Powder Cop vs Lockout Die

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without fail I use the RCBS Lock-Out for pistol and RCBS Powder Checker on rifle reloads.
ditto: I use the lock out die for pistol on the progressive to ensure it stops me before completing the process. I use a powder comp (rcbs equivalent) for rifle when I use the progressive (rarely). I normally weigh individual rifle charges and use the single stage when loading for other than an AR rifle, which I don't have yet.
 
I can imagine anything that is capable of locking up a press could also damage the advance system on my LnL. Any problems with this?

It's not going to do anything to the advance system or anything else. The effect, the way it feels, is as if you have a case that is misaligned in the resizing die--or if you inadvertantly get a berdan-primed case in there instead of boxer-primed.
 
The rcbs lockout die is a good product, definitely worthwhile as disaster insurance,
But I find myself using the powder cop more often, especially for pistol rounds.
I found the lockout die wasn't precise enough for my tastes and would only lock my press with an extreme undercharge or double charge.
I load a lot with Hodgdon clays, which doesn't always throw the most precise charge, and I load a lot of .38 wadcutter rounds that don't have more than three or four grains of powder to begin with.
I'd rather see a few grains over or under with the powder cop,
than maybe but probably not catch it by sight after the lockout die passes it.
One grain low can mean a bullet stuck in the barrel, and in my experience a lockout die usually won't catch an undercharge like that, while I can easily see it with a powder cop.

I did a test, and with the best adjustment I could make with .38 148gr. wadcutters and a setting of 3.2 grain charge of Clays, the lockout die wouldn't lock the press up until I was down to 1.5 grains or so, and I've gotten squibs at higher charges than that. Likewise the lockout die wouldn't lock the press up until the charge was over 5 grains or so, well over max and what I'd consider safe.

Could be I just never mastered the lockout die adjustments though.

The only thing I don't like about the powder cop is the little white oring indicator on mine has dried up and started cracking and falling apart. Will have to be replaced soon, but that's no biggie.
 
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I posted earlier in this thread extolling the virtues of the lockout die - all true, but the most recent post, above, has me thinking that as I transition to a bullet feeder I can change my scan pattern to include a powder cop. I do agree that the PC is more accurate and would eliminate having to hard eyeball each case. Both are good products.
 
I'm not trying to knock those of ya'll that use the powder check dies, do what makes you feel comfortable at night, but do you really have that big a problem with squibs?

Not anymore, but during the first year I loaded I had at least 6 squibs; all no powder, thankfully, since the bullet didn't go far enough to allow the next round to chamber. I was shooting USPSA or IDPA when this happened and even the RO couldn't tell the difference. I'm sure if I was just casually target shooting I would have heard and felt the difference, but when you're competing you don't notice the small stuff.

My problem was my process and the fact that when I had a problem with a case on the press, I didn't clear the shell plate and thus managed to advance it with one case empty. Looking into each case made me more conscious of what I was doing. While I no longer clear the shell plate every time I have to fix something, I'm much more careful about checking before I continue. Since then I've had only one squib in the last three years.
 
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