Mobile powder measure mount?

[mikeym]

Howdee all -

Pretty trivial question, but figured I'd ask...

Relatively new to reloading... Bought myself a few months ago a Lee Hand Press - perfect set-up for me - I can de-prime while watching TV, prime cases and then sit at the kitchen table and reload...

My father who hasn't reloaded in years suggested a powder trickler for charging cases.. I was weighing and loading each case by hand and DAMN does that take forever.

I reloaded 50 .38 spl cases in about an hour and it was tedious!

Bought myself a cheap Lee Powder Measure - coming in the mail - wondered has anyone mounted this to a board so you can move it around? Since it hasn't come in the mail yet - not sure how heavy it will be - if I can get away with mounting it to a square piece of 1x12 board...

Anyone else move their powder measure around?

If so - what are you using....

Thanks in advance -

Mike

[gghbi]

A 12 x 12 by 3/4 inch base should be OK to allow you to keep it handy and bring it out when needed. I would always re-check the throw each time it is moved to insure consistency. Maybe throw a couple of charges and dump back in the reservoir before starting.



This is the one I am referring to, is it the same one?

[Twoboxer]

The powder measures from Lee are quite light; other PMs aren't all that much heavier unless they also include the linkage required to work with a progressive press. Long way of saying that if you can mount it to a board and clamp it to a table, you'll have no issues.

Without a clamp, you'll likely need to add a bit more weight to keep the PM/board from lifting when throwing powder. Don't worry, you'll figure it out

I have a Lee Perfect PM and it threw powder OK, but always leaked some powder . . . in any case, it's good practice to be prepared in advance for powder spills.

[fritz1919]

I have mine mounted to a board and weight it down with some 5 pound lead slabs (cast in small cake pans from cleaned up wheel weights). It moves easily to where I want it.

Just as Tbxr mentioned above, mine leaks a bit with ball powder - I prefer using my RCBS Uniflow for ball powder - but very minimally with flake powder. I actually prefer the Lee for flake powder. There is a sweet spot on the tightness setting of the throw drum (terminology?) Keeping it solid one way or another is necessary.

You will enjoy portability.


fritz



Edit: I don't recommend a 1x. Use a wider base that will have total contact with what ever you use for weighing it down.

[markshere2]

I built a box that stores bullets.
it's about 9" square.
My metal RCBS is way up in the air and it moves not at all because there's about 40lbs of bullets for ballast.

[dkf]

Weld a c clamp with a 3" or 4" opening on the steel bracket that comes with the Lee measure. Just clamp it on a table or bench and remove when you are done reloading. You should empty the measure after you are done reloading anyway.

[mikeym]

Thanks all for the replies. GGhbi - that is the lee powder measure I picked up...

Right now I'm loading with Unique - I've heard Unique can be tricky because its a flake powder - but we'll see. Anything will be better than measuring these by hand.

I'm not a competition shooter, just weekend plinker - I'm ok with the loads not being exact each time.

Want to try loading with Titegroup soon - that I'll probably measure one by one for a bit until I get a handle on the measure. Titegroups tolerances are so low between light and max load that I'm not sure if I want to risk it yet with that.

~mike

[frankski]

You're right about Unique and Titegroup. There are other powders better suited for powder measures and .38 special. When I started out I'd throw with the powder measure but weigh every charge until I knew how a particular powder would meter.

However, .38 is a low pressure cartridge and a good one to start with. There's a good margin for error, especially if you shoot the .38s in a revolver chambered for .357. Powders like hp-38 or aa5 meter very well and are good for .38, 9mm, and a lot of other pistol cartridges.

[dkf]

Forget the Titegroup. Pick up some Hodgdon HS-6, it meters very well and fills up the case a lot more than Titegroup. You have a much better chance of noticing a double charge when the powder fills up more of the case. Power Pistol would work well too but there is not as much load data out for it as HS-6.

[wanneroo]

I started out with a Lee Hand Press and Lee Powder measure. I just clamped it to a table with an Irwin quick grip clamp. Job done. Not ideal but it got me started and I used Unique powder. Once I got a bench I moved to a proper RCBS measure.