Bair Powder Measure

[Ben]

My grandson Trevor has been loading 38 Special with 148 gr. wadcutters.
He has used a spoon in the past and found that technique more than a bit cumbersome.

I found an old Bair fixed rotor powder measure with a Bullseye 2.7 gr. rotor.
This measure is perfect for his needs.
The measure is amazingly accurate.

 

[Ian]

Reminds me of the RCBS Lil'Dandy. Never heard of Bair, you guys come up with the neatest vingage stuff.

 

[Ben]

I think this one has seen more than a few Christmas's come and go .

Ben

 

[KeithB]

The rotors look a lot like the ones in my powder measure but mine is not a Bair its a Bullseye. I wonder if they are interchangeable?

 

[Rick H]

It seems that there were a number of rotary drum powder measures like your Bair, the RCBS Lil Dandy, didn't Pacific make one too? Bonanza?
I have the Lil Dandy and love it. Use it mostly for high end 44 mag. and 45 Colt loads. The rotary system is very consistent with the powders I use most.

 

[Ben]

It would have made good business sense for 1 company to make the rotors and sell them to the different companies. Is that what really happened ? I have no idea ? ?

Ben

 

[KeithB]

For reloading pistol rounds with small quantities of powder I really like a fixed size rotor type dispensers. Easy to make custom rotors too.

 

[KeithB]

Or one company makes a good rotary dispenser and everybody else uses their replacement parts to simplify their inventory problems and encourage people with one type of dispenser to try another type at a lower entry cost. Just like RCBS lubers use Lyman dies and Saeco doesn't. Who do you think sells more lubers? From selling custom dies etc I can tell you that while Saecos are well made units they just don't account for much of the market.

 

[Pistolero]

Marketing, Keith, excellent points.

 

[Ian]

Easy to make custom rotors too.

Well.....it's a good lathe and mill 101 project anyway. How did we ever live without machine tools?

 

[KeithB]

When I was an undergrad I helped one of my profs gather data on new technology, early adopters, how standards are set, etc. Interesting stuff. Sometimes you get two standards that survive (Mac vs Windows), sometimes just one (VHS vs Betamax, although neither survive much anymore). It's always a choice between going with a current standard and accepting its limitations, or creating a new standard, with all the cost and uncertainty involved.

 

[KeithB]

If you could get the right size brass rod you could just about make one with a hacksaw and a hand drill.

 

[Pistolero]

And it is likely some standard size, too. Or a standard size turned down a hair for better diameter consistency
and surface finish than raw stock.

Bill

 

[4060MAY]

Ben
Are they accusing us of being odd or old
I have 2 of these measures with 6 extra bushings
I actually prefer the Hornady with the sliding measure, easier to make bushings for and I have a chart for dia to powder weight..

 

[Ben]

Ben
Are they accusing us of being odd or old

I don't know......I wonder if we'll get to choose ?

Ben

 

[Dusty Bannister]

My Bullseye powder rotors made of brass measure .625".

 

[CZ93X62]

I think most of us residing herein can be described as both "Old" and "Odd". I know I resemble those descriptors.

I recall ads for Bair reloading tools in "Field & Stream" and "Sports Afield" during the 1960s.

 

[Rick H]

Hah, I still have a Herter's Model Perfect Micrometer adjustable powder measure. It works as good as any RCBS I ever saw, and almost as good as my Redding. The finish was crude but it is functional. I also have a Herter's magnetic dampened powder scale. I replaced it with an RCBS 505, but honestly, I don't know why they function and work the same.

 

[RicinYakima]

Harley Bair had a foundry in Lincoln Nebraska. When Pacific was sold by original owners son, it was moved to Lincoln, 1957. Bair did the casting for Pacific. When Hornady bought Pacific and changed designs, Bair went into the shotgun tool business and for ten years made of old Pacific metallic reloader also. Your little Bair tool is the final design of the 1932 Pacific and does take Pacific rotors. HTH

 

[oscarflytyer]

Reminds me of the RCBS Lil'Dandy. Never heard of Bair, you guys come up with the neatest vingage stuff.

A Bair press.