Lee Loader

How many here use the dippers? Been using them for years and they work pretty darn good. I never use the weight chart that came with it, I keep a ledger and record the weights of each one with the different powders I use and re-weigh each time I buy a new canister of powder. I never use them for near max loads which most of the time I have found is not needed for my needs.

I use them mostly with black powder but have with smokeless also. I mostly use them to get a more accurate MSD on each lot of powder though. I use the 4cc scope and weight out 10 charges then use Ranch Dog's VDM Caculator to get the with the VDM using the average of the 10 scopes. It really makes it easier to get the right disk or settings when wanting a specific amount of powder.

joec wrote:...then use Ranch Dog's VDM Caculator...

I'm going to get a copy of the VDM Calculator posted in the next couple of days. I made a couple of changes to it so that you can store the VDM of the specific lot of powder and use it instead of the target VDM. Just been too busy coding php...

While I own a complete set of yellow dippers, I have not been able to be consistent. I have moved to a beam scale and now hand weigh each and every load. Slow but accurate. Of course I use the Lee auto disk powder system to get a basic load within 1 grain or less then trickle charge to the finished load.

Ranch Dog wrote:

joec wrote:...then use Ranch Dog's VDM Caculator...

I'm going to get a copy of the VDM Calculator posted in the next couple of days. I made a couple of changes to it so that you can store the VDM of the specific lot of powder and use it instead of the target VDM. Just been too busy coding php...

I can understand that looking at your routine now for awhile.

as a fairly low volume loader - normally 50-200 rounds in a session - I still debating on what would be the most efficient, yet "portable" powder measuring system. When I first started "hammering" out .357 rounds, I used nothing but the dipper after I had calibrated the throw multiple times on the "Safety Scale". As long as I found a powder/dipper combination that would stay well within the mid-range specs for the load, I wasn't too concerned about the inconsistencies of a couple tenths of a grain. Somewhere down the line I had opened a new can of Unique (not that it's predecessor was "old") and calibrated multiple throws and found almost a 10% variation in the weight to volume ratio. I quizzed those in the know all over algores internet superhighway as to whether the loads should be tailored to "volume" or to "weight", and still didn't come away with a one size fits all answer. So, I unilaterally decided to go strictly weight. Using single stage press tools now, I still use the dippers and trickle method. Using a loading block, I put 25 pieces of brass in alternating holes, use a dipper that fits closest to the desired charge weight and drop the start volume into the pan on a PACT digital scale. Then I'll pick up just enough powder to trickle it to the finish. I've thought about the electronic dispenser/scale combo, but I'm just not sure it would be any faster, and certainly a lot more bulk to store and maintain.

I figure as long as I'm sticking to my current, compact reloading system that I can easily move in a moments notice, the dippers and digital scale work perfectly well for charging in a reloading block.

surv

I've got a set of the dippers, but my chart seems to have gone north for the summer. Wonder if Lee would sell just the chart?

44-40 Willy wrote:I've got a set of the dippers, but my chart seems to have gone north for the summer. Wonder if Lee would sell just the chart?

Here you go: Powder Measure Kit: SLEEVE & SLIDE CARD -$3

Thanks Michael!

I still use my old set for the initial weight, and finish by trickle. Simple and it works.