Powder dispenser/thrower question

[KMarshall]

Right now I'm using a Lee turret press with the Lee auto drum on it. I'm finding the auto drum to be great with some powders but inconsistent with others.
Iv gone through and already polished the inside and that fixed the leaking but not the inconsistency.

are there any other powder dispensers that work in the same fashion I could install on my turret the same way?

 

[cavallo]

I'm curious too. I see some inconsistency with mine too. I also gave up on H110 (which leaked no matter what I did) and purchased an off-press powder dropper specifically for H110 in 357 mag. I don't load anywhere near max so have just been tolerating the variance I see with the Lee Drum.

 

[t-squared]

Are you running a powder baffle? I have one from Titan Reloading and it seemed to help a bunch. They make them for the older style red hoppers and the newer style as well.

Titan Reloading

 

[Hawkeye7br]

+1 on the baffle. As a budget alternative, I use a funnel with a long stem in the dispenser tube. Regardless of how much powder is in the funnel, it will maintain only about 1.5" of powder in the dispenser. Otherwise , certain powders will compact in a full dispenser from the repeated vibration, and charges with a full dispenser will often weigh more than when I start.

 

[Creedmoor]

What inconsistency with powder are you having? Amount of grains?

 

[cavallo]

What inconsistency with powder are you having? Amount of grains?

For me it seems to depend on the day. (I wonder if temp or humidity play a factor.) Normally it is pretty consistent with a few that are +/- 0.1 grains. Some days I see occasional +/- 0.2. That is a big swing for TiteGroup.

 

[Creedmoor]

For me it seems to depend on the day. (I wonder if temp or humidity play a factor.) Normally it is pretty consistent with a few that are +/- 0.1 grains. Some days I see occasional +/- 0.2. That is a big swing for TiteGroup.

Just change from using TiteGroup.
Ive been loading over 45 years or so, never have loaded using TiteGroup.
What caliber are you loading?

 

[Leadeye]

Titegroup is a sensitive powder, especially near max, so I can understand concerns for accuracy.

 

[cavallo]

Just change from using TiteGroup.
Ive been loading over 45 years or so, never have loaded using TiteGroup.
What caliber are you loading?

I use TiteGroup for only 9mm. I've thought about switching to something else... (once I run through the 8+ pounds I still have. )

 

[indyblue]

I have a RCBS Uniflow and it works well with the powders I use, mostly W231 and 8208 XBR.

All meter well. A 10 drop test of 22.1gr (8202) came to 221.5 grains, not bad. H110 was spot-on as well.

 

[Leo]

I use TiteGroup for only 9mm. I've thought about switching to something else... (once I run through the 8+ pounds I still have. )

8 pounds of Titegroup makes 11,000 plus 9mm loads depending on bullet weight. You are going to be loading a lot of 9mm. "not that there is anything wrong with that!"

 

[Leo]

I have Lee, Lyman, RCBS, Dillon and Pacific (Hornady) power measures. The smaller diameter of the measuring cylinder, the more accurate the smaller loads. For small charges of powder like pistols, a general measure like the RCBS really does not work too well. I use that one for loads above 20 grains. Just because the micrometer adjustment "says" you can go down to 4 grains, doesn't mean it is consistent there. That is where the pistol drum option on the Pacific really shines. I don't know if you can adapt that one to your press. They have a kit for using it on the Hornady presses.

The old Lyman has a little swinging hammer to tap the measure each time that seems really goofy, but with really course grain powders the "calibrated tap" does settle the powder for a consistent load.

The Dillon sliding chamber design works really good for small pistol amounts, even TiteGroup, but they really screwed them up with the interlocking safety linkage. The old ones did fine.

 

[STFU]

<SNIP>
The smaller diameter of the measuring cylinder, the more accurate the smaller loads. For small charges of powder like pistols, a general measure like the RCBS really does not work too well. I use that one for loads above 20 grains. Just because the micrometer adjustment "says" you can go down to 4 grains, doesn't mean it is consistent there. That is where the pistol drum option on the Pacific really shines. I don't know if you can adapt that one to your press. They have a kit for using it on the Hornady presses.

^^^This^^^

I have a Hornady LnL AP. I found that the Rifle metering insert does well when throwing large charges but is horrible when you need a small charge. EG: my 300BLK load calls for 9 grns. I was getting .30 to .40 variations all the time.

Switched to a pistol metering insert and I am within .10 grains all the time now.

 

[cavallo]

8 pounds of Titegroup makes 11,000 plus 9mm loads depending on bullet weight. You are going to be loading a lot of 9mm. "not that there is anything wrong with that!"

LOL. Exactly. That is the pro/con of using a powder that goes a long way.

 

[Creedmoor]

LOL. Exactly. That is the pro/con of using a powder that goes a long way.

We can easily burn 8-10 lbs of Unique in a summer with 9MM, I can load it from mild to +P+ loads, safely and with a hundred FPS faster, with a bunch less worries.
I've never seen the fascination that some have with TiteGroup powder.
What was the reason you choose TiteGroup?

