Metering powder by hand

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I guess I’m just flummoxed by all this manual powder measurement.

99.9% of the time I use a Uniflow and only occasionally (due to powder inconsistencies usually) use a trickler to top up a load.

But I only do 45ACP and 9mm pistol so that’s one explanation.
I don’t do it for any pistol loads, they are all auto dropped from my Redding 10X on my LNL.

I dropped all my 6 PPC charges/no trickling for Benchrest 100/200 yard matches.

I use an auto trickler for my long range 6 Dasher loads, trickles to +/- .02.

Kind of depends on the need.
 
Kind of depends on the need.
Sums it up pretty nicely.

Handloading (I do more of that than reloading) is a fun hobby. I'm not competing with anybody, even myself, for speed or precision, I'm just making ammo I want and need for specific tasks as safely as possible. The watchwords of an engineer are, make it effective, efficient and economical.

A little aside:
An inventor has an idea and says, "I can make that a reality."
An engineer looks at the thing and says, "I can make that more efficiently."
A machinist looks at the blueprint and says, "I can make that."
An assembler looks at the parts and says, "I can make that work."
A packager looks at the thing and says, "I can make that fit."
A tech writer looks at the thing and says, "I can make that seem simple."
A wholesaler looks at the thing and says, " I can make that affordable."
An advertiser looks at the thing and says, "I can make that popular."
A repairman looks at the thing in pieces and says, "Whoever made this thing should be hanged."
 
Sums it up pretty nicely.

Handloading (I do more of that than reloading) is a fun hobby. I'm not competing with anybody, even myself, for speed or precision, I'm just making ammo I want and need for specific tasks as safely as possible. The watchwords of an engineer are, make it effective, efficient and economical.

A little aside:
An inventor has an idea and says, "I can make that a reality."
An engineer looks at the thing and says, "I can make that more efficiently."
A machinist looks at the blueprint and says, "I can make that."
An assembler looks at the parts and says, "I can make that work."
A packager looks at the thing and says, "I can make that fit."
A tech writer looks at the thing and says, "I can make that seem simple."
A wholesaler looks at the thing and says, " I can make that affordable."
An advertiser looks at the thing and says, "I can make that popular."
A repairman looks at the thing in pieces and says, "Whoever made this thing should be hanged."
And the lawyer says, “I can make them pay.” And the accountant, “I can make them sleep.”
 
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A good electronic scale and an used 12 gauge shotshell works pretty good. Tap the powder from the crimp folds, out like tapping the ash off a cigarette. A 2.75 inch12 gauge shell can hold about 300 grains of rifle powder.
A poor man's trickler.
 
I'm kinda wondering what AJC1 means by "hand dispensing"? Using a trickler only, directly into the pan? Or using dippers and trickling up? I have used dippers for many thousands of rounds (dippers can be very repeatable/accurate with practice) and accompied with a scale worked quite well for me. I don't like "automatic" anything, especiallty powder charging. (IIRC I used an "iced tea spoon" with a Lee Safety Scale for my 38 Special Bullseye loads, when I wanted a different charge than the dipper that came with my Lee Loader)...

But even in 1972, I wasn't in any hurry...
 
Hand dispensing with what??

When I first started loading is use LEE dippers and a manual powder measure, RCBS Uniflow. Could load 50 rounds in no time. I actually enjoy batch loading more than turret or progressive.
 
Hand dispensing with what??

When I first started loading is use LEE dippers and a manual powder measure, RCBS Uniflow. Could load 50 rounds in no time. I actually enjoy batch loading more than turret or progressive.
Knowing @AJC1 ? With his hands? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

There's definitely some artistry and craft involved with using dippers - home-made from casings or store-bought - and it's not something you just "pick up" easily from hearing about it on a forum. Which is why I got Rule No. 1: "Don't do what I do because it probably won't work." ;)
 
Not to reveal any "secrets" but, brow tweezers are great for large extruded powders like IMR 4064 and IMR 4895 that don't work quite as well in a trickler sometimes.

If I recall correctly...

IMR 4064 averages at 0.04 grain per log, and IMR 8208 XBR comes in at 0.06 to 0.08 grain per little log.
 
Knowing @AJC1 ? With his hands? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

There's definitely some artistry and craft involved with using dippers - home-made from casings or store-bought - and it's not something you just "pick up" easily from hearing about it on a forum. Which is why I got Rule No. 1: "Don't do what I do because it probably won't work." ;)
I used a 1/8 tsp spice scoop, it's what I had handy...
 
I used a 1/8 tsp spice scoop, it's what I had handy...
Adds to the spice of life. ;)

My wife commandeered my first electronic scale - a pocket Lyman - for kitchen duty. She likes the fact that it fits in a drawer so easy and is good for small measures in grams. She has a larger electronic kitchen scale but it only goes down to the gram, not tenths. I bought a second one and leave it in my desk drawer. Sometimes I even use it. ;)

If you look at the mechanism of a Lee drum or perfect measure, they're doing the same thing as a handloader does with a dipper: measuring a volume of powder equal to a particular weight of powder. The drum or pocket is adjustable and so are some hand dippers. One big difference is speed. After nearly a half-century of using powder dippers to pull powder and drop it in a pan, I'm faster than the mechanical dipper with a pull handle and (typically) more precise. I'm not doing anything cut flakes or logs, I don't leak (often) or spill (much) and my hand has become tuned to the motion of push-tilt-pull-drop to the point that I can do it with my eyes closed to within +/- 0.2gr. pretty easily, even with powders that "don't meter well." But, in the end, it's a personal preference, not a requirement or even an advantage. I'm fairly certain a $200 powder dispenser is just as accurate as my fingers - with a powder that meters well. :feet:
 
Adds to the spice of life. ;)

My wife commandeered my first electronic scale - a pocket Lyman - for kitchen duty. She likes the fact that it fits in a drawer so easy and is good for small measures in grams. She has a larger electronic kitchen scale but it only goes down to the gram, not tenths. I bought a second one and leave it in my desk drawer. Sometimes I even use it. ;)

If you look at the mechanism of a Lee drum or perfect measure, they're doing the same thing as a handloader does with a dipper: measuring a volume of powder equal to a particular weight of powder. The drum or pocket is adjustable and so are some hand dippers. One big difference is speed. After nearly a half-century of using powder dippers to pull powder and drop it in a pan, I'm faster than the mechanical dipper with a pull handle and (typically) more precise. I'm not doing anything cut flakes or logs, I don't leak (often) or spill (much) and my hand has become tuned to the motion of push-tilt-pull-drop to the point that I can do it with my eyes closed to within +/- 0.2gr. pretty easily, even with powders that "don't meter well." But, in the end, it's a personal preference, not a requirement or even an advantage. I'm fairly certain a $200 powder dispenser is just as accurate as my fingers - with a powder that meters well. :feet:
I love my chargemaster but this true blue seemed to give it fits. For stick powder it's a dream.
 
I made this trickler from a piece of pseudo Tupperware, an empty .243 case, a piece of aluminum arrow shaft and a couple O-rings. The bottom is weighted with some lead shot embedded in J-B Weld. It worked just fine until I got a used RCBS trickler.

View attachment 1046762View attachment 1046763
Well that's just awesome. I found my old Bonanza in a trashpile.
 
I use my Lee dippers and then use my trickler to finish quite a bit. Great way to load for load development. I only use my Uniflow or Chargemaster Lite to dispense when I am loading a bunch a rounds.
 
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