Time for a new powder thrower

ac700wildcat · August 8, 2013, 03:56 PM

I'm looking to buy a new powder thrower specifically for handgun cartridges. I have an RCBS Chargemaster that is great for loading rifle charges, but is just to slow when I'm loading handgun ammo. So what is my best bet for a well built and consistent powder thrower?

jepp2 · August 8, 2013, 04:05 PM

You didn't define your price range. I have had the Redding 3BR for a couple of decades (with both the rifle and pistol metering chambers) and have never been disappointed. If you are just going to use it for handgun, then this is what you would need.

I had a Lyman 55 before I got the Redding but never was happy with it. But I really think it was more my fault than the measures. With the 3 different adjustments, I didn't use the right one when I should have. But I think a lot of folks like the Lyman.

All my handgun loads gets metered with the Dillon measures. After some improvements (disable the fail safe and run with a spring like the old days) and polishing the aluminum cone, they are very accurate.

noylj · August 8, 2013, 05:21 PM

Well, my CM keeps up with me and my Dillon 1050s, so I have no idea why your CM is so slow.
Do you want a bench-mount measure? I find the Lee Perfect Powder Measure is the most consistent. I put a sheet of paper under it to pick up any leaking powder. The Hornady is the next most consistent of all the measure I have used. Beyond that, they are all OK and you can spend as much money as you want.
Do you want a press-mounted case-activated powder measure? Then get the Hornady or Dillon measures and the cartridge/caliber specific powder-through expanders.
Otherwise, contact RCBS for programming instructions so your CM can dispense small charges faster.

ac700wildcat · August 8, 2013, 06:02 PM

Thanks for the replies. As far as price goes, up to $200 would be ok. I did reprogram my CM, but its more suited to rifle loads. The problem I have with it is when I'm doing say 4.5 grains of Universal Clays, it seems like I'm always sitting there watching it and waiting for the charge to finish. I could probably seat three or four bullets in the time it takes for one charge to be dispensed. Maybe I have to play with the setting a bit more for dispensing really light powders with light charges?

I'm looking for a bench mount dispenser. I have the Lee one that was mentioned, but it never seemed to be very consistent for me. It would throw one charge perfect and then the next one .2 grains over and thats not good when using a fast burning powder like Universal Clays or regular Clays.

PA-Joe · August 8, 2013, 06:09 PM

RCBS Little dandy. You will need a bushing for each major charge but it's quick.

Sevens · August 8, 2013, 09:15 PM

I used the Hornady for a number of years and was fairly happy with it. Mostly. Annoyed with some powders, but pretty much did what I asked it to do. It was around $65 when I got it, which I thought was a lot of money at the time. (maybe late 90's?)

I found a pre-owned Lyman 55 at a gun show maybe 4 years ago. It was from the 80's and had been used, but I doubt it had been used much. It seemed like a steal at $20, so I snagged it and set it up on my bench soon after.

I consider that one of a handful of "epiphany moments" I've had in my long adventure in handloading thus far. I've said before that if my bench is facing certain destruction and I'm forced to choose -ONE- tool to save from the end of the world, my Lyman 55 is absolutely what I'm taking.

A buddy of mine got in to handloading two years back and I really pimped the Lyman 55, so he bought a new one and he was very underwhelmed with it. He's a very sharp guy (no, really) so I have no doubt that he got some kind of a newer production lemon. And unfortunately, I have heard some others complain about some of Lyman's newer production stuff.

My Lyman 55 is the most important tool at my bench. I probably have a couple handguns I would leave behind before grabbing my Lyman 55. For me, for what I do and how I do it, and for the (ridiculous gaggle of) powders that I work with, it is my best buddy at the bench.

My Hornady, very much used before that one fateful day... has literally not seen even a single granule of powder since the first time I filled the hopper on the '55. I never would have predicted that.

Airman Basic · August 9, 2013, 06:50 AM

+1 for the Little Dandy. Bought all the rotors years ago and use it for all my handgun loads and lots of smaller rifle loads. I use it handheld with cases in a loading block. Easy to double-check the levels that way.

snuffy · August 9, 2013, 08:41 AM

AC700, have you considered the lee pro auto disc measure? I've been very happy with me 2 measures. One I upgraded from the standard auto disc, the other I bought as the pro model.

You will need the lee powder die which also bells the case, if you aren't already using lee dies. It takes some fiddling to get it set. The chart they supply for the different powders and charges each disc hole puts out is for reference only. Generally the charges listed are light/below what the disc actually puts out. Just use the next larger size hole. They also make an adjustable powder bar that replaces the disc.

