Reloading for rifles: powder measure?

C

CDR_Glock

New member
So I have a turret press that I’ll be using for reloading my rifle.

I’m torn amongst powder measures and automatic measures...

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I’m limited by my range distance of 250 yards.

Right now, I’m getting ready for my Suppressor to come. So I will be loading 300AAC, first. I’m shooting mainly from an AR pistol for it....

I have dies for 308, 300 AAC, 5.56 mm, 6.5 Grendel, and 7 mm-08. I’m good on my supplies for All, except 300 AAC.

Any experience or suggestions are welcome.

Thank you.


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The Lock n Load is all you need. Unless you're shooting bench rest, and you're good enough to be competitive,weighing individual charges buys you nothing.

And there is heated debate even among bench resters if it's worth the effort.
 
Powder measures are, by far, faster. But get a good one. Redding BR-30 is very accurate. Harrell also makes excellent measures. DO NOT buy a cheap measure. This is not the time to go cheap. All it takes is one over-charge to ruin your day.

Electronic measures are great too. I did a lot of research and the RCBS had the best rating, by far. Mine works great and has NEVER thrown an over-charge.

The RCBS is fast enough that you can charge the case, put the pan back on the scale (it will start dispensing automatically), seat the bullet, put it in the bullet box and the dispenser will have dispensed another load. And this is without the modification from the internet that will speedup the operation.

The Hornady dispenser did not get good ratings. Too many over-charges.
 
From my readings, some brands or types of measures work better with some powders better than others (stick vs ball vs flake), so that could influence your decision. Some have a mix of brands for each of their powders.

I have a CM LITE, works good with Varget, Benchmark, CFE223, accurate enough for my pdog loading. I usually spot check every nth charge, load testing I usually just use my 505 due to the low # of rounds.
 
for less than 250 yards precision measuring is not critical. If using extruded (stick) the Lee's plastic construction works best. If you are using a fine ball powder like TAC then whatever your wallet will stand. The more you spend the better the fit and finish and the more bragging rights.

I use a Johnson Quick throw which throws both stick and powder well but it's operation can be a bit quirky so I hesitate to recommend. I have a Lee and a Hornady throw and also a RCBS CM. The two throws are faster and less accurate with stick but do a good job on ball and flake. The RCBS is slower with decent accuracy but throws all types of powder
 
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It can also depend on how many reloads your doing . I'm a benchrest shooter Rem. 700 308 Cal. Using IMR 4064 which is a hard powder to meter . The Hornady auto charge will do the job , I have been using the RCBS ChargeMaster 1500 for at least 12+ years , very similar to the Hornady . I also double check the load by using the GemPro 250 is a very accurate little scale , I take the charge from the 1500 and dump that charge in the pan on the 250 . I can get all my loads to read to hundreds of a grain 40.84 the 1500 is good for tenths , hundreds is not necessary , I'm only shooting 30 rounds per week so I can take my time with case prep , charging and seating . The ranges in my area are 200 yards max . That's the only distance I shoot. If you have the time check out the GemPro 250 scale also. The Hornady will make life and reloading easier. Hope I helped .

Chris
 
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I am with cw308 and std7mag, I throw my powder from a thrower or the Hornady chargemaster then double check on my beam scale, may be a bit anal but I know what I am getting..
 
I use the hornady auto charge with my RCBS Rock Chucker. Yes it will occasionally throw an over charge with certain powders but it warns you. Unless your head is somewhere it shouldn't be when reloading it works fine. I found nearly equal amounts of bad reviews on all of the autos so I went with a name that I felt I could trust.

One thing that has stabilized all of my measures the most is to wash them in dish soap and let them dry without rinsing. A smooth flow is key to consistency.

On my Dillon 650 I use the Dillon measures with the Uniquetek calibrated adjusters. These have increased the consistency and accuracy of the pours greatly. On the Dillon I go with a middle of the road pour not custom workups. If I'm slightly off it wont matter but I still check every 20 rounds. The Dillon is all about volume not total perfection but it still allows you to tune a round to your gun that's closer than a one size fits all factory ammo.
 
I use a Lee Classic Turret and an RCBS Chargemaster. "Speed" is basically irrelevant, as the Chargemaster is ready when I am. Yes, it takes me a couple of extra seconds to pick up the pan and dump it in the funnel, but I don't care. If I were loading thousands, or even hundreds of rounds, I'd be using a progressive. For my purposes... 30-100 at a time... I like an automatic dispenser.
 
