Powder Measure

[Ben]

I'm still adding items to my grandson's portable reloading kit.
I like the idea of a " fixed cavity " rotor in the RCBS Little Dandy Powder measure for someone new to reloading. Throw a charge, set a bullet on top of the case, seat the bullet. SIMPLE ! ! ( He only gets to use his reloading kit under my close supervision )
The kit is set up to load 38 Specials.
The rotor will throw 3.0 grs. of B'Eye.
Should work fine with the many 358477's that he currently has access to.

Ben

The arrows will remind him of what happens when he moves the rotor in either possible direction.

Here the rotor is in the " Fill Position ".

 

[Petrol & Powder]

I don't think you need the arrows. Show him how the rotor works and let his brain grasp the concept. The reality is the rotor will work from either starting position. (cavity up towards the hopper or cavity down towards the case)
If you start with the cavity up, and rotate the drum down, it will drop a charge into the casing. You then return the rotor to the up position to reset the process.
If you start with the cavity down, you rotate the drum UP to fill the cavity and then down to charge the case.
The process works both ways, the key is to not cycle the drum more than twice per casing. I think it's better that the user understands HOW it works rather than be directed to some rigid method. Kids are often smarter than we give them credit for. Let him get his head around the concept and he will likely "get it" faster than if you just force one method.
Just my $0.02 worth.
Other than that, excellent device for any reloader, young or old.

 

[Ben]

OK

 

[Dusty Bannister]

You may want to encourage the user to always store the powder measure with the opening of the rotor "down" so that the first charge will not be subjected to shaking which could result in a super charged first load. That or drop and return the first charge every time.

 

[Jeff H]

That's another great idea for the portable kit, Ben! I was thinking of dippers for mine, but I really like that.

I have an old Hornady or Pacific powder dispenser, which works with bushings. I never even thought about adding that to the kit, but now I think I like the RCBS better anyway.

The arrows answered a question I had - whether the rotor turns 360 degrees or not. Now, I get it. On my old Hornady/Pacific (whatever it is) I have to stop and think about it when I use it. It has a slide with a bushing, but I like the rotor idea on the RCBS.

EDIT: An idea that goes along with such a powder dispenser is that I have one bushing which drops 5.5 grains of W231. I don't know how much of what else it drops, because I only use it for 5.5 grains of W231. I have useful loads in the 30/30, 357 Mag, 222 Remington and 44 Special, which all take 5.5 grains of W231. When I was shooting other stuff, I had loads in the 45 ACP and 7.62x39 which also took 5.5 grains of W231.

 

[Ben]

Jeff,

With a bit of progress on the " learning curve ", I think Trevor will be off to the races with this system.

Thanks to all,
Ben

 

[Ben]

You may want to encourage the user to always store the powder measure with the opening of the rotor "down" so that the first charge will not be subjected to shaking which could result in a super charged first load. That or drop and return the first charge every time.

We never store any powder measure with powder in it.
Always store them empty.

Ben

 

[Jeff H]

You may want to encourage the user to always store the powder measure with the opening of the rotor "down" so that the first charge will not be subjected to shaking which could result in a super charged first load. That or drop and return the first charge every time.

So, I'm not the only one who thinks that way...

After I fill the hopper, I always run three charges out and throw them back in the hopper to flush out any potentially "more settled" (thus denser) charges. Can't say it does any good other than make me feel good, but I look at it sort of like a cold bore flier.

 

[fiver]

i'm more like 5 or even 10 drops before i feel good about things being settled in.
i actually want to see a little movement in the powder so i know it's doing what it's supposed to be doing.

i can pretty much guarantee powder will settle in a cavity and pour a much heavier drop than normal, it'll also settle some in the tube.
i chalk it up to tiny vibrations from here and there over time.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

I check every measure to make sure it's doing what I want it to do with handgun charges. I can't say I go through 10 cycles before I trust it. Probably more like 2 - 3...?
Once it get it dialed in and settleed down, it's off the to races.
It's either working or it's not.