The increments of the disc holes is pretty big for some powders. So IF you simply have to have that 4.5 of clays exactly then you'll find that one hole might be 4.1, the next biggest could be 4.8! That's when the adjustable bar comes into play. As far as consistency, I gave up trying to find it varying more than a tenth either side of my target load,(for W231). Some powders that are notorious for being hard to meter will also give you fits with the disc measure, unique being one.

AllenJ · August 9, 2013, 08:54 AM

I've been using a RCBS Uniflow for over 30 years. It does a great job with ball and flake powders.

schmellba99 · August 9, 2013, 08:56 AM

I have this used RCBS thrower for sale:

$50 plus shipping and it's yours.

It has some age, but still works perfectly. Doesn't have the cap, but you can probably finagle that out of RCBS for free.

wogpotter · August 9, 2013, 10:04 AM

A tip for anyone with the Lyman #55.
If you're measuring rifle charge weights, particularly with long grain stick powder like IMR 3031 then start setup with the large cylindrical slider. TThis gives a deep well with a minimum area of contact where grains can be cut while rotating the shaft. Sneak up on the weight & fine tune it with the bigger brass slider.
Conversley if you're throwing pistol sized charges of fine grain flake or ball then close the big chamber completely & start with the bigger screw adjustment & fine tune with the baby one.

It took me a while to work this out, before I did I was thinking of getting a different thrower all together, now I'm a happy camper.

2 accessories I'd suggest for anyone using a #55 though. Get the bigger powder hopper & put a baffle in it. It makes a huge difference to consistency as well.

PawPaw · August 9, 2013, 10:30 AM

I use a Lyman 55 for rifle loading, but I generally get close and trickle up to the desired weight.

For pistol, I used a Lee Perfect for years, but did some mods to it, like cutting out the travel stop and polishing the rotor. Nowadays I use the Auto Disk on the turret press and I'm perfectly happy with that.

Marco Califo · August 9, 2013, 10:34 AM

+1 Lee PPM for cost, value, ease, and adjustability. The Lee volumetric tables hep dial in loads, but the Lyman 55 is better with some powders.

mehavey · August 9, 2013, 12:09 PM

THE measure for what the OP wants:

http://harrellsprec.com/schuetzen.html

He'll never look back....

hodaka · August 9, 2013, 12:32 PM

Nice measure you have there but for over $200 I believe I could live without it.

I've used a Lyman 55 for nearly 30 years and it is still going strong and surprisingly consistent.

Most of my pistol tool heads on my Dillon 550 are Lee Autodisks. They are cheap enough to dedicate them to a caliber and they are very accurate, at least for pistols.

Sevens · August 9, 2013, 12:49 PM

Quote:

2 accessories I'd suggest for anyone using a #55 though. Get the bigger powder hopper & put a baffle in it. It makes a huge difference to consistency as well.

I wouldn't know where to get a proper fitting taller hopper.
I would like to use a baffle, but I don't have one.
In lieu of these things, my routine has been this:
No matter -what- kind of powder dump I'm planning (or what cartridge I'm charging), I full the hopper to 100% of capacity, then I use the knocker to compact it, then top it off again.

After getting my charge weight set, I ensure that once again, it's topped off.

I then use the Lyman 55 to charge my full tray of rounds, typically 50 rounds if it's a normal handgun caliber under .44 Magnum. Usually, it's 9/.38/.357/10mm/.40S&W/.45 or something of that nature.

I use Lyman 55 to fill entire tray, which typically takes 10-20% of my hopper.

Before doing the next tray of 50, I refill the hopper.

Bottom line is that when I begin dispensing charges, my hopper is 100% full each time.

I do spot check, early pieces compared to last pieces (of the 50 in the tray) and find no deviations of note.

wogpotter · August 9, 2013, 02:26 PM

Quote:

I wouldn't know where to get a proper fitting taller hopper.
I would like to use a baffle, but I don't have one.

Here you go!

I think this might be the same “UncleNick” who posts on here?

http://www.shootersforum.com/attachm..._templates.pdf

Sweet honkin’ big powder cylinder too!
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/100...rain-reservoir

Or a pre-made baffle:
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/699...-powder-baffle

noylj · August 10, 2013, 04:51 PM

For Clays (awful powder for handguns), I get the following:
0.61 = 4.0gn clays
0.66 = 4.3gn
0.71 = 4.7gn
0.76 = 5.0gn
I have never found a load that was only accurate over +/- 0.1gn, so I have always been fairly content with the measure.

The RCBS measure pictured above is almost as good as my Hornady.
As I think I said above--you can spend as much money as you want.

August 8, 2013, 03:56 PM	#1
ac700wildcat Senior Member Join Date: September 11, 2008 Location: ND Posts: 239	Time for a new powder thrower I'm looking to buy a new powder thrower specifically for handgun cartridges. I have an RCBS Chargemaster that is great for loading rifle charges, but is just to slow when I'm loading handgun ammo. So what is my best bet for a well built and consistent powder thrower?

