Throwing charges

[rangeball]

Seriously considering getting a Lee perfect powder measure and throwing charges instead of weighing them on my lee beam scale.

I've read lots of reviews, most say it does a great and accurate job (within .1 to .2 gr)with stick powders like the 4198s I'll likely use forever in my .45 rempac.

Anyone using a manual thrower instead of a scale?

[fishhawk]

I love my RCBS Chargemaster 1500.

[jbm77]

I bought a Lee powder measure about a year ago. For the money it works really well for me. It takes a little time to set up, but if you write down the settings for each load you use it's no big deal. I've measured ball powder(Win 748), Varget, Trailboss, and several others, and it worked just fine. I get the most consistent throws by tapping the drop tube twice before throwing a charge every time. As long as your consistent with your methods for <$30 I think it is a good investment. For the money if I had room on my bench I'd have one for every caliber I load for.

[deadeer]

I use a Lee thrower. I don't even bother with the setting, just throw the charge into a digital scale pan and measure two or three for consistency once you hit the amount you want, then throw charges until you are done. Has worked for me for all the guns I load for since 2003 when I started, (2009) with sml.

Jay

[hunter]

I use them a lot.
I have 3 ideal #55 and 3 rcbs uniflo's, one for each load I use in the different guns.
I got tired of adjusting one from one load to the other so I kept getting another one.
Check about every 7th drop on a beam scale.

[wilmsmeyer]

I do what deadeer does except I throw them 1/2 light, put it on my PACT, and trickle them to the final weight. Do this for cartridge guns too. If loading small batches where I want to be very precise, I then transfer the electronically weighed charge over to the beam scale and double check every round. The only thing I throw differently is pistol powder for target shooting. Set the thrower and go

With the large amounts used in the ML's, throwing only is probably just fine as you will be usually within 0.1 - 0.4 grain even with longer stick powders like H4198 which is way less than a 1% variance. It is a good idea to double check every 10th charge and it's also good to check scale calibration at the same time. I keep a known weight close by and just put it in the pan every so often. Electronic scales can lose calibration during use. Happened to me 2 weeks ago. My cat was in the room with me and was meowing for me to open the window. So I did, and it was very cool outside and some cool breeze came into the room. I was loading a tray of 30-30 ammo. I kept seeing that the thrower was starting to throw slightly lighter charges and I kept slightly altering the thrower. After 20 rounds were in the tray ready for bullets I started thinking something was wrong. (was NOT using the beam as a double check) I recalibrated the scale, checked with a known weight, and than started pouring powder from shells I had charged. My "34" gr charges had wandered up to 35.5 grains. Dumped them all out and went back to a more regimented process.

[jeremylong]

I used to do just like deadeer. Years ago I thrown 15 charges each out of my lee, Dillon, and rcbs throwers. On long grain powder my Lee was actually the most consistent. Ball powders were all dead on. Anymore I just use my digital scale with the pan that has the funnel built in. With shooting multiple powders etc for the mz's my hand has been calibrated to shake pretty dang well.

[stanb8]

wilmsmeyer Is right about wind, I work with scales every day and the biggest problem is air currents from fans, ducts, etc. Also not a bad idea to clean your cal. weight with a alcohol base solvent once in a while.

[rangeball]

Thanks Fellas. Good stuff.