Poor Man's Powder measure

[Ben]

People walk into my reloading room and say...." Wow, I'd love to get into reloading but I don't have the $$ to afford all this equipment. As we all know, it doesn't take $5,000 worth of equipment to start reloading !

In order for me to reload the brass that I shot with my 45/70 yesterday, I had to empty my powder measure and refill it with 2400, then calibrate the powder measure so it would throw the correct charge.

While I was doing all of this , I noticed an empty steel case ( Berdan primed ) 7.62 X 39 mm that was simply laying on the bench. I thought......." Ummm, tomorrow, I'm going to cut that case with a hack saw and make me a powder measure for the load that my 45/70 is shooting so well right now.

Amazing , just how consistent the " new powder measure " is charge to charge. Just about as accurate as any of my seven powder measures.

Ben

 

[Ian]

I've made a few of those out of brass cases. They are pretty accurate if you use the correct technique for dipping to get consistent density.

Usually I take about a foot of 12-gauge solid copper wire, loop the middle around the case, and twist a flyswatter-style loop handle out of it and solder with electrical rosin solder.

 

[Ben]

Ian,

A point well made. In order for the measure to be consistent for me, I take it to the bottom of a coffee cup of powder and bring it up slowly through all the powder in the cup. Once I lift it out, I level it with my finger and throw the charge. Works well for me.

Ben

 

[freebullet]

"As we all know, it doesn't take $5,000 worth of equipment to start reloading !"

Ben
I always enjoy your posts. Very informative & helpful all the time- BUT, PLEASE don't tell my wife the above statement. I don't want to get stabbed.

 

[KHornet]

Made and used a few of these in my day. That said, when they first came out, I bought the box of lee dippers, long box, and little tiny loads to big charges. Have used that ILO my homemade ones every since.

 

[Ian]

I bought the Lee master set too, just to have it, pretty sure it was on sale at the time. I ended up scrapping the box and storing all of them together in a baggie my mobile reloading kit. Sure wish they were red instead of yellow.

Ben, I use a different technique (most of us probably dip powder in our own way) but consistency is all that matters. In college, I made and calibrated several powder dippers using the chemistry lab's calibrated scales during lab because I was too broke and space-poor to have my own beam scale. Today a person would probably go to prison for sneaking a few grains of Bullseye and Unique into the lab hall or for having a couple of pounds of the stuff in their dorm room along with bricks of primers. We kept our guns and bows at the campus PD in their safe, and nobody seemed to care that I was 19 and checked my .38 revolver in and out quite frequently. We made many gallons of mead and apple cider in the attic space, too, but that's another story.

 

[williamwaco]

I make those by wrapping the wire around the extractor groove then twisting the wire handle into a loop so it doesn't twist when you grasp it.

I have made quite a few for myself and for newbies.

 

[Maven]

They're distinctly "low tech," but do they ever work well!

 

[Pistolero]

I loaded for years with a Lee plastic scoop set. I found that a consistent sweeping
scoop followed by striking off with a card was very consistent and easy to do.

Poor folks have poor ways....... mostly past that part of my life now, can afford good
tools, but the Lee scoops still come out periodically. Probably payed $2.50 for the set
back in '67 when I got my Lyman 310 tool and got into reloading.

Bill

 

[Cherokee]

I've got several of those hanging around from the early days of reloading, just don't remember what they throw any more...I'll have to check that out.

 

[GaryN]

Now the only thing we need to find out is where Ben got the 2400.

 

[R D]

Hey; I am new here and joined because there seemed to be a lot of smart people on this site. I too have used this type of dipper and the lees too. What I wanted to pass on is in doing this and in using commercial measures I have found that when using what I term flake powders, unique, red & Green Dot, and some of the older Alcan powders They seem to give a lot better measuring accuracy when the chamber is about 3/8 inch in diameter or larger. It varies powder to powder but it seems that those flakes lay over each other and do not fall into the chamber or dipper as well as the bullseye, 2400, or even the shorter stick powders. I first noticed the apparent cause when using my dandy measure and unique. I got terrible uniformity at one charge level but when i decided to go up to the next rotor I got very good consistency so I checked out the two rotors and found that the only difference was the hole diameter. It seems they had drilled almost all the way through the rotor with the smaller bit and went to a larger bit to get a larger range in their rotors. Anyway I thought I would pass this on as I have not seen this anywhere else and this could perhaps help someone else some time.

