I have been loading for a couple of years now for both handgun and rifle. I use a Dillion 650, but I also have two single stage presses set up. I use the single stage presses primarily for brass preperation (sizing and depriming). Switching the dillion back and forth from different calipers can be a pain in the backside, particularly when changing from rifle to pistol. Recently I have started to reload realitivly small lots of ammo using the single stage presses. I need a better way to measure powder charges. I am using a trickler with an electronic scale and it is way too slow. I need to buy something that can measure powder charges fast and accurately.
Well, I have two bench-mounted powder measures. One is an RCBS Competition Powder Measure (basically a Uniflow with a baffle and micrometer adjustment screw), and the other is the RCBS Chargemaster 1500 Combo.
The Chargemaster is now my official favorite powder measure. The combination scale and dispenser is well made, which is typical of RCBS. The plastic doesn’t feel cheap, and fit and finish is good.
I haven’t timed it, but it drops a 25gr charge of TAC quick enough that you can charge a case, seat the bullet, then have the next charge waiting for you.
So far I’ve used it with ball, stick, and flake powder, with charge weights ranging from 4gr to 28gr, and it’s been flawless. It isn’t a necessary piece of equipment, but now that I have it, I wouldn’t go back to trickling charges unless I had to.
I’ve had the RCBS Uniflow, Redding Benchrest, and Hornady LNL in standard powder dump measures. They are all pretty much the same with a couple of different bells and whistles. I personally like the Hornady for a good mix of price, easy of swap from pistol to rifle, and accuracy. Any of the three will give good results and years of service (the Redding will just cost you twice as much).
For electronic I have a Pact dispenser and scale set. I love it for loading small batches but it gets kind of old if you need to do more than 100 rounds. Keep in mind Pact is made in the USA and has a great warranty which they backup with great customer service!!
You will not be disappointed. I still use my RCBS uniflow with the micrometer attachment because it just keeps going and going. I added a baffle to it some time ago and that got the consistency right where it needed. It will be a long time before I feel the need to upgrade again.
If you’re just using a trickler and scale now you could add a few Lee scoops to the routine. With some practice you’ll get pretty good at quickly scooping to within a few tenths an trickling to get to your desired measurement.
I use a lot of Varget and R-15 so I like using a Lee Perfect Powder Measure which is one of the best options for those powders. It’s accurate 90% of the time and only a tenth of a grain off when now.
Had a Hornady Electronic Dispenser which worked well, however since getting the Lee PPM it has been sold since the Lee is faster.
If I have the prober shell plate, I’ll still drop powder with the Dillon measure for oddball stuff, without a full changeover. (8mm Mauser for one). I could not live without my single stage press, either - I won’t size large bore rifle cases on an aluminum frame progressive. Actually, I even do my .223 sizing on the single stage, but that’s just me.
I went with two loaders years ago - one for large primer (mostly .45) and one for small (mostly .223). I agree - the 650 can be a pain on some changeovers.
The answer to this question depends on the types powders you intend to throw. The Lee PPM works as good as anything for longer-grained extruded powders, and for those you’ll be good to get +0.2 grain variations. I use a electronic scale which registers a weight quickly, and for any charge that falls outside the range I select, I just dump it back in the hopper and throw another. For short-grain extruded and ball powder you’ll get +0.1 pretty often which is entirely adequate in my experience.
I can’t remember the name of the publication (maybe Precision Shooter), but it was a publication that catered to the BR crowd and the author did a comparison of measures using H322 which was a popular BR powder at the time. The Lee PPM came out on top, against culver-style measures, Redding/RCBS/etc. But if you use any measure to throw IMR4064 or something of that nature, your ES numbers will increase, simply because of the size of the powder kernals. If you want + 0.1g variance, you’re going to have you use a scale and trickler, or an automated unit like the Chargemaster.
I’ve never tried to perform an accuracy comparison between thrown charges vs. charges measured/trickled to the exact tenth, but if you have a good load to begin with, it will be more tolerant of charge variations. BR loaders for years have relied on thrown vs. weighed charges, but I’ve wondered if that may be a product of using short-grained powders which meter beter through a measure to begin with.
In a nutshell, if using ball or short-grained extruded, practically any measure will allow you to load thrown charges. If using longer-grained extruded, you’ll need to trickle up to a point, but if you have a good load it should tolerate +0.1g grain variation and not require exact “to the tenth” weighed charges.
Peronally, I would stick with your 650 and get a Uniquetek micrometer powder measure for your powder drop slide it makes adjustments a snap once you have plotted the excel spreadsheet supplied. I’ve been using one on my small powder drop for pistol for a while and have 6 or so powders graphed, when I switch just punch the required charge and it will tell you the micrometer setting. Adjust a couple of throws to confirm and your good to go.
I’m about to get one for my large bar now that I’m loading rifle too.
Also highly recommended if you get one, to purchase the baffle too. It keeps charges consistent even at the bottom of the tube as you use up the powder while loading.
I had the Uniquetek on my list of “must buy” items a couple of years ago, but never got around to it. The changovers are such a pain in the a**. It sounds like the addition the Uniquetek could reduce some of the pain? I will have to look into this again. Thanks for the suggestion.
For me it really does as that’s IMO the biggest hassle is getting the drop throwing the charge I want quickly.
It really depends on what you think is a PITA when switching over calibers. If your going from small to large primers, the punch is a in most peoples opinons is the hardest thing. I know of those that don’t even do so they just change the wheel and use the small punch for both SP and LP. I’m told it works and was actually recommended by a Dillon tech.
The rest of the caliber conversion is IMO easy peasey provided you know your adjustments. I only have 2 toolheads one dedicated for 9mm and the other for .223. I load only 2 pistol calibers 9mm and .380, one rifle .223 these days for the sake of consolidation and most caliber conversion components on a XL650 for those are interchangeable. I plan ahead load a minimum of 1000 rounds of 9mm (2 different projectiles and powders, one moly lead the other FMJ) In either case with pistol switching powders is a snap as I said. Just dump, and clean the drop out real quick if needed. Place the new powder in and get the spreadsheet value. A few drops to settle and maybe fine tune and your done.
Then switch to rifle, trim (with a RT1200) then load 500 of .223
After the rifle at that point put my 9mm toolhead back on and switch out the sizing and crimping die then the casefeed adapter and load 500 .380 AUTO if needed (usuallly only twice a year, 500 rounds at a time).
Like I said it’s dependant on the calibers you load for me the Uniquetek micrometer is a “must have” along with my Redding competition seater for 9mm. No guessing just dial and your there.
