Its time for a better powder throw.

C

Chainsaw.

New member
So for a few years now Ive still been running on my $20 lee powder throw, Ive cursed it alot, and today loading with H110 the measure slowed down and was hard to throw due to the powders small size gumming up the works. Enough.
So I need a new throw.
What I do like about the Lee is the simple screw in screw out adjustment. Id really rather now deal with disk or what ever that mess is. So what do y'all recommend? Something made of say...metal? Doesnt leak? Easy to adjust?
 
I can only recommend one: RCBS Uniflow.

Why just one?

Because that's the only one I've ever used. Bought it in 1984 and it still works great - just like the day it was made. And I have thrown a lot of H-110 (well, W296 actually, same stuff) through it.

Note: When I got mine, it came with both large and small dispensing drums. New to loading, I instinctively knew to use the small one (large is for rifles, I guess). Now I believe that the new ones only come with the large drums, and if you want a small drum, you have to buy it separately. I believe.
 
Uniflow can be purchased with either standard (5 to 110gr) or small (0.5 to 50gr) rotor. Hornady only comes with standard rotor (5 to 100gr). Small rotor (0 to 15gr) is only available as an accessory.

Those are the only ones I've used. I use the small rotor in both. I do like the quick change metering inserts that are standard with the Hornady, but use both measures and can recommend both.
 
My vote goes to the RCBS competition model, with second choice being the Uniflow. With the Uniflow get the Micrometer adjustment along with it and you almost have the same thing as the Competition model. The only difference is that the Uniflow with micrometer does not have quite as fine powder adjustment scale as the Competition, but there is hardly any practical difference. This means that while one click on the Competition scale might amount to one 20th of a grain, the same one click on the Uniflow would drop one tenth of a grain (figures not intended to be correct).
 
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I have the RCBS Uniflow, and a Lyman #55 . Both get the job done, but where the RCBS is superior is in the adjustment design. The RCBS is a simple direct cylinder chamber. The Lyman uses a complex 2pc , dual adjustment sliding cylinder system. The Lyman also a small amount of backlash within the small charge bar which has created some inconsistencies for me. I have my Lyman specifically set for my 300WM which is 75 gr of H1000. If my dumps are a few tenths of a grain off it's no big deal. When i'm throwing 24 gr for my precision 223 loads I want more accurate repeatability. I use my RCBS for everything else. Zero negatives I can think of with the RCBS.
 
what type of powder do you work with the most? I have a Hornady and a Lee, I prefer the Lee because the plastic is gentler on the stick than the rotating metal drums on RCBS, Hornady and Harrel throws

If you just use flake and ball any powder throw will do. When or if I ever replace my little plastic Lee it will be with this https://www.quick-measure.com/
 
Welp. Thats done. Brownells had the hornady chargemaster on sale for not much more that the rcbs manual measures, it'll be here on Wednesday. :D
 
every powder measure shines with different powders. stick, ball, flake, newer short stick.
.... rcbs uniflow sucks with 4350. lyman works much better. the full sized lee measure works with it too.
,,,,for pistol loads consider the rcbs pistol powder dandy with interchangeable rotors.
....all of the measure need occasional cleaning.
...of course you just ordered the ultimate.
 
I teach metallic cartridge reloading using the RCBS Uniflow, simply because it works good (but is a PITA to adjust) and is affordable for my students. At home I use Redding powder measures exclusively.

Don
 
I started with the Lee Perfect and for the price, it was unbelievably good. What I am saying is that I paid like $15 for this when every other measure was $60+ and this would have been circa 1991 or so. It worked extremely well for the low investment dollars. It's not as good as the other measures, obviously, but it's -FAR- better than being stuck with only dippers or not even dippers.

My next measure was a definite investment for me, at $65 (at the time), the big tall Hornady measure was like adding a Cadillac to my budget load bench. I used it for many years with success but there were frustrations associated with it also.

One day at a gun show I spotted a barely used Lyman 55. It definitely wasn't new but it seemed totally ready to go and for $20, there was simply no possible way to fail.