 

[Creedmoor]

The Dillon sliding chamber design works really good for small pistol amounts, even TiteGroup, but they really screwed them up with the interlocking safety linkage. The old ones did fine.

The only problems that any of my Dillons have given me was the sliding bar and the housing being just plain old worn out and they will start leaking fine ball powders. Or a measure locking up because the thin plastic tube in the bottom of the measure being worn through.
A quick call to Dillon and as always, new parts arrive in a few days.
I think I have two sets of the new linkage parts, but I still go with a double spring along with the old fail safe rod.
Like you I have too many measures, A old Uniflow, a few Lymans, a BP Lyman, pacific bushing pistol, two Harrell Bros. The only ones I ever use are the Dillons and the Harrell Bros Premium rifle and pistol.

 

[cavallo]

We can easily burn 8-10 lbs of Unique in a summer with 9MM, I can load it from mild to +P+ loads, safely and with a hundred FPS faster, with a bunch less worries.
I've never seen the fascination that some have with TiteGroup powder.
What was the reason you choose TiteGroup?

Not really fascinated at all. I do a little bit of competition shooting. When I first started reloading I read through about a bazillion internet forums posts where people were asking what powder they used for competition shooting. It seemed that there were more people that answered TiteGroup than any other powder. So that's what I picked.

Couple that with the fact that Hodgedon is a Christian company, I now try to use Hodgedon powders where possible. I appreciate their values and the fact that they are bold enough to put that on their Web site.

 

[Cynical]

Not really fascinated at all. I do a little bit of competition shooting. When I first started reloading I read through about a bazillion internet forums posts where people were asking what powder they used for competition shooting. It seemed that there were more people that answered TiteGroup than any other powder. So that's what I picked.

Couple that with the fact that Hodgedon is a Christian company, I now try to use Hodgedon powders where possible. I appreciate their values and the fact that they are bold enough to put that on their Web site.

Honestly, I have a couple rcbs uniflows, a Lyman Brass Smith which I don’t much care for. I spent most of my time for the last twenty years loading almost everything on a Lee progressive press. To be honest my Lee perfect powder measure which I admit I don’t use anymore dropped loads with amazing accuracy. The one thing I found is that heavy flake powders like Unique and Clays worked well with it. I’ve since upgraded to a Dillon 550b converted to 550c for my needs but Lee always met my needs at the time. As far as powder, I’ve used Unique for .38s and Bullseye for .45 , .40 and 9mm for as long as I can remember and the whole it’s”dirty” crap I’ve never bought into it as I would burn through a thousand on Sat. practicing for steel challenge. I always clean my guns when I’m done so it was never an issue. Now that Alliant powders are $50 a pound Titegtoup seems like good option, I just loaded some 12 gauge with it and I know it shoots well out of my pistols. It’s a little more snappy but very manageable. As far as the auto-drum I’m unaffiliated but I know flake powders can bridge and give poor uniformity. Titegroup isn’t as bad as Unique in that regard but maybe try AA#2 or Aa#5 or Hp-38 etc

I have a RCBS Uniflow and it works well with the powders I use, mostly W231 and 8208 XBR.

All meter well. A 10 drop test of 22.1gr (8202) came to 221.5 grains, not bad. H110 was spot-on as well.

Holy crap, you have 8208xbr? Where can I find some?

 

[turnerdye1]

Holy crap, you have 8208xbr? Where can I find some?

I’m fairly certain Brian’s Surplus had some last week. May be worth a phone call

 

[indyblue]

Honestly, I have a couple rcbs uniflows, a Lyman Brass Smith which I don’t much care for. I spent most of my time for the last twenty years loading almost everything on a Lee progressive press. To be honest my Lee perfect powder measure which I admit I don’t use anymore dropped loads with amazing accuracy. The one thing I found is that heavy flake powders like Unique and Clays worked well with it. I’ve since upgraded to a Dillon 550b converted to 550c for my needs but Lee always met my needs at the time. As far as powder, I’ve used Unique for .38s and Bullseye for .45 , .40 and 9mm for as long as I can remember and the whole it’s”dirty” crap I’ve never bought into it as I would burn through a thousand on Sat. practicing for steel challenge. I always clean my guns when I’m done so it was never an issue. Now that Alliant powders are $50 a pound Titegtoup seems like good option, I just loaded some 12 gauge with it and I know it shoots well out of my pistols. It’s a little more snappy but very manageable. As far as the auto-drum I’m unaffiliated but I know flake powders can bridge and give poor uniformity. Titegroup isn’t as bad as Unique in that regard but maybe try AA#2 or Aa#5 or Hp-38 etc

Holy crap, you have 8208xbr? Where can I find some?

I’m fairly certain Brian’s Surplus had some last week. May be worth a phone call

I bought a couple 8 pound jugs of it years ago when I knew I would get into reloading 5.56.

If you check the Hodgdon site, it is occasionally available there though it probably cost 45% more than it did me back then. It’s been a good performing powder for me, the only reason I selected it was because that’s what we used in the reloading class I took and figured if it was good enough for them it was good enough for me. I am curious how it stacks up against CFE223, though, I have read many good things about the CFE.