Baffles for powder measures

[JWFilips]

Hi Folks,
Would like to hear opinions on powder baffles ...especially for fast pistol powders.
About 12 years ago I converted all my powder drops RCBS Uniflo's and Lyman 55's over to baffles because a few friends were using them!
However 3 years ago I started removing them because I felt they didn't work any better or worse. And I actually thing for powders like Bullseye Red dot Flaked powders as well as W 231 WST etc They seem to be more accurate with out them.
I will be taking delivery of a new Dram Worx Pyrex feed tube for one of my Uniflo's because that one I use for bullseye and hate having to empty it.
That powder has destroyed more powder hoppers than any other for me. I'm going to get a picture of the Lyman 55 I used to use with Bullseye with Lymans newest plastic offering I only had it for one year and it looks like a potbelly stove.
The Dram Worx hopper comes with a powder baffle so i'm trying to decide if I should install it or leave it off ( it will be used exclusively for Bullseye)

 

[MW65]

I like having them for the uniflow.... I throw mostly bullseye, unique, and 4895 with it. I actually had more uniform results with the baffle vs without when we're comparing a full vs 1/2 full vs almost empty powder measure. This is with a nice standard technique of "knocking " on the up and down stroke.

Thanks,
Andy

 

[Brad]

My measures don’t have a baffle other than the Dillon. I firmly believe powder grain shape and size matter far more than a baffle. Unique and such don’t like deep, skinny powder cavities. My Harrels measure sucks with say 10 gr of Unique compared to the Lyman 55 when I use a wide, shallow cavity for the Lyman.

 

[Bret4207]

I think I have a Redding with the baffle, but the Lyman doesn't and the B+M certainly doesn't! I don't see the big deal with them myself. I like the knocker on the 55, and I have always tapped the hopper regardless of baffle or not. Actually, I never really understood what they were supposed to do. Bridging was the problem, if there was any issue, the baffle didn't seem to help or hurt. Tapping/knocking the hopper did.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

I rand some these years ago. Tapping the handle or like old lyman the knocker.
This helped allot with consistencey Until I installed a baffle. Then tapping made less of a difference.
These days Ill have a baffel or wont use the powder drop.

CW

 

[RBHarter]

I use one for the Unique Uniflow and have 1 with and 1 without for rifle powders , mostly extruded .

The idea is to allow the same powder load on the drum every time , I use a paper cone with a 3/8" or so open end about a half inch above the drum . Unique throws within a half 1/10 between 2.5 and 15 gr with boring regularity .
I seem to trickle less with the baffle for H322 and H4198 but I can't say really for 4350 and 4831 it's probably .1-.3 with and .3-.4 without and the tap,tap, crunch .

I run Unique in ACP types , 38/357 and 45 Colts . I weigh to set up , then numbers 1 , 5 , 15 , 25 and every 20th there after . Of course I'm charging a tray of 50 at a time up to 4 trays and not bumping the bench seating between charges . I trickle every rifle because of the Prima Donna and .3 gr of 4350 being the difference between .690 and 1.5" in an 06' .

 

[Ian]

I did tests after a similar discussion a few years ago and found baffles to be very effective at keeping charges consistent when filling a measure past about an inch of powder in the hopper. Consistent "head pressure" makes quite a difference.

 

[popper]

Made my own from net pattern, don't use unless I fill the hopper.

 

[Winelover]

I purchased one for the Uniflow. Didn't seem to make any difference. I use a lot of Unique and Bullseye. My two Hollywood's don't need them.

 

[smokeywolf]

I only have one powder measure and it's a Hollywood. As Winelover said, it doesn't need a baffle.

 

[Tomme boy]

The new Lee measures that have the twist shut off of the hopper acts as a baffle. It is a small hole the powder funnels through then drops into a smaller hopper below it. That was not the design it was made for but works very well as a baffle to hold the main powder off of the reservoir below the hopper.

 

[BudHyett]

I use a funnel on top and a reversed baffle at the bottom. The reversed baffle makes emptying the measure much easier. The funnel is less than one half full, used to set the powder column in the center. Once set up, the powder funnel is removed.

Many years ago, I tested several powder with stick and ball powders, the baffle was a definite asset with stick and ball powders. The flake powders did better with the Lyman 55 measure and the knocker or with the slide on the Dillon setup.

 

[fiver]

some of mine have them and some don't.
I have even made baffles that work the opposite of how they normally do.
think a big washer bent into a VEE about 2"s up in the hopper.
sometimes they help, sometimes they don't, if you get a flow pattern established, run the handle consistently and keep the hopper filled up,,, it don't seem to make much difference to me.
[except you know on that piece of crap old blue pacific it don't drop nuthin even close,, shrug,, it's close enough for the electronic dump though]

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

Made my own from net pattern, don't use unless I fill the hopper.

Thats a huge prt. If your the guy who only adds say a inch then well duh a baffel will do little. But if ya fill that hopper ABSOLUTELY it will help!
CW

 

[Petrol & Powder]

I'm with Ian, the constant weight of the powder over the drum is the benefit of a baffle. While a baffle will not make up for bad technique, it does seem to help remove the variable of the changing weight of powder over the drum.

I don't always fill the powder measure to the top but I do always fill it to a point above the baffle.

 

[CZ93X62]

I have never used any kind of baffle with my two RCBS measures. I ALWAYS have them at least 2/3 full, and have a set method for charging cases with light taps at top of both upstroke and downstroke. My poured charges using both large bore and small bore drums that scale within 1% of mean reliably with most powders. Big-grained stick powders (IMR/H-4350, 4831) and that ^%&$ #$@* 800-X and GI Brass #7 get short-weighed and trickled up on the beam scale. Ball and flake powders are a delight, and the smaller-grained stick powders are usable and dispense accurately.

 

[Rockydoc]

Hi Folks,
I will be taking delivery of a new Dram Worx Pyrex feed tube for one of my Uniflo's because that one I use for bullseye and hate having to empty it.
That powder has destroyed more powder hoppers than any other for me. I'm going to get a picture of the Lyman 55 I used to use with Bullseye with Lymans newest plastic offering I only had it for one year and it looks like a potbelly stove.

It is the nitroglycerin in double base powders like Bullseye that soften the surface of plastics. I wasn't aware there were glass hoppers available for the Uniflow. That is good.
It doesn't really matter to me because I always empty the hoppers of the powder measures after each loading session.

 

[JWFilips]

Well, I got the Pyrex glass DramWorx Hopper yesterday.
Super quality construction...even has a rubber O-ring in the cap to seal it !
Took longer for me to get the original RCBS hopper off then to install the new one. Also left the baffle in!
In the photo below, you see the new set up...but if you look to the lower left you will just see my lyman 55 hopper ! This was replace last Fall with a new Lyman hopper and if you look carefully you will see how the lower part is swelled out compared to the upper part that is the correct diameter!
The Bullseye powder did not only etch that plastic hopper it actually melted it and pushed the plastic outward!

 

[Winelover]

In all the forty+ years, I've been reloading................never ever left powder in a measure, longer than it took me to finish lunch/dinner or any other interruption.

 

[JWFilips]

I load pretty much every other day with bullseye. Too much pain in the A to dump it and fill it every other day!
And also my setting stays put. I shoot my 1911 a lot