August 8, 2013, 04:05 PM	#2
jepp2 Senior Member Join Date: December 24, 2008 Location: Loveland, CO Posts: 1,476	You didn't define your price range. I have had the Redding 3BR for a couple of decades (with both the rifle and pistol metering chambers) and have never been disappointed. If you are just going to use it for handgun, then this is what you would need. I had a Lyman 55 before I got the Redding but never was happy with it. But I really think it was more my fault than the measures. With the 3 different adjustments, I didn't use the right one when I should have. But I think a lot of folks like the Lyman. All my handgun loads gets metered with the Dillon measures. After some improvements (disable the fail safe and run with a spring like the old days) and polishing the aluminum cone, they are very accurate. __________________ NRA Benefactor Life member

August 8, 2013, 09:15 PM	#6
Sevens Senior Member Join Date: July 28, 2007 Location: Ohio Posts: 11,756	I used the Hornady for a number of years and was fairly happy with it. Mostly. Annoyed with some powders, but pretty much did what I asked it to do. It was around $65 when I got it, which I thought was a lot of money at the time. (maybe late 90's?) I found a pre-owned Lyman 55 at a gun show maybe 4 years ago. It was from the 80's and had been used, but I doubt it had been used much. It seemed like a steal at $20, so I snagged it and set it up on my bench soon after. I consider that one of a handful of "epiphany moments" I've had in my long adventure in handloading thus far. I've said before that if my bench is facing certain destruction and I'm forced to choose -ONE- tool to save from the end of the world, my Lyman 55 is absolutely what I'm taking. A buddy of mine got in to handloading two years back and I really pimped the Lyman 55, so he bought a new one and he was very underwhelmed with it. He's a very sharp guy (no, really) so I have no doubt that he got some kind of a newer production lemon. And unfortunately, I have heard some others complain about some of Lyman's newer production stuff. My Lyman 55 is the most important tool at my bench. I probably have a couple handguns I would leave behind before grabbing my Lyman 55. For me, for what I do and how I do it, and for the (ridiculous gaggle of) powders that I work with, it is my best buddy at the bench. My Hornady, very much used before that one fateful day... has literally not seen even a single granule of powder since the first time I filled the hopper on the '55. I never would have predicted that. __________________ *Attention Brass rats and other reloaders:* I really need .327 Federal Magnum brass, no lot size too small. Tell me what caliber you need and I'll see what I have to swap. PM me and we'll discuss.

August 9, 2013, 08:41 AM	#8
snuffy Senior Member Join Date: May 20, 2001 Location: Oshkosh wi. Posts: 3,055	AC700, have you considered the lee pro auto disc measure? I've been very happy with me 2 measures. One I upgraded from the standard auto disc, the other I bought as the pro model. You will need the lee powder die which also bells the case, if you aren't already using lee dies. It takes some fiddling to get it set. The chart they supply for the different powders and charges each disc hole puts out is for reference only. Generally the charges listed are light/below what the disc actually puts out. Just use the next larger size hole. They also make an adjustable powder bar that replaces the disc. The increments of the disc holes is pretty big for some powders. So IF you simply have to have that 4.5 of clays exactly then you'll find that one hole might be 4.1, the next biggest could be 4.8! That's when the adjustable bar comes into play. As far as consistency, I gave up trying to find it varying more than a tenth either side of my target load,(for W231). Some powders that are notorious for being hard to meter will also give you fits with the disc measure, unique being one. __________________ The more people I meet, the more I love my dog They're going to get their butts kicked over there this election. How come people can't spell and use words correctly?

August 9, 2013, 10:04 AM	#11
wogpotter Senior Member Join Date: September 27, 2004 Posts: 4,811	A tip for anyone with the Lyman #55. If you're measuring rifle charge weights, particularly with long grain stick powder like IMR 3031 then start setup with the large cylindrical slider. TThis gives a deep well with a minimum area of contact where grains can be cut while rotating the shaft. Sneak up on the weight & fine tune it with the bigger brass slider. Conversley if you're throwing pistol sized charges of fine grain flake or ball then close the big chamber completely & start with the bigger screw adjustment & fine tune with the baby one. It took me a while to work this out, before I did I was thinking of getting a different thrower all together, now I'm a happy camper. 2 accessories I'd suggest for anyone using a #55 though. Get the bigger powder hopper & put a baffle in it. It makes a huge difference to consistency as well. __________________ Allan Quatermain: “Automatic rifles. Who in God's name has automatic rifles”? Elderly Hunter: “That's dashed unsporting. Probably Belgium.”

