. Looking forward to trying it out.

 

[Maximumbob54]

I have an orange #55 and I love it. Too bad they don't have serial numbers as I would love to know how old it is.

 

[Boxhead]

I have a very early orange one and the only thing I don't like about it is the fact that the powder does not fully clean out when emptying it. The little ledge between the metal body and plastic reservoir holds powder and I have to use a screwdriver to clean it out. Also holds some on the drum internals. Are the newer ones the same?

 

[Maximumbob54]

I have a very early orange one and the only thing I don't like about it is the fact that the powder does not fully clean out when emptying it. The little ledge between the metal body and plastic reservoir holds powder and I have to use a screwdriver to clean it out. Also holds some on the drum internals. Are the newer ones the same?

I use canned air for that problem and similar problems in other powder measures.

 

[Recruit]

I have an orange #55 and I love it. Too bad they don't have serial numbers as I would love to know how old it is.

Maximumbob54: Here is a great site showing the history of the 55. You should be able to narrow the age of your 55 to a window of years.

Lyman 55 Project

 

[Harrison]

The biggest change I know of was the Hensler insert for the Lyman 55. This insert either in brass of stainless steel allowed for much greater accuracy, and allowed the measure to be zeroed for a particular powder or lot# of powder. These measures with the Hensler Insert are prized by benchrest shooters that wanted a super accurate measure and repeatability in adjustments. Used they sell for anywere from $100 to $200.

 

[oberon]

I thought I had 3 or those things. But I don't; I have 4. 3 of the old cruddy orange color (one in fairly new condition) ,and one of the old cruddy blue/gray ones. I got them all cheap one time or another.
The last one was the older gray one. It came to the trading post completely dissassembled and spread out over about 6 boxes of junk. I found the micrometer fine scale slider floating around in one box and so i wondered if there wereany more #55 parts to be had. I dug up all the bits & pieces and got the thing for , like $15. I use them almost exclusively. I like 'em better than the RCBS Uniflo. They work great.
Now I need to dig up another Truline jr. turret to pair up with powder measure #4.
Not to hijack the thread, but I would be interested in certain Lyman/Ideal/Truline/ 310 stuff. I have some stuff to trade. I'll post in the trade & sell section.

I checked out the 55 Project, posted above. An amazing amount of research has gone into that.
It should be easy to ascertain the age of anyone's # 55 measure with that info..

 

[curt solomon sr.]

I have an old Ideal (early Lyman) No.6 duplex powder measure and two Ideal No.5's and a No.55 gray Lyman with clear plastic hopper all in very good shape that I picked up from gun shows. the old Ideal's are getting hard to come by. I am looking for a H. Pope measure at the present time or any rare measures.

 

[Recruit]

The old 55 arrived in the mail the other day. Took it apart to see how it works and cleaned up the brass with some Eagle One. Looks beautiful!

Loaded my first rounds last night and would venture each of the 50 throws were within 0.1gr of the 5.8gr I was trying to throw. I checked each throw on the scale and most pegged the needle right at zero. Only a few were a hair over or under. I can live with that!