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I use dippers a lot when doing batch loads. But, I also need a scale to verify that the COMBINATION of MY dipper and MY TECHNIQUE are giving me the charge that I intend.
By being sloppy with my technique, I can easily get weights that vary be several tenths of a grain, which is too much for a lot of my handgun loads.
The technique that I settled on for myself is as follows: fill a container with powder so that it is deep enough to scoop the dipper down into it (like scooping ice cream) and come up near vertical, with powdr heaped above the rim of the scoop. Tap the scoop handle twice gently on the side of the container to settle the powder in the scoop. Then run the scoop under a straight-edge suspended over the powder container to level it, with the extra falling back into the container. I can usually throw 10 charges in succession that are ± 0.1 grain of the intended charge. But, I have modified my scoops to adjust their volumes to specific intended charges USING THIS TECHNIQUE. If I use this technique with scoops from Lee, it does NOT throw the charges listed in Lee's tables. It CAN throw over-charges because of the settling taps in my technique.
So, I don't think it is wise to simply substitute dippers for a scale withoout being able to chek what they throw, unless you are sure that your dipper will throw charges close to "start" loads. And, that will probably be too limiting to be satisfying for long. But, it can get you started, as it has with many folks who started with the Lee "whack-a-mole" loaders over the years. But, even Lee says you should get a scale.
SL1
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