August 8, 2013, 05:21 PM	#3
noylj Senior Member Join Date: October 21, 2007 Location: Between CA and NM Posts: 858	Well, my CM keeps up with me and my Dillon 1050s, so I have no idea why your CM is so slow. Do you want a bench-mount measure? I find the Lee Perfect Powder Measure is the most consistent. I put a sheet of paper under it to pick up any leaking powder. The Hornady is the next most consistent of all the measure I have used. Beyond that, they are all OK and you can spend as much money as you want. Do you want a press-mounted case-activated powder measure? Then get the Hornady or Dillon measures and the cartridge/caliber specific powder-through expanders. Otherwise, contact RCBS for programming instructions so your CM can dispense small charges faster.

August 8, 2013, 06:02 PM	#4
ac700wildcat Senior Member Join Date: September 11, 2008 Location: ND Posts: 239	Thanks for the replies. As far as price goes, up to $200 would be ok. I did reprogram my CM, but its more suited to rifle loads. The problem I have with it is when I'm doing say 4.5 grains of Universal Clays, it seems like I'm always sitting there watching it and waiting for the charge to finish. I could probably seat three or four bullets in the time it takes for one charge to be dispensed. Maybe I have to play with the setting a bit more for dispensing really light powders with light charges? I'm looking for a bench mount dispenser. I have the Lee one that was mentioned, but it never seemed to be very consistent for me. It would throw one charge perfect and then the next one .2 grains over and thats not good when using a fast burning powder like Universal Clays or regular Clays.

August 8, 2013, 06:09 PM	#5
PA-Joe Senior Member Join Date: June 9, 2010 Location: NEPA Posts: 909	RCBS Little dandy. You will need a bushing for each major charge but it's quick.

August 9, 2013, 06:50 AM	#7
Airman Basic Senior Member Join Date: April 12, 2013 Location: South of Interstate 20 Posts: 219	+1 for the Little Dandy. Bought all the rotors years ago and use it for all my handgun loads and lots of smaller rifle loads. I use it handheld with cases in a loading block. Easy to double-check the levels that way.

August 9, 2013, 08:54 AM	#9
AllenJ Senior Member Join Date: December 11, 2009 Location: Northern California Posts: 1,766	I've been using a RCBS Uniflow for over 30 years. It does a great job with ball and flake powders.

August 9, 2013, 08:56 AM	#10
schmellba99 Senior Member Join Date: January 8, 2008 Posts: 803	I have this used RCBS thrower for sale: $50 plus shipping and it's yours. It has some age, but still works perfectly. Doesn't have the cap, but you can probably finagle that out of RCBS for free.

August 9, 2013, 10:30 AM	#12
PawPaw Senior Member Join Date: December 24, 2010 Location: Central Louisiana Posts: 3,137	I use a Lyman 55 for rifle loading, but I generally get close and trickle up to the desired weight. For pistol, I used a Lee Perfect for years, but did some mods to it, like cutting out the travel stop and polishing the rotor. Nowadays I use the Auto Disk on the turret press and I'm perfectly happy with that. __________________ Dennis Dezendorf http://pawpawshouse.blogspot.com

August 9, 2013, 10:34 AM	#13
Marco Califo Senior Member Join Date: April 4, 2011 Location: LA (Greater Los Angeles Area) Posts: 2,598	+1 Lee PPM for cost, value, ease, and adjustability. The Lee volumetric tables hep dial in loads, but the Lyman 55 is better with some powders. __________________ ............

August 9, 2013, 12:09 PM	#14
mehavey Senior Member Join Date: June 17, 2010 Location: Virginia Posts: 6,896	THE measure for what the OP wants: http://harrellsprec.com/schuetzen.html He'll never look back....

August 9, 2013, 12:32 PM	#15
hodaka Senior Member Join Date: April 23, 2006 Location: South Texas Posts: 2,010	Nice measure you have there but for over $200 I believe I could live without it. I've used a Lyman 55 for nearly 30 years and it is still going strong and surprisingly consistent. Most of my pistol tool heads on my Dillon 550 are Lee Autodisks. They are cheap enough to dedicate them to a caliber and they are very accurate, at least for pistols.

August 10, 2013, 04:51 PM	#18
noylj Senior Member Join Date: October 21, 2007 Location: Between CA and NM Posts: 858	Lee Pro Auto-Disk For Clays (awful powder for handguns), I get the following: 0.61 = 4.0gn clays 0.66 = 4.3gn 0.71 = 4.7gn 0.76 = 5.0gn I have never found a load that was only accurate over +/- 0.1gn, so I have always been fairly content with the measure. The RCBS measure pictured above is almost as good as my Hornady. As I think I said above--you can spend as much money as you want.