Lee Classic Loader 0.5cc Dipper What Powder To Choose

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jimkim

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I have a friend that just bought a Lee Loader for 9mm Luger. It came with a 0.5cc dipper. He wants to load 115gr fmj's. If any of you load them, using that dipper, please tell me which powders to tell him to get. I'll probably have a ton of questions later. He has a Glock, and I can only imagine what the next issue will be. He has several thousand cases he picked up at the range. Before anyone says anything, I suggested ordering the 38 Special kit, if he was going to order one, BUT NO, he couldn't listen to the guy with thirty years experience! Thanks for any help.

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The dippers are loading by volume and not weight. In order to achieve the desired charge you may have to use a different dipper. Flake powders, ball powders. Best bet call Lee and ask them. The powder charge by volume using the dippers should have come with the press or go on line and see what Lee's web site has for info.
Here is the link to the page. 3 pages in all listed by powder,
http://leeprecision.com/cgi-data/instruct/Dippers.pdf
He needs to get a book about reloading and read it
 
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The kit that your friend is using should also have a load chart with it. That chart will list bullet weights and powders that can be used with his dipper for safe loads. If he doesn't have the chart then he should contact Lee and get them to mail him one.
 
I don't think he has the Powder Dipper Set, that one comes with a cardboard measuring "Slide Rule". I think he is referring to the single powder measure scoop that comes with the Lee 4-Die Sets.

Here is the equivalent capacity chart:

Lee Powder Dipper Measure Chart

Heres a youtube video on their use, there are several more good videos that will appear on the right "related videos" side panel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmI8TEupOBs
 
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It has the data with it. He's taking his time sending me a copy. I have a 0.5cc dipper here. I was going to check the weights, of different powders, with my scale. I'm kind of aggravated with him, not listening to me, after he asked for my help. If this was for 38 Special, I have moulds, bullets, and a good cross section of powder from which to choose. I looked at the dipper chart, but some of the numbers were crazy. I was going to suggest he buy either Universal, or AA#5, since it would work in both 9mm and 38 spl. The chart says the 0.5cc dipper throws 10.0gr of AA#5. I never realized it was that dense. Whatever powder he gets, needs to meter well, and have a pretty good margine between starting and max loads.

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Yes there is more for him to check out and learn to do so he can reload safely. In answer to your question, Acc # 5 and Win Autocomp work very well with the .5 dipper. Have four or five of them. You can fine tune them by jamming a little cardboard in the bottom. Both those powders are fairly fine grained and are very well suited for use with dippers. I wouldn't use any stick or flakey powder. They aren't unsafe but you won't get consistency. Just follow common sense reloading procedures and you'll be fine.
 
The reason I was thinking AA#5 would be good, is because it is very versatile. It, Unique, and Universal are three that I usually suggest. Unique is a bit dirty, and doesn't meter as well, but it's still one of my "go to" powders. What threw me was the chart showing 10.0gr of AA#5 with 0.5cc dipper. I'm familiar with AA powders, and I know they're dense, but that seems a bit high. I have used AA#7 a good bit, and it is only 7gr or so with my 0.5 dipper.

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There are several powders listed in the chart supplied with the kit. The charges/powder that use the dipper are designated in the chart. (for each weight bullet in the chart, first column; powder. 2nd; dipper. 3rd; charge in grains with the noted dipper. 4th; velocity of charge. 5th & 6th max charges. 7th suggested OAL). Choose a bullet weight and appropriate powder then buy components. It's all right there...

K.I.S.S. (and safe). Stick with the recommendations that come with the kit until the user gets a scale and perhaps a powder measure (I occasionally "dip and trickle" when assembling a short run of ammo). Charging with dippers is fine, and safe...
 
I have the load chart Lee supplies with the 0.5cc dipper for 9mm

For 115gr FMJ bullets, their recommendations are limited to Vihta Vuori 3N37, N340 or N350.
 
All the loaders come with a chart. Only use what they recommend for powder. If I used that to volume measure for my .308 BL-C2 powder my rounds would explode! Get a good digital scale if you want to try different powder, they are cheap enough.
 
With the Lee loader you only get a few choices but you can use the loads for heavier bullets for the lighter bullets. The other option is to get a scale and use the powder of your choice from the Hodgdon online reloading information.

Back when I was new to loading I had Lee loaders for both guns I reloaded for, 357 mag and 3006. I made some of my own powder measures from old cartridges with a nail soldered to them. It was faster than weighing each charge but it was not long after that that I decided I was going to be doing this reloading thing a lot and for a long time so I got a press and the rest of the gear. I kept adding to my gear to make better ammo.

I still have all the Lee Loaders and a set of Lee dippers. I have even given away a couple of the duplicate Lee Loader kits.
 
He finally sent a picture of the data. I was happy to see Universal, AA#5, and Unique on there. The numbers don't match the Lee chart at all, but before I allow him to load, we're going to use my scales and verify EVERYTHING. I still wish he had ordered the 38 Special kit, instead of 9mm. To me, the 9mm needs to be full length sized if you're going to use range brass. I can forsee major headaches coming our way. Thanks all the help, and God bless.

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Yep, 9mm Lee Loader F/L sizes just like most (all?) of the handgun caliber Lee Loaders. Most Lee Loaders for rifle (bottlenecked) calibers neck size...
 
The dippers come with load data. Lee dies come with load data. Lee's manual comes with load data. In most cases, the loads they give are START loads as there is no load work-up.
I wish
The problem is you need a fluffy powder where 0.5cc is still within the safe load range for 9x19.
The problem is that Lee only gives you 0.3, 0.5, and 0.7cc at the low end and so many times you WANT 0.2, 0.4, or 0.6cc.
Let's take a loading example:
For 115gn jacketed bullet in 9x19 (9mm Luger), we want to use Power Pistol. Checking my manuals, I have start loads for 115gn Jacketed bullets ranging from 4.8-6.2gn and MAX loads ranging from 6.3-6.7gn. So, I need a volume that is less than 6.3gn, and best if it was closer to 5.0gn. According to Lee's chart (where I find that my powders don't pack as tight as Lee thinks they do), the 0.5cc dipper will give me 5.6gn. As you can see, this is below the max load in the manuals I have, but it is close, so Power Pistol "might' be safe.
I will try to attach a snippet out of Lee's #1 manual. The start loads have the following columns:
Start Grains....Volume CC....Auto Disk....Lee Dipper
(but I only show the data to save space)
The Lee Dipper column shows you what dipper to use for that powder (and, for most powders, it is listed as NA for not applicable). So, from that page, you could use the 0.5cc dipper with 3N37, N330, N320, AA7. With Herco, you would use the 0.7cc dipper.
I hope this helps.
 

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LEE provides a "guideline" to the approx weight/volume of powder for the various dippers. My book is old and the only appropriate powders I see are:
AA#7 @7.8 grains
Bullseye @ 4.9 gr
Unique @ 5.1 gr
 
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