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Lee Perfect Powder measure load variability


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All,

I use the Lee Perfect Powder Measure to meter powder for many of my pistol and rifle loads.

I recently purchased a MTM DS-750 digital scale for the ease and speed of measuring charges. If you don't have a digital powder scale, then you should consider one. It makes the whole process of setting your measure and verifying charges so much faster than with a balance scale.

I was trying to set my measure to meter 25.0g IMR-4064, but couldn't get 25.0g in any reproducible manner. I could get charges in the range from 24.7-25.3g, but almost never 25.0g two times in a row.

I started paying very close attention to my technique for using the powder measure and got the range down to 24.9-25.1g, but still can't get 25.0g every time. Then I decided to see how much variability I could get with sloppy technique, such as tapping or jiggling the powder measure. I was shocked to see a range from 24.5-26.2g! This scared me a bit, which I believe it should. The max load for 4064 in .223 Remington with my particular 55g bullets is 25.7g. If I were to use very poor technique and was loading up the max load I could end up with 1.2g more propellant than max!

Which begs the question, what charge variability have you found with your make/model of powder measure when using good or poor technique? Are there powder measures that throw more consistent loads than the Lee? Are other powder measures not as sensitive or more sensitive to technique than the Lee?

Thanks,

Wayne

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