I hate my powder hopper - Lee Perfect powder measure
- Thread starter Paatz
- Start date
Rory McCanuck
CGN Regular
- Location
- Middle of Manitoba
The Lee is pretty good, but not Perfect.
Used dryer sheets to eliminate static, run some graphite through it to lube it up, adjust screw tension to stop leaks.
Set it, and throw 100 chages in a row into a mug or something. It seems to build muscle memory, and before each session I throw 10-15 loads just to refresh it.
Mine leaked ball powders, then I lapped it with some grinding compound. Much better.
It's better with extruded powders than my Lyman, Bonanza, CH and likely the Herter's that I just picked up that I haven't had a chance to play with yet.
For ball powders though, I use the others. They work really well, and are a joy to use.
They are all sensitive to being operated the same for every throw, but I think the Lee has less leeway.
I can usually tell by feel if I've thrown it light or heavy before it ever hits the scale.
LordEvilPepper
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Under a rusty barge in BC
Redding precision rifle... for flake powder, I only need to set it once and its god damn near perfect every throw ( less then .1 thousands out at most)
Its faster then my electronic measure and far more accurate. needless to say the old lyman electronic sits on a shelf now.
Its faster then my electronic measure and far more accurate. needless to say the old lyman electronic sits on a shelf now.
Have had the same experience and will be in the market for a new thrower especially since I'm loading with H110 a lot more and am loading way too many different cartridges to rely on a single measure. Think I've done my time
I have four of these powder measures. They all through within 0.1 GR of setting. When I use ball powders, I find that lapping the cone with lapping compound, prevents the ball powders from jamming up the works. No need to do this with stick powders, and the measure does't cut the sticks.
Also, rub the inside of the hoppers with a used dryer sheet to prevent static in the hopper.
Hope that helps,It works for me.
I've two Lee Perfect measures. One for home and one for work.
I generally use traditional powders; 4895, 3031, Red Dot (for less than subsonic 9mm Luger...I've not a silencer, lol, just olden autoloaders) and Unique.
The only trouble I've had was with Bullseye. I think it's too fine and pretty fast, a heavy load got run through and destroyed one of mine.
Still can't say for sure, but it sure blew up that pistol!
I use even more diligence after that, throw a charge on the scale every 8-10 charges. Weight 4-5 before beginning. Visually ascertain the case is empty, charge it, quick glance & insert the bullet. Slide into the press and pressed into place. Never leaves my fingers from upside down and empty; to charged with a bullet pressed into place. (This is for pistols, rifles get every charge weighed)
The ' Flick' is practiced by me.
And I don't blame Bullseye; but I do suspect it's fine enough to not give an accurate, perfectly repeated charge every time. And it's pretty warm to have metering issues.
I'd love to get more Trailboss, just because it meters so nicely. And I suspect it's better for older guns. On a side note; does anyone else find Trailboss 'Quieter'?
I generally use traditional powders; 4895, 3031, Red Dot (for less than subsonic 9mm Luger...I've not a silencer, lol, just olden autoloaders) and Unique.
The only trouble I've had was with Bullseye. I think it's too fine and pretty fast, a heavy load got run through and destroyed one of mine.
Still can't say for sure, but it sure blew up that pistol!
I use even more diligence after that, throw a charge on the scale every 8-10 charges. Weight 4-5 before beginning. Visually ascertain the case is empty, charge it, quick glance & insert the bullet. Slide into the press and pressed into place. Never leaves my fingers from upside down and empty; to charged with a bullet pressed into place. (This is for pistols, rifles get every charge weighed)
The ' Flick' is practiced by me.
And I don't blame Bullseye; but I do suspect it's fine enough to not give an accurate, perfectly repeated charge every time. And it's pretty warm to have metering issues.
I'd love to get more Trailboss, just because it meters so nicely. And I suspect it's better for older guns. On a side note; does anyone else find Trailboss 'Quieter'?
heavyBullet
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Just off the island of MTL
My RCBS is a $100 paper weight, it does not like extruded powders, which is what I mainly use(Varget+4064) But I heard the inexpensive Lee was pretty good at measuring out extruded powders and I was thinking of scooping one up. Anyone having luck with the Lee using extruded powders ?
I use the Lee for extruded...Varget, 4895 etc and have found the Lee to be pretty accurate. These medium length stick powders seem to work well in this thrower. I've had less consistency with ball and the chunkier extruded powders like 3031.
I use the powder throwers for fast loading of plinking or utility rounds and a Chargemaster when I want more consistency.
This has been my experience too and also the way I keep mine topped up. I really only use mine for pistol ammo so I'm not so sure how it works with stick powders.
I use the Lee measure and I am happy with it. Right now I am doing load development for a 218 Bee, powder is 2400. The load is thrown and then onto a scale, powder is trickled if needed. The lee measure throws loads of 2400 within several tenths of each other. When I load for one of my hunting rounds, I weigh a few to get consistant weights and then throw straight into the brass.
The only issue that I have had with my Lee hopper is when I used a large flake powder, being that the flakes will always fill the hoper different depending on how they fall into the cylinder . I would think the others would do the same and the best bet would be a digital unit.
