Reloading with powder dippers

[Henry Shooter]

I was curious if any body here reloads using the powder dippers?
How consistant and accurate are your loads?
I understand Lee had dipper sets in the past. Are there others? And where can I find them?
Thanks

[CK_32]

Yea there was one included with me lee die set.

Also curious if people just use and go by the scoopers. For shotgun maybe but for handgun and rifle I'd be very unsettled if I didn't weight it out first. Just seems too "eh it's close enough" for me to just scoop and load. This ain't baking.

[ocabj]

I use powder dippers when I'm actually handweighing each load on a scale. The powder dipper is just faster for me to get close to the weight I want on the scale and then to trickle from there.

[zfields]

Hit or miss. I forget which scoop, but one of them is a perfect 45 grains of reloaded 7 for my 45-70.



sent from my damn tappy device...

[flyingmunkey]

i started with the powder dippers and a trickler a few months ago. i'd weigh each load for my .308 on the scale and the charges were all over the place. if you want accuracy, these won't get you there most likely. if you just want plinking loads, these should be fine as the +/- on the charges weren't anything out of spec. i moved from those to an rcbs chargemaster 1500 combo and there's no going back!

[Henry Shooter]

Thanks guys. Yeah I scale and measure all my long gun loads of course. I have a Dillon 650 for the 357, 40, 44 and 45 ACP. However I have a 10mm, 45 LC and a 41 mag that I am trying to justify buying another toolhead and conversion kit. Was curious if you use the dipper straight up without scaling.
Comes down to how much I shoot each caliber and having fun reloading. If I buy a TH it will be for the 10mm. Just alot of $$ at the moment.

Again many thanks.

[22popnsplat]

When i first started reloading i was just loading plinking ammo for a 45 colt in a ruger , The dipper set came with a conversion chart . I loaded probably 20k + rounds of ammo with this method without a issue

[brando]

My precision loading process has evolved back towards old-fashioned beam scales and Lee scoops. I think for some people a traditional powder thrower is just as fast and accurate, but for me I just have a good feel for how much powder volume I'm drawing and I pour it onto an RCBS 750 electronic scale for just a cursory check, ideally about 0.2 grain under my target load. Then I dump that into the pan of an RCBS 1010 beam scale and trickle (with an Omega auto trickler). This process has been far more consistent for me than my previous methods that relied too much on electronic scales. The Lee Scoops obviously take up next to no space and can be a lot less messy than a powder thrower. I'm at the point now where I pretty much only use my Redding thrower for quickly loading plinking ammo.

[meaty-btz]

Funny, I have a very old lee dipper set, about 20 different dippers and a slide-rule type card index telling you what to use for what powder and load.

Here is the thing. Powder Dippers are actually very accurate, but there is a technique to their use that will give consistent weight. Also different powders will respond differently to the dippers because of "settling" and powder density.

I don't use them at all but they have their uses. Powder dippers were pretty much it for a long time in the hand-loading world.

[mofugly13]

I use powder dippers when I'm actually handweighing each load on a scale. The powder dipper is just faster for me to get close to the weight I want on the scale and then to trickle from there.

This. I have the Lee dipper set and I find the one that throws just under the charge I'm looking for, and trickle the rest until I come up to weight. I keep track of what sizes throw what weights of each powder on an index card.

[brando]

If you get the complete set of scoops from Lee it comes with a handy slide-rule type chart that tells you which scoop to use to get to a certain weight in grains of a specific powder.

[gunboat]

Other than being able to adjust the volume of the "container" I don't see much difference between a dipper and a measure --
Both require repetitive motion for accuracy --

[3006mv]

i have two lee sets, one i modified dippers for powder/weight for specific powders and caliber combinations, i have also made some out of cut down aluminum shell cases and wire. you can cut down the plastic lee dippers or use a chamfer tool to open them up a little to get just a bit more in, i sand off the Lee markings and paint the CC (measured w/ a syringe and water) or write the powder/weight. i write a chart for use and caliber recipes and bullet weights etc. and keep particular modified dipper in die storage case. i also have only used single stage presses (3) i can load just as fast with this as a progressive, only not including brass prep time ( i know, not fair)

[scotchblade]

I used them and would verify charges with a scale. As long as your scooping and leveling were consistent, so were the charges. I often found myself between scoops and wanting smaller increments between them.

To get around this, make your own.

http://youtu.be/tMRLQEEgLrc

This guy uses pencils as handles, but can just solder a coat hanger to the brass.

[Henry Shooter]

3006mv, Thanks for the info. I believe thats what Im thinking.

scotchblade, Thanks for the website.

If I can be consistant with loading the 45lc and the 41 to within a point of a grain and be accurate with a specific powder using a scoop, thats what I'm looking for.
Tie to break out the scale and dremel.

I appreciate the ideas.
Thanks