What powder?

Stay away from extruded powders and the volume measure will be just fine, especially limited to 250 yards range. It will also be faster than any “auto” measure (coming from a guy that has several auto measures, two CM1500’s just so I don’t have to wait on one).

For 300 aac get H110/296 and it will meter just fine.
 
I have used both and I prefer the auto dispenser (and I do have the Horandy)

What I did find was that having two of them makes it go a lot faster (both were picked up at great bargains)

The other one I have is the Lyamn Gen 6. Frankly I would like to combine the features and get one that does all I want but......

Hornady: Its spot on accurate, exactly to the grain selected (most of the time, its nice that it double beeps and red light if it overshoots)
I like the beeper as it single beeps when its spot on.
I like the accuracy.
It has both speed and anticipation settings so you can get it to work with all powders. Extruded as well which I load a lot of.
Once you get ahead on fills (true for all) you can seat bullets while its dispensing power. That is nice, makes better use of the time. Label boxes etc while getting ahead.

Downsides: Its slower than the Lyman but more accurate.
One tuner anticipation setting goes away when you clear the last load. Grrr. It should stay loaded for you, you tend to need to adjust that one.


I use the Horandy for those I want spot on and load the cases that are mid node for more rapid filling.

For the manual dispense types I have one, I have a Lyman scale with a built on trickler that I would use. That ensured digital accuracy for the load.
 
I have the hornady auto dispenser and hate it. It over shoots every single charge no matter the powder or speed.Waste of money. Save your money up and buy the rcbs. My main dispenser is the lyman 55. I love it with a passion. However it does get troublesome with stick powder like reloder 15, varget,etc. Of the ones you listed I would go with the hornady powder measure. For pistol you can buy an adapter to auto charge on the up stroke as well. I dont think they sell the dies for rifle.
 
I load my 6MM Remington loads on my Dillon 650 with Dillon measure. My loads shoot 5 rounds into 3/8 inch. I don't really need any better than that..

I weighed rifle charges for several years, but then I joined a gun club that had a couple of dozen serious bench rest shooters, and they dropped powder right out of the measure.
I tried that with my loads, and could see no difference in group size, so I quit weighing individual charges.
 
Granted the Hornady needs to be set for both the right speed and how far in advance it slows down.

Once done it hits spot on.

For stick powders its slow speed (there is a medium and fast) and around 1 on the advance slowdown.
 
Ben Dover
That's about as bad as my friend Mike Hunt he stopped being so anal with his reloads , but back to shooting , I'm sure shooting 3/8" groups your carefully with accurate powder charges , making every round being as close to exact as possible is the way to go . I find stick powders that are good for accuracy but hard to meter is the a reason to find another powder that meters easier . IMR 4064 for example great powder for my 308 , is all I use now .
 
The Johnson Quick Throw is very consistent with Varget. I set it .1 low and trickle to weight on my beam ith my fingers. I can pinch 4 or 5 sticks at as time now and finger trickle faster and more accurately than I can with a commercial trickler. If I ever go to a lab grade electronic scale I will use the same method.

The OP mentioned the Lee. It is pretty forgiving with stick and cuts a lot fewer stick than any throw that has a metal drum and rotor but it is a pain to adjust. As cheap as they are though you can buy 4 or 5 and leave them set to your pet charges
 
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I see three pictures.
Lee Deluxe Perfect Powder Measure @ $43.19
Hornady Lock-N-Load Auto Charge Powder Scale and Dispenser @ $234.99
Hornady Lock-N-Load Powder Measure @ $73.99

Two are similar and the third is a totally different type power dispensing system. Pretty large price difference also. So what is your price point? The least expensive Lee has a large number of plastic parts including a plastic body. Similar Volume Metering devices like a Harrell can run over $300 with all metal machined parts. The Hornady Lock and Load Auto is a dispenser which throws a pre set weight in a class like the RCBS ChargeMaster 1500 Powder Scale and Dispenser Combo. The RCBS Uniflow is another Volume Metering type design. Each type and brand generally has some good and not so good reviews. I have and use mostly RCBS but I would likely be as content with the Hornady stuff.

So it comes down to which type you want and your price point?

Ron
 
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