Guns and Ammo Thread

[Honkey_Kong]

Yes sir, I learned with Lyman dies and have just stuck with them. I have a Lyman T-Mag turret press and a Redding Big Boss single stage press.
2 Lyman 55 powder measures. One for pistol powders and one for rifle powders....I know, lol, I'm weird like that.

I've been using the Lee powder measure I've had since I got in to it. If you don't know how to tap the base of the measure, it won't pour the right amount in to the casing. If I give it 4 good taps when you raise the lever up to fill the base, it's pretty close within .1 grains (according to my measure). If you don't do that or if you tap top much, I've been as many as 3 grains off before. Which for a rifle load doesn't make much difference, but for pistols it's a huge difference.

Also I've found the measure is more difficult to get to work properly if you're using flat flakes of powder like in shotgun powders.

[almostgone]

I've been using the Lee powder measure I've had since I got in to it. If you don't know how to tap the base of the measure, it won't pour the right amount in to the casing. If I give it 4 good taps when you raise the lever up to fill the base, it's pretty close within .1 grains (according to my measure). If you don't do that or if you tap top much, I've been as many as 3 grains off before. Which for a rifle load doesn't make much difference, but for pistols it's a huge difference.

Also I've found the measure is more difficult to get to work properly if you're using flat flakes of powder like in shotgun powders.

Yes sir, once you develop a method to give a consistent charge, stick with it. For me, I cycle the knocker 3 times every charge. If it's been a while since I loaded, I throw a charge and weight it. Then I'll throw 10 more individual charges and check that last one. After that I spot check as long as I'm still on the same lot # of powder and haven't changed anything.

Flake powder can be a pain to meter properly. If I had to deal with it a lot, I'd probably consider a trickler.

[almostgone]

I've been using the Lee powder measure I've had since I got in to it. If you don't know how to tap the base of the measure, it won't pour the right amount in to the casing. If I give it 4 good taps when you raise the lever up to fill the base, it's pretty close within .1 grains (according to my measure). If you don't do that or if you tap top much, I've been as many as 3 grains off before. Which for a rifle load doesn't make much difference, but for pistols it's a huge difference.

Also I've found the measure is more difficult to get to work properly if you're using flat flakes of powder like in shotgun powders.

If you get the chance, buy a pound of Vihtavuori that is appropriate for the caliber you're loading. It's not the cheapest, so that's why I reserve it for my defensive loads. The reduction in muzzle flash from Vihtavuori compared to most other powders is noticeable.