R D
May GOD bless you and yours

 

[Brad]

I agree. A larger diameter, shallower cavity seems to be more consistent. Same reason I use my Lyamn 55 with Unique. I can have a wide, shallow cavity that seems to do best. Deep, small diameter cavities seem to give widely varying charges with large flake powders.

 

[JWFilips]

Wide & Shallow! Points well noted! Some simple thing like that that has eluded me. I throw a lot of flake powers (Red Dot, American Select, Unique etc) I know I have always preferred the Lyman 55's for these and reserve my RCBS measures for Bullseye 2400 and Reloader 7.

I'm going to have to revisit my slides on the Lyman's to make sure I don't have the lower chamber cracked open!
Great info guys thanks!
Jim

 

[quicksylver]

+1 here Jim

 

[R D]

JW; Glad to be of some help, I have been reading this site for the last few days and learned about several things that work and that I need to use. I just trying to return the favor. I have never used the 55, I started with the Uniflow and just stayed there. If there are any better after the micrometer upgrade I would not know how to act. I also Liked the idea of a fixed chamber for high quantity loads and got the dandy. It worked for many loads and I enlarged some rotors and made a few to fit my exact loads. I am almost out of Alcan AL 8 and am going to miss it but will look for a replacement in the newer powders that I haven't even tried. I tend to look till I find a good load and then stay there.

 

[Lost Dog]

Volume scoops, powder flasks, and an early #55 measure were what I started with. My dad didn't reload but his uncle did. He taught me using a 310 tool, cast bullets, and powder flasks from the 1860's. We loaded cartridges in .45 Colt and .45-70. Both with black powder too. What I remember the most was that old man's technique with the powder flasks. The smaller one he'd simply invert and drop the powder holding his index finger over the spout. Said that one dropped 40gr of 3F just right. But with the larger one he'd hold it inverted, open the "gate" as he called it, and shake for a bit. He said the big 2F powder needs help getting into the spout since it has a tendency to "stack loose" in the tube.

A couple years later when I got my 310 & a Lyman/Ideal #55 measure, I remembered my old teacher's remarks on powder that "stacks loose" when using the old #55 measure and some powders. I too found that the powder would meter best when the widest space was created with the slides.
Between using this old #55 and it's daddy, a 1903 Ideal #5, I got it made.

 

[JWFilips]

I have also noticed that using the 55's: if you develop a rhythm of tapping the handle "just so" as it comes back up to it's stop. The consistency is very good every drop.
Never gets this good with the "flapper" attachment

 

[Lost Dog]

Well sir, over the past 50 some years I've gotten used to the knocker. But it's use is limited. Here's what I do with it.

Fill powder reservoir and flip knocker four times to settle the powder.
Look at my chart for the powder and set the appropriate slide for desired weight. (The markings on the slides are BP by volume )
With a steady raise & lowering of the arm and one (1) single flip of the knocker, check the weight. Usually right on, but sometimes gotta tune it. But always when dropped, one flip to dislodge any powder in the slot of the rotor and simple keeping of the powder in the reservoir consistent.
Using the "raise, lower, flip" routine I get repeatedly the exact load time after time with no change in weight. And at first I didn't use the knocker thinking it was unnecessary. Wrong. It loosens any tiny powder from the corners of a rectangular chamber. AA#5, H110, 2400, and other dust like powder can sneak into a corner and give you a lighter load. One flip in the down position and all powder is then in the case.

Been using AA#5 & #9 lately. My old #55 doesn't do well with dust like powder, But my trusty old Ideal #5 is so precise it'll measure anything with ease. (AA#5 is also the same by volume as 3F BP and settings for it are identical as on the measure).
If I knew how to attach stuff using this blasted phone I'd send ya a copy of my chart for the #55. ...

 

[9.3X62AL]

I have a set of the "Lee Spoons" also, and they are quite accurate if used with consistency as folks have described above. Very handy to have for "duplex" loading of IMR 4198 underneath WC-860/867/872 to "wake up" the slower main charge in 45/70 and other calibers in which I practice such warlock-craft. (FWIW, an 8:1 ratio of slow/fast and 100% load density seems to do the best work in 45/70. This made sense when WC-860 could be had for $3.00-$3.50/lb back in the old days, but I post this ONLY for entertainment and educational value. Remember--it's warlock-craft, and I'm sure as h--l no scientist).