Lee Dipper Question...

gregb

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Hey guys,

Quick question, do I fill the Lee Dipper to the very top or to the top most line on the side to achieve the suggested CC?
I wouldn't normally piss around with the dipper but my Powder-through only works with pistol calibers...

The Lee guide says 1.6cc and my dipper is 1.6cc so it will need to be a max load.
 
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if i recall from my dipper days, you had to scoop the dipper through the powder and then use a business card to scrape along the top of the dipper to remove any excess powder off the dipper. in this manner, you could ensure you got the most uniform powder load. has the lee manual made any recent changes regarding dipper loading as both mine indicate the same procedure??
 
greg c, you are right, that is Lee's recommended procedure. Try to be consistent in your dipping,and you can get reasonably close to uniform. Not like using a scale, or regular powder measure of course.
The dippers that I have (full set) are generally used very little now.
I use them for filling the scale pan if working up a max load, then finish with a trickler to get perfect.
If you weigh a few samples from the dippers you will quickly see just how variable they can be, and perhaps develop ways of overcoming the variations.
 
Use your scale and forget the scoops. The scoops can vary the powder charge plus or minus a full grain. Why they're calibrated in CC's I'll never understand. CC's are not a unit of measure for anything reloading related.
 
I agree, the dippers are useless. Shell out for a Lyman #55 or the Lee Auto-disk with micrometer(depending on your setup). The Auto-disk is pretty cheap too....:)
 
I've used the dippers and I'm not sure how consistent they are, but as a separate and equally important issue, they and the chart that comes with them are inaccurate. We weighed a 3.7cc scoop of SR4759 and it was way over the 37 grains that the chart said it would be. It was close to 41 grains. That's way inaccurate.
 
I don't like volume measurement for rifle ammo, period, but I do use the dippers and finish each charge with a trickler. Surprising how close the right dipper can be, and even if you don't have the right one, an oversized dipper can be "eyeballed" to close enough that you'll be within a grain or so - not a lot to ask from the trickler. I weigh them all.
 
I don't like volume measurement for rifle ammo, period, but I do use the dippers and finish each charge with a trickler. Surprising how close the right dipper can be, and even if you don't have the right one, an oversized dipper can be "eyeballed" to close enough that you'll be within a grain or so - not a lot to ask from the trickler. I weigh them all.

x2 for me. I was doing the same thing with my powder dispensers anyway. So, started using dippers again and have stuck with it. Sometimes I use my dispenser with ball powder because it meters so well.
 
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