Now, rifle cartridges, that's a diffierent ballgame. Typically I set the measure to throw an underweight charge and then bring it up to exactly where I want it with a powder trickler. But i'm not loading hundreds of cartridges at a time when I dealing with rifle stuff.

 

[Dusty Bannister]

"EDIT: An idea that goes along with such a powder dispenser is that I have one bushing which drops 5.5 grains of W231. I don't know how much of what else it drops, because I only use it for 5.5 grains of W231. I have useful loads in the 330/30, 57 Mag, 222 Remington and 44 Special, which all take 5.5 grains of W231. When I was shooting other stuff, I had loads in the 45 ACP and 7.62x39 which also took 5.5 grains of W231."

In the back of Lee reloading manuals you will find a chart with the various powder bushings and what they drop in various powders. I suspect that they may be in other sources as well.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

At that point I think Id just use a powder scoop.

CW

 

[Dusty Bannister]

Same deal, just look up to see what each scoop drops for the powder of your choice. Advantage of the scoop is much smaller than the powder measure. Still need a dish to dip from though.

 

[RBHarter]

I've found I get more consistent measures if I lift to charge an lower to pour per cycle .

The fixed measure should cure any number of problems before they can be had .

 

[Maven]

Like Ben (and others), I use fixed cavity powder measures (Lee and Lyman) for most of my reloading needs. They are fast and efficient, but take some time to establish just how much of a given powder each "rotor" or disk actually drops. Once you've done that, they are very reliable.

 

[Green Frog]

I like the idea of a measure with one or three fixed rotors so I know what volume to expect to drop. I’ve settled on the long-discontinued Pacific Pistol Measure with brass rotors, the spiritual ancestor to the Little Dandy. What I like about it (other than that it’s old and hard to come by) is that it’s so compact. I’ve been using one most recently with my 9mm field kit, but also have been pleased with it for 32 S&W L->32 H&R->327 Fed Mag.
Froggie

 

[RicinYakima]

I like the idea of a measure with one or three fixed rotors so I know what volume to expect to drop. I’ve settled on the long-discontinued Pacific Pistol Measure with brass rotors, the spiritual ancestor to the Little Dandy. What I like about it (other than that it’s old and hard to come by) is that it’s so compact. I’ve been using one most recently with my 9mm field kit, but also have been pleased with it for 32 S&W L->32 H&R->327 Fed Mag.
Froggie

Welcome, Green Frog!

 

[Rick H]

I'm a big fan of the Little Dandy. I own and use two of them and 15 or 20 rotors as well. I like the up and down arrows. Personally I don't think it makes a huge difference whether you start with it up or down so long as you are consistent in which way you do it. I don't store powder in the measure either.

 

[Green Frog]

I’ve actually gone overboard on rotor type measures and have two each RCBS Little Dandies and Lyman Accu-Measures with a complete set of rotors and a few spares for each, but in addition I’ve got about 5 of the Pacific Pistol Measures and probably 10-12 rotors. I’m having a hard time determining what would constitute a “complete set” of rotors as Pacific kept selling different releases as well as offering custom drilled (and undrilled) rotors over the decades of production. I really like the compact PPM for pistol charges, but the Lyman and RCBS certainly have their attractions as well.
froggie

 

[Petrol & Powder]

I like the idea of a powder measure with fixed rotors and I have a RCBS Little Dandy measure with a couple of rotors. There are times and places when the fixed capacity rotors make sense, such as making a standard load that you never deviate from. While I normally use a Dillon 550 for such tasks, I do keep a Little Dandy set up for specific loads that I make on a single stage press.
However, once you start buying lots of rotors (and I'm not sure what is "A Lot") an adjustable powder measure starts to look far more useful.
I see usefulness in having both a fixed drum measure (like the Little Dandy) and an adjustable measure to provide the flexibility when you need it.