Not to overstate it, but to this day, and nearly 30 years and documented over 100,000 rounds loaded, this has been the single finest tool that I have ever owned associated with handloading. I've said it before, if the house was going up in flames (okay, bad analogy...) if the house was getting sucked in to a sink hole and I could only grab one thing from my loading room, the Lyman 55 is coming out of that house safely with me.

The design in post #6 above me by Road Clam is accurate in that it is more complex, but in my opinion, THAT is what makes it better (far better) than the Hornady I had been using before. I have never used the RCBS Uniflow that is getting all the raves in this thread, but the design of the RCBS and Hornady is similar -- it is a single chamber adjustable tube that fills almost vertically and is rotated downward to empty.

The Lyman 55 uses a horizontal chamber that has three sizes of adjustment and across absolutely -EVERY- powder that I have ever tried with both, I couldn't find a reason to keep my Hornady for anything except an emergency backup. And shortly after I added a second Lyman 55, I moved the Hornady to a friend that I taught to handload who just really liked it after I let him borrow it while he pondered his choices.

Everyone should be blessed with a measure that they genuinely love and trust, no matter what make or model they end up with. For me, that's always going to be a Lyman 55 and if the last 10 years and 80,000+ rounds of ammo is any indicator, it may very well be this one single unit that I found at a show, used, for $20.
 
Just be aware of drops getting hung up on some extruded powders like Varget. For that and similar powders, I still use my Lee cheapie. It does not hang up and crunch. Finer powders meter extremely well in a Redding BR-30.
 
bobn said:
rcbs uniflow sucks with 4350
Click to expand...

Now that you mention this, I also agree. The RCBS rotating drum is frustrating with throwing stick powders. 4064 is the worst. I quit "chopping matchsticks" (4064) and substituted other medium burn rifle powders such as W748, Varget, and 4895. Once I bought my Chargemaster 1500 combo I happily returned to 4064 !
 
I use a Lyman 55 for pistol and a Lyman 1200 DPS3 auto throw for rifle. Love the auto throw unit. Never will I sell the Lyman 55.
 
Another vote for the Lyman 55. I too had the Lee, for many many years. It worked, but nothing to brag about. Once I went to the Lyman, I am now spoiled. Very consistent, even down as low as my .32 S&W Long target loads at 1.5 grains of TiteGroup.
 
I have dealt with the Lee sliding style measure binding up a bit. I don't get too concerned about some minor leaking with really fine stuff or Trailboss disks' vulnerability to static electricity. What I did was inspect the hopper fitting for any flash and also stuck some fine sandpaper to a flat surface and trued up the mating surface. The idea is to have the hopper fit as tight as possible against the adjustable charge bar without binding, making it more difficult for powder granules to get in between enough to lock things up.

Recently when using Enforcer, very fine like some other Belgian powders, I had to stop and clean things up. While empty and clear, I snugged up the hopper mounting screws and had no more trouble once running again.

I like the updated cylindrical measure better. It uses the same lower and ACB, but has better provision for a good snug fit of the hopper.
 
I prefer the Lyman 55 measure.I have three or four or them and have used 55's since the late 50's.I also have the RCBS Uniflow measures but haven't used one in years.I do like the RCBS Little Dandy measures for pistol loads.I have a couple of Lee measures as well.They do work and I have no negative comments about them.
I am a bit leery of trusting electronic powder measuring devices.
 
Looking like the lyman is a very popular choice, upon reading I can see why.

The hornady chargemaster showed up, cool little unit, throws really precise. Its a little slower than I was hoping for butbI think that can be partially remedied by tinkering with the settings.
 
Chargemaster is an RCBS model name, not Hornady, so which measure did you actually buy? An actual Chargemaster, not mounted on a press, would trade productivity for accuracy.
 
You're right, its the hornady lock n load auto charge.

And you are right in that it trades productivity for accuracy, but again with some settings tweeking I think I can close that time if I also incorporate a little change of how I load. Instead of charging all cases with powder then seating, now Ill charge a case at a time, staying a case ahead and seat the bullet once the case is charged with powder. Still probably a little slower but thats ok. If I was full steam ahead productivity Ill use my progressive